Chapter 2: Say What?

The bus stopped and we all got off it. Chase and I walked up towards the school with students buzzing around outside. Dave, one of Chase's friends, came up to us and dragged Chase away. Talking to him about some sport and while Chase wasn't looking, he looked back at me and winked. I sighed and went inside the school. Dave has been acting weird around me lately. He winks at me, he calls me babe every time he comes over and he leaves notes in my locker. Notes that contain Haikus about me. It was weird, considering the fact he used to call me a bitch and ignore me in class. Ashley, Chase's slutty girlfriend, told me that Dave liked me. Yeah right. As if I would ever believe that lie. It was probably one of those pranks that they usually pull on losers like me.

I'm a loser. My twin brother was popular. Everybody didn't like me. Everybody LOVED Chase. I didn't even have friends. They can't believe that Chase and I were twins. The teacher cleared her throat and I snapped back into reality. I found myself standing at the door with everyone looking at me. I blushed and rushed to my seat.

"As I was saying, Cassius used flattery as a way to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy against Caesar." Ms. Chugani continued on talking about Julius Caesar. Apparently, it was our Shakespeare play for the new term. Great, just perfect. I have to memorize the funeral orations if I wanted to get a good grade this term. I zoned out and started thinking about life on the road.

One thing you should know about me is that I'm an avid music fan. Music was my lover, I guess you could put it that way. It's what makes everything less painful. I'm quoting from John O'Callaghan, but whatever. I totally get what he meant. I may be an avid music fan, but I'm more into alternative pop and rock. I'm not really into artists like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Rihanna. I mean, they're good and all, it's just that I wasn't really impressed by their music. I'm a fan of bands whose songs were written by themselves. Bands like All Time Low, The Maine, A Rocket to the Moon, Jack's Mannequin and We the Kings. Chase's a fan too. It was one of the many things we shared in common.

Speaking of Chase, he came rushing in the door with a piece of paper in his hand. I looked at him, raising my eyebrows and wondered what he was doing. He handed the paper to Ms. Chugani who was smiling at him. As his back was facing the class, the girls in front of me started whispering and giggling. Occasionally sneaking glances at Chase. I rolled my eyes and sighed. They were fawning over him. On second thought, every girl in my class was either giggling or flipping their hair or both. Eventually, Chase turned around and smiled at me.

"Emily? You're excused from class. Now go, before I change my mind and make you stay here." Ms. Chugani looked up from the paper and smiled at me. I stood up and got my things. I walked up to Chase and Ms. Chugani and looked at them.

"Good luck!" Ms. Chugani whispered as she knew I was in hearing distance already. She handed Chase the paper and motioned for Chase and I to go. Chase pulled me out of the classroom and ran out in the hallway.

"Chase, you're gonna cut my arm off. What the hell's going on?" I laughed and pulled him to a stop.

He turned around with a big smile on his face. "Do you really wanna know?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, you dragged me out of class without worrying Ms. Chugani so of course I wanna know WHY you pulled me out." I said in a strained voice. I was trying hard not to laugh with all the faces he was making. He looked proud, happy, smug, scared and excited at the same time. I didn't know what was going on through his head.

"Alright. I got these out of the mail today. It was addressed to us so I opened them. They're from Vans." He said this in a rush, holding up two hastily opened white envelopes.

"What did they want?" I asked, trying to get a hold of one of the envelopes.

He hid them behind him and tried to get my attention once again. "They want us to go to Warped."

"Uh… You're kidding me, right?" I looked at him with a doubtful face.

"I'm not. They offered to pay for our tickets and everything else that we need on Warped. All the food, transpo, shelter. They'll pay for everything as long as we agree to go."

"Oh shut up, Chase. Stop shitting me." I laughed at him.

"But I'm not joking! Here, read this. Then you'll believe me." He gave me one of the envelopes with my name on it. Sure enough, I could see the Vans logo on the top left corner.

I sighed and took out the paper inside. I narrowed my eyes at him and looked down at the paper:

Dear Ms. Emily De Veyra,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as one of our delegates for the upcoming Vans Warped Tour 2011. We received your application form and have been impressed by your skills.

You shall represent Vans and will be assigned to a band throughout the whole tour. It's your job/chance to get to know the band and experience what it feels like working backstage. All expenses will be covered by the company therefore you will need not to spend any money (except for personal necessities).

Attached is your plane ticket and the guidelines you need to follow once you arrive at LAX. We're looking forward to see you on tour!

-Vans

I had to read everything 2 times. This was… well, unexpected. I did remember sending in an application with Chase. We didn't really take it seriously. But here we are now, holding letters saying that we were chosen to represent Vans on tour. I looked up at Chase and asked him if he did get one too. He just nodded and hugged me tightly. I hugged him and tears started spilling out of my eyes. We must've looked weird, just standing in the middle of an empty hallway, crying and hugging each other tightly.

I pulled back and smiled at him. I couldn't believe it. We were going to Warped! The biggest and most awesome tour in the entire world. I would see all my favorite bands together. And to experience all that with my brother. I guess you can call us lucky.

Speaking of my brother, I remembered my mom. My smile dissolved and Chase noticed. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern coloring his tone.

"How are we going to tell Mom?" I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands.

"Hey, hey. Don't worry. I already called her. She seemed confused and worried at first but she eventually calmed down. She told me to get you and we'll meet her at the parking lot in…" He glanced down his watch and finished his sentence. "Scratch that. We have to go now."

"I can't believe Mom just told us to skip class." I sighed and shook my head.

"Em, will you relax? It's just one day. Besides, it was Mom who said that we should skip class today. So chill, will you?" He laughed and led me to the parking lot.

"Just one day? We're going to the US tomorrow and we won't be in school for the next 3 months!" I hung my head and we waited silently for our Mom.

After a while, Chase whispered "Well yeah. But it'd be the best 3 months of our lives."

I chuckled and Mom pulled up in front of us. We hopped in and we headed back home.

THE NEXT DAY

"Shit, Em. I'm freaking out. I can't believe we're here already! Warped here we come! I wonder who'll pick us up. Oh my God! Do you think it'll be one of the band dudes? God, I hope so. I wanna meet John Oh." Chase wouldn't stop talking. This is what happens when you let him drink 4 bottles of Red Bull. I sighed and turned to look at him.

"Will you just shut up, Chase? You're freaking me out too. I'm just gonna call the manager and ask him. Go sit over there and relax." I pushed him towards a bench beside the entrance. He gladly walked towards the bench, bringing our luggage with him.

I turned around and started walking towards the taxi stand. I pulled out the phone that Mom gave me and quickly called on the manager. I looked around while waiting for him to pick up. We were in LAX and the manager told us that someone would be picking us up and bring us to the hotel that we would staying for the next 2 days.

"Hello?" A deep voice filled the sound piece.

"Oh hi! It's Emily De Veyra. I'm just calling in to ask who'll be picking us up." I said in a rush.

"Oh right! I totally forgot that your flight's today. My apologies. Don't worry. I'll get someone to pick you up in 15 minutes. Just hang in there. I'll see you at the hotel." He laughed and explained.

"Alright! We'll be waiting by the taxi stand. Bye." I hung up and walked my way towards Chase. He seemed pretty hyper still. I sighed and sat down beside him.

"Someone's coming already. But you'd better shut up for the next 15 minutes because I'm having a huge headache right now." I glared at him.

"Alright. I promise. I love you Em!" He hugged me so tight that I couldn't breathe. He eventually let go of me and took out his phone. I looked at the screen and I saw that he was tweeting. Thank God, I wasn't following him. Otherwise, my timeline would be full of his annoying tweets. I swear, that guy could tweet 30 times in a minute. He's fast at typing and basically has lots to say. But no matter how crazy he is, I love him.

Fifteen minutes passed and I saw a car pull up. It had Vans stickers all over it so I figured it was our ride. I looked back at Chase and realized that he hasn't said a single word since I threatened him. That's weird. He never listens to what I say. Maybe something upset him. I shook my head and stood up. He realized that it was time to go so he kept his phone and we both started walking towards the car.

A guy went out the driver's side and stretched. I couldn't really see his face since it was dark already. Before we reached the car, my phone rang. I stopped walking and looked at the screen. Mom was calling. I looked at Chase and told him to go ahead and that I needed to answer. He nodded and went to the car. I turned around started pacing.

A few minutes of trying to get rid of Mom, I finally shut my phone and put it in my pocket. I turned around and bumped into someone.

The person held my arms to avoid both of us from falling. "I am so sorry. I didn't look —" I stopped mid-sentence just to see THE Alex Gaskarth looking down at me.

"Hey. it's alright. I was the one who bumped into you. Your brother's kind of in a hurry to go to the hotel and I have strict orders that I should bring you guys straight to the hotel in 30 minutes." He laughed his amazing laugh.

I had my mouth open and I probably looked like an idiot just staring at him. I blinked, trying to regain composure. "Uhm. Yeah. Right. Let's go. So you're our driver?"

"I guess you can call me that." He winked at me and grabbed my hand and started leading me towards the car.

Chase was right. This could be the best 3 months of our lives.

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I didn't post this last night. I was really busy and I didn't have time. I'll TRY to post the next chapter tomorrow night. :D

Reviews are always welcome.

-Katrina