I was sitting on our tour bus couch, all by my lonesome, eating nachos, and trying not to hack my brains out for I had developed a case of the freakin' coughs, of all things! I had been nonstop coughing for two days and the band was out getting me cough medication so I could sing properly. Sandra came in and sat down next to me as I let out another racking cough.
"You okay?" She asked worriedly. I nodded and waved my hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few coughs. Nothing to worry about. So, what brings this well needed visit?" I asked, dipping another chip in delicious cheese and sticking the whole thing in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed half of it.
"I just asked a girl on our third date and I want you and Andy to come with us!" She said in one breath, as if I might pass out if she didn't say it fast enough. I didn't pass out, but I did start choking on the other half of my chip. A double date? She looked on worriedly as I took a swallow of the Dr. Pepper that was sitting on the table.
"A double date? Since when are you one for double dating?" I asked incredulously, recovering from a nacho induced hacking fit and starting another one due to my coughing sickness. The band walked in, carrying a pharmaceutical bag, so I rushed over and pulled out coughing medicine and cough drops. I unwrapped like three, popped them in my mouth, and sucked on all of them at the same time. I went back to the couch, followed by the band.
"Well, I really like her so I don't want to mess up, so I figure that the best way to do it is to have someone that I trust there to stop me if I'm being an idiot." She said, shrugging. The guys looking on in confusion, so I shot them a look that said 'I'll tell you later.'
"Well, I've never been on a double date before, so I would love to go. I'll talk to Andy about it, but-" The door opened again and Andy stalked in, immediately capturing everybody's attention.
"Talk to Andy about what?" He asked curiously, sitting down on my lap. You see, normally that situation was the other way around, and Andy is a freakin' giant so that wasn't the most comfortable position in the world.
"Do you ever knock?" Ronnie asked, observing the scene with great interest. I shot her a dirty look before pushing Andy off of me, pulling him up, sitting him on the couch, and sitting myself on his lap. Much better.
"No, I don't believe that I do. Talk to Andy about what?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me. I twisted around so that I was facing him.
"Sandra asked someone on a date and to make sure that she isn't a bigger idiot than she normally is, she invited us to go with them." I said, giving him my best puppy dog eyes.
"Yep- wait, what?" Sandra said, confused.
"I don't know..." Andy said hesitantly. I pushed my lower lip out farther and made my eyes wider. "Tidaaaaaal." He complained. I put my face closer to his.
"Pwetty pwease. For me?" I begged and when he still wouldn't succumb, I pulled out the big guns. I relaxed my face and pressed my lips softly to his. "Please?" I mumbled. He brought his hands up to my face but I pulled away.
"Hey!" He exclaimed indignantly. Everybody laughed. Except for Andy, of course.
"Come on! This is Sandra we're talking about! I only want her to be as happy as we are! Plus, if you don't go, no more kisses for you until Warped Tour." I said, poking him in the chest. He pouted, but, believe it or not, I'm a lot more stubborn and hard headed than he is.
"Fine. I guess we'll go." He sighed.
"Thanks, Andy! You're the best!" I yelled, grabbed his face, and smashed my lips very hard against his for several seconds. He was very surprised. When I pulled away, he had that expression on his face that he gets when he's had too much whiskey. Truthfully, I was feeling the same way.
"Well, there you go! When's the date?" I asked Sandra. She looked sheepish for a moment. Then, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Sandra yelled. A girl about our age with dirty blonde hair, green eyes, and wearing a pink argyle sweater walked in. Not necessarily the kind of girl you would expect to be hanging around there.
"Hi, are you lost or something?" Kailee asked, assuming the girl wasn't supposed to be there. Sandra stood up, walked to stand beside her, and wrapped her arm around her argyle clad shoulders.
"Jane, this is Tidal, Andy, Kailee, Ronnie, and Morana. Guys, this is Jane. She's my date." She said, a little nervously. All of our mouths dropped open. I started another coughing fit and Andy started rubbing my back. Luckily, I could pass it off as my sickness.
"It's nice to meet you guys." She said, staring at me weirdly. Mor unwrapped a cough drop and shoved it in my mouth. Thirty seconds later, I was fine and took some cough medicine.
"I'm good. So, where are we going?" I asked, wiping my mouth and taking a bunch of cough drops and shoving them into my backpack pocket.
"I was thinking that we go to see Scream 4." Sandra said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Andy and I agreed enthusiastically.
"Ugh, no, I hate horror movies." Jane said, scrunching her face up. All of our faces fell slightly as Ronnie went back to her bunk and Kailee and Mor pulled out their guitars.
"Um, that's fine. I guess we can go do something else." Sandra said, slightly disappointed. I stood up and headed back to the bathroom.
"While you guys figure out what we're gonna do, I gotta go and change." I said. I had just woken up an hour previously so I was still in sweats and a t-shirt.
"Why? You look beautiful!" Andy said, trying to pull me back by my hand.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go out in my pajamas!" I exclaimed, really heading back and rifling through my bag.
I pulled out a sleeveless BVB shirt with only their eyes showing, black and gray skinny jeans, and one black and read, leopard print, feather earring. I could never get earrings in unless I was looking in a mirror. Anyways, I went back to the bathroom and got ready, then headed back to my bunk to pick out my other accessories. I got a bunch of black and white rubber bracelets, put them on my left arm, a multicolored studded bracelet and put it on my other arm, and a key necklace that I got from Sierra's new collection at Payless. I got a ring with a camera on it and a stacked ring that's too detailed to get into. I walked back into the living area where everyone was waiting.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you look without makeup on?" Andy asked, coming up and putting his arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pecked him on the nose.
"I believe you have. Thanks anyways. You like my shirt?" I asked, getting off of my toes to look for my shoes.
"I love your shirt. You like mine?" He was, indeed, wearing an MPOH shirt. It just had a picture of us on it with My Pain Of Heart at the top and Seven Nation Army at the bottom.
"I love your shirt. Where are my freakin' shoes?" I asked, exasperated. Kailee threw a black boot with studded wrappings around it and then threw the matching one at me.
"I stole them because they're amazingly awesome. For some reason, you always get the best shoes." She said innocently.
"Well, thanks, I guess." I said with just the teeniest bit of sarcasm and started putting them on.
"Is it just me or does she wear too much jewelry?" I could've sworn I heard someone whisper, but I was probably mistaken. Then I heard the distinct voice of Sandra saying, "No, I've seen people wear more than her." I looked up at Jane and Sandra, but they were just standing there innocently.
"Well, I'm ready to go." I said, standing up, grabbing my bag, and heading off of the tour bus with them.
"We're going to eat Italian." Andy said, leaning down to my height. Sandra and Jane were walking ahead of us, listening to who I presume to be Sandra's iPod because she was holding it. I pulled out my own iPod and held out one earphone to him. He took it and I turned on Children Surrender. When it started playing, he started laughing.
Four songs, two arguments over songs(Sandra and Jane), and seven kisses on the head from Andy later, we arrived at Olive Garden. I swear, I grew up on this place. I put my iPod in my back pocket and Sandra did the same.
"Table for four," Sandra stated matter of fact like. The hostess took four menus from the slot on the side of her podium and led us to a table somewhat in the back. We sat down, corresponding couples and such.
"So, Jane, what do you do for a living?" I asked, wanting to get to know her a little better if she was gonna be around more often.
"I'm going to college to be a lawyer, but for right now I'm working in a bookstore." She said shortly. She didn't say anything after either.
"Don't you wanna know what they do?" Sandra asked, looking over the menu. I already knew what I wanted. Fettuccine Alfredo. Jane grimaced but looked at us anyways, a mix of emotions on her face.
"What do you two do?" She asked, looking as if she had just swallowed a whole gallon of sour milk. I plastered a fake smile on my face though, for Sandra's sake.
"Well, I'm the lead singer of this band called Black Veil Brides and she's the lead singer of this band called My Pain Of Heart." Andy said proudly, putting his arm around my shoulder.
"So that's what's on your shirts?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah..." I said, trailing the yeah questioningly. I expected her to say more but didn't. Just then, another overly perky waitress came over to take our drink orders.
"Dr. Pepper please." I said. Andy ordered Coke, Sandra ordered Sprite, and Jane ordered water.
"Are you all ready to order?" She asked, staring at Andy suggestively. He just ignored her, but I grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers, just to get the point across better. Her overly perky decorum faded a little but came back twice as bright.
"I think so. I'll have the Chicken Alfredo." Andy started off. Sandra continued with the Shrimp Primavera, I continued with my Fettuccine, and Jane left off with a salad. Again, I could've sworn that she called us fat under her breath, but I didn't say anything. The waitress left us in awkward silence until she came back with our bread sticks.
"So, what do you like to do?" I asked, again, in an effort to make friends with her. She nibbled on a bread stick.
"I like reading." She said coldly. Andy and I noticed but Sandra didn't seem to.
"Do you like music?" Andy asked. You see, to us musicians, this is a very important question. Like, life or death important question, only not quite as dramatic.
"Yeah, and before you ask, I don't like rock." Andy and I squeezed our hands tighter, but Sandra was either just being oblivious or just blatantly refused to hear what was coming out of her girlfriend's mouth.
"Okay, well, that's fine. We don't all like the same thing. What kinds of books do you like reading?" I asked as Andy made little circles with his thumb on the back of my hand.
"I like Stephen King." Again, short. This whole time, I was wondering where Sandra was.
"We love Stephen King. We just started reading Pet Semetary together. Have you ever read it?" Andy asked, smiling a little bit.
"Yeah, I have." I stood up.
"Hey, Jane, will you come talk to me for a minute?" I asked, placing my hands on the table. She stood up too, nodded shortly, and followed me to the bathroom. I leaned on the sinks, facing her.
"What is your problem? I have tried to make friends with you, but you won't talk to me! It's pretty obvious that you don't like me, but can we pretend to like each other for Sandra's sake?" I asked, gesturing out the door.
"No, I can't pretend to like you. I've made that perfectly clear. I don't want to make friends with a bunch of emo freaks." She said, getting all up in my face. She was a good four inches taller than me, but I could guarantee you that I could kick her butt.
"You know, in case you haven't noticed, Sandra is exactly like us." I said, standing up straight, crossing my arms, and looking her straight in the eye.
"Yeah, well, Sandra is awesome and you're not." She said, trying to stare me down.
"You don't even know me. Well, obviously, I care about Sandra more than you do, because I'm going to pretend to be nice to you for her sake. Because, she's one of my best friends. I advise you do the same." I pushed past her and headed back to our table. She didn't follow.
"So, what did you two talk about?" Sandra asked, chewing off the end of a bread stick; she smiled, so I smiled back.
"Nothing much, but now I need to talk to Andy." He frantically sipped at his Coke as I pulled on his arm and pulled him out of his seat. I took him into the bar area and sat down at one of the unoccupied areas.
"Okay, so what happened? Did she hurt you?" Wow, Andy, way to jump to conclusions.
"No, she didn't hurt me. I'm pretty sure that if it came down to that, I could take her. It's what she said." I told him everything that had happened and by the time I had finished, his jaw was practically on the floor.
"Well, do we tell Sandra or what?" He asked, holding both of my small hands in his larger ones. I kept my focus on them as I thought.
"No, I don't think we should. She really likes Jane and I don't want to be the one to ruin that for her." I said and Andy sighed.
"Exactly how many dates have they been and how long have we been here?" Andy asked. I thought back to our previous conversation.
"They've been on three dates and and we've been here for three days. We don't have to leave for another week." I said. It was true. We were taking a break from the tour. It was actually just a messed up schedule that we had.
"Well, it's not like Sandra is going to invite her on the tour with us. Besides, Sandra doesn't even have her own tour bus to invite her onto. So, we'll leave and they'll most likely never see each other again. That's a good thing, right?" He asked, his eyes probing my face. I sighed and nodded.
We got up and walked back to our table where there was now food waiting for us. Sandra and Jane had already started eating, so we sat down and ate ours. We ate in such awkward silence that I could have sworn that I could've cut it with my knife if I had wanted to. I had other reasons for using it though and I didn't want to get awkward tension on it while I was using it to eat my creamy noodles.
We finally left after what seemed like an eternity and somehow, we let Sandra talk us into taking a walk in the park. When we finally arrived, Sandra and Jane went off on their own to the pretty much empty playground while Andy and I went to a nearby stand thing-a-ma-jig to get some after lunch ice cream.
"Two vanilla ice cream cones please." Andy said, letting go of my hand to get his wallet out. I had learned to stop trying to pay for stuff with Andy around because when it came to stuff like that he was 'chivalrous'. And, they said that chivalry was dead. Whoever they is.
He handed one of the cones to me and took my hand in the hand that didn't have his ice cream cone. We randomly wandered around, pointing at random things that seemed interesting.
"Doesn't this bring back memories?" I asked dramatically, leaning into his side. He chuckled and licked his ice cream.
"Yes, indeed it does. I'm not going to shove my ice cream into your face this time though. You look too pretty." He said, smiling down at me. I blushed and licked my ice cream cone again.
"No! I don't want to talk about them! And, you know what, Sandra? If you want to go out with me, you need to get some new friends, because they're freaks!" We heard from the playground. We looked over to see Sandra sitting on the swings, looking up at a standing Jane. We rushed over, dropping our ice cream in the process.
"What are you saying?" Sandra asked, like she hadn't seen this coming. She might not have.
"I'm saying that it's me or you friends! Choose." Jane said, crossing her arms. How dramatic...
Sandra looked from us to Jane. Finally, she stood up and walked over to Jane. Andy's and my mouth dropped open. However, Sandra started cussing Jane out! I don't use that kind of language, so I'm not going to say what she said.
"Goodbye, Jane. Have a nice life." She said bitterly and walked back over to me and Andy, right in between us, grabbed our arms, and pulled us along. We didn't stop until we got to a bench a couple of yards away. She pulled us down with her and crossed her arms.
"Are you okay?" Andy asked worriedly. She had a sour expression on her face, and I didn't blame her.
"Hey, I'm sorry for interrupting and stuff, but I heard what happened and I am so sorry! Anybody who treats their boy or girlfriend like that doesn't deserve them." A random girl said, coming up to us. She had black hair, paling skin, and brown eyes. She wasn't that much taller than me. She was also wearing a Blood On The Dance Floor shirt.
"Thanks, I don't know what I ever saw in her." Sandra said, sighing dramatically.
"I hope I don't come across as fan girlish or whatever, but I'm a huge fan of all of your bands, so could I get some autographs?" She asked, holding out a pen and a piece of paper. Andy took it. "My name is Cynthia, but my friends call me Cyn." We all signed the piece of paper.
"We're going to go and get more ice cream." I said, and Andy nodded in agreement. When we came back, Sandra and Cyn were in deep conversation, so we decided to leave them alone. We went to another bench not too far from theirs and sat down.
"Well, this has been quite an eventful day." Andy said, licking his ice cream. I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"I quite agree. Next time we go on a double date, it's with a couple that we know very well. Got it?" I said as he nodded in agreement. I looked back over to Sandra and Cyn to see them laughing really hard. I was kinda hoping that Sandra asked this girl out because she seemed really nice.