I woke up to a wet feeling on my nose. I lifted my hand up to push Muchacho aside, but grabbed hold of a wrist. My eyes burst open and I stared into an upside down, smiling face. I laughed.
"Just watch! One day, you'll do that and I'll pull your arm and you'll fall out of your bunk and flat on your back!" I warned Howie. I laughed and took the washcloth away from my face. "What time is it anyways?"
"12:33. Amanda's in the front room, reading. Brian, Nick, and Kevin are still asleep. I think AJ's watching TV in the back room," Howie told me.
"Did you just wake up?" I wanted to know.
"Yeah. About ten minutes ago." I sat up and gently kissed D, got situated indian style and hunched over. Suddenly, Muchacho lept into my lap. He turned around and licked Howie's eyes, then turned around a few times before making himself comfortable on my legs. I stroked my doggie's back a few times. Howie jumped down from his bed and walked to the bathroom to throw the washcloth in it. The loud sound of his feet hitting the floor made Brian jump. He opened the curtains and looked out, his eyes squinting from the light and his extreme tiredness.
"Good morning Brock," I greeted him, smiling. Brian smiled sleepily and crawled out of the bunk to find Manda. I noticed that Muchie was asleep, so I set him aside and grabbed my brush from the drawer beneath me. I took my hair out of the ponytail, brushed it, then put the holder back in. (I did that every morning!) Then, I got up and walked out to the back of the bus, where I found AJ watching Looney Tunes.
"Mind if I join you?" I asked him. J jumped and looked up at me. He grinned and patted a spot beside him on the couch. I mosied over and plopped down beside my best friend.
"Just watchin' some cartoon to wake myself a little bit," Bone told me. I yawned and laid my head on his shoulder, then rubbed some sleep out of my eye, staring up at the TV screen. It was a Road Runner/Wile. E. Coyote one. Not one of my favorite ones. He swung his arm gently across my shoulders.
"How long were you up last night?" I wanted to know.
"Uh...Howie and I went to bed at about 2:00 or so. We left Nick up and he didn't get to bed till early early this morning. I don't know what the deal is with him," J explained.
"Well what did you say to him?" I perked up.
"Oh we just told him about how he seems to like Lisa and how Amy is started to get really worried bout him and stuff."
"Hoh boy," I sighed.
"Well, he's gunna have ta figure out sooner or later. You know that."
"Yeah I know. Poor boy. We oughta let him sleep as long as he can today. We're not doing anything today are we?"
"Well, considering the day's already half over with...." D walked in. He sat down beside me and AJ quickly let down his arm, allowing Howie to give me a hug. "I checked the calendar and we're just traveling through today." I nodded my head. Traveling always got tiresome, but it was fun when we all had something to do. Having each other was really comforting. I transferred my head to D's shoulder and sighed again.
"What channel is this anyways," I wanted to know.
"Uhhh...Nickelodeon," AJ answered me. " 'Member all the good times we had with good ol' Nick?"
"Ni ni ni ni ninininick...Nickelodeon!" Howie sang. I laughed. The two had basically gotten their big breaks and met each other through Nickelodeon.
AJ was the first of the boys that I actually met. D had brought him down to his house when he was about 16 and J was 11. I was 8 and thought AJ was the coolest, funniest person I had ever met. Of course, I never saw him again for four years, until the band formed. Then I was like 'hey! I know you!' That easily made him one of my tightest friends. When I was 14, I had the biggest crush on AJ. That was around the time he got incredibly cute and grew up a lot. His voice had changed, he was older looking, and he was more the person he is now. Then there was the fact that he was the sweetest guy (next to D) that I happened to know. So, for about a year and a half, I was absolutely infatuated with Bone. At about that time, I gave him the nickname of J because I wanted to catch his attention. It was probably one of the dumbest things I ever did. But the name just stuck to him and became my own personal pet name for him. Meanwhile, I thought Nick was in love with me. I never found out if he was, but I came to seriously doubt it after awhile. It was not only silly, it was pointless to think that he really did like me.
"Hey J. Hand me the remote will you?" I asked. AJ gave me a look with his eyebrow arched. "Please?" He handed it to me and I began to flip through the channels until I found a movie.
"Breakfast Club? Steph, haven't you seen this movie, like, 9 million times already?" Bone complained.
"Yeah, but oh well! There's nothing else on anyways J!" Just then, a shadow overcame us. It was The Mighty Nicky. He rubbed his neck as if there was a crick in it, then yawned. His hair was a mess, but we were so used to seeing it look like that. He usually just stuck a cap on his head because he didn't want to brush his hair. Nick's eyes were a little swollen underneath, showing that he had spent the night crying. I got up and wrapped my arms around him.
"Nicky are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah I guess. Just really tired. I'm gunna go to the bathroom okay?" Nick told me. I let go of him and sat back on the couch. Then, I sharply turned my head to AJ and Howie.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO THAT BOY?!?!" I demanded, angrily.
"Sheesh! Chill Gill! We just said that we think he acted too much like he liked Lisa more and more. And Amy less and less," AJ explained. The stern look on my face relaxed a little. I shook my head.
"You guys really oughta stay out of his business. I know you mean well, but it's screwing him up," I exclaimed. "I'm gunna go get something to eat. Want a peanut butter sandwich guys?"
"Yeah sure," AJ answered. I looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Please?" I smiled and laughed. A few minutes later, I came back with our sandwiches and a can of Pringles. They were still watching The Breakfast Club.
"Hun, we're sorry about what we said to Nick," Howie apologized.
"Fine. I forgive you. But I'm not the one you should be apologzing to," I said, pointing my thumb back to where Nick was in the front of the bus.
In the front of the bus, Brian and Amanda were playing with Tyk. An all too familiar scene from last year, only this time it was with someone different. Kevin was listening to Billy Joel and writing something. Nick had walked out and sat next to Kevin and grabbed a newspaper the bus driver had brought in. Still a little restless, he got up and walked back to the back of the bus, followed closely by Muchacho. Nick came and sat on the ground by me. Chachi bounded into his lap cheerfully. Nicky smiled.
"Did you know you look exactly like that dog from Road Rules?" he asked my doggie.
"Actually, Howie wanted to name him Menudo, but I said that wouldn't be a good idea because everyone would think I really did have the dog from the Road Rules," I informed Nick. He continued to pet Chache, grabbing a few Pringles every now and then as he watched the movie with us. Before long, Kevin was in the back as well. We finished watching the movie and Nick plugged in the old Nintendo to play. By then, we had stopped for about a half hour because one of the five buses was lagging behind and needed to catch up.
"Hey Gilli. Wanna go over to the other bus and do the whole chick flick thing?" Amanda wanted to know. "I got Ever After over there."
"Sure! That'd be great. Lemme grab my hat and sunglasses and we'll get goin', okay? We should take Chachi with us. I think he's ready for a different environment for awhile," I cried. I missed hanging out with girls. Last year I spent a lot of time with them because I got so sick of living a life with five guys. They almost drove me insane a few times. I gathered my hat and my dog, said bye to the guys, and Manda and I left.
Outside, it was sweltering. We were in Pennsylvania, on the way to Hershey. The guys wanted to go to the Hershey Plant to check it out because none of us had ever been. The road we were on was a deserted back one, surrounded by fields. Two other buses were parked behind ours: the dancers. Just as Amanda and I made our trek to the female dancer bus, we noticed the five male dancers climbing out of their bus.
"Gunna go do something with the boys?" Manda called to them. An over excited Chachi lept from my arms and ran at lightning speed towards Swoop. "Look at that dog go. You shoulda named him Streaker!" I laughed at her comment.
"Yeah. We're gunna do the Star Wars thing. Emu brought all three movies so we're gunna have a marathon," Reggie explained while Swoop scooped my chihuahua up with his large hand.
"Geez! Maybe you guys should take sleeping bags! You won't be done till, like, midnight!" I cried. Reggie and Ro Ro laughed. Emo bounded out of the bus last, carrying the case of the trilogy, smiling. He had his favorite baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
"Seriously Emo. I don't think anyone is going to recognize you," I teased him. He made a snooty face at me, making me laugh. I glared at him over my sunglasses (picked up that habit from the wonderful Alexander James). Swoop walked over and handed my dog to me, then continued to walk by, leading the rest of them to the place we had just left. Amanda and I continued our two-bus-long trek at a slow pace.
"I'm so nervous about meeting Brian's parents! Do you think they'll like me?" she wanted to know.
"Of course they'll like you! Who wouldn't??" I smiled at my best friend. "That whole family is just like Brian is--kind, generous, sweet, and absolutely hilarious! H-Dawg's pretty good looking too. I'd watch out if I were you. You might fall for him!" Manda laughed.
"Naaahhh...don't think I stand a chance at that happening!" she declared.
"We never let the dancers hang out with Harry too much because they all think he's so adorable and drop dead gorgeous," I explained.
"Guess that family is just full of lookers, eh?"
"TOTALLY!! They're all so nice looking. If Brian had a sister, she'd probably be beautiful, look just like his mom." Manda grinned. We made it to the last bus in the line-up and climbed on. Nef was in the front, talking to the driver.
"Hey girls! We've been waiting for you!" she cried. We both smiled and I let Chachi down.
"See ya later Dave!" Nef called as she led us to the back of the bus, where their TV and VCR was. Tae, Amy, Emily, Kristin, and Niki were already sitting there, watching the previews. The microwave began to beep suddenly, and Kristin jumped up to get the popcorn out. There were sodas packed in a small ice chest in the back room, so we wouldn't have to keep getting up to get another soda if we finished our cans. The Muche had jumped into Tae's lap and was excitedly licking her face, while wagging his tail vigorously. He missed all the girls. Manda found a spot on the couch beside Amy and I got comfortable on a pillow on the ground, next to Tae and Niki. Kristin came back with a huge, fat bowl of popcorn and we began to devour it. Then, Nef reached in a cupboard and found a bag of small assorted chocolates and another of chocolate chips. We had it made.
"Always gotta get a chance to pig out sometime!" Nefertiti declared. We all giggled while Emily grabbed the bags from her and tore them open.
"THEN WHY DON'T WE??" she cried, passing around the now open bags. We each took a handful of everything and settled down to watch the movie.
"And this time, Manda, try not to recite the words or react before the scene actually comes," Kristin teased her.
"Yeah!" Amy added, throwing a piece of popcorn at her. Amanda laughed.
"SORRY!!!" she apologized. We all settled down to watch the movie, remaining as quiet as we could.
"J. You and I are getting these hats. I swear. If we don't, I will be sooooo ticked!" I replied.
"We should send a Hershey Kiss doll to Dani. That way she knows we're still thinking about her," Manda suggested, holding up a silly looking silver thing. Amy grabbed it and took a look at it.
"Naaahhh. This is too small. Let's get her that one," she cried, pointing to a gigantic sized Hershey Kiss.
"Is that even for sale?" Nick wanted to know, looking at the huge stuffed doll. Kevin searched it for a tag until he found one.
"It's $110. But how in the world would we send it to her?" Kevin wanted to know.
"UPS is always a great thing," AJ mumbled, standing next to Em. They had made up completely now. Emily understood the whole ordeal and forgave him because she didn't really understand what was going on and really had no reason to be mad at him.
Kevin and Nick picked the Hershey Kiss up. Suddenly, we heard this "oof!" Everyone shot their wandering eyes back to the big stuffed doll. Kevin was cracking up and Nick's face was beet red.
"Heavy, huh?" Kev jokingly asked. Nicky playfully glared at him. To prove himself worthy, Nick picked the doll up again and lugged it over to the cash register.
"Dang! That thing's taller than you Manda Panda!" Bone pointed out.
"Oh thanks AJ!" Amanda answered back, sarcastically. Everyone laughed. Kevin went up to the cash register and dished out his money to pay for the doll, then carried it in a bag back to all of us. AJ was still looking at the Hershey Kiss hats. I had one on my head. They were the silliest looking hats. They were regular blue baseball caps, but the top looked like a silver Hershey kiss and had a tag hanging out of it. I had one on my head. J just kept looking at me and laughing hysterically. Emily and Amy were checking out the t-shirts, Nef, Tae, and Niki were watching a video on how they made chocolate, the guy dancers and Kristin were on the tour at the factory, Brian and Amanda were looking through all the recipes, and Howie was staring at me and AJ, busting up. It was really early in the morning and they had opened the Hershey plant just for us, but the tour only allowed six people max. at a time.
"AJ, if you don't get that hat, I will be totally disappointed in you," Amanda told him.
"WHY?" J wanted to know.
"AJ! You're, like, the King of Wacky. To not get a hat like this is like committing a sin on your part," I cried.
"Buying it is like committing a sin on anybody's part," Nicky muttered. AJ got extremely hesitant. He looked at the hat, then at me, then at the price tag, then back at my head....he sighed.
"Fine. But where am I going to put it?" he finally agreed.
"Helllooo loser! You'll stick it in my hat room if you don't know where to put it!" I cried.
"Man! Stop buggin me!" he replied. I gave J a hug.
"Okay okay! I'll stop it," I compromised. He and I went up to the cash register and paid for the hats, then walked back to everyone. Howie looked at me. He studied the silver thing on my head.
"I like it?" D said, questioningly. I took it off and playfully hit him.
Just then, Swoop, Ed, Ro Ro, Reggie, Kristin, and Sleepy all walked in. They were all holding candy and talking, with big smiles on their faces. Howie, Manda, Brian, AJ, Emily, and I all took off to go on our tour. The guide was an older man who seemed rather tired.
The place was awesome. First, we walked down a hallway with different pieces of candy in display cases and pictures of the founder of the Hershey Company. Finally, after a long walk, we reached a big glass door. The guide opened it and we found ourselves walking above the factory. My mouth was watering, looking at the Hershey Kisses and chocolate bars being made. The place was completely white and we walked on all levels, down this main walkway. Steps, steps, and more steps. We must've walked a mile, just staring at all the candy and the workers.
"Oompa Loompa Doopadidoo," I said softly to Howie. He turned his head around and busted up.
"I've got a perfect puzzle for you. Oompa Loompa Doopadidee. If you are wise you'll listen to me," D joined me. "What do you get when you guzzle down sweets? Eating as much as an elephant eats. What are you at getting terribly fat? What do you think will come...of...that? I don't like the look of this. Oompa Loompa--"
"Okay okay!" Emily cried. "We get the point you guys!" Howie and I laughed. Just then, the guide turned around and told us to be quiet because we were too loud. We shut up.
We eventually reached the section where the machines were wrapping the candy.
"Somebody get me a chocolate bar before I lose my sanity!" Brian cried out. We all laughed. The six of us and our guide walked out to the main packing area and out a door, where we were given Mr. Goodbars by an employee. Manda, Brock, J, Em, D, and I immediately tore them open and took huge bites.
"There's no golden ticket in here!" AJ exclaimed. Emily rubbed his back.
"Oh it's okay baby. Maybe you'll find one in the candy store, okay?" she cooed. Howie couldn't contain himself...all the reference to his favorite book. The guide took us back to the Hershey store, then whisked Amy, Nick, Tae, Nef, Kevin, and Niki off.
Kevin had the big Hershey Kiss stuck in a garbage bag because it was so big. Mine and AJ's hats were sitting on top of the big heap, which was guarded by Swoop. It was 7:30 in the morning, and the plant would officially open in an hour. We were due to hit the road at around nine, so we could book it out of Hershey, PA and continue our trip down to Kentucky.
"Hey babe, which shirt should I get?" Amanda asked Brian. He walked over to the display she was standing by and looked at the selection. He grabbed a gray shirt and held it up. The shirt said "UNSWEETENED" in big letters, then "it just comes natural" in smaller letters beneath it. She laughed and lightly hit her boyfriend's arm.
"Maybe we should get this for Kevin. I heard he likes his microwaved cats with chocolate!" Reggie called, holding up a large can full of chocolate syrup. Sleepy, Ro Ro, Swoop, Howie, Emo, Brian, AJ, Kristin, Emily, and I all cracked up. Amanda looked a little bewildered.
"The people who hate us started this on-going joke that Kevin microwaves cats and eats them," Howie explained to her. She looked a little more than grossed out. Kevin jokingly licked his lips. Manda grimaced.
Ten minutes later, the rest of the crew came back, we finished buying everything and taking pictures (for Dani), and left.
Back in the bus, we were all trying to accommodate the big Kiss. That thing took up a lot of space, something we didn't have. Once we had it stashed away, the dogs fell asleep on it. The way the boys had planned the tour, we were to play New York, Boston, W VA, then drive straight into Lexington and stay a weekend. From good ol' Kentucky, we'd go through Knoxville, then Atlanta. Finally, we'd make it down to Florida and do a few concerts before heading west.
"Nicky you playin right now?" I called through the bus. AJ, Kevin, Manda, and I were sitting in the front, listening to music. Howie was reading in his bunk while Brian was asleep in his.
"No. Just sittin back here chillin'. Why? Do you wanna use the Nintendo?" Nick answered back.
"Yeah," I replied, making my way to the back of the bus. By the time I had reached the back room, Nick had the Nintendo all set up and ready for me to play. He had three different kinds of Nintendo on the bus: his Sega, his N64, and his original, first Nintendo set. I opened a cabinet and got out the gun and Mario 1.
"Duck Hunt..." Nick mumbled to himself. "Just keep the sound down. Those duck calls get so incredibly annoying after you've shot about 50 of them." I turned the volume down and plugged everything up. Then, I began. Duck Hunt was always my favorite game. The one thing I was actually good at. Despite the fact that I had a superb Nintendo player to tutor me, I still sucked, no matter how hard I tried. I hadn't begun playing until I was thirteen, and I never improved.
Soon, Amanda had joined us in the back of the bus. She grabbed the gun and began to play when I had gotten tired of trying to shoot ducks. I left the room and walked up to the front to find Brian and AJ playing cards and Kevin with headsets on. Howie was asleep in his bunk now. I sat down on the ground and grabbed my chihuahua. Poor Chachi must've been tired because he instantly jumped out of my lap and staggered over to Howie's bed and jumped through the curtains.
"That dog has a real attitude problem!" I muttered. AJ looked up at me.
"I just don't think he likes you anymore G," Bone pointed out, bringing his focus back to his hand of cards.
"Why don't I just give Chachi to Howie and get myself another dog. Chache seems to like D more than he likes me!!" I noted.
"Probably does. Oh well Steph..." Brian sighed. Just then, Howie walked out, holding the little chihuahua in his hand.
"What is this?" he demanded, jokingly.
"Oh that's your dog!" I smiled at D. Howie's eyes widened.
"What??" he cried.
"Well, that dog seems to like you more than he likes me so I guess he's all yours now!" I answered him. "It won't make any difference anyways, he'll be with us throughout the entire tour..." D scratched his forehead. Then, he shrugged and put Muchacho on the ground before retreating back to his bed to finish the reading he was doing.
"Tell me when they get to the part with Violet!" I teased D. Every now and then, the two of us teased each other about reading our favorite books, which happened to be children's books. Mine was Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and Howie's was, of course, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
"I will babe. I know you love that part!" he joked.
Just then, Manda walked back into the front room.
"Hey chick!" AJ joked. Brian kicked him under the table. Amanda grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got herself some water. Then, she found a spot next to Kevin, who was enveloped in the music seeping from his headsets. Manda put her head next to the headsets and smiled. She began to sing to the Elton John song Kev was listening to. He snapped to attention and looked over at her, a little surprised. Then Kevy busted up when Amanda gave him a corny smile and raised her eyebrows.
"Manda, it's been such a joy having you on this bus with us," Kevin told her. "It's like you're just one of the gang, like we've known you as long as we've known Stephy."
"Why thank you, Mr. Body Beautiful!" Manda replied. Kev chuckled again. "I must admit, it's quite a pleasure being on your bus and getting to hang with all the homies!"
"God and you got the humor to fit RIGHT in with the rest..." Kevin mumbled, transferring his thoughts back to the music he was listening to.
"Hey J, ya think Elton John would ever lend you a pair of his sunglasses?" Manda wanted to know, changing the subject.
"Hmmm...I never really thought about it..." AJ answered, right as one of the cell phones rang. I reached over and picked it up, being the closest to it.
"Hey Gilli Gilli Gilli Gilli!" It was Dani!
"DANI DANI DANI DANI!!!" I cried into the phone. Danielle giggled. "Whuz up with ya chick? How's life treatin' you?
"Pretty good I guess. I miss you guys like heck and I can't wait till you come back to the sunshine state next month," Dani said.
"Well, one month. One month. Just spend your time with Panda and Bear and all my movies and CDs. We miss you too. Did you get the package of pictures?" I wanted to know.
"YES! That tattoo is sooo phat Steph! I couldn't believe it! The pictures made me miss all of you and your personalities and jokes more, though. OH! And um, bad news for you. A bunch of fans got hold of your phone number and there have been nonstop calls and messages to get through," Danielle informed me. Rolling my eyes, I sighed.
"GRRRR! Why do they have to do that?! And just when I liked my phone number! Okay. Well, I guess we'll just have to give the phone company a call and have them screen all my calls. What great timing too. Thanks for letting me know, Dani," I told her. I could just imagine her smile. I myself had a big one across my face because I was sooo happy I got to hear from her.
"Where are you right now?"
"We're somewhere in Pennsylvania. On our way to Kentucky. We'll hit KY for a weekend, then start the trek home," I replied.
"I can't wait! Well, listen, I don't want your phone bill to be huge so I should get going. I'll talk to you later ok Gill?" Dani sighed. I could tell she was a little tired. It was around 12 in the afternoon, but she must've worked late last night or something.
"Ok. It was sooo great to hear from you Dani!" I guess I had said that last part really loudly because, just then, Kevin's headsets shot off and he was right beside me, waiting for me to hand him the cell phone.
"Wait Dani! Kevin's right here, begging for the phone. I'll let you talk to him for a bit. And don't worry about the phone bill. I'll make him pay for it if the conversation gets too long!" I said to her.
"Bye Gilli!" I told Dani bye, then handed the phone to Kevin, who walked to the back room, chasing Nick out of it, and shut the door behind him.
About ten minutes later, Kevin came out of the back room with a huge, goofy lookin' smile on his face.
"Hey guys guess what?!" Kevin cried happily.
"What?" Brock answered.
"Dani's gunna fly to Kentucky and meet us at the airport!"