"Hey Manda! Throw me a bottled water!" Brian called as Amanda opened the fridge. She got one out and tossed it to Brock, then got out a thing of orange juice. It would be an hour before we hit her hometown and she couldn't have been more excited. We had just finished two shows in Iowa, then came over here for a concert in Minneapolis and a weekend at the Gages' lake house. Brian was completely hyped about meeting Amanda's parents and we couldn't wait for a little relaxation time as normal people. Coming to a small town and just hanging out like old times was something the boys VERY rarely got the chance to do.
The band and dancers would be staked up at the hotel, where all the girls thought we would be, meanwhile our bus was going to be parked beside the lake, under the shade of many trees.
"I can't wait for you guys to come home and see everything. I wanna take you to the mall too. And we can hang out on the lake and I can introduce you to all my friends and this will be so much fun!" Manda cried excitedly. I sat in my bunk, typing away at my laptop while Howie, Kevin, and Dani all slept. It wasn't really early in the morning, around 11, and Nick was in the bathroom shaving or something.
That something quickly turned into bugging me as Nick came out and walked over to my open curtains.
"What'cha writin' Gilli?" he wanted to know.
"I'm writing in the sci-fi one about the alien abductions," I explained. "She just got information from a TV station and all the transcripts and footage from the news broadcasts have somehow been erased."
"So has Chloë found out any info at all about the abductions or connected them to Joey and Mike's?" he asked, curiously. Nick always was one to stay up to date on my novels.
"No not yet. Everything turns up erased or ruined or something. She keeps getting all these messages from the aliens that she can't decode," I told him. Nick nodded his head in understanding, let his hand slide down Chachi's back, then walked to the front of the bus.
I continued tapping away at my little gray friend as I heard the rhythmic snoring come to an abrupt stop. I stuck my hand through the curtain of the bunk above me and waved at the waking person. A hand grabbed mine and I felt lips kiss it. Howie was up. He let go of my hand and I returned it to the keyboard.
Two legs drooped over my bunk and I watched as D jumped down from his bunk in a pair of boxers and a wrinkled t-shirt.
"Mornin' Dork," I greeted him. Howie lazily smiled at me, then walked out to join the rest in the front of the bus. I quickly closed up my novel and the laptop, then hopped out of my bunk in my pajama bottoms and one of Howie's shirts that I had stolen.
"Oh nice shirt Steph. Where'dja get it?" D jokingly asked me.
"Oh this one? I found it in a pile of junk in one of those drawers," I teased. I walked up to D and wrapped my arms around him in a hug.
"Really Gilli, I think it's about time you stopped growing," Howie stated, slightly tilting his head up to look me in the eyes. I had grown to be an inch taller than him.
"HAHA! I'm taller than you! Never thought it would happen...." I shook my head in disgrace. I let my arms drop and went to get some orange juice. Just as I began pouring the o.j. into a tall glass, we heard a loud thud against the window. I jumped, splashing the juice everywhere. "Oh shit!" I unexpectedly shouted. Brian reached over and opened a curtain and we watched as a tomato slowly slid down the window.
"Oh come on! Isn't it a little early to be having this?!" he cried. He looked on as a bus passed us. "Hey Jeff! Who's bus was that?"
"That's the band's bus, Brian!" the bus driver answered.
"Can we pass them up?!" Nick wanted to know. He wasn't usually a morning person, but exciting things always perked him up.
"Yeah sure Nick. I'm sure we could. Give me a few minutes okay?" Jeff told him.
"OKAY!" Frack replied to the driver, then turned to us. "Okay. Let's find everything we have." The five of us got up from where we were sitting and dodged for the cabinets and fridge. We set everything we could use out on the counter and in the sink, then got ready to pass the bus up. Brian and Nick opened the windows as Howie and I manned the battle stations. Amanda grabbed the video camera so she could tape it. "Okay Jeff! Can you pass them now? We're all ready!" Jeff laughed to himself and began the process of passing the other bus.
I grabbed a few eggs, Howie unpealed a banana, Brian took a few cherry tomatoes, and Nick filled his large hands with plums. A thing of mustard was there, in case we got close enough to them that we could squirt their bus with it. That rarely happened. Most of the time, Nick and I would sneak up on the bus and write a bunch of things with mustard and ketchup all over the band's bus, while we were all inside a hotel. In fact, the two of us were secretly planning to sneak over to the buses one night when we were in Minnesota and completely cover it with things like soap and mustard and ketchup and eggs and toilet paper and things. Basically teepee the bus.
We began to pass the band bus and Nick and I began to throw our eggs and plums. Then we moved a little and Howie chucked the banana at the bus, where it smashed up against a window. Brian threw a few tomatoes as hard as he could and they landed everywhere. Faces began to appear at the windows and soon they were open and we were getting food thrown back at us. All the thudding, banging, and loud laughter must've woken Kevin and Danielle up, because soon they were at our side, watching the event.
"Uh guys, isn't it a little early to be having a food fight?" Kevin asked, startling us. The five of us turned to face where the voice was coming from and an egg came flying by, landing in Nick's hair. We all busted up in laughter as Nicky delicately picked out the egg shells. He looked out the window and saw a guilty looking Louie and pointed at him. Nick shut the window and walked into the bathroom so he could get the egg out of his blonde locks. Almost immediately, Brian opened it again.
"Quick! Dani! Find me anything that's throwable. We're running out of ammo!" he ordered. Danielle went to where the food was located and started digging out anything she could find. The repetitive thuds became less frequent as we sped up.
"Guys I can't stay in this lane much longer!" Jeff informed us. "There are cars coming up!" He sped up and we continued to toss things out the window until we were in front of the bus. Then, the food fight was declared over with when Bubba called and told us.
Nick came out of the bathroom, his hair wet again.
"Look on the bright side, Nicky. Egg is supposed to be good for hair!" I cried cheerfully. Nick chuckled a little, then began to put everything away that wasn't needed anymore. Howie walked to the back of the bus and stuck in the Millennium cd. Something we frequently listened to. The guys were really proud of their work. They really liked listening to their music. They enjoyed it.
"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!! WE WON!!!!!!" Brian shouted out the window. Kevin stuck his hand out of it and raised the roof. Then he brought his arm back in and stuck his head out and gave the other bus this funny face, his eyes wide and his tongue sticking out. The eight of us began to jump around, singing at the top of our lungs to "Larger Than Life." I took a moment to look out the window and laugh some more, but I saw a row of seven fingers, flipping us off. I couldn't believe it.
"Uh guys, they're flipping us off!" I cried. All heads raced to the windows and looked out. We all busted up and shook our heads.
"I can't believe those guys!" Amanda sighed, as she laid back in a chair. I stood in front of her, imitating the boys, for "I Want It That Way" had begun. She looked up at me and cracked a smile, giggling. "YOU. Are good." I laughed a little, then continued to impersonate my buds.
"Hmmm...I am going to call my mom and dad, okay?" I suddenly changed pace. I grabbed a phone and dialed up the number, then climbed into my bunk and shut the curtain.
"Hello?" Mom answered.
"Hey Mom!" I replied cheerfully.
"STEPHANIE! Where are you?" she exclaimed, excitedly.
"We in Minnesota. We'll be hitting California in time for your birthday. What are you doing?" I wanted to know.
"I just got finished unloading the dishwasher and now I'm ironing some shirts. What day are you going to be around?" Mom asked.
"Around Modesto? I think around the 20th of November. Why?"
"Well your dad and his brothers and sisters were all discussing having a family reunion when you got home, so you could see all your relatives. You haven't really met half of your cousins," Mom explained.
"Really?! That would be soo fun! I could bring the guys!" I cried.
"Yeah I'm sure you could. Are they all there?" she wondered.
"Yeah. Hold on," I told Mom, then climbed out of the bunk to the front room. "Say hi to my mom guys!"
"HI MOM!" everyone yelled.
"All there," I replied. "I'm sitting in my bunk right now. The dog is sitting in my lap. Hey where is Dad?"
"He's watching TV right here. Do you want to talk to him?" Mom asked.
"Yeah!" I waited as my mother handed the phone to Dad.
"Hey baby!" my dad exclaimed when he received the phone. "What's this about you and Howie over there. Am I hearing that you have a boyfriend?!"
"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..." I slowly answered.
"Well lemme talk to the boy!" Dad demanded, lightheartedly. I said okay, then covered the receiver as I hollered for D to get the phone.
"Dad wants to talk to you," I said as soon as Howie got to my bunk. Then, picking up my dog, I walked into the front of the bus while D sat in my bunk, talking to my father. Dad had always treated D almost like a son, in the way that Hoke and Paula had treated me like a daughter. "So Manda, when do we hit Ham Lake?"
"In about 20 minutes...I'm so excited!!!!" she exclaimed. I smiled at her. Just then, Howie walked out to the front room, holding the cell phone.
"Your mom and dad say hi to everyone. And Steph, your dad said to stop wearing all of our clothes. He said to tell you that you have to dress like a lady cuz you're nineteen years old," Howie announced. Then he paused before adding, "and I think so too!"
"Heeeeyyy!" I cried, placing my hands on my hips. "I like your shirt! It's comfy to sleep in and it smells like you."
"Well then have it!"
"THANK YOU!" I answered, happily. Then I sniffed the shirt and hugged myself in it. "I just love this shirt." It was an old, somewhat worn purple polo shirt that he hadn't worn in a while.
"But in a few weeks, it won't smell like me. It'll smell like you," D reminded me.
"Yeah and then I'll give it back to you and you can wear it some more," I jokingly replied.
"Oh whatever. Just get dressed!" Howie gave up. I bounded over to my drawer and pulled out some clothes, then snuck into the bathroom to change.
"She is so weird," Dani sighed. Then she added, "but that's why we like her I guess." When I was done getting dressed, I popped out of the bathroom and opened my arms up to show everyone what I was wearing. It was a purple, spaghetti strap tank top, a pair of somewhat short shorts, some sandals, and my hair was up in two small clips on either side of my head. Howie's eyes widened. Everyone else was just as surprised.
"THERE! How is THIS?" I asked. Brian and Kevin's mouths were open, in shock at what I was wearing.
"Gilli is that you?" Brian called. "Where have you been hiding all that stuff?!"
"Gilli you look like a girl now. Whoa. That's a big change for you!" Nick included.
"We went shopping one day while you guys were working on the tour and bought all this stuff. Cute isn't it?" Amanda replied.
"I picked out the shirt! I told her she had to stop buying so many olive green things," Dani announced. The guys all laughed.
"Everything that girl HAS is olive green. And we told her she had to get something that showed more skin. And was tighter. Cuz she always wears baggy stuff. Baggy stuff that looks like mens' clothes." Howie (who was speechless) walked up to me and put his arms around me.
"You look great," he told me. I blushed. I gave him a kiss, then pulled away and walked over to the guys.
"Is it really THAT important that I'm dressed like a girl?" I asked.
"YEAH!" the guys answered.
"We scored!" Amanda cried, reaching over to give Dani a high-five.
"We've always thought of you of as one of the guys, do it's weird to see you dressed like a girl," Kevin explained. I laughed a little. They were crazy.
"Really Kevin? I'm just one of the guys?" I teased him.
"Hey guys guess what! We're almost home!" Amanda changed the subject, abruptly. "We have like ten more minutes till we get there!" Brian embraced his girlfriend. She couldn't have been more excited. As we neared the lake, Amanda began to name out the places as we passed. We all laughed as we listened to her.
A few minutes later, our bus pulled up alongside a well shaded, large house. Amanda, who was sitting by Jeff, jumped out as soon as the engine was shut off and ran towards the front door. An old blue jeep was sitting in the driveway, showing signs of sitting a long while. We all gradually climbed out of the bus and stood around it, admiring the mess the band had made.
"Oh great. Looks like we'll have to take a good scrubbing to this thing today," Kevin pointed out.
"Hey I got an idea. Why don't we just drive it into the lake and out again?" Nick joked.
"Somebody kick that boy in the head, please?" Danielle cried.
"Okay. Nick, you're gunna have to lean down a little bit.I can't kick higher than I am tall," I teased. Nick gave me a sarcastic laugh and we glared at each other. As we stood by the bus, I could tell Brian was getting a little impatient. Antsy. Just then, Amanda came walking back out of the house, two adults following her. They were both taller than her, which Brian found to be incredibly cute. The woman, he assumed this was her mother, had a slight resemblance to Amanda. The man, most likely her father, had a pleasant look about him. Amanda was walking between them, her arms innertwined in theirs. A wide smile was spread across her face as the girl led her parents over to us. We straightened up, attempting to look somewhat presentable, but at the same time draw attention away from our messy bus.
"Hey guys. This is my mom and dad," Amanda introduced us. In unison, the six of us said "hello" and offered smiles. Mr. and Mrs. Gage seemed to find us likable. Then, Amanda walked over to Brian and grabbed his hand.
"And this is Brian. We've been dating for about seven months now." She gave Brian a kiss, showing her parents how serious she was about him. Brian offered his hand and his girlfriend's parents shook it, their own smiles growing larger. They were pleased.
Next, Amanda walked over to the rest of us and continued the introductions. "This is Kevin, Brian's cousin. That's Danielle, Kevin's girlfriend and my best friend. That's Nick and Stephanie. And this is Howie. He's Steph's boyfriend. AJ is with the band, but he might come by. These are basically my group of friends. I'm their publicist, so that's why I'm touring with them." We all took turns shaking the hands of the Gages, then they spoke up.
"Why don't we all go inside? I can get you all something to drink," Mrs. Gage invited us in. We followed her into the house without thinking twice about it.
The house was a nice, roomy one. It had a warm feel about it. We were led to a big living room, where we sat on the couches and chairs. I sat on the ground, making room for everyone else just in case.
"It's really a pleasure to finally meet you. After all Amanda has talked about it and you," Brian spoke up.
"It really is. Our little girl hasn't stopped talking about you for the longest time. I had begun to get really curious as to who this boy was," Mrs. Gage informed our dear Brock. He smiled. There were a few seconds of uncertain silence, so I broke it.
"Um, excuse me for interrupting, but do you have a hose? I was thinking about cleaning the bus before the food begins to get stinky and gross," I blurted out, deciding that Amanda, Brian, and her parents should get some time alone.
"Uh yeah right in the front of the house, in the flower bed. Are you sure you don't want to sit in here for a little while and rest?" Mr. Gage asked.
"Steph? She never rests," Howie told Amanda's dad. They chuckled a little, and I got up, pulling D with me. I nodded for Dani, Kevin, and Nick to follow me. Brian began to get off the chair he was sitting in, but Danielle stopped him. She knew what I had intended.
"Come back inside in about an hour for dinner, if you want!" Mrs. Gage called as we all walked out of the house. There was no explaining to do, so I didn't say anything. We just pulled the water hose over to the bus, where Jeff was sitting in the driver's seat, reading the newspaper. Nick squeezed the nozzle and squirted the front window, startling our poor bus driver. Jeff gave Nicky a glare, then got back to his paper. Dani, Howie, Kevin, and I ran into the bus and grabbed a bunch of rags and a few sponges, and a huge thing of dishwashing soap (we kept it on hand, just for occasions like these), and ran back out. Nick hosed down the bus, then the five of us took the rags and sponges and scrubbed down our bus the best we could. It wasn't as bad as it usually got.
This was mainly because we were fighting in the daylight and in a two lane road. We finished cleaning the bus and went back inside, after changing clothes and putting everything away. Jeff said we did a good job at the cleaning.
"Hey! You're just in time! I was about to come out and asked who wanted to join me and Mom at the store!" Manda cried when we came through the door. Danielle and I decided we wanted to go with the women, leaving the men to do a little bonding while we were gone. So the four of us hopped into the jeep and were off.
"Oh I miss this thing!" Amanda exclaimed when she hugged the steering wheel. "This was my car but there was no way we could get it to Florida so I had to keep it here."
"Yeah it's just like Brian's jeep," I noted.
"I know! Isn't it ironic?" Dani added. We all agreed. Not but a few minutes later, we were at the store. Mrs. Gage and Amanda grabbed a grocery cart and led us into the depths of the grocery store. It wasn't long before we spotted the magazine stand, though.
"Hey Dani let's see how famous we are this week!" I cried. Mrs. Gage laughed.
"Okay. You three see how famous you are and I'll catch up to you later," she told us. We said goodbye, then dove straight for the cheesy magazines. The three of us each picked up a separate one and looked through them. Mine was empty, as was Dani's. Ours just mentioned us. No pictures. Manda, however, found something that was not intended to be what it had been portrayed as.
"Who is this you're with Steph?" Amanda asked, showing me the picture of me, Brian, AJ, Nick, Howie, Kevin, and Rebecca.
"Huh? Oh that's Rebecca. She and Brian are penpals and we ran into her at a movie theater," I explained, easily dismissing the picture.
"That's not what the tabloid says. Says here that they began dating right after we broke up. And how do they know we broke up?" Amanda asked. I rolled my eyes.
"Remember what Brian said? Never trust anything unless it comes from their very own mouths? Well it's true. You cannot trust a single word these magazines say. Most of their information is based on gossip. Pure gossip. Brian didn't even give Rebecca more than a glance to look at her when she was talking or to talk to her. As for them knowing you two broke up, there was probably somebody on the plane who blurted it all out to the world, because they saw you all upset," I attempted to tell her.
"I'm getting this magazine," Amanda declared. At that moment, her mom walked over and said she was all done and ready to ring everything up and leave. Amanda had a rather grave expression on her face. The Gages purchased their things and we made our way back home, but not without making a few quick stops.
We got to the house and Amanda marched straight into the house with her magazine, leaving me and Danielle to help her mother with the groceries.
"Brian. What is this all about?" Amanda sternly wanted to know, holding up the magazine.
"Oh that? That's Rebecca, a friend of mine. Why hun?" he said, curiously.
"Because it says here that you were dating her RIGHT after you broke up with me--" she pointed out, but was quickly cut off by her father.
"WHAT?! Hurting my baby? I want you out of my house! Now!" Mr. Gage outbursted. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched shamelessly.
"No Daddy wait don't," Amanda pleaded softly, trying to calm her father down.
"NO! OUT! NOW!" he refused to listen to his daughter. Brian, red-faced and extremely upset, walked out the front door and began to make his way towards the bus.
"Daaaaaaddd!!!! Why did you do that?! I can handle things myself now thank you! Geez!!!" Amanda yelled, before dashing out after Brian. She ran all the way into the bus, where she found him sitting in his bunk in silence.
"What are you doing here?" Brian asked out of curiosity when he saw her standing there.
"I came to apologize for my father, and I wanted to get a real explanation for this picture," Amanda told him.
"Well, I accept the apology and the picture is of the six of us walking out of the movie theater with Rebecca because we offered her a ride home in the bus," Brian told his girlfriend.
"Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Why do they like to mess with our lives like that?"
"They don't choose to do it, but the information they get online is almost always inaccurate."
"Oh. I see." Silence. The two sat there, looking at each other. Then, Brian pulled a big bear out from behind him and handed it to Amanda.
"I thought you might like to have him back," was Brian's remark. Amanda's eyes lit up at the sight of...
"ACE! Thank you honey! I'll stick him in my room on my bed," Manda told Brian. She gave him a hug, then pulled him up. "Come on, let's go back inside."
"Sure sweetie. Hey! And take that magazine. The guys and I can get a crack out of the ugly pictures of us," Brian suggested, so she grabbed it and they left.
"This food is great!" Kevin complimented Amanda's mom as we ate on the back patio, the soft breeze cooling us down. In an hour, Amanda, her mother, and her father had cooked us up a gourmet meal. We sat around, the older ones nursing beers and Nick and me with our cokes, talking away while our food digested.
"Thanks Kevin! It's Amanda's favorite meal so she made us cook it for her," Mrs. Gage told her.
"Good home cooking is something we miss most when we're on these tours," Howie added. Nick and I were busy looking at the magazine as we sat on the wooded deck.
"Ha! Gilli look at this one. Brian looks like he just ate tofu," Nick pointed out as we flipped through the magazine.
"Oo! Oo! I'm putting this one in my bunk!" I exclaimed when we turned the page and came across a really bad one of Howie. "He's so hot. Oh my god I want to marry him ohhhhh..." I joked, talking like a fan.
"Steph! Did you just admit Howie is hot?" Dani suddenly cried.
"WHAT?! No! Look at that boy! Would I admit he's cute? HUH NOOOO!!" I cried.
"HEY!" Howie yelled. Everyone laughed. Nick turned the page and we found the article about Rebecca.
"Lies lies lies...." he mumbled.
"Hey isn't that a Fleetwood Mac song?" I asked.
"Sweet Little Lies? Yeah I think so," he thought. We continued looking through the magazine, ignoring the article because we knew it wasn't true. Suddenly, the two of us busted up laughing. Everyone turned to look at us. We had come across a picture of AJ and Kevin. They were doing something but we couldn't figure out exactly what it was.
"What were you...drunk?" I asked. "Man, if only Bone were here to explain this to us..." Kevin blused intensely. Nick flipped through the magazine a little more, looking for stupid, ugly, or funny pictures of the five of them, as the sun slowly began fading.
By now, Amanda and her mother had begun to gather plates and take them to the sink. Nick closed the magazine and the seven of us followed them back into the house. We resituated ourselves back in the living room comfortably, but it was not long before I was being pulled up again to do something.
"Hey Steph let's go down the lake. It'll be like home. Come on!" Howie called to me.
"NOT REALLY!" Manda and her mom both responded from their spot over the sink, washing dishes. The two of us laughed as I stuck my hat on my head. D grabbed my hand and pulled me out the front door, towards the lake, both of us hollering a goodbye as we left.
The sun was on its way down and I had absolutely no clue where we were going. I didn't think Howie did either. I had been running around bare-foot all day, so the sand felt warm on the bottom of my feet. We meandered down the beach, hand in hand, something I didn't think we'd ever done. It was weird but at the same time really nice. A quarter of a mile down the beach, D found a clearing by the water. A few trees surrounded a clear, sandy spot. The sun was completely gone now, and the stars were extremely bright. A light breeze was blowing, causing small ripples in the dark blue water. The moon was a half moon, set dead in the center of the dotted sky. The two of us sat down in the sand and I let the water wash over my bare feet as the waves crept on and off the beach. Howie wrapped his arms around me in a permanent, warm hug and we stared up at the stars. Suddenly, I thought of something and broke the silence with one shrill laugh.
Howie nearly jumped out of his skin and looked down at me.
I looked at the rippling water and spoke what was on my mind. "Remember your first girlfriend? You were....I think 13 or 14..."
"Yeah of course. Why?" he answered.
"You spent so much useless time with her and stuff. Like, doing homework and crap and having your moms take you out to ice cream and stuff like that. I never let on, but I got soooo incredibly jealous of her! I mean, I thought you forgot about me and would cry to your mom about it like everyday when I'd go over to your house and you weren't there!" I explained. Howie chuckled lightly, remembering years ago.
"Well ya know what Gilli?" D asked.
"Hm?"
"'Member when you got asked to winter formal....your junior year? And Polly took you out to get a dress and you found that green one? And then she did you all up?" I said I did. (How could I forget? I loved that dress!) "Well the night of the formal, me and mom and dad came over to see you and take pictures and stuff....when I saw you in that dress, I swear I wanted to sock your date and take you to the dance myself," D confided in me. I sat up and looked at him in the dark moonlight.
"Nu-uh! You're kidding me. Really?" I cried.
"Yeah! You looked sooo grown up that night, all done up. I had never seen you like that and I couldn't believe that you were actually a girl!" he joked. I always hated dresses and he knew it took a lot to get me in one...up until a few years ago. "Remember when I promised you that if no one had kissed you by the time you were 20, I'd give you your first kiss?"
"No! You never said that! Oh you are a liar!" I replied.
"You're right I didn't. But it came true, didn't it?" he pointed out.
"Oh you are so cute!" I exclaimed. D flashed me his adorable smile, blushing, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I returned the kiss, then got resituated in my comfy spot. The moving waves were a relaxing sound and began to make me tired. The two of us sat back and watched the stars, pointing out the shooting stars and naming as many as we could.
"Hey Sweet D, look at that really bright one up there by the moon!" I pointed at the sky in the direction of the star I was looking at. As soon as he found it, I continued.
"I'll bet that's Caroline, watching down on all of us. Just look at her. She's laughing soooo hard. She can't believe what she's seeing," I said. Suddenly, I felt a single wet tear drop on my bare shoulder. Howie unwrapped one arm and wiped it away. I let my head rest on his shoulder in comfort, and grabbed his arms in a hug. D held me tighter. He would always miss his sister. They were so tight. All of them were.
"God I miss her Steph," Howie whispered as we hugged each other.
"I know you do. So do I. But she's always watching down on you."
"I know.