"Pauuul! You almost ready?" Joel yelled from downstairs.
"Yupp!" Paul yelled back. He tried to remember what he was forgetting. While trying to remember, he packed another shirt. "Ah!" he said, remembering what he forgot. He ran in the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. He came back, threw it in his bag, and zippered it shut. He threw the bag over his shoulder and headed downstairs where Joel stood at the stairs, looking at his watch.
"FINALLY!" he joked.
"Sorry. Almost forgot my toothbrush," Paul told him and smiled. Both of the boys walked outside and out to the tour bus. Paul threw his bag in the side of the bus along with all the other bags and closed the compartment. Following Joel, both boys hopped on the bus.
"What took so long?" Benji asked.
"Paul almost forgot the thing he needs most for this trip," Joel stated, pointing in back of him to Paul.
"Condoms?" Benji said, and everyone laughed.
"No, my toothbrush!" Paul said, defensively.
"Hey, how'd that thing with Melissa go over?" Joel asked as he sat down at the table, across from Benji and Billy. Paul took a seat beside Joel.
"Not so well. She won't pick up the phone either," Paul said, his smile crumbling away.
"I'm sorry to hear that, man," Benji said, and Billy nodded. Paul shrugged.
"We all set to go, boys?" Dave, the bus driver, asked.
"Hell yeah!" everyone yelled. Dave smiled.
"Alrightie then! Let's go!" He took a seat behind the wheel and started up the bus.
"Woo hoo!" all the guys hollered.
"So, Benj, you and Bill went clubbing last night?" Joel said, laughing.
"Well, BILLY left right away. I stayed the whooole night," Benji said proudly. Billy shook his head yet again at his friend.
"So, who'd you fall in love with this time?" Paul joked.
"Oh, you should've seen her! She looked JUST like Christina! Oh my God," Benji swooned. All the guys laughed at him, and he pretended to be hurt.
"You know what? One day I gotta hook you two up. You'd be perfect for each other. You're both whores!" Joel laughed. "I'm just playing with ya."
"You best be!" Benji yelled, offended. The boys continued their bantering. The ride was going to be a long one.
***
"Pay up, pansy!" Benji yelled at his brother. He, Joel, and Billy all sat at the table, playing Monopoly. Paul had to have gone to bed a little while before they started. But he wasn't asleep. He lie awake in the bunk, the curtain pulled shut. He was lying on his back, staring at the "ceiling." He couldn't help but think of Melissa. But it was normal, right? And he'd done the right thing, so it all had worked out. Besides the fact that the only person he had ever loved was furious with him, everything was okay. And everything was going to be okay. It wasn't the end of the world because everything would be better when the tour was over. Now, if only he could convince himself that. A sudden knocking on Paul's bunk shook him out of his own thoughts.
"Paul! We're here!" He recognized the voice as Joel's.
"Kay, thanks," Paul said, getting up from the bed. He hung his feet over the side, and they almost touched the floor, him being on a bottom bunk. He had made her cry. He had made Melissa CRY. It was such a terrible feeling. Oh, how he had to tell her he missed her, and how sorry he was. And how much he loved her.
"Paul!" He turned his head to the door of the bus. "C'mon!" Joel called out. Paul smiled, slipping on his shoes, and getting off the bus.
"So, where's this dude?" Benji asked, hands in his pockets, all four guys standing in front of the hotel.
"He should be here any minute now," Dave said, walking up to the guys, looking at his watch.
"And here he is," Billy said, the first one to spot their drummer for the tour. The drummer was rather thin and lanky, taller than any of the guys. He had spikey light brown hair and deep gray eyes. Even though all the guys were straight, they had to admit, this dude was pretty good-looking.
"Heyy, guys, what's up? I'm Mark, the drummer," he said. His voice perfectly matched his look, too. He stuck his hand out, shaking everyone's hands, including Dave. "I got three hotel rooms for us," he said, pointing over his shoulder to the hotel, "One for me and.. Dave, I guess? And you guys can decide who shares rooms with the other ones."
"Sweet," Benji said. There was an awkward silence. Usually, the guys and their drummers clicked right away, but it was different. Maybe it was just because the pictured Mark so different.
"So, you guys wanna go in and check the rooms out? Maybe bring your bags in and all that?" Mark suggested.
"Sure," everyone agreed.
***
Billy threw his last bag on top of the bed that would be his for the time being. He was going to be sharing his room with Paul. Then it would be Benji and Joel in the next room, and finally Mark and Dave.
Billy sighed. Why couldn't Dusty have come on tour instead? It would have been so much easier. He bent down on the floor and got on his knees by the dresser. He pulled his bag down next to him on the floor and started to unpack. Mark was probably a good guy, he thought. Then why was there so much resentment towards him? And not just from Billy, from the whole group.
Just then, Paul came in, dropping his belongings on his bed.
"Hey, man," Paul greeted his fellow bandmate.
"Hey," Billy said and nodded. This broke his concentration, and he continued to unpack. Paul unzipped his bag and pretended to rummage through it, not sure of what to do with himself. A certain question hung over his head. Little did he know, Billy had a question of his own.
"How's things with Melissa?" Paul cringed.
"Good," Paul replied. "Better than I thought it would go."
"Thats good," Billy said.
"Yep," Paul replied and the room fell silent again. The same question was hanging over Paul's head. He was dying to ask, but at the same time he knew he shouldn't. But he did.
"What do you think of Mark?" Though Paul didn't notice because he continued to pretend to be looking through his bag, Billy stopped unpacking.
"He's.." Billy began. "He seems.. cool, I guess."
"Yeah," Paul said.
"I wish Dusty was here, though," Billy admitted. Paul sighed of relief. Someone felt the same.
"Same here." Before the boys got a chance to say anything else, Benji bounded into the room.
"Oh my God, guys! Like, we're gonna have a sleepover!" he yelled. Billy and Paul raised their eyebrows towards Benji, and all three of them laughed.
"HEY MARK!" Benji yelled. Billy and Paul both exchanged nervous glances. Mark then walked into the room.
"Is there a 7-Eleven around here?" Benji asked him.
"Yeah, there's one right around the corner," Mark said.
"Thanks," Benji responded. He bounded back into his and Joel's room.
"JJJooeell?" he called for his brother.
"Yupp?" Joel replied. He was talking with Dave.
"Do you got any money?" Benji asked, putting on a sad puppy-dog face.
"None that you can have," Joel said smiling.
"Sarcastic bastard," Benji mumbled, and Joel chuckled.
"I'm just kidding, Benj. Whaddaya want?"
"Wellll.. I wanna go to 7-Eleven," he told his brother.
"For what?" Joel wondered, but suddenly it came to him. "Oh no! I've spent too much money on those stupid slushies!"
"They're not stupid!" Benji yelled, pretending to be hurt. "And besides, we need sleepover supplies!" Joel shook his head.
"Fine," Joel agreed.
"Mark, can we borrow your car?" Joel asked.
"Sure," he said walking into the room. He threw Joel the keys.
"Thanks." Then, Joel turned to Dave. "Tell everyone we went to the store if they ask." Dave nodded. "C'mon." He motioned with his hand for Benji to follow him.
***
"Slushie, slushie, slushie, blue-raspberry slushie!" Benji sang.
"Dude, pay attention to the road," Joel scolded.
"Oh, those slushies. Their blue, icey.. SLUSHIE!!!!" Benji continued. He kept on singing while Joel kept trying to get his brother to focus. The harder Joel tried, the louder Benji sang. He closed his eyes, threw his head back, and started banging on the steering wheel.
"Benji!" Joel yelled. His brother just sang louder. "Benji! BENJI! LOOK AT THE ROAD!" Hearing the urgency in Joel's voice, he concentrated on the road, but it was too late. He tried to slam on the brakes, but the car had already crashed into the back of the car in front of them.
"OH SHIT!" Benji yelled. Joel sighed, putting his head on his hands.