| “On the road again…something something something…on the road again!” Benji sang, strumming random chords on his guitar. “I can’t wait ‘til we’re on the road again!”“Benji, we are on the road,” Joel sighed, throwing his socks at twin. “We’ve been on the road forever and day.”“On the road again!” Benji continued, louder and definitely more annoying. Joel rolled his eyes and looked to Chloe. She had her headphones on, so she couldn’t hear this. Well, maybe she could, but she was ignoring it. Joel wasn’t quite so lucky. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ignore his brother. He threw his half-empty water bottle this time. Benji opened it and poured it all over Paul, who was sleeping on the couch next to him. Paul sniffled, wiped the water off his face with his shirt, rolled over, and went back to sleep. He had been up very late the night before. He and Billy had had a Tony Hawk ProSkater 4 marathon. Billy had won. He was a video game freak.Billy walked into the room just then, wiping at his eyes. “What time is it?” he mumbled, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator.“Don’t let Benji get his hands on that,” Joel warned, looking at the water. “It’s like four o’clock.”“In the afternoon?”“Yeah, you were up until about six o’clock this morning. And you were loud. So I kept getting rudely awoken.” Billy shrugged and drank half the bottle. He looked at Benji, who was still playing with his guitar. “Don’t ask,” Joel said, putting his head in his hands. Thank god they didn’t have a gig tonight. They would be traveling all night, however. Joel prayed Benji would put his guitar down and move onto something else. Soon.“I hate winter,” Billy said, moving Paul’s feet so he could sit on the couch. “No matter what time you wake up, it’s always dark.” He poked Chloe, who was sitting next to Benji. She blinked slowly, then took off her headphones. “What’re you listening to? Silverchair?”“No, Billy, not everything is Silverchair. I’m listening to Millencolin, if you must know,” she answered.“Hey, Chloe, wanna hear my new song?” Benji asked.“No.” She put her headphones back on and started her CD again. Chloe was Paul’s best friend—though all the guys in the band thought she was more than just a friend—and she had been on the bus as long as they had. She learned that a portable CD player was a very important tool to have.Joel was getting extremely annoyed by his brother and extremely bored by the lack of things to do on the bus, so he decided to go up and talk to the bus driver, Mike. He took the seat by the door and asked Mike how he was doing. In a few minutes, they were deep in conversation about motorcycles. Joel had one, and he loved it. He wasn’t an avid motorcycle fan like the bus driver, however. Apparently Mike owned several bikes, two old Triumphs, a few new Harleys, and a Honda. They agreed that after the tour they’d have to go riding together sometime. Joel looked out the windshield, surprised at how dark it was at only 4:30. The headlights of the bus pierced the dark and Joel got the distinct impression that it was really cold out, even though he was nice and toasty. The road was mostly empty. He suddenly saw a figure standing on the side of the road. They passed by it when Joel told Mike to stop the bus. “Why?” Mike asked, confused. He obviously hadn’t noticed the person.“There’s a hitchhiker back there. We should pick them up,” Joel said, standing as Mike stopped the bus.“You sure that’s a good idea?”“I’ll bring them up here to the door and if they don’t look good to you, we’ll keep going, okay?” Mike nodded, agreeing. Sounded like a plan to him. Joel foolishly jumped out of the bus into the freezing night and started running back. As soon as he had left the protection of the bus, the cold startled to settle into him. His lungs were burning with the cold, and his nose was frozen. He picked up his pace. How far back was this person? Finally, he saw him in the darkness, just a silhouette sitting on the guardrail. “Hey,” he said, out of breath. Too fucking cold. “You need a ride?”The figure looked at him. Only now could he see that it was a female figure. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” she rasped, her teeth chattering. “I’ve been out here for about two hours, and no one’s stopped to give me a lift.” She ran back to the bus with him, a small bag under her arm. “By the way, my name’s Dina.”“Joel,” he said, introducing himself. He banged on the door to let Mike know he should open the door. Once they were inside, Joel asked Mike what the temperature outside was. Mike checked the electronic reading on the dashboard. “Negative twenty,” Joel repeated him, hugging himself. “What the hell were you doing out there?” he asked Dina.“I…I need to get away from home,” she answered quietly, lowering her eyes.“It’s okay. You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Joel said, opening the door to the front room. “You think she’s okay, Mike?” Mike nodded. It was damn cold out. It didn’t matter if she had been an ax murderer, he would’ve let her on the bus. Well, maybe not an ax murderer… He pulled back out onto the deserted road, ready to get to the next city so he could get off this bus and into a nice hotel bed.“Hey, why’d the bus stop?” Benji asked once he saw Joel. Joel happily noted Benji had put his guitar back in its case. “And who’s that?”“This is Dina, you guys. She’s a hitchhiker. I know, we shouldn’t be picking up people off the road, but it’s really cold out there tonight. Dina, this is Benji, Billy, Chloe, and Paul.” He pointed them out to her.“The puppy wasn’t where he told me the puppy was,” Paul mumbled in his sleep. Everyone was silent for a moment, contemplating what this comment might possibly mean, before they all burst out in laughter, including Dina. Joel walked back to his bunk and grabbed one of his Made hoodies for Dina. She smiled at him as she slipped it on.“Where you from, Dina?” Benji asked, stealing Billy’s water bottle from him. Billy was about to protest, but thought better of it. You did not want to get into an argument with a Madden twin. It could last for hours. Benji took a sip from the bottle and set it on the floor. “We’re from Waldorf, Maryland.”“I’m from Aloha, Oregon,” she answered, sitting down at the table next to Chloe. Chloe had missed everything that had just happened, as she had her eyes closed and the headphones on, and she jumped in surprise when she noticed the new girl. She took her headphones off and said hello. “Are you from Waldorf too?” Dina asked her.“Um, no. Cedarville, Maryland.” Chloe looked to Joel for an answer to her silent question of “Who is this?” Joel only smiled in response.“So are you guys in a band or something?” Dina asked, taking in the tour bus décor.“Yeah, we’re called Good Charlotte,” Billy said. “Me and Benji play guitar, Paul plays bass, and Joel is the lead singer.”“What do you do?” Dina asked Chloe.“I’m here for moral support,” she answered, smiling. Suddenly, the bus stopped and the lights died. “What the hell!” Chloe shouted, slapping her hand on the table. The bus was completely dead. The normal vibration of a running vehicle was absent and the blowing heat had stopped. “This can’t be good…” she muttered, letting her head fall and hit the table.Joel got up and walked up to the front of the bus. “Yo, Mike, what’s up?”“It just stopped, man. I don’t know what’s wrong. Want me to get out and look?”“If you want to. It’s really damn cold out.” Joel walked carefully back to his group of friends. “Mike’s gonna go out and see if he can do anything.” He found his way back to his seat opposite Chloe and Dina. They could already feel the cold creeping in. Joel zipped his hoodie up. Pretty soon the inside of the bus would feel a lot like the outside of the bus. “I say we all go to bed now and try and conserve heat or whatever,” he suggested. Billy shook Paul awake.“Purple monkey dishwasher,” Paul said, blinking several times. “What’s going on?” he yawned, slowly sitting up.“The bus is broken down and Joel thinks we should all go to our bunks to try and stay warm,” Billy said, standing up.“Okay, that explains why it’s so dark. Why did you wake me up to tell me to go to sleep in my bunk? Couldn’t you have just thrown a blanket over me or something?” Billy thought about this for a moment, then shook his head. “You live to make me miserable don’t you?” Billy nodded. Paul groaned, then asked, “Where’s Chloe?”“I’m right here. Come on, Paul, let’s go.” She held out her hand and he found it in the dark and they stumbled off to the bunks together. Dina faintly saw this and allowed herself to grin a little. She’d been in love once…“They’re not going out, though they may as well be,” Joel said, standing as well. “Just friends, my ass. Come on Dina, I’ll show you to your bunk.” He held out his hand for her as well and she gladly took it. She really liked this Joel guy. They opened the door to the room/hallway with the bunks and saw the silhouettes of Paul and Chloe hugging. “Good night!” Joel said, rather perkily. Chloe lightly punched him in the arm before climbing into her bunk, which was directly opposite Paul’s. They had the bunks that were just above floor level. Joel had the one right above Paul, and told Dina to take the one above Chloe. “Be careful,” he said quietly. “Billy and Benji take the top bunks and they might accidentally step on you when they’re climbing up.” He paused, and after a moment placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Good night,” he said again, crawling into his bunk. Dina allowed herself another smile.She climbed carefully into her bunk, closed the curtains, and snuggled under the blankets. It was much warmer on the bus than it had been outside. Or at home. Don’t think about home, she told herself. She curled up into a ball and settled in for a nice nap. She did sleep for what seemed like only a few minutes when she woke up shivering. It was freezing in her bunk. She opened the curtains and looked across. Joel’s curtains were just slightly open. Moving slowly, she leaned out and whispered, “Joel!” He didn’t answer her. “Joel!” This time, a bit louder. She leaned a little farther and said a bit louder, “Joel!” She heard a rustling and suddenly Joel’s head appeared. “I know this is gonna sound a little weird, but…could I come over there with you?”Joel stared at her, his brain not functioning at its normal speed. “Oh, sure. As long as you bring your blankets with you.” Dina did as she was told and soon found herself under the sheets with Joel. The bunk wasn’t very wide; they were pressed up next to each other. “So why did you have to leave home?” Joel whispered, and Dina could feel his breath in her hair. It was definitely much warmer over here.“Oh, god, why didn’t I leave home?” she sighed, rolling over onto her side so she could talk directly to him. For some reason, she felt she could open up to this total stranger. “My mom left me and my two little brothers when I was six, so we were pretty poor growing up. My dad was almost never around and when he was, he was usually drunk. He’d hit my brothers and he’d…” She stopped, not sure if she could go on. Joel placed his hand on her shoulder and gripped it lightly. That one simple touch let her know she could trust him. “When I got a little bit older my dad started molesting me. Just touching at first. But then two years ago, he…he starting raping me. It was so horrible. I fucking hate him,” she sobbed, turning away from Joel. He didn’t need to know this. This was her problem. Her shoulders shook violently. “Maybe you should’ve left me on the side of the road to die,” she mumbled into the pillow. Joel put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. She could feel his heartbeat against her back.“God, don’t ever say that you want to die,” he said softly, running his hand up and down her arm beneath all the blankets. “Don’t ever say that. There’s so much to live for. So much to see and do and love.”“Love?” she asked softly. “I thought I had that, too. His name was Tim. He didn’t love me. He used me. He cheated on me. I hate him too.” Joel could feel his heart breaking for this girl. He picked up his head and leaned over, placing soft kisses on her cheek. He slowly, gently, pulled her so that she was lying on her back. He continued to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him and they lay together, keeping each other warm and safe, for the rest of the night.The rest of the bus wasn’t quite so lucky. Chloe, Paul, Billy, and Benji were all as cold as Dina had been before she went to Joel. Billy had taken the top bunk on Joel’s side, and Benji had taken the top one on Chloe’s side, and they both peeked out of their bunks and looked at each other at the same time. “It’s fucking cold,” Benji said, his teeth chattering. Billy only nodded in agreement. He couldn’t talk. He didn’t have as much protecting him as Benji did. It was times like these he wondered if he would be any warmer if he weren’t vegetarian, if he ate beef and chicken and fish, if he had a little more meat on his bones…no pun intended. “What do you say we climb down and bunk with someone else? You know, combine body heat?” Billy nodded again. He’d do anything to regain feeling in his fingers and toes. He thought he’d go down and see if he could shack up with Joel, but when he poked open the curtains to Joel’s bunk, he saw that Joel was already curled up with Dina. Sighing, Billy dropped to his knees and looked in on the sleeping Paul.Benji, meanwhile, had found only one bunk occupied on his side of the bus. “Chloe!” he said softly, poking her sleeping form. “Chloe, wake up!”“What the hell do you want, Benji?” she said angrily, rolling over so that her back was to him. He saw this as the perfect opening and slipped into the bunk, pulling the blankets up to his chin. “Ben-ji! Leave me alone!” Chloe whined, pulling the blankets away from him. He pulled them back; she pulled again; he pulled once more, extremely hard, and Chloe ended up on top of him. “Well, this isn’t awkward in any way,” she whispered. Benji started kissing her suddenly, his labret freezing against her lower lip.“Hey, wait a sec, I thought you and Paul were, you know…” Benji said, breaking the kiss.Chloe sighed. “Why does everyone assume that? God, we’re just friends.” This time she initiated the kiss, and Chloe and Benji found a way to stay warm all night.Billy was now shivering violently. “P-P-P-Paul,” he gasped, shocked at how cold it could become on their bus. He wondered what Mike was doing for warmth. He crawled into the bunk, surprised to find Paul right up against the wall of the bus. “Paul,” Billy tried again, shaking the other man’s sleeping form. If he didn’t do something soon, there would be a Billy-shaped icicle on the floor when everyone awoke the next morning.“…And they lived happily ever after,” Paul mumbled, rolling over to find Billy curled up in a little ball next to him. “Oh, hey, Billy. What’s up?”“Cold,” Billy replied. “What the hell do you dream about all the time that you wake up saying stupid stuff like ‘And they lived happily ever after?’ And aren’t you going to invite me to cuddle up with you?”Paul stared blankly at him. “When did I say that? And why would I ask you to cuddle up with me?”“Because it’s fucking cold.” Paul sighed and lifted up his blankets so that Billy could cuddle up next to him. “Oh, Paul, you’re the best,” Billy sighed, wiggling as close to Paul as he could get. Paul was more than a little uncomfortable. He hadn’t slept this close to another man since he was a little kid. He cleared his throat and inched closer to the wall. Billy just moved closer to him. Billy reached across Paul to grab some more of the blankets for himself. Paul tensed. He was very uncomfortable now.“Billy, man, I like you and all, but…this is beyond awkward.”“No, it’s not. We’re both cold and we’re keeping each other warm. What’s so awkward about that?”“You’re spooning with me.” Billy did not move. “Um…could you stop spooning with me please?” Billy still did not move. Paul looked over his shoulder to find that Billy was fast asleep. He sighed, and decided this wasn’t so bad, and went back to sleep.The following morning, Paul awoke to the feeling that he was being watched. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Chloe, Benji, Joel, and Dina staring in at him. Looking down, he found that he had Billy wrapped in his arms. “Oh, god,” he moaned, letting his head fall back to the pillow. “This is not what it looks like,” he declared, slowly removing himself from Billy.“Sure it isn’t,” Dina said, raising her eyebrows. She had awoken in Joel’s arms, ecstatic to feel as if she were wanted. He had kissed her softly and promised her he would take care of her. She wouldn’t have to be on her own as long as she stayed with them. It was then that Chloe and Benji had ripped open the curtains to their bunk and told them they had to see something. Now here they all were, staring and mocking Paul and Billy. “Paul and Billy, laying in a bunk...” Dina started singing. Paul flipped her off.Just then, they felt the familiar rumble of the engine of the bus running. Joel walked up front and found Mike sitting in the driver’s seat, smiling like an idiot. “I see you fixed the bus,” Joel said, patting him on the shoulder.“Yup. I found out what the problem was.”“Well?”“I’m not gonna tell you, because it was caused by stupidity on my part. How’d you guys do last night? Not too cold, was it?”“Nah, we were good. Let’s turn that heat back on, though, okay?” Mike smiled and did as he was told. Joel laughed a little when he felt the warm air blowing out from the vents. He turned around to find the rest of the band, plus Chloe and Dina, standing directly behind him, reveling in the warmth as well.“Hey, isn’t it weird how the bus broke down right after we picked up Dina?” Benji said, gently pushing the hair out of Chloe’s eyes.“Yeah, that is a little odd. New rule: no more hitchhikers,” Joel said. Billy frolicked over to a piece of paper taped to the wall.“Number 83…No more hitchhikers,” Billy repeated, as he scribbled on the paper.“What’s rule number 82?” Dina asked, curious.“No campfires in the bunks,” Billy replied, rolling his eyes at Benji.“Yeah, we learned that the hard way,” Benji said. |
