Jetta groaned, pulling her and Abby's bags onto the bus. "You owe me one, y'know." She threw her backpack over her shoulder, sending the wheeled Hello Kitty suitcase tumbling back down the stairs. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What the hell do you have in there?"
Abby shrugged. "Uhh... everything I need, I guess."
"Does that include your ferret?" Marie joked.
Jetta glanced at the pink suitcase lying on the driveway and grabbed her father's old Army duffel bag. Her hands traced over the bumps and ridges of the cabinets and walls of the old bus. Nudging the door to the sleeping quarters open with her foot, the smell of floor cleaner hit her. She threw the battered green bag on the furthest back bottom bunk and placed her backpack next to it. No one ever wanted the bottom bunk. "Sally" as the band had lovingly called the bus for the past four years, was still the same as when they had bought it; plus or minus a few dents, scratches, and stains. (The blood from that one time Marie had gotten her leg cut open never did come out of the carpet, no matter how much steam and carpet cleaner they used.) She heard from scraping against the linoleum as Abby finally pulled her bags into the cabin.
"You're a jerk," the purple-haired girl pointed out.
Jetta laughed. "Shoulda thought of that when you filled the damn thing with bricks." She sauntered off the bus to grab what remained of her things.
A silver Camry pulled into the parking lot and a loud whistle pierced the air. As soon as the car came to a stop, Norah burst through the drivers side door and ran up to the tour bus. "Sally!" she shrieked, trying to hug the giant vehicle. "I've missed you."
Marie raised an eyebrow. "Is college really that bad?"
The younger Franco sighed. "Grad school is, yes."
"Told you not to go into special education, but did you listen?"
"What would you know about school, Rie? You're a rockstar."
She shrugged. "I went to A.S.U. for a month."
Jetta raised a hand. "I graduated from UMass."
"Barely," Annabelle retorted, climbing from the passengers seat of the car. "You skipped all your classes."
Marie pointed at her. "Hey, she went to Lowell, kid. It's amazing she's alive."
"I didn't go to college," Abby giggled.
Annabelle dropped out after two years, when the band first got signed. She had been going to Boston University, trying to become a librarian. The idea of making music for a living never actually crossed her mind until their first album came out. So close to fulfilling her dreams, and she stumbled into everyone else's. She couldn't, however, complain. She did love her job, even if it wasn't the one she originally wanted.
"I'm tired," Marie said. She handed her blanket and pillows to Jetta.
The young redhead took those and her own beddings into the bunk room., tossing them onto their respective beds.
Outside, Ms. Jones was giving the girls hugs, telling them to have a good tour, how proud of them she was, and that she'd see them in July when they played in Boston. Cleo came jogging out of the building.
"Next stop, Warped Tour."