The Throw-Aways

“How do I water ski?” I asked Alan curiously. We both bobbed in the water. I had two skis attached to my feet and the ginger put a rope in my hands, patting me on the back. Lake Powell surrounded me. Well, although it was called “Lake Powell”, it was a huge canyon that stretched for miles on end. It took us a couple of hours in our boat to go from the docks in the middle part of the lake to get to one of the small side canyons.

Swirling sandstone arches peaked and spiraled above my head. The canyon rose a hundred feet over my head. It was breathtakingly beautiful and unmatched by any other natural wonder I had seen so far.

“The boat will give you a quick tug and you need to hang on. Then, just lean backwards, keep your feet evenly spaced and you’ll be fine!” He laughed, holding onto my back. The boys in the boat revved it up.

In an instant we started being pulled forwards. As the boat picked up speed, my arms were yanked forwards and I desperately clung onto the rope. Aaron and Tino cheered from the vessel for me to keep hanging on. Austin was steering and gave me the thumbs up. As soon as the speedboat got enough speed, it was easier to hold on. I tried my hardest not to face plant in the water.

Phil had retrieved Alan on his little plastic green lounge float and brought him back to the houseboat that was moored to the side of our private little area. The cliffs passed by us and I was focusing hard on my task of not dropping off. It sure was hard with all the spectacular sights around me!

We all had our life vests on because the water was deep and after using all your energy clinging to a rope, you can only tread water for so long. The boat was starting to slow down after five minutes of me holding on. I was a little sad the ride was over, but my muscles are screaming in pain.

“LET GO!” Tino screamed to me as I the boat slowed down and I started sink in. I did as I was told and let go. Instantly, I fell backwards in the water, kicking off my skis for Austin, who was next up for the last ride of the evening. They swung around and I climbed on the ladder of the polished speedboat. The sun was starting to sink over the canyon walls that surrounded us.

“Ha, that was crazy! Are you sure you’ve never been water skiing before?” Austin patted my on the shoulder. I smiled. They were all so nice and supportive. It was just incredible. Small beads of water dripped down the passenger’s arms, tracing muscles and ink all the same.

“Oh, it was my first time.” I took Aaron’s seat as he moved to go steer the boat. Tino threw me a towel, ruffling my hair.

“Speed dry!” He laughed and gently punched his shoulder, still wearing a broad grin. Austin dove gracefully into the water, popping up quickly as his life vest tugged him to the frothy surface. He put the skis on and was hooked up quicker than I was. Aaron pulled the engine and we were off!

Seven minutes later, we headed back towards our fairly large houseboat. It even had a slide on the top so you could shoot into the water below! Alan and Phil were lounging on the back deck. Poor Alan had gotten sunburned today and was red in the face while drinking a beer. The two waved as we passed them by. Austin dropped up, skidding right up next to our sleeping quarters for the few days we spent here. Alan and Phil helped to drag their tall friend aboard.

After we parked the boat, our group spent most of the rest of the evening on the top deck playing cards, drinking beer, and eating pizza that Aaron had magically made. I stayed away from the alcohol, but enjoyed the pizza and followed the rest down to the sandy beach area to roast marshmallows. The fire licked the cool night, warming up our arms when we leaned over to hopefully cook sugary cylinders of pure heaven.

“GAAHHH!!” Alan screamed as his marshmallow caught on fire. Austin laughed as he waved his stick around, trying to extinguish the flames. Poor, poor ginger princess. The flames died down after the mallow was already burnt black!

“Okay, it’s time for the announcement!” Tino declared out of the blue. I stared at him as the others smiled and nodded in agreement. Alan frowned and attempted to golden another mallow.

“What announcement?” I asked. They all beamed at me. Aaron took his phone as I plucked a golden, billow marshmallow off the stick I had in my hands. The flames cast shadows on the canyon walls, illuminating our shadows that danced and waved. I munched on pure happiness while waiting for further explanation.

It tasted sticky and squishy, yet oh so rewarding for patience over the fire at the same time.

“We already talked to our manager about you. He agrees that you’d be a good choice for keyboardist. Do you still want to do it?” Austin asked. I nodded. Of course I still wanted to play! I mean, going on stage couldn’t be that hard, could it?

“Well, now we need to announce it on twitter!” Phil laughed. I smiled to the people around me. Man, these guys were the best!

“Smile!” Aaron held up his phone. Austin and Alan were on either side of me and they leaned in as I beamed from sheer joy. We all held up the horns and laughed. In an instant, Aaron was silent. After that, he held up the twitter page for Of Mice and Men. Sure enough, the latest tweet was a picture of Austin with his tongue out, arm around my shoulders. Alan had his horns up, looking like a fan at a concert, and I was just in the middle with an expression that said I was the happiest girl in the world. There was a caption.

Looks like our new keyboardist is fitting right in! Welcome to the family, Raven Skarrson. #OM&M #Keyboardist #NewestFamilyMember

This was just enough to almost send me over the edge. I both smiled and started to tear up from the flames. Sticking another mallow on my stick, I started to slowly turn it over the fire.

“I can’t believe tomorrow will be the last day here and then we’ll head off to the Grand Canyon!” Alan sighed dramatically. His marshmallow caught on fire again and he swore lightly. The moon was brilliant overhead and the stars were spread like dice tossed over the sky. Aaron yawned and lounged over in his folding chair beside the fire. We were all perched on a small overhang that lifted five feet above the water. It was fairly deep so if we fell, it wasn’t like we would hit our head on the bottom.

“Here, try this.” Austin said, holding out another mallow. Alan tossed aside the third burnt treat and thankfully started to take it from Austin. The singer quickly took a water cup and tossed it in the ginger’s face.

“Good one, Aus!” Tino laughed, joining the hoarse chuckled of Phil and Aaron. Alan immediately leapt up, pushing Austin in the water.

Thankfully, we were still all wearing our swim suits.

All we had was a faint glimpse of Austin’s shocked and happy face before he flopped back into the water with a splash. Alan stood triumphant at the edge, toes gripping the rocky surface as he looked down to his best friend who had swum out a little.

“NIGHT SWIMMING!” Austin cheered, sending up sprays to the red head. He was immune to Alan’s enjoyment of the prank and rather substituted his own happiness of the situation.

“No thanks!” Alan stuck out his tongue. I figured it was the most opportune moment to sneak up behind Ashby and shove him in.

“EEEHHH!” Alan gurgled before sinking into the water. Austin gave me the thumbs up as he resurfaced. I gave my own little cheer and gracefully dove into the pitch black water, feeling the bubbles rush up my skin.

“You’re gonna get this, Skarsson!” Alan grumbled and splashed me with water. I giggled and sent a wave his way. It wasn’t a big deal for me to be swimming because I was a very good swimmer and loved the water. The only thing that kind of frightened me was that the night made everything so dark and the water was like a big vortex of abyssal, cold, bleak nothingness.

Alan and I splashed each other, Austin occasionally joining in to help me defeat the ginger diva. After a while, I started just floating around but got bored quickly. That’s when I decided to dive under.

So I did, and it felt like I was transported to space with no light but that of stars in the distance. The only light I had was, well, nothing! It got cold quickly the further I dove down.

When I resurfaced, I must’ve swam a little ways away from the group because I couldn’t see the bright red head of Alan and Austin was nowhere to be seen. This is when I started to panic. I was tired and found it harder to tread the deep water. A light turned on in the houseboat, giving me a sense of direction. I was about twenty feet out, to all encompassed in my own freedom to pay attention to where I was going.

I was cold, it was dark, I was alone, and most of all, I was tired. This wasn’t a good combination. Although I knew I could swim back, even if it would take me a while, it made me a little scared that I let myself into this situation. I floated on my back and waited for some strength to regain, but the freezing water wasn’t helping.

“You swam out a little far, didn’t you?” A voice laughed from beside me. I turned my head and treaded water again to see a faint outline. I figured it was Austin. It sounded like him. My legs and arms were exhausted from water skiing this afternoon.

“Maybe.” I grumbled. Austin laughed like it was the easiest action in the world.

“Tired?” He asked as I started to sink and have trouble staying afloat.

“No!” I argued. I WILL NOT be the weak link! If there was enough light for me to so, I could’ve sworn Austin was giving me a questioning look. One of his hands snaked around and grabbed my waist, helping me stay afloat.

“Okay, if you say so.” He laughed and let go. I instantly started to sink again and had no energy left to thrash around and keep myself afloat. He once again helped me to stay afloat, keeping one arm around me at all times.

“What, aren’t you tired?” I asked him curiously.

“Not really, considering that being on stage has helped me build up lots of energy.” He explained. I only nodded and resisted shivering as a small breeze blustered through the canyon crevices.

“Oh, sounds logical.” I responded eventually. I yawned a little. Lack of sleep from traveling was getting to me. Plus, we were going through multiple time changes every few days, always going back a couple of hours and it was throwing off my body clock.

“Are you cold?” He asked. I shook my head.

“Not really.” I lied easily. Austin saw right through it, even in the pitch blackness.

“Considering you have less body mass than me, I will assume you’re lying and are actually quite cold.” He stated. I sighed and he chuckled a soft sound that was muffled by the water. Over by the beach, Alan had crawled up and gotten a towel. The others extinguished the fire and were heading inside the house boat, leaving the two of us out in the open water under the stars. My arms were going numb.

“Okay, I better head inside soon otherwise I’ll be a popsicle in the water.” I grumbled and started to swim towards the houseboat. It seemed like a forever and a few days away. Austin grabbed my arm and I started to sink.

“Hey!” I gasped as pulled me back to him.

“I am not about to let you drown or freeze out here. Grab onto my neck.” He said firmly. I did as he said without another word of complaint, wrapping my arms around his neck like I used to do with my dad when I was little. I just let my body float on the water behind him as he slowly swam back to the houseboat. I yawned another time and just let my chin rest on his shoulder.

“I think you would’ve fallen asleep before you got to the boat.” He told me softly. We relaxed under the lazy moon, just enjoying the silence but still trying to get out.

“No I wouldn’t have!” I protested, but was cut short as I started to nod off.

“Sure.” He muttered. I felt my teeth chatter as I clung tighter to Austin’s shoulders and neck. He turned to me and just for a glimpse, I saw brown eyes that were swallowed by the world, but reflected the beauty he saw in it.

“You need to get warm.” He murmured to me. I sighed as I let go and climbed up the ladder. We had already arrived at our destination. He followed me up and I quickly scampered to my bag and collected a shirt and shorts to sleep in. I used the bathroom and quickly changed. Everyone else was already fast asleep. It seemed like Austin and I were always the first to wake up and last to sleep. When I came out, I sat down on the couch where I was assigned to sleep.

Someone rubbed a towel over my head, further messing up my already tangled hair. The snarls of blonde locks only growled further. It was Austin and he was standing over me with the light purple towel. Looking up to him with sleepy eyes, I scowled.

“It’ll dry faster and you’ll thank me later when you don’t wake up with a pillow that’s soaked.” He explained. I nodded and let him rub the fabric over my hair. I guess when fans said that Austin was a sweetheart, they really meant it! He was always so caring and nice to everyone-whether it was the band or the fans. I always saw him doing nice things for Phil or Aaron like buying them coffee early in the morning or going and throwing their laundry in first for the wash loads. He was always last to get clean clothes and last to eat.

I mean seriously, clean clothes were like gold on tour, or so Alan said.

“Here, I got this.” I said, reaching up to take the towel so Austin could go sleep. The worst part about having my thick, blonde, long hair was that it was easy to tangle, took forever to dry out, and was a hassle to work with if it was styled in anything other than a ponytail.

“No, just relax. I know you’re tired.” He murmured and sat down, leaning against the arm, crossing his legs underneath him as I was turned around so that my back was facing him. He continued to dry out my hair with the towel twisted around his nimble hand until the long locks were only moderately damp instead of soaked. My hair was rubbed furiously at the end and I grumbled. Now this would take forever to brush out and I had no energy left! My hands were stuck to my side like lead.

“Who turned out the lights?” I muttered while trying to restrain the yawn. One moment, there was dim light in the corner from the phone chargers and a lamp on the table. After a moment, then there was nothing. Aus had tossed the towel over my head. I could hear a little shuffling and my backpack was moved.

“Found it.” Aus mumbled to himself. A minute later the blinds were removed and Austin started to tug at my hair, carefully brushing out each knot.

“Are you sure? I can brush out my hair.” I made a desperate attempt to turn around, but his hands forced my head to keep forward.

“No. I actually like to do this.” He explained. I sighed as his hands ran through my long locks and I was starting to fall sleep. It was so relaxing to have someone play with my hair, whether it was braiding or brushing out. I could feel when his hands brushed against the back of my neck and sent shivers running down my spine.

Thirty minutes later, I was nearly fast asleep when he put the brush down. I opened my eyes again to see Austin put the hairbrush down. I was about to turn and lay down when he held me there.

“What?” I asked now. I wasn’t irritated as much as I tired. Without another word, his fingers picked up my hair and separated it into three pieces. He carefully wove the strands into a clean braid and patted my shoulder when he was done.

“Okay, you’re good now. Goodnight, Raven.” He whispered to me. I could feel his cool breath down by my neck as my eyes fluttered close. As soon as he moved, I flopped on the couch.

“Goodnight, Austin.”

Notes

Okay, so sorry I wasn't posting last night but I was AT WARPED TOUR AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

I'll post a little bit tonight!