Memoirs of a Lonely Writer: A Collection of One-Shots

It had been weeks, maybe days? Possibly an hour? I don’t know. It seemed like nothing was right.

I sat all alone on the edge of the back of the Warheads stage. It was nothing as big as the Kia Soul Stage, but it was better than nothing. The camera dangled on my neck like a heavy necklace. My fingers absent mindedly traced the letters stitched on the strap. With a small sigh, I checked the set list.

Midge: Photo shoots for OM&M and AA for 3:30 and 2:30.

I saw my name written by the two assigned bands to shoot for. I had already finished the with Of Mice and Men. It hadn’t been all that exciting to shoot for. They barely noticed me around them. They never talked to me besides a couple words here and there. They never acknowledged my presence. Instead, they were far too busy greeting fans and trying to relax after their set.

“Hey, Midge.” I friendly voice came up to me. It was another photographer that was touring with us on Warped. The summer heat blazed down on both of us as we sat side by side.

“What’s up, Chaos?” I asked her. Was Chaos her real name? Nah, it was Catherine. Instead, she preferred to go by Chaos because she described her life in that one word. Chaos.

“Oh, nothing much. I shot with ADTR. Too bad Elmakias is gone.” She sighed. Chaos and Adam were pretty close photo buddies. I knew Adam pretty well and he was a good guy.

“So how did that ADTR shoot go?” I asked her. She ran a hand through her sweaty blonde hair and shrugged.

“Good, I guess. Nothing too much. They were goofy, laughing all the time-as usual. I’m free the rest of the day. You?” She passed me water and played with her laminate. I handed her my schedule.

“Oh, Midge! You got Amity Affliction! Lucky.” She rolled her eyes. I was marked to travel with this band for the next week or so. I snatched the schedule from her hands. Oh, she got to tour with OM&M for the next week…Lucky her.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have fun.” I tried to cheer myself up by making her feel better. I knew she loved OM&M, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her that they seemed too busy to pay attention to those in the background.

I mean, being a photographer is all about being in and out without being seen, to capture the moment without distracting it. But you know what? It felt good to be noticed sometimes…

“Well, not as much fun as Amity Affliction.” She nudged me and hopped off the stage. She pointed in the direction of all the buses.

“Dude, I’m going to load my stuff up onto their bus. Austin told me that I could come over about now and I could get him some of the photos you took. Do you have your flashdrive?” She asked me. We always liked the trade drives to check out the other’s pictures.

“Yeah.” I stated and tossed her my back up drive that was shaped like a fish. It was missing the head part so I called it Headless Nemo. Nemo had traveled with me for years as a photographer.

“Good luck with the boys!” She called and ran off. I waved and hopped off the stage. I checked my watch and hurried over to the Kia Soul Stage to check out the band.

Time to get back to work.

Later that day…

I was in desperate need of a shower. Now. Shower. Please. Now. Anyone. Now.

Worst part of Warped was the lack of showers through the day. It was both hot and making you drenched in sweat, or really rainy and cold. Tonight was a cool evening after a scorching day. I was packed up with my stuff in a single bag. Being a photographer meant traveling light, so I had only one bag on my person.

I approached the bus hesitantly. It was looming and kind of scary. I was meeting some pretty awesome musicians and I didn’t want to be a fool!

Come on, Midge! Stop being so foolish! I thought hard on myself. Raising a hand, I shakily knocked on the bus door. Down the line of vehicles, I saw lights start to turn on. We were going to be leaving this venue in about a half hour.

“Hey! You must be Midge.” A man with hair that shone like copper under the bus lights opened the door for me. I immediately recognized him as Joel Birch. I gave him a small smile.

“And you must be Joel Birch.” I shook hand with him, trying to be formal. It was pretty hard trying not to overreact when you see your favorite singer!

“That I am. Come on in! We’ll show you to your bunk.” He smiled and opened the door for me. I climbed the steps and walked in. This was much different than OM&M, where they had showed me to my bunk and then let me be alone the entire time.

“Oh, hi Midge!” The rest of the band chorused. I waved.

“Hi guys.” I responded. Joel led me to the bunk where I would be sleeping for the next week.

“So we have extra sheets if you want some. Feel free to ask for anything. We’ll have a schedule of our times posted at the front and back of the bus, but I’m sure the company gave you a copy already.” Joel chuckled. I set my bag down on the bed, thanking him for the help. We parted ways as the clock chimed eleven at night and we all started to get back into bed.

We would have a long day tomorrow.

Three days later…

We had traveled through two different states and played at three different venues. Today was an off day and I was excited to just get to relax and hang with the guys.

They had been very welcoming on these days. I was always invited to watch a movie until one in the morning, attempt to eat the most warheads in a contest, and even have popsicles on the roof. Overall, it was great.

“Hey, we’re going to the store. Do you want to come?” Joel asked me. I peeked out of my bunk. He was smiling down towards me. I had that knot in my stomach that he always made me feel when he looked at me. It was if I was the only girl in the world. I felt like he truly cared.

“No thanks. I’m going to edit some of these and try to sleep.” I smiled. He patted my arm and walked away. I couldn’t stop smiling, even from a little bit of contact.

“See you later, Midge!” Everyone chorused as they left the bus. I waved and yelled back my goodbye. As soon as they were gone, I fired up my computer. As soon as it loaded, I blasted off a few emails, edited some pictures, and moved stuff onto flash drives or other safe places.

After thirty minutes, the boys hadn’t returned and it was getting kind of late at night. Tomorrow was a travel day to Arizona. Instead of going to bed, I closed my laptop and hopped out.

I know I shouldn’t be going through people’s personal stuff, but I couldn’t help but be attracted to one of the shiny basses in the corner. It was beautiful and seemed to be calling my name. Walking over to it, I picked it up carefully and strummed a little.

Checking behind my shoulder (as if anybody was here…) I made sure I was truly alone and then traveled to the back lounge. Sitting down on one of the giant couches, I faced the window, closed my eyes, and started to pick notes out of thin air, tossing them into a beautiful, familiar melody.

With my eyes closed, I played out Don’t Lean on Me by the band I was touring with. I let the emotions crawl over me like little tendrils of an alternate reality; a reality where I wasn’t a nobody, where I was the ideal perfect of society, where I could be the best I could be.

So the notes kept on floating through the silence.

The bass guitar picked clean melodies as I slowly finished. I was tossed out of my happy place as soon as I opened my eyes back to reality. I guess I was in a little too much of my happy place because I didn’t notice the figure at the door.

“Joel!?” I gasped. He smiled. It was genuine, happy, and brilliant.

“That….was awesome.” He whispered, still in awe. I blushed and set down the bass. I felt bad for touching their stuff. Glancing past his shoulder, I tried to see if anyone else was here.

“I came back early and I heard you playing back here. It was wonderful.” He breathed out amazement again, this time sitting down by my side. I smiled a little, staring at the stares in the night sky out the window.

“Thanks, but I’m not that good.” I tried to be modest. Looking away, I felt his hands bring my face to look at him again. I was pulled into that beautiful stare that he always seemed to possess. His face was barely inches away from mine and I was forced to stop thinking about anything but just breathing and making sure I didn’t pass out.

“You’re freaking amazing. Don’t deny that.” He said, rubbing my cheek with his thumb. My eyelashes fluttered closed. Did he really mean that?

“Thanks.” I whispered finally. He tilted my chin up, giving me a quick kiss before finally letting me fall back.

Wait.

Hold. The. Phone.

What. Just. Happened!?

Did Joel Birch seriously just kiss me!? Okay, okay, don’t panic or freak out!

Joel smiled a little as I blushed even hard. He took my hand and led me to the front of the bus. We flopped down in front of one of the TV’s. Silently, we went through the channels, looking through everything and focusing on nothing.

I felt his hands silently slip over mind and our fingers intertwining as I leaned on his shoulder, starting to drift. It was if my mind was floating on a sea of pleasure. For the rest of the night, I felt like I really was worth something, really could be something to someone else. And maybe that someone else was Joel.

Notes

So this is for the always amazing Say all you hav to say! I hope you enjoyed this one shot! :) It took me a while, but I got it finished!

Remember to request a one shot if you want one! Don't be scared-I don't bite!