The Way Down

It was 4:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The sun wasn’t up yet and a comfortable silence had settled over me. I pulled my sweater tighter, crossing my arms over my chest as I huddled further into myself, foggy breath visible in the cold air. I looked around at the meetup spot we were emailed the week before.The parking lot was vast and dark, a dusky blue sky looming overhead, with five long, black tour buses parked in a row, all with a white sheet of printer paper taped to the windows, all with their respective band names on them. A Day to Remember, Nothing More, and Adakain. It felt like I was alone, but if I looked closely there were people who had arrived before me. Tour bus drivers, roadies loading amps into u-hauls attached to their cars, a few band managers whose band members probably weren’t far behind. I shivered and realized I probably should have put on real pants, but was stuck with the baggy flannel pajama bottoms I had decided not to change out of earlier that morning. All my other clothes were shoved into two travel bags sitting by my feet on the dewy pavement, and it wasn’t worth the hassle to dig through them for any proper attire.

Finally, as more people began to arrive, I grabbed my luggage and made my way over towards the buses. One of the last ones was a roadie bus, for those of us who were going on this tour to help with merch and stage sound, etc. There were only two buses for roadies, but some others would follow in their own cars. Climbing the tall steps into the second to last bus, I quickly knocked on the plastic door, but didn’t wait for a response as I made my way inside. I was the first one there.

The kitchen was the first thing you saw as you walked in, tiny and compact. Hardly fitting for the six people that would be sharing it, but it was the kind of thing you get used to over time. A “living room” of sorts was beside the kitchen, really only consisting of a long, gray couch along the wall of the bus, with a medium sized television mounted to the wall at the end. Closer to the back was a booth that could seat four, with a wide table in between the plastic seats. There were compartments lining the ceiling above the furniture for storage. If you looked in them you would find things like blankets, tupperware, medicine, the list went on.

I waddled to the back of the bus with my bags, which I was dragging by now. My upper body strength was almost pitiable. That would probably change by the end of this tour, with all the things I expected to be lifting for six months straight. It would mostly be unloading and loading boxes into trucks, boxes filled with band tees and albums. For now I started lifting my bags into the bottom bunk, farthest away from the door. I shoved them towards the back and decided I would unpack later. There would be plenty of down time on the road on the way to the first show. I wasn’t sure if I was as mentally prepared for this tour as I had hoped. I had been on a couple of tours before, but for the most part they were small, where the bands weren’t that well known and everything was pretty easy going. On this tour, though, there was a bigger band, and I’ve heard stories about touring with bigger bands… More fans, more parties, less humble members. Crossing my fingers, I hoped I could get along with everyone and everything would go smoothly. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the tour bus door swung open.

“Hello?” a deep male voice rang out, and a guy with dusty blonde hair and a beard poked his head in. He swung a large duffel bag through the doorway and searched around until his eyes landed on me. “Casey!!” His face lit up and he barreled towards me.

“Dan!!” I yelled as he grabbed me up and spun me around in a bear hug. Laughing, I returned the gesture, and tried not to let my feet hit anything as they dangled in the air, with Dan flinging me around in these closed quarters. Suddenly I felt a rush of excitement. Excitement to be on this tour, to see my friends, and even for meeting new ones, despite how introverted I was. “It’s been so long,” I whined as he set me down, and he turned and headed back to retrieve his bag. Dan and I went on our previous tour together a year and a half ago and became quick friends. He was cheerful and protective of me, which was nice when you’re spending months on the road with a lot of strangers.

“I saw you a week ago, Case,” he chuckled and threw his bags in the bunk above mine, thinking back to last week when we ate burgers and watched horror movies together, which was not a rare occurrence. He had rough, tan skin, decorated with colorful tattoos over his arms and chest. His ears were gauged and he wore a solid gray tee with some black jeans, not unlike his usual attire. “Do you want to go find some breakfast before it’s too late?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess we should go and see if there are any familiar faces, too,” I said as I grabbed some army green, tight fitting pants from my bag, along with a big baggy Star Wars hoodie to combat the cold weather. Ducking into the bathroom, I threw on my clothes for the day and brushed through my brunette hair, throwing it up into a messy bun in the end. “Did you talk to Shae? Cause knowing her there’s a chance she isn’t even awake yet and the tour is gonna leave without her and she’ll have to live the rest of her life as a spinster with ten cats and no job,” I joked as I bounced out of the bathroom and over to Dan, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the front of the bus. Our trio also consisted of Shae, who we met on our last tour as well. The three of us have been inseparable since.

“I think she’s here already,” my eyes widened as I heard this and I released his arm, immediately turning and dashing toward the door.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” I shouted, running full speed out of the bus. As I rushed down the steps my foot caught on the edge and my body propelled forward. I felt my body falling, almost in slow motion as I braced myself for skinned knees and palms, my breathing hitched. But it was quickly evident that someone happened to be walking by at just the wrong time.

I heard a winded grunt as we collided, and instinctively I grabbed for anything solid to latch onto. They managed to get a hold on me as we both tumbled down onto the wet cement. A hand firmly gripped the small of my back beneath me, my arms wrapped snugly around a sturdy neck. I remembered to breathe, inhaling the subtle scents of laundry detergent and cigarettes, my face buried into a mysterious shoulder. With eyes tightly shut, my grip didn’t loosen, my heart still pounding with fear and adrenaline. The smell of their rough, burly jacket was oddly soothing, though. With a large hand holding on to me I began to relax and cuddled in deeper to the nape of their neck, my eyes still closed.

Only when I heard someone gently clear their throat did I snap to and realize the situation. I relinquished my hold on them and pulled my face away, my arms still loosely hanging onto their shoulders. Dumbfounded I gazed at the man looming over me on the ground. He was much taller than me with dark hair and tattoos, a sleeve wrapping around one of his arms, the one propping us up from the ground. The other arm, barren of ink, was still wrapped around my waist. He had bold eyebrows and a strong jawline, deep hazel eyes boring into mine with a mix of confusion and concern. There was something gentle but imposing about his face, and I couldn’t deny that I had somehow fallen directly into the arms of someone who was very, very handsome.

My cheeks burned red and my stomach dropped as I realized how many people were staring at us. They were murmuring as they watched, some moving towards us, chiming words of concern. I began to turtle into myself, my chin hunkered low while my shoulders rose to my ears as the embarrassment set in. Just as I began pulling myself up from underneath him he seemed to come back to reality, too. He swiftly stood and in one fluid motion grabbed my upper arm and pulled me up with him, almost effortlessly. Teetering, I found my balance and met his gaze.

“Are you okay?” he mumbled, letting go of my arm as he looked around at the people dispersing. My cheeks still burned, and I suddenly felt very small, and very shy.

“Yeah, I am. Thank you… For that,” I motioned awkwardly at the ground. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and stared at the ground, internally cringing at the situation, my face warm all over, all the way to my ears. Did he notice me smelling him? He smelled nice... He nodded at me,

“Mhm," he looked tired, his brows furrowed deeply. It seemed like he had just woken up. "Well, if you're alright..." his voice was cold compared to how gentle he had been when he caught me. I nodded vigorously,

“Yeah, yeah, of course, I’m sorry, thank you… Again. And sorry, again,” I stammered. He turned away, but I was just able to catch a glimpse of the corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile, and I almost thought I heard him chuckle. He walked away with quick, long strides and I watched him for a few seconds before turning back around, only to find Dan standing aloof, eating a banana.

“What was that?” he pointed the banana at the ground where we had just been, and then proceeded to eat half of it in one bite.

“That was me eating shit and embarrassing myself,” I moaned, raising the palm of my hand to my forehead. “...Where did you get that?” leave it to Dan to immediately make me forget anything I was agonizing over.

“There’s more in the bus,” He stated as he climbed the steps to the door. I followed him and surveyed the counter in the kitchen, grabbing one as well.

“That was so embarrassing,” I sighed as I chomped into my breakfast.

“He didn’t look too sad to be the one saving you,” Dan wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“Shut up,” I laughed, chucking a piece of food at him. “I didn’t even make it two steps out the door before I messed up!” I moaned loudly, again dropping my head into my hands.

“Well, while you’re busy moping, I’m going to get some food, we have a long drive ahead of us,” he said as he moved towards the exit. Just as he opened the door a blur of red slammed through, knocking him to the ground. Attached around his neck was a lanky ginger girl.

“Shae!!” I shouted, running and jumping into the mix. I heard Dan grunt as I landed on both of them.

“Caseeeey!!” She cheered, wrapping an arm around my neck and pulling me into a group hug on the ground. I could feel my cheeks start to hurt as I smiled from ear to ear.

“I missed you guys sooo much in the whole week I didn’t see you,” she cooed as we all rolled over each other until the three of us were lying side by side, Shae in the middle. “Like I almost forgot what your faces looked like it’s been so long,” she joked.

The sun was starting to rise and light was pouring through the windows onto us, basking everything in gold. Shae’s hair was a burgundy red, not quite strawberry blonde, but not brunette either. She was pale with light freckles across her nose and cheeks, with a septum piercing and big eyes and a button nose. She was much taller than me, standing at five foot seven with long, gawky legs. Her hair was glowing in the light, her eyes shining a honey green. Dan’s hair was reflecting the beautiful morning light as well, his hair and beard shimmering while the light danced over his sun kissed skin. Comfort had settled into the pit of my stomach, and I would gladly lay there forever with my best friends on the floor of the tour bus, basking in this warmth if I could, thinking about how eventful the day had been and it was barely six o’clock.