And His Lips On Your Cheek
I heard someone snoring, causing me to wake up. I opened my eyes and found myself cuddling Michael. I could tell it was Michael because of his tattoos on his sides and arms. My leg laid across his legs and my arm was over his chest. I’m laying against his side with my head resting on his collar bone. His arms were wrapped around my waist with his fingers interlocked so he couldn’t let go.
I slowly pulled my phone and checked the time. 4:47. I should probably go back to my bunk. The guys would freak if they saw me and Michael like this. But, in order to go back to my bunk I have to get out of Michael’s hold.
Slowly, I tried to unhook Michael’s fingers. He must have felt it because his fingers moved back to where they were. So, I tried again. His hands reenforced themselves and hugged my waist tighter.
I giggled, “Michael I know your awake.”
"Come on Michael, I need to go to my bunk." I whispered.
I slightly frowned, “They guys can’t see us like this, they’ll think something’s up.”
He moved so his face was in the crook of my neck and whined.
"My bunk is across from yours Michael, I’ll still be here."
"Not here, here. You’ll be like 5 feet away from me, here." He whined.
"Just stay here, I promise the guys won’t see us." He whispered.
Michael isn’t one to give up. This will just continue until he wins.
"And what if they do see us?" I asked.
"Then they can go fuck themselves." He answered.
I sighed. Michael doesn’t know the seriousness of this. But, then again what are they gonna do if they see us like this? Give us the talk? It’s not like me and Michael are dating. There’s no harm in this. Right?
"Just stay please." He asked.
A small smile grew on his face.
"Turn around." He whispered.
"You’ll see." He answered.
I did as told and turned around. His hand moved between my waist and the bed to my stomach and pulled me back against him. He interlocked his hands so I couldn’t get out. I felt his breath on the back of my neck. I couldn’t believe it, me and Michael are spooning. I guess this is a bit better than the position we were in before, but not by much. What if the guys see us like this? They’ll be so mad at us and probably keep us on watch. What was I thinking? This is so risky.
"Stop worrying." He whispered.
"You’re tensed up." He interrupted, "Relax and go to sleep. Everything’s going to be okay. They’re not going to see us and even if they did they can’t do anything unless they have proof we’re dating. Which we’re not, we’re just spooning. There’s no harm in that." He whispered.
I took a deep breath and relaxed. He’s right.
"Thank you." I whispered.
"Mhmm." He replied, "Go to sleep. I’m right here, I won’t let anything happen to you."
I moved my hand to the back of his and gave it a squeeze.
About fifteen minutes later I’m still awake. I can’t go to sleep. Maybe I should go make a glass of warm milk.
I felt Michael fidget a bit, making me close my eyes and act like I’m asleep. Suddenly, I felt Michael’s lips against my cheek.
I heard him mumble, “I wish I could call you mine.”
My eyes shot opened as he relaxed back into his place. I obviously wasn’t suppose to know that.
I did eventually go back to sleep but it took me a while to stop thinking about what Michael said.
I turned on my back, sighing.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Michael said quietly.
"Good morning, Prince Sarcastic." I giggled.
I opened my eyes and turn towards him.
"So how do we get out of here without the guys knowing?" I asked.
He scoffed, “It’s simple. You’ll climb over me so I can get out, then I’ll check to see if the guys are near and if they aren’t you can come out.”
I got on my hand and knees, keeping one hand up so Michael can slide under me. After, I moved my leg over him by I felt Michael’s phone under my knee cap, making my leg buckle. I landed on top of him, both of us making an “umf” noise at from the impact.
"I’m so sorry!" I whisper-shouted.
He chuckled, “Shh, it’s okay. I always had a feeling you were a topper.”
I glared at him, “Shut up.”
I pushed myself off of him and landed in the back of the bunk.
How could he be so affectionate one night and back to the same way he was the morning after? He was acting like he was my boyfriend last night but now I’m back to being his best friend. Plus, last night he couldn’t let me go but this morning he stuck to his side of the bunk? This is stupid, he can’t have that much of a mood change just from being a bit tipsy.
"You can come out." Michael said.
I quickly slipped out of the bunk, with a bit of help from Michael because his bunk is a little high up for me.
We stared at each other yet again. I could feel my smile growing. Maybe that Michael from last night is still there.
He cleared his throat and looked away.
"Um, you want to get some breakfast?" He asked.
My smile faded away, “Sure.”
Our bus pulled to a stop at the venue. Our first show is at a rock festival in Tucson, Arizona. We play in a little more than four hours at 3:45. Four hours may seem like a lot but that gives us a chance to unload everything and get somethings ready backstage. Then, we’ll need to put up our merch tent and hang some of our merchandise up. After, we can meet up with the other bands that are going on tour with us and walk around the festival for a bit. Finally, we get to preform, something I’m practically scared shitless about.
We finished setting up backstage and putting up our tent. Now we have 50 minutes until we step on stage, 40 minutes until we have to get ready. From what I’ve been told, we’re going on tour with A Day To Remember, and Of Mice & Men.
I bumped into Alan Ashby while walking around the festival.
"Oh sorry, that was my fault." He said, "Wait, are you Kristy Jones?"
"Well, it’s great to finally meet you." He said, "I’ve heard your singing, you’ve got some nice vocal cords on you kid."
I giggled, “Thanks, I’m guessing my band sent you a recording?”
"Yeah." He answered, "Now that I’ve met you, I can see you have a pretty face to match that voice of yours. I mean I’ve seen pictures off of twitters and shit but those are nothing compared to you in person."
My cheeks were tinted red now, “Thank you very much. I really need to hear that actually.”
He smiled, “Well, I’m just stating my opinion, no need to thank me. And I’d love to chat some more but me and the band need to go to a signing in, I’d say about, two minutes.” He chuckled.
I smiled, “Oh well you better hurry then, don’t wanna keep the fans waiting now do we?”
"I’ll talk to you later tonight. Maybe after your set we can hang on my bus." He said.
"Of course." I replied, "Now, go! Your fans are waiting!"
"Right!" He said and sped walked to signing.
After that, I met all of A Day To Remember. All of them are really nice, I already feel like I’m part of the family! Right now I’m currently back stage doing my vocal warm ups before the show.
"1 minute!" I heard our tour manager shout.
I finished my warm ups and put my earplugs in. Michael gathered us in a circle and made us put our hands in the middle.
"It’s the first show of tour guys. Let’s blow this shit up!" He shouted, "We shout "Hooligans" on three! One, two, three…"
"Hooligans!" We yelled together.
We all walked on stage, my heart beating the fastest in my life. I went to my mic stand and a second later the band began to play the beginning of “Stingray Affliction”.
Show me what you’re worth
Get up
Facedown, thinking out loud
He’s so hardcore when he’s running his mouth
There’s always gonna be that fucking guy
You got a few things bottled up
Jump on a couple bottles like double dutch
Jager got you faded when society’s got you jaded
How do you expect to grow
When all you wanna do is break
It’s time to let shit go
And let the chorus play
Michael screamed the intro in the microphone while I tried to get the crowd amped up the best I could. This is my first performance, I didn’t know exactly what to do.
Now was my part, I grabbed the mic from the stand and stood on one of the platforms at the end of the stage.
No I don’t wanna be tough
I wanna make sure they can see me cry sure enough
Don’t wanna bottle this up
The way you make me feel when you’re around
Tough guy dies a little inside
This town might show no love
I hoped off the platform, back on stage as Michael screamed the last line in the chorus and the next verse.
But kid you gotta wake up
This is the real world
And you’re only hurting yourself
When you spend every waking moment
With your fingers crossed
I don’t think you can afford
To set karma further in motion
Go ahead
No one cares
Talk shit you mean nothing
Talk shit you mean nothing
I head banged and jumped back on the platform. I held my microphone out to the crowd while shouting “Talk shit you mean nothing”, signaling them to sing along. Which, surprisingly I actually got them to sing.
I stayed on the platform as I sang the chorus again.
No I don’t wanna be tough
I wanna make sure they can see me cry sure enough
Don’t wanna bottle this up
The way you make me feel when you’re around
Tough guy dies a little inside
This town might show no love
But no, I don’t wanna be tough
I stepped back on stage and faced the crowd, closing my eyes as I sang the next part of the song with my heart.
Ask what I see in you
I don’t see nothing, I see right through
You’re transparent I know you don’t wanna hear it
And I don’t wanna be the person to slip up and hurt your feelings
I guess they don’t wanna say it to your face but I will cause somebody’s gotta put you in your place
I’m not afraid to scream and shout
And freak out and throw my hands up
And let it out
I opened my eyes and moved closer to the edge of the stage.
Punk bitch walking tall like you got something to prove
Nah man, cause deep down you know it sucks to be you
Stingray Affliction
Making small stabs in passing
But the pain is bigger than it seems
Stop holding me under and let me breathe
I prepared myself for the high notes by gripping the microphone in both hands and tightening my muscles up,
The pain is bigger than it seems, yeah
I trilled the “yeah” as Michael screamed
A tough guy dies a little inside
Just let me breathe
I relaxed my muscles a bit because I didn’t have to sing as high as last time
The pain is bigger than it seems
Me and Michael both sang/screamed the last line.
Stop holding me under and let me breathe
I raised my hand up in the air as the crowd cheered. I tried to catch my breathe but I couldn’t, the audience is just so amazing. Finally I did, and the audience stopped cheering.
"Thank you!" I said in the microphone.
"That last song we played is called Stingray Affliction. But some of you already know that considering I could hear you sing it." I laughed a bit, "I’m sorry, I didn’t think you guys would be this amazing and pumped. I love it!"
I stuck the mic back on the stand and took a drink of water.
"In case you didn’t know, we are Issues. And I just got upgraded to vocals about a month ago, so in case you don’t know me I am Kristy Jones, Tyler Carter is no longer a part of this band. So, if you go on iTunes and buy our songs you’ll hear his voice instead of mine." I said.
I threw the water bottle to Alan, who was watching off stage. I gave him a quick wave before getting back to the crowd.
"As you know, we are only one of many band that came out here today so we only have enough time to play, I think, four more songs." I looked back to see the band nodding. "Yeah, four more. So this next song is called "Hooligans."
The crowd cheered but died down when Ty started the song.
We are now performing our last song of the day, “Mad at Myself”. At some point durning the song I ended on Michael’s shoulders while I sang the last lines of the song
That feeling we felt
We called it love, you called it off
And I never been so mad at myself
"One more time!" I yelled in my microphone.
Michael motioned the crowd to sing one last time as I brought the mic back to my lips and pointed at the crowd.
I spoke into the mic one more time, “Thank you so fucking much! If you guys didn’t know this was my first performance ever! And you guys made it un-fucking-forgettable! Thank you for accepting me into the Issues family and thank you for making this day the best fucking day ever!” I took a breath, “On drums we have Josh, on the turn tables we have Ty, on bass we have Sky, on guitar we have AJ, our screamer Michael, and I’m Kristy. Thank you all so much for the best day of my fucking life, I love you all so fucking much! Good night!” I yelled and we all ran off stage.
Michael squatted down so I could get off his shoulders.
"That was fucking sick!" I shouted, "I didn’t know being on stage was so fun!"
Michael spoke up, “I told you, you were amazing out there and everybody loved you.”
I giggled, “I guess you were right.”
He gave me a quick hug. Alan came up to the band. I heard some girl scream Alan’s name, she probably saw him considering we’re still on the side stage.
"You guys killed it, the crowd loved you." He complimented, "and you," he said and pointed at me, "you were absolutely amazing. It’s hard to believe that’s your first show, you owned that stage like a pro."
I giggled some more, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit, “Thanks, before I became vocals I specialized in guitar tech, I guess I kinda knew already how to get the audience pumped.”
He smiled, “Well whether it just came naturally, or from being backstage all the time, you still managed to get the audience moving and singing along.”
He hugged me around my shoulders and I did the same to his upper back.
"Don’t thank me. Something tells me this tour is gonna be one of the greatest I’ve been on." He said.
He released me from his hold and invited me and the band to his bus so we could meet the rest of his band.
~ Not sure when the next chapter will be up but it will be soon, the next chapter won't be as long as this one though thanks for reading! ~Mel