Chapter 6

Chapter6

The next few weeks would take us up through Denmark,then into Sweden, before traveling back down to stop in Austria, eventually continuing south until our first stops in Northern Italy. The ride to Copenhagen was long and we spent the entire night and next morning moving. The bus stopped on occasion, switching out drivers and getting refueled, but for the most part we were on the road.

Sienna and I slept the entire night, both exhausted, the long night of rest very welcome. I was tired, both mentally and physically from my time with Jack, and Sienna was floored from partying. We had been taking turns with who got to sleep in the private bedroom that held a queen size real bed mattress, because the bunks were little more than a thin piece of cotton laid over the wood. I wasn’t sure if Sienna knew I was sad or if she just wanted company herself, but we both crashed in the queen bed together for the long night of travels.

I woke up in a corner of the bed, with no covers. Sienna, on the other handwas splayed out leisurely diagonally across the bed, with the covers wrapped snugly around her. I found it amusing that I was the one crunched in the corner then, as Jack had been complaining about my taking up the whole bed and stealing the covers back home.

As we made our way through the streets of Copenhagen, the city caught my attention and I found it worthy of waking the beast next to me.Sienna pulled the covers over her head as I tapped her shoulder and softly called her name to wake her.

“The bus better be on fire, Syd.” Sienna’s voice was groggier than usual, even though she had never been a morning person, ever.

“We must be in Copenhagen. The city is beautiful. I thought you might want to see it.”

“Do you have coffee for me?” No sign of Sienna’s face from under the covers as she spoke.

“Ummm … no, but I can make us some.”

“You really know how to work that thing?” Sienna brought the cover down enough to show just her forehead and one squinting eye.

“The coffee maker?”

“No, the vacuum.” She brought the covers back over her head before speaking again. “Of course the coffee maker. What the hell else would I be talking about? I tried to figure it out the other day, but it exploded all over the place.”

I laughed as I stood on the bed, about to hop off and make the coffeefor my grumpy friend, but then I changed my mind and started jumping on the bed.

Sienna brought the cover back down to expose up to her nose.“What the hell are you doing?”

“I bet I can hit my head on the roof first.” I smiled and arched an eyebrow at my best friend, knowing she would never be able to forego a challenge, even if it meant getting out of bed before noon.

“I think I may move onto the other bus and send Justin to live with you,” Sienna growled, pulling the cover over her head.

I kepton jumping. Waiting. Knowing eventually she wouldn’t be able to help herself. I’d been hanging out with Sienna since elementary school and I was sure as the sun would rise that she wouldn’t be able to resist the challenge, albeit how silly it was.

A few more jumps and then Sienna growled as she jumped up and joined me in bouncing on the bed. When Sienna eventually yelled as she whacked her head against the top of the bus, claiming defeat, I couldn’t help but fall into a fit of laughter knowing that the prize I had let her win would probably leave her with a headache all morning.

***

I returned to the room with two large coffee mugs and two Ibuprofen for my friend. I didn’t know if she had a headache from hitting her head or not, but I figured she would need them for the hangover she probably had from the last few days of partying anyway.

We sat quietly on the bed,sipping our coffee and staring out the big picture window at the back of the bus in the private bedroom, taking in the beautiful scenery of Copenhagen. The bus drove slowly on the narrow roads as we passed block after block of low-rise buildings, most standing at only four to six stories. The buildings were architecturally stunning and painted a myriad of beautiful colors. Church steeples punctuated the skyline between the yellow, burnt orange and aqua blue historic buildings.Only a few modern hotels marred the quaint charm of the beautiful, historical city.

Sienna and I were probably most excited about playing in Copenhagen. We were scheduled to perform at an outdoor summer music festival instead of a typical theatre, unlike all the other venues on the tour. It was one of Europe’s greatest rock music festivals, spanning multiple days on multiple stages. Before we departed, the tour manager had told us that we were originally scheduled to play on one of the smaller stages, but the festival had just moved us to play on the Orange Stage, the largest of the six stages. Apparently, the tour was gaining popularity as we traveled and they expected too many fans for us to play at the smaller stage. The Orange Stage was where the more popular acts usually got to perform, because the viewing area could accommodate more than sixty thousand people.

As teenagers,Sienna and I had dreamed about going to the festival. We’d even priced out tickets the year we turned eighteen, but neither of us had been able to afford it. We loved the idea of playing at a big festival, but just being able to be a part of it as spectators was enough to be a dream come true.

Theonly parking for the tour busses was in the camper area. We would get to live the festival right along with the fans. Unlike Justin and Kyle, most people still didn’t know who we were, so at least until it was our turn to play we could enjoy the festival in relative anonymity.

Sienna and Kyle were especially excited at the stop, as they both planned to join the “nude run,” an annual tradition held on the Saturday of the four day festival. The run was an organized activity where people literally ran around the campsites buck naked and one male and one female would be selected to win tickets to the next year’s festival. The two of them had spent hours trying to talk me into joining them, but, unlike Sienna, I thought that activity would be more fun to observe.

***

Sienna and I spent the entire day watching bands and eating food on sticks, some of which I wasn’t even sure what it was. Some of the day we spent with Kyle and Justin and the other musicians on the tour, but it was difficult to move through the festival with so many girls stopping Kyle and Justin for autographs and pictures. More than a few lifted their shirts to reveal bare skin and requested that they each sign a breast, which the guys happily obliged. The day was a lot of fun, although I did notice that Justin kept his distance from me most of the day.

After a few hours of constant stopping for fans with Double Strife, Sienna and I decided to ditch them. With the size of the crowd of women circling them, anxious for whatever attention they could get, I doubted they would even notice for a few hours.

The rest of the afternoonSienna and I watched bands and danced together and I couldn’t have asked for a better, more laid-back day — except, of course, if at the end of it I was going home to Jack. We met back up with the guys in time for the nude run and I found it amusing how many more of the guys from our tour had decided to join in on the fun after finding out Sienna was going to participate. Sienna, of course, would be the only woman participating from our tour group, but that didn’t seem to bother her at all.

Justin and I watched the nude run together, both laughinghysterically as drunk people ran around, falling often. The run had become a greater spectacle than usual, as the grounds were muddy from a heavy rain the night before, making the grassy campsite area slippery and muddy. The messy conditions seemed to have not mixed well with the inebriated campers, making most participants appear as if they had been mud-wrestling.

Although we didn’t talk much, I was glad that Justin and I got to spend a little time together having lighthearted fun. Therehad definitely been a tension between us the last week and people on the tour had been starting to notice.

After the nude run festivities wrapped up, most of our group decided to spend the evening at the beer tent. I politely declined, as my throat had become scratchy and I wasn’t sure if it was allergies or I had begun to come down with a cold. Considering I was being paid to sing, I thought it best to forego the evening festivities and call it an early night. I was excited to play the next day and wanted everything to be perfect.

Back on the tour bus I made someeucalyptus tea and settled in for the night. The camping area was loud outside, but a little soft music made it easy to forget that there was a giant party going on around me. I called Jack and filled him in on the day’s antics and he told me about his day. He mentioned that he had a board meeting in the morning and his tone changed as he told me about it. I knew that a board meeting meant being in the same room as his father, something that Jack unequivocally avoided at all costs.

He planned to do a ten mile run in the morning to work off some of the stress before having to spend hours so close to his father. He had basically disowned his father years ago when his mother was dying of cancer and his father had traipsed around town with a bevy of mistresses half his age instead of taking care of his ailing wife. Since then, he tolerated his father only when absolutely necessary and restricted any interactions to solely business. Things had got progressively worse in the last few months, after Jack’s father had interfered in mine and Jack’s lives. I wanted to ask if anything new had happened to cause the current animosity in his voice, but something told me that it was best left for another time, perhaps when we were in person.

We talked on the phone for over an hour, and as we were beginning to make plans to talk the next day, there was a knock at the bus door. I stayed on the phone with Jack as I unlocked it, expecting to find a drunk Sienna on the other side. But instead it was Justin. Justin didn’t speak, he stood outside and waited for me to invite him in. I told Jack that I would call him the next day because the tour manager had come to go over the plans, and we both said goodnight. I hated to lie to Jack, but I knew how he felt about Justin and he had enough on his mind, having to deal with his father and the board meeting in the morning.

Justin waited outside the door to the bus, with me holding it open, until I had hung up the phone.

“Can I come in, Syd?”

I was leery at first, but then stepped aside while still holding the door, silently accepting his request. I knew Jack wouldn’t like me spending time alone with Justin, but I figured it might be best to clear the tension between us. I thought about my promise to Jack not to have men in my room, and justified to myself that I wasn’t breaking my promise as long as we stayed in the common area of the bus. I couldn’t imagine that it would be possible to spend three more months on tour with Justin and not sit in the front of the bus together at some point. It was best to clear the air and move forward with less tension between us.

Justin sat down and we both began to speak at the same time.We both laughed, almost nervously, and an awkward silence followed.

“You first,” he said.

“I was just going to ask why you weren’t out at the beer tent partying with the others.”

“Oh. The beer party turned into an autograph signing party so I got out at the first lull in the line.”

I smiled. “Part of the cost of your fame.”

“I guess so.” Justin ran his fingers through his hair. His body language let on that the constant attention actually bothered him more than he let on.

“What were you going to say, Justin?”

Justin pushed his hands into his pocket and looked down, playing with a small spot on the rug at his feet. His movement reminded me of a small child who was about to confess something to his mother, but was nervous of her reaction. “I was going to apologize for acting like a jackass lately.” He looked up at me with a hesitant shy smile. It was the first glimpse of the old Justin that I’d known.

“You have been a bit of a jackass.” I smiled and nudged my shoulder in to his in a friendly gesture meant to ease the apprehension of our conversation.

Justinresponded with laughter in his voice. “I knew you wouldn’t let me off the hook that easy.”

I laughed, feeling some of the tension between us release at our friendly exchange. “Want me to kick your ass atRock Band, friend?”

Justin’s eyebrows shot up in surpriseand his cocky dimpled smile returned. “Bring it on, blondie.”

We playedRock Band on the flat screen in the front of the bus, while lounging at opposite ends of the couch for more than two hours. I lost track of the wins and losses, but by the time Sienna came stumbling in I was pretty sure I had lost.

Sienna and Kyle roared into the bus like wildfire. Both still haddried mud in their hair and went straight for the bottle of tequila. The four of us laughed and told old stories for another hour before I decided it was time to call it a night. The sun was coming up by the time I felt Sienna crawl into bed next to me again.