Re: If you can't handle the music get out of the punk rock concert

by **Gifty** Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:08 pm

Kix held Chase by the collar, quite literally, the younger boy was rearing to go, sitting in the front next to Kix as the manager drove the van. The company had called them in after listening to their demo tape so this was either very good or very bad. Chase was so happy, and hyper, that he couldn't sit still and was doing a whole performance in his head, his eyes closed and his arms going in a very spirited air guitar.
" Da na nanana Yeah!" Chase finished the song with a spirited yell, Kix swerving slightly in surprise.

Turning up the CD player Kix had stuck in Pierce the Veil's 'Selfish Machine' Album, one of his favorites, and smiled as the sound blasted in the expensive speakers.

by **OpenTheDoor** Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:08 am

Tori was being her usual self.
She couldn't help but worry. Were they calling them in for bad news? Or did they genuinely like them? Would they follow down the same path as all of her heroes? Or was that just another bump in the road?
"It's gonna be good news," she murmured to herself, trying to rid of her doubts.
Nevertheless, the gig that evening was going to be good. She'd been to gigs there before and the crowd was normally electric, if they liked the band enough, that was.
Giving a sigh, Tori leant her head against the wall, her fingers gently drumming out the beat of the song as the bassist crept ever closer to her, using the swerving van as an excuse. She never liked being in an enclosed space with Ricky; he always had something to say or would cross the touch-barrier. That guy had little rules and no matter how many times she slapped him for caressing her knee, he never seemed to get the message. Fortunately, Zee made sitting in the back of the back of the van a little more bearable.
She was just glad they had gum. It kept her mouth busy and it kept him from talking. It was, overall, a win-win.
"Kix, let Chase go, he's just excited," she mumbled, just loud enough to hear above his blaring music.

"Don't, he'll kick the glass in," Ricky chuckled, "We can hardly afford to keep this piece of shit working."
Stretching out his arms, the bassist gave a large sigh as he almost hit the two girls in the face with the back of his hands. Well, if the van was bigger then he wouldn't have done. If he didn't have to sit so close to Tori that the only way it was comfortable to sit was to put his arm around her...
Okay, maybe that was a lie. Maybe he liked to do that. Maybe he liked her being so feisty.
To be fair, though, he used to act like with Zee as well, sharing the love, but ever since her incident... Well, he liked to play it on the safe side,
"How long until we get there?" he groaned, shuffling in his seat again.
He didn't like long car journeys. In all honesty, no-one liked any-length car journeys with Ricky. He fidgeted too much.
He said it because of his ADHD...or something like that. He wasn't paying attention when he was told.

by **LeilaniAlexandra** Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:21 pm

Zee would have elbowed Ricky in the gut for not paying attention if her mind wasn't elsewhere. She was nervous about the gig and the call back. She also was trying to formulate an excuse to borrow the van tomorrow morning. It would have been her baby boy's third birthday and she liked to visit the grave sight every year.
No one knew she did it but she did. She heard Ricky talk but didn't pay attention to what he said.
She patted her bra for a cigarette but only found the lighter Tori had returned to her earlier. "Hey does anyone have a smoke on them?" Everyone always bummed smokes off her since she smoked the least so it was her turn. "Or maybe two?" The urge usually only hit this badly when she was stressed.
She leaned her head against the window but became annoyed when Ricky wouldn't stop fidgeting. She put a hand on his knee firmly to stop his foot tapping. "Seriously? We've been in the car for all of ten minutes. Take a chill pill." She lifted her hand back up. "Same for you Chase. You're going to break the van." She looked around the van again. "Oh and I was serious about the smokes..."

by **Gifty** Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:51 pm

Chase threw a pack of cigarets to Zee, " How can I take a chill pill, this is epic! People will write stories about us! They'll be dying to meet us, we'll be inspirations!" This little speech of his only got him more riled up, he grinned and turned down Kix' blaring music, calming down slightly but going off on some rant about how they can get a better apartment once they get the starting money and start recording their new album, but he was talking so fast they would be able to only pick out a few words every run on sentence.

Kix let Chase go and turned down the music further so they could talk again. " we're almost there guys, calm your shit so we can look nice and maybe not smell gross." he looked at Zee in the rearview mirrors, he was a regular smoker but he hated the smell of smoke. He was a weird fellow that way.

by **OpenTheDoor** Thu Oct 24, 2013 5:09 pm

The bassist gave a small chuckle. Just generally. He wasn't aiming it anyone, it just came out. Though it happened quite a lot, most people just got used to it.
So, as he sat there, swinging his legs, lolling his head from side to side, he watched as the two in the front continued their little battle. Chase was hardly making sense by that time, possibly rambling on about money and their future -- he heard something about fans and autographs and Kerrang! interviews -- and Kix looked like he was ready to kick someone's head in if they weren't careful.
Normally it was him who would be hit.
"Kix, you always smell gross. If it's not the cigarettes then it's that putrid cologne," he grinned childishly.
Okay, so maybe he would get a slap, but even Tori was finding it hard to contain a smile because of that.
"I can't sit still," he murmured, turning to Zee, "I find it humanly impossible."
Right on cue, Ricky stopped his leg-swinging and sighed, folding them over instead. It wasn't his fault he couldn't get comfortable in the van.

Tori tried to hide her grin behind the back of her sleeve, though she was pretty sure that the manager had seen it.
It was simply ironic -- every item of clothing he owned had the smell of smoke clinging to it, much like her own, yet, he hated it. It was. Very strange to her.
Even so, as she leant forward from her seat, she gently placed a hand on Chase's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, "Darlin', breathe. Save the energy for the show."
They were going to need it. They needed to show that they had the enthusiasm for it.

by **LeilaniAlexandra** Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:36 pm

Zee rolled her eyes at Ricky. Problems of the past aside, she opened the pack a pulled out a cigarette. "Please, I don't smoke enough to smell gross." But still she cracked the back window to help vent out the smoke as she lit up. She actually cared about what the others thought and tended to try to keep the smell to a minimum around Kix.
She closed her eyes and laid her head back as she took another drag, blowing out towards the window. Tori was right, everyone needed to conserve their energy for tonight's show. As excited as Zee was about the gig and the call back, she was trying her damnedest to keep calm. She continued to smoke until they reached their destination then threw the pack back at Chase. "Thanks. I owe you," and she meant it. he was the only one who hadn't asked to bum smokes from her yet...
Key word yet...

by **Gifty** Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:21 pm

Chase was hit by the pack of cigarets and instantly went into a shocked battle mode, the hand on his shoulder and the whack from the pack drove his already over working brain into complete overdrive, which was a bad thing, sometimes he went into manic periods, why people thought he was bipolar, and when he went manic it took forever to get him back down. Suddenly he was on his phone, talking and texting at the same time. He was blabbering about nothing really. His sentences had no end or beginning and he wasn't blinking or taking breaths. He came to a stop in talking when Kix pulled the van over, got out of his seat and opened the door for Chase just as the younger boy threw up outside. Slowing down Chase curled his legs to his chest and put his head on his knees. He always felt guilty when he went manic, and still was despite being calm (seeming) at the moment. His mind was racing and he was sweating still. Kix was patting the boy on his back, trying to sooth Chase as he tried to get control of the mania.
Kix looked back to the others, and, as usual, looked insanely guilty.
" Sorry guys." he apologized to them as if this was his fault, which he usually believed it was. There was always someone there with Chase in case he went manic, this was because his manic episodes happened for hours instead of days or weeks. Despite this his depressed stages lasted weeks instead of hours. It was a vicious cycle that was partially because he couldn't afford to get proper medical treatment for bipolar disorder. He was on mild and cheap drugs but they never really helped and just caused him to get sick when he went overboard when manic.
Taking a deep breath Chase pushed Kix's hand away from his back and quietly murmured, " Lets hurry and get there, I can deal."

by **OpenTheDoor** Wed Oct 30, 2013 4:47 pm

A small frown went to Tori's lips, watching the downward spiral of Chase's behaviour. She knew what was going to happen. She had seen in a million times before. The twist in her guy told her that as the van pulled over to the side of the road.
Of course, when he hopped out she was one of the first to get out after him, even climbing over Ricky to get to the door. But as she stood there, arms folded across her chest
Sure, she'd watch out for him a lot of the time but she had a bit of experience with depression, her own mother suffering from it regularly, especially after her brother passed away... But she had the same problem -- medication that wasn't doing as good a job as the top of the range stuff.
She just hoped that the trip would be over with soon and end in good news. If they got money then they could get medication which actually worked for Chase, forgetting the new apartment and better lifestyle -- that was what she cared about the most.
"Your bottle of water's under the chair, Hun," she murmured, watching as her 'twin' climbed back into the van.
The sad thing was that, though he seemed to have calmed down, he truly hadn't. If they weren't careful then he might have done the same thing a little while later, God forbid it, in the middle of the meeting about the demo.
She could only help and make sure that Chase said only the minimal.

Ricky hated feeling useless like that. His bandmate, his friend needed help and he couldn't do much. He literally just sat in the back and shot Kix a look of "don't be silly -- it isn't your fault" as he wore the face of guilt them.
He couldn't take the blame. It was no-one's fault that Chase was the way that he was -- he faced trauma and things like that come out because of stressful events.
The only thing the bassist could do was try and continue on as normally as possible and not let the record company get scared because of it.
Giving a sigh, he took in a bit of the second-hand smoke and sighed, a small wave of relaxation washing over him. It was what he needed right there and then.

by **LeilaniAlexandra** Sat Nov 09, 2013 3:26 pm

(sorry I haven't been on guys. School has been a burden)

Zee reached out and put a hand on Chase's shoulder. "It's not your fault. No need to apologize." Chase always thought it was his fault and she felt terrible when he did. She just wanted to get this over with. Hopefully they'd have enough time before the gig for everyone to rest and calm down. Lord knew she could use a nap already. She removed her hand from his shoulders and rubbed her temples. It had already been a long day.

by **Gifty** Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:36 pm

Kix made sure everyone was okay before starting up the van again and heading out, Chase was sipping the water half-heartedly his eyes fixated at the ground. His heart was still racing but his mind was in a saner place than it had been.

Kix drove the speed limit for once and even slowed down and stopped at yellow lights. It was something he did when he knew the others needed time to relax, calm down or just take time to themselves or them as a whole. The music was off and he didn't mind for once.
Chase luckily flushed all the taste of the vomit from his mouth and was getting back to his normal, exhausted but happy, self.
" I'll definantly not do that at the meeting." he half heartedly joked to the others, a crooked smile on his face.

by **OpenTheDoor** Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:40 pm

(No worries, LA, we're all in the same boat right now. But after this week I should be fine -- uni deadline is this Friday for me :S Then I can stop stressing!)

Tori spent the rest of the journey just staring up into the corner of the van, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular. She was glad that the ride was a lot less jolty, mostly due to the fact that Kix was obeying the law for once. But as she tucked her Converse up and brought her knees to her chest, the guitarist gave a sigh, deep in her own thoughts.
Silence was her most dangerous time. Silence was when she had room to think, to ponder on everything which had happened. Silence was often when her moods flipped.
But as she lightly tapped out a little beat on her shins with her fingers and the tips of her shoes jumped as she made out a rhythm, Tori slowly began to drag herself out of the abyss that was her mind, fully aware of what it could make her do if she stayed there too long.
Lightly, she began to hum under her breath, still letting a beat play out from her fingers. What she was playing out was one of their songs, "Meet Me Halfway" which, normally when they played it, was a upbeat song despite the depressing message it had. However, Tori liked the 'broken-down' version of it she composed one lonely night. And that was exactly what she had in her head.
Sure, everyone knew silence was golden, however, every one in the van knew what she could do if she was left alone with it too long.

Okay, Ricky wasn't feeling too great. He knew that everyone was feeling guilty and getting down in the dumps. He could see it. They were all showing the signs.
Kix was driving slowly.
Tori was humming to herself.
Zee was smoking fags.
That was something that he couldn't handle. People were meant to be happy. He needed people to be happy so that he could be happy, too.
Plus the quiet was killing him. It was boring. Boring wasn't fun. A lack of fun wasn't what he liked.
"I'm sure it'll all be good. We'll all be watching out for you, Mate," he smiled, directing his words at Chase with a light chuckle, "Soon we'll be sipping champagne in our penthouses in LA, laughing at all of the discrepancies we've had to face throughout our lives... It'll be awesome."
Leaning back in his seat, he did try his hardest to sit still, just in case Zee snapped at him. Still, his thumb twitched as he stared out of the window in front of him as they turned down into a lane next to familiar-looking building. The studio.
"We're here!" he sang out with glee, "Yay!"

by **LeilaniAlexandra** Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:04 pm

Zee gave a sigh of relief and got out of the van once they were parked. She threw the cig on the ground and stomped it out with her boot. She looked up at the tall building and got a bit nervous. This was only her second time here and she didn't handle pressure well. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself up. She knew she could do this. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to slow her heart rate and calm her nerves down. "You'll be okay... You've got this..." she mumbled to herself under her breath. She opened her eyes as everyone else finished filing out.

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