Feeling This

Chapter Two

Nicolette was not happy. At the beginning of the bus ride (that's right, she had to take a bus) to Las Vegas where Travis was picking her up, she listened to "Change Your Mind" by Sister Hazel on her Walkman CD player on repeat. But after twenty minutes she realized it was just making her more upset, and she was not capable of listening to it for another three hours straight. So instead she put in one of her favorite CDs, Dookie by a band called Green Day. She remembered the first time she heard the album. Shawn had played it for her. They had been doing homework on his bedroom floor. He had put it on for background music, but by the time "Basket Case" played, Nicolette had forgotten about her homework and was just listening to the music.

She must have fallen asleep reminiscing because when she opened her eyes, the driver was announcing her stop. Nicolette grabbed her backpack and duffel that was stored overhead. She disembarked from the bus with the other passengers once they had pulled into the terminal. There were a few people waiting around the terminal, either passengers or picking up others. Nicolette looked among the crowd, searching for her uncle's face. Luckily he stood out in the crowd with his dreadlocks and tattoos. The two tall, attractive men on either side of him helped too. Nicolette walked towards the group of guys, swaying her hips just a bit more than usual.

"Nicky!" Uncle Travis greeted, holding his arms out for a hug. Nicolette cringed at the nickname but nevertheless set her duffel on the ground and embraced the hug.

"Hey, Uncle Travis," she replied.

"Look at you," Travis said once the hug ended. "You're all grown up."

The tallest one of the men with the short black hair wiggled his eyebrows at the other man with the spiky brown hair. The spiky haired guy shook his head slightly and looked over at Nicolette. The tall guy followed his gaze. Nicolette raised an eyebrow at his behavior once they made eye contact, causing the tall man to blush. Travis must have followed her gaze to the strangers because he quickly introduced them.

"Oh, this is Mark," Travis said, gesturing to the guy with the spiky hair. "He plays the bass in the band. And this is Tom," he gestured to the tall guy, "who plays guitar."

"Ah," Nicolette replied. "Nice to meet you both."

"You too," Tom paused, "Nicky." He smirked at her as if he had noticed her reaction to the distasteful nickname.

"Nic is fine, Tommy," she replied smoothly. Mark apparently found this highly amusing as he burst out laughing, quickly turning it into a cough when he noticed Tom glaring at him.

"Ok, well, I guess we should head out of here before Mark coughs up a lung," Travis said. He picked up Nicolette's duffel bag and began to lead the group out of the terminal. Nicolette followed his lead and walked by his side. Tom and Mark trailed after them.

"Smooth," Tom whispered to Mark. Nicolette heard a small thump and a muttered "ow."

Travis called a taxi and placed Nicolette's duffel in the trunk, along with her backpack that she handed to him. He then slid into the backseat. Nicolette followed him and Tom quickly stepped into the car after her, leaving Mark with shotgun. Thankfully her uncle had always been the quiet type, so he wasn't filling the silence in the car with pointless "catching up" chatter. Nicolette zoned out during the ride, focusing on Tom drumming his fingers against his thigh. After what seemed like a few seconds later to Nicolette, the taxi pulled into a parking lot of an amphitheater. Mark instructed the cabbie to drive around to the back. There was chain link fence, which a security guard opened for the taxi when he saw Mark in the passenger seat. The taxi kept driving, passing various trailers and tour busses. Finally Mark told him to stop next to a black bus with "blink-182" painted on the side of it. Nicolette figured that must be their band's name. Interesting. She wondered how they came up with it.