To A New World.

Chapter 6.

I woke up in Ben's arms, nobody else was awake. Of course, I was asleep last and up first. I climbed off the couch and quietly shuffled through the fridge. Pulling out a carton of iced coffee, I shook it and took a swig. Looking at the time, it was already two. We were due at the venue by six.

"Get up, wankers." I told them. They all got up and rubbed their heads, as smacked them each with my pillow. "Come on, it's passed two."

"So?" Danny groaned, laying back down.

"So," I urged, tossing my pillow with my bag. "I got you guys a gig tonight."

"No way." James said, springing up and smacking his head on the bottom of Danny's bed. "Ah, fuck." The boys all snickered at him quietly.

"Yes way," I nodded. "So go get ready."

They all got up and stripped down to their underwear. I was actually a bit over whelmed. Then Danny almost dropped his boxers. "Woah!" I said, covering my eyes. "I'd rather not see my brother's dick today, thank you!" I walked out the door and sat on the concrete outside the RV.

A mother and her son walked by. She took one look at me as I smoked a cigarette on the ground. I gave her a smile, but she looked at me in disgust. She grabbed her sons shoulders and made him walk faster, "That's why you're going to college."

I flicked the ash of my smoke and defended myself. "I'm not homeless, this is my band's bus."  But she had already walked on.

Danny poked his head out of the door. "You can come in, the all the cocks have been tucked away."

I chuckled and tossed my cigarette to the side, climbing back on the bus. "Okay, guys. My turn to change, head out. Go." They all rolled their eyes and filed off of the bus. I searched through my suitcase and grabbed my bag of makeup and a mirror, setting it on the bathroom counter.

I slipped into tight black skinny jeans that looked like they were mauled by a bear, a Metallica shirt that I had cut into a tank top, and my boots. I let the boys back in and did my makeup. Heavy eyeliner and mascara, some chap stick, and I replaced my black septum ring with a silver one.

"Shots to celebrate?" Danny grinned, pulling a bottle of vodka out of nowhere.

I laughed, "How the hell did you get that?"

"He just stole it out of someone's cart in the parking lot," Sam was laughing to the point of tears. "The guy didn't even notice we took all of his booze."

Danny was rummaging through the stuff on his bed, "I also got some Jack, some rum, and a bottle of wine."

"Let's get started," I smiled, pulling out the shot glasses.

Cam drove to the venue, and I met the guy who owned the place. I shook his hand, "Thank you so much for letting us play."

"Yeah, well there's a talent scout from Sumerian Records here tonight, and from the song you sent me, it sounded like you guys deserve a shot," He grinned. We were a band that plays before the bands actually on the tour, just to keep the crowd busy. We were called crowd-savers. "The other crowd-saver is over there if you want to meet them."

The other band was doing stupid shit with a funnel and some beer. They looked really immature and I decided to not talk to them. Instead, I hung out backstage and met some managers to the big bands. Then the manager of the venue found me. "Get up on the stage and talk about your band."

I nodded nervously and got on stage, the mic that had been left on th ground. "Hi, guys, how are you?" No response. "Oh, come on. You guys are seeing Alesana tonight. Why are you fucking quiet? Hm, should I be swearing at you? Eh, I'm gonna do anyway."

Finally, I was getting smiles and laughs and just.. response.

"Okay, so I manage a band called Asking Alexandria. Anyone ever heard of them?"

Someone yelled no, "No, but you're hot."

I shook my head with a laugh and continued. "We just moved here two days ago from England. They're no Skid Row, but they kick ass. So I hope you enjoy these few songs that we've so generously allowed to play. I stepped off the stage and the boys ran on.

And they fucking killed it. People were going crazy. We got an applaud and some people even yelled, "One more song!"

Danny laughed, "Sorry, mate. August Burns Red, one of the people you actually came for, is ready to jump up here. But you can grab our live recordings at the merch table where our sexy manager is."

After the show, we were gonna head off back to the Walmart parking lot and celebrate with the alcohol Danny had taken, but a guy walked up to us. "Asking, right?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, right," I nodded. "I'm Lauren."

"Jean Starling," He shook my hand. "The talent scout. I'd like to sign you guys."

"What?" I squeaked out.

"You have real talent," He nodded. "You'll get the full package. Less money, of course, but only to start. Your own roadies, and a bus much better than that RV I saw in the back. Not to mention you won't have to do three jobs by yourself." He handed me a card. "Give this number a cal around noon tomorrow and we'll set up a meeting."

"Thank you so much," I smiled. When he was distance away, I ra screaming to the boys, "GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS." I was crying, but I eventually calmed down and told them the story.

"HOLY FUCK," Ben said, "Well, let's go celebrate!"

I drove back to the parking lot and pulled out the alcohol. We finished off the bottle of vodka and got a buzz. Then the Jack was gone, and Cam was the first one drunk. Then the rum was gone and we were all drunk. Halfway through the wine, Danny and Ben somehow were in their underwear.

By the time everthing was gone, I was curled up in Sam's bunk crying about how happy I was. Sam laughed, "You emotional fuck, get out of my bed."

"No," I said stubbornly. "Someone cuddle with me."

"Called it!" Ben said, hopping up on the bed with me. "You can have the couch for the night, Sam."

I rolled over to look at Ben, "Why hello there."

"Hi," He hiccuped. He was just as drunk as I was. "So are you gonna cuddle with me or?"

"Ben you're like five feet away," I whined, when in actuality he was like 6 inches away. He pulled me up against him and pulled the blanket over us. I snuggled up to his chest and closed my eyes, yawning, "That's much better."

As I was trying to fall asleep, Ben whispered. "Hey, Lauren?"

"What?" I asked, a bit annoyed.

He smiled, "Thank you, none of this would have been possible without you."

"I love doing it, dude," I smiled, and that ended our conversation.

------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry, Lauren," Ben shook his head. "We just.. don't need you anymore. The album went double platinum. We have a professional manager now."

"So after everything I've done, you're just.. getting rid of me?" I said, on the verge of tears. I reached to touch his arm, but he pushed me away. "Do you even want me as a friend anymore?"

"Don't you think it'll be weird?" He asked, not looking at me.

"What's weird is that you can just push me away like this," I said, unable to hold back my cries. "What did I do wrong?"

"Ask Danny, he's the one that came up with the idea. The rest of us just agreed it would be better for you to just go," Ben said, looking at me with cold eyes and pointing to the door. "So just go."

Then I woke up gasping for air and smacked my head on the roof. I cried outloud, and Ben woke up and wrapped me in his arms. He stroked my hair and said quietly, "Hey, hey.. It was just a dream. Only a dream.. you're fine.. I've got you."

Sure, you've got me now. But would you let me go?