Silence Kills

~3~

(Craig's point of view)

"Wake up!!!" Sid screams.

I groan and I hear others in the bus groan as well.

"Will you shut up!!!" Corey screams back.

I chuckle silently to myself.

I throw the sheets off of me and hop out of my bunk.

I look out the windows of the bus and notices the sun is blaring.

I look over at the clock and see that it's 10:30 a.m.

I put on some jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. I put my sneakers on and walk out into the sun.

I squint my eyes and dig through my pockets for my sunglasses.

When I find them I place them over my eyes and continue walking into the venue.

I look over at the employee bus as I pass it. It looks empty, they must already be up and working.

I walk into the building and follow Sid down the halls.

"This way Craig," Sid cheers like a little kid in a candy shop.

I smile and follow him over to where our stuff is.

I look through my station and make sure everything is there.

I plug my keyboard and sampler in.

Sid tosses me a water and I set it down on my station.

Once everything looks good to go I hop off the station and walk to the back towards the dressing rooms.

When I'm walking I look around for Everest but I don't see her anywhere.
She's probably busy.

I open the dressing room and come face to face with Corey. He has a banana in his crotch and he's singing some random stuff while Chris laughs at him.

I smirk and grab my jumpsuit out of one of the lockers. I slip it on and then grab my mask.

"Sound check in 10," someone shouts as they bang on the door.

Corey yells some smart ass reply and Chris snickers.

I leave my mask where it is and follow Corey and Chris out the room.

When I get outside I see Mick and Jim walking towards the stage as well.

We all get on stage and test out our instruments making sure they work.

I press my keys and warm my fingers up.
I make sure my sampler works and that I have all the sounds I need for today's show.

When I look out into the empty crowd I see Everest plugging some long cords into the stage. She looks extremely focused and I chuckle slightly at her scrunches up face as she looks between two cords. She figures out which one goes where and then plugs them in.

"Dude are you okay?" Sid asks as he hops up onto my station.

I stop staring at Everest and look over at Sid.

"You good?" Sid asks.

I nod my head.

Sid shrugs and then jumps out of my station. I realize that everyone else has already excited the stage.

I jump off my station and head back towards the dressing room where everyone else is.

When I open the door my ears are filled with the talking, yelling, and laughter coming from the guys.

"Sup Craig," Chris yells when he sees me.

I wave at him and then make my way over to where he's sitting.

I sit next to him and pull out my phone.

I switch between listening to the conversations around me and reading on my phone.

"Did you guys see that one chick, the one with the silver hair," Corey says.

I look up from my phone and look over at him.

"You know, she's one of the staff," Corey says.

"Oh yeah, the shortish one?" Chris asks.

"Yeah," Corey nods, "what's her name?"

"Isn't it like blizzard or something?" Joey says.

I shake my head and the guys look at me.

"It's Everest," I whisper.

They all nod.

"Right that's what her name is. She's pretty hot," Corey mentions.

"She's really quiet," Chris adds.

Corey nods.

"I heard that she dropped a whole bunch of stuff the other day," Sid shrugs.

I feel myself getting a little defensive as they talk about her.

"She's allowed to be quiet," I mumble.

The guys stop talking and look over at me.

"Ooh! Someone has a crush," Sid says.

I feel my cheeks turn red and I shake my head.

"You totally do," Chris says as he puts his arm around my shoulder.

Corey laughs one of his extremely loud laughs.

"You're smitten aren't you?" Corey smirks.

I shake my head again.

"I don't even know her," I whisper.

The guys laugh.

"Don't worry man we won't tell her," Mick chuckles.

I sigh. This is why I would prefer not to speak.

Someone knocks on the door and then turns the handle.

We all look to the door and when it opens we all see Everest.

"Uh, they wanted me to tell you guys that you're on in five," Everest says.

The guys all nod.

"Thanks," Corey and Chris yell.

When she closes the door the guys all look over at me and start laughing.

I roll my eyes and stand up.

I walk over to the spot I left my mask and I place it on my head being careful not to stab my fingers with the nails.

I walk out and into the circle that Corey has formed.

Everyone puts their heads together, or close together in my case.

"Alright guys. We're going to go out there and we're going to have a great time, alright?!?" Corey yells.

"Yeah!" Shawn yells.

Everyone but me shouts there agreement, I just nod my head.

"Alright hands in the center," Corey commands.

I place my hands on top of Chris's and Corey's and then everyone else places their hands on top.

"Fuck Craig's gloves on three. One, two three," Corey says.

"Fuck Craig's gloves," they all yell as they remove their hands from the circle.

I chuckle and get in line to walk out on stage.

We all go out in order. First Sid, then Joey, Paul, Chris, Jim, and then me.

I walk out and jump up onto my station.

I watch as Shawn, and Mick walk onto the stage.

Corey comes running out onto the stage and the crowd erupts.

"Hello you crazy bastards!!!! How are you doing out there?!?" Corey screams into the mic.

The the crowd cheer and scream.

I smile as we start our set off with Wait and Bleed.