The concert had just finished and everyone was back on the bus, with some sort of drink in hand. We had grape juice while the rest of the people had beer or some other alcohol, which made the majority of the bus smell absolutely disgusting.
“So how exactly do you know French?” I asked Charles.
“Well, I was born in Pennsylvania, but I lived with foster parents who were from Montreal for like six months and we had moved up and down and basically the majority of the time after that, I spent taking super advanced French classes in school and online and at one point I think one of our foster mother’s was a French woman. God, she hated me,” she laughed.
We smiled and continued talking until a drunken Alex decided he wanted to play Truth or Dare. With everyone.
“Get in a circle! Base of the bottle means you get to ask the questions and the bottleneck is the answer. Got it? Great.”
“Who spins first?” Pommie asked quietly.
“NEXT BIRTHDAY! NEXT BIRTHDAY!” Jack chanted, attempting to get people to chant along. When that failed, Eva spun the bottle. It caused Jack to ask Charles the enduring question and I could tell she was racking her brain for a sassy answer to get him to shut up.
“Charlotte… Truth or Dare?” Jack asked, buzzed but not quite drunk.
She ground her teeth and glared at him before answering, “Truth. And it’s Charles.”
“What is the most outrageous thing you have done in your life?”
She laughed and looked at Sam with a gleam in her eyes. “When we were twelve, we were separated and had to go with different couples. We hated it. And basically accidentally-on purpose destroyed the relationship with our Fosters and that is how you know not to mess with us.”
“We go hardcore!” Sam smiled, and put her hand up in the air for a high five while Charles just gave her this look. You could hear the laughter slipping out in giggles from all of us, just waiting for something to set it off.
“You’re about as hardcore as a lima bean.”
And we all blew up. Our laughter could probably be heard from over a mile away, and you could practically feel the bus shaking with it. Jack was rolling around with his face red and tears streaming down his face. Hazel was leaning onto Alex for support and he was practically shaking.
Charles spun it and soon enough Jack was dared to imitate his most recent one night stand. Vocally. With the help of Zack’s phone, Sam had the video recorded and uploaded within ten minutes of the challenge being given.
I dazed out of it and thought about what had happened recently. Hazel came back, I flirted with a cute British guy, and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Everything just seemed to be going smoothly, but there’s always a bump in the road.
“Yo, Pommie! It’s your flipping turn!” Hazel said. I stuck my tongue out at her and asked her the question.
“Hm… Dare!” She said, a gleam in her eyes telling me that she had the spirit of a thousand lions.
“I dare you to try… whatever Jack’s drinking!” I said quickly. Before I could reprimand what I said, Hazel had crawled over to where Jack was and snatched up the bottle, lifted it to her lips (while ignoring Jack’s protests) and ultimately spat out whatever was in that.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SHIT?! Whatever it was, it was awful. Terribly disgusting and I will never ever EVER have that again.”
“That, young lady, would be beer. And under no circumstances will you ever have that until you are internationally legal. Or without supervision, whichever,” Alex lectured. Jack stood up and mumbled something about having to get a new beer and girl cooties, if I heard correctly.
***
I woke up pretty early, around 8 AM. But not because I ‘just couldn’t sleep’, or because ‘the sunlight was streaming through the curtains creating angel-like light surrounding me’. I woke up because I heard someone throwing up. I figured this was as much sleep as I would get and walked out of my bunk.
I wandered into the makeshift bathroom we had been provided with (thankfully) and found Charles panting next to the toilet. I smiled at her and grabbed the toilet roll before wetting a part of it and trying to wipe strands of her hair that had got caught in her puking epidemic.
“I’m such a lightweight,” she chuckled. I rolled my eyes and sat next to her, dabbing her forehead with a wet blob of tissue and water. She sighed and glanced at me before saying, “You won’t tell Zack, will you?”
“Scouts honour,” I whispered back. “Now go take a shower before anyone notices that you smell like shit,” I whispered. She laughed and hugged me before I pushed her away and into the shower.
I scampered into the back lounge and decided to try and continue the song that I had been working on. I was concentrating so hard before I turned my head and nearly screamed as Alex was looking in my notebook.
“Those were some sweet lyrics,” he said.
“Those were some PRIVATE lyrics,” I stated, emphasising on private.
“They were still awesome. What inspired you?” he asked, switching it to some cartoon, which I later realized was Regular Show.
“Just, stuff, I guess. Got any advice? I’m kinda stuck,” I whispered, looking down into my lap.
“Grey skies and empty hearts
Something’s tearing me apart
When you left it killed me on the inside
It broke me and set my mind on fire.”
*This chapter was written by @kinzaisabaws*
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Love Yourself So No One Has To
Fanfiction*Sequel to We're The Back Pocket Believers . You don't need to have read the first book to understand the story , although it will help * When Pommie was adopted by Rian Dawson of All Time Low , the buzz was all about Alex and Hazel . But it six mon...
