Chasing Blue Roses

13. Girls Gotta Stick Together

13. Girls Gotta Stick Together

   Of all the places I ever thought I’d live, a red double-decker tour bus was not one of them.

   It shone in the moonlight, a glossy fire-engine red bus with the words ‘Jumbocruiser’ emblazoned across the side. The night breeze whipped at my hair as I stood beside my suitcase. My boots were already gathering dust in the parking lot we were stationed in and despite the excessive amount of sleep I’d had on the plane, my body ached to collapse into something solid.

   I stared at the vehicle in awe as the boys dragged their suitcases up the metal stairway of the bus and through its sliding doors. A couple of crew members I didn’t recognize hoisted bags inside behind them, one of them grunting as he hoisted a duffle onto his shoulders.

   I couldn’t seem to make my feet move just yet.

   I heard a throat clear behind me.

   “Fantastic, isn’t it? State of the art everything.” Paula beamed at my expression. “We had to bend over backwards to get this bus for the boys. Say hello to your new home for the next month!”

   I was at a loss for words. I was going to be living on a bus with One Direction for an entire month. If anyone had told me that in a couple of days I’d find myself in this situation, I probably would have laughed out loud. Obnoxiously loud. Like, strangers-stare-at-you-in-the-street kind of loud.

   “Living on a bus... with One Direction.”

   Holy Shit.

   I felt the weight of Paula’s hand on my shoulder. “Soak it up, hun. How else did you think we were travelling between interviews? I’ve scheduled an exclusive in each area so they have maximum impact!” She winked, looking way too proud of herself. “I’ve wrangled prime time media slots, too. You’re going to be filthy rich by the end of this.”

   “Are you living on the bus with us?”

   Please say no.

   “Me? Oh, no!” She waved a dismissive hand in my direction as her phone chirped. “I have my own teeny trailer. Most of the team will be travelling behind you.” She tapped the screen of her palm pilot and snorted. “Imagine… me on a bus with those boys! You’re the talent, sweetheart. Just stick with the band and try not to get into too much trouble.”

   If she wanted me to stay away from trouble then ‘sticking with the band’ probably wasn’t the best idea.

   “Why don’t you go off and explore a bit, lovely? I’m sure you’ll love it.” And with that, Paula tossed her phone into her bag and sashayed off.

   Our flight had landed an hour ago in Philadelphia, and we’d been swept immediately into SUVs and driven off to an enormous plot of land. That was the first thing I’d noticed about America. Everything was so big and open. The bus sat in the middle of a dirt parking lot, dotted with the kind of greenery you’d find in an apocalyptic movie and isolated from everything else. The bus was surrounded by smaller trailers that had been set up to house the rest of the ‘1D’ team while we were on the road.

   “Bloody massive, isn’t it?”

   I whirled around and came face to face with a petite blonde. Her hair fell in shaggy, platinum waves and the ends were dip-dyed lilac. The warm smile on her face in combination with the loose tee she wore with dancing skeletons on it made me warm to her immediately.

   “Hi,” She beamed. “Lou Teasdale, the official primper of One Direction. I don’t think we’ve met.”

   I recognised her name as I shook her hand, having googled the boys. She was the band’s makeup artist and stylist. She was shorter than I’d imagined and struck me immediately as the motherly type, as she lifted up one of the bags I’d neglected beside me and dusted off the bottom.