Musically Defined

Chapter 1

I woke up to the light shinning into the bottom bunk of the bus. I had kicked my blankets off in the night, and my cheeks were heated in pink. Usually my bunk was just one mass of blankets that I slept inside like a cave.

I didn't even know that we had stopped, or when. I pulled back the curtain of my bunk to see that the only other person with me was the driver, who slept a row down. The nice part about being on the bottom bunk was that I could kind of just roll out of bed.

The bunks were on the upstairs level of the bus, so I had to trek downstairs to get food. I ran a finger along the pictures we had hung in the stairwell. Rows of us against black back drops of clubs and venues. A few supporting faces changed, but the core group was always the same. Simon the singer, Aaron the drummer, Calcifer the guitarist, My father the bassist, and me, the daughter. The corner of the picture of us at Madison Square Garden was peeling up, and I rubbed it back down. The walls underneath were the blue we painted the rest of the bus, but the photo wall was after our internal redecoration of the bus. Our bus was nice, for a tour bus, that is. We painted the trim white, instead of wonky trailer color it was before. We added curtains, pillows, rugs, everything to make it feel like home, since it was ours for most of the year.

The usefulness of the kitchen was often debated, but none of us could deny we needed it for breakfast at least. I got out a pack of oatmeal and microwaved it. While it was cooking, I pulled back the curtains over the dining room table to see where they were playing at tonight. It was a dive bar, with a sign around to the front that said 'Willy's' in bright neon lights. Last night we were at a Hard Rock cafe, which looked much nicer than this place.

When the microwave beeped at me, I grabbed my oatmeal and sat down at the dark cherry wood table that matched the cabinets of the kitchen. I ate my oatmeal in peace, while I scrolled through the band's Instagram. The last photo I posted was of the venue we were at a few days ago, the seats empty and lined. Most of the photo's ended up in black and white, just because I felt it suited the band better.

The door to the bus opened and I turned to see my dad coming up. My father was in his mid-forties, and for the most part still kept up his looks. I say 'for the most part' because he couldn't help himself around bread, and had a bit of a midsection because of it. His stomach didn't quite hang over his pants, but it was nearly there. His hair hadn't been combed yet, and his dark scruff hadn't been dealt with in days, but he was already dressed for the show, in dark wash jeans, a tee shirt with a light blue button-up hanging open.

"Morning, sweetie." He came over to the table to kiss me on the head and hand me a cup of coffee. Usually I couldn't get up without it, but I actually got decent sleep last night.

"Are you all set up?" I asked while he rummaged around in the fridge before deciding on a slice of leftover pizza.

"Yeah, I think we have our set list done too, all that's left is sound check." He sat down across from me, but I was already up putting my bowl in the sink. I waited for it to fill with water so it was easier to clean later before I turned back to my dad. He had this interesting habit of ever only half sitting in chairs, he was on the far edge today, and eating the pizza in a way he would only do in front of me.

"Do you want me to tune your bass?" I tapped my foot to the constant stream of music flowing through my head, right now it was Metallica's Enter Sandman.

"I already have, but I think Simon could use your help warming up." I nodded and stepped out into the heat pounding down on the parking lot. I was the kind of sun that could give my father instant freckles, but I was safe. I ran ducked across the parking lot as fast as I could because black absorbs the sun and it's ninety-percent of all of my outfits. When I was inside I tried to avoid anyone who worked at the club, even though I'm almost legal club age. Most people don't question it, but I don't want to have to explain to anyone I'm with the band, it's always such a hassle.