Nikki , Pommie and I were chilling in the back lounge when Matt came in . The three of us had become friends over the past few days , despite any differences – including the fact that Nikki was three years older the Pommie . Charles and Sam were great , but they had been friends before Second Chance , and so they stayed sisters during it too , leaving the three of us to become closer and closer .
Matt tossed a laminated sheet onto my lap , and I picked it up to inspect it .
“What is this ?” I asked , after realising I understood none of it . Matt chuckled .
“That is your new timetable .”
Nikki peered over my shoulder . “Like , school ? With lessons and subjects and stuff ?”
“Yep . It's illegal for you guys to not get an education , and in case you hadn't noticed this tour bus doesn't have enough room for a school .”
“So ...”
Matt picked the timetable up , and began to explain it .
“In the mornings , Jeff will take Maths . I'm doing Geography with you , Colussy does History . Alex is teaching Spanish , and Rian is teaching French .”
We blinked in unison .
“English ?” I asked cautiously .
Matt frowned . “Um , Alex and Jack . So once you go back to school you might want to find yourselves a tutor .”
“What about fun subjects ?” Nikki said , “Like art and music and stuff .”
Matt shrugged . “Since you're living with a band , I guess you're all going to have to take music . I think most of the other 'fun' subjects are out of the question , but by all means try to study the practical side of woodshop . Just don't come running to me when you saw your finger off because of a pothole .”
I laughed . “So , when does All Time Low High School start ?”
“We should probably just call it All Time High for short” Nikki giggled , “All Time Low High sounds kind of strange .”
“True , but All Time High sounds like we're all on drugs , so ...” I trailed off .
Nikki paused , then snapped her fingers . I practically see her lightbulb flashing . “All Time Hoe !”
I laughed . “Definitely , definitely All Time Hoe .”
“Okay , both of you , shut up !” Matt laughed with us . “You're starting to sound like Alex and Jack .”
“If you didn't want us to sound like them you shouldn't have assigned both of them as our English teachers .”
“But I guess that's just the kind of education you get at All Time Hoe” I finished , and we all laughed , even Pommie who hadn't said anything throughout this whole conversation .
It wasn't long before we'd pulled up outside the next venue , so the crew left to get things set up .
“You know what'd be rad ?” Jack said suddenly , “If you kids did music as a subject , and then at the end of the tour you could do a song or two live , you know like an opening act for us .”
“Shut up Jack -” Rian began to say , then stopped . “Hang on . That wasn't a terrible idea .”
“Thank you” Jack said , rolling his eyes .
Rian sat up . “Seriously , guys , that's actually a good idea . We should do that .” He turned to us . “You guys want to go up on stage ?”
Pommie shook her head violently . “Stage fright” She said quickly .
“I'm up for it “ Charles said , and Sam nodded in agreement . “Yeah , me too .”
“We should make it into a competition” Nikki said , looking over at Sam and Charles with her eyes narrowing slightly . I knew why . Pommie was her friend , and they'd made her look bad .
“The kids can vote who sounded better at the end” Alex said , beginning to smile . “That would be rad . We are so doing this .”
Pommie bit her lip , but it didn't look as if she had a choice anymore .
The band left to do the show , followed by Sam and Charles . However , Nikkie , Pommie and I decided to sit this one out , and stayed in the back lounge to began planning for our set , at the end of the tour .
“We could do an All Time Low song” I suggested , “We know their setlist , so we could just cover one that they aren't doing .”
Nikki shook her head . “No way . That's what they expect us to do . I vote we write our own song .”
“Just one problem “ I said , “Does anyone here know how to write a song ?”
She shrugged . “We'll figure it out . We've got about a month . And you play guitar , right ?”
I sighed , and turned on the TV . Thanks to Jeff and Alex staying up all last night to watch a movie , it was fixed on DVD player mode , and none of us had a clue how to get it back to normal .
“Now what ?” I said .
“I can write lyrics” Pommie said .
We both turned to her . “What ?!”
Pommie shrugged awkwardly .
“I write … Poetry and stuff . I can write the lyrics , if you want . You know , for the song .”
Nikkie and I blinked , and looked at each other .
“And why didn't you tell us this before ?” I said , raising my eyebrows . She shrugged .
“Well then” Nikki said , “I guess ...”
“If I write the lyrics” Pommie said cautiously , “Do I have to go on stage ?”
“Not if you don't want to” I assured her .
“So – topic for the song” Nikki said . “Love ? Heartbreak ?”
I shook my head . “Cliché . Let's do something more original .”
Pommie watched us discussing our song with an empty notepad in her hand .
“What about you ?” I asked her , “Any ideas ?”
She shrugged . “Not yet .”
“This is hopeless” I said , after an hour of brainstorming and coming up with nothing . “The boys will be back soon . How about we just call it a night ?”
Nikki sighed . “I guess that's all we can do for now .”
I took to my bunk even though I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep . The post-concert buzz the ATL team had was loud and tended to go on for a few hours , but that didn't mean I couldn't curl up under my covers and just read or something . Yes , I do read , not frequently , but I do do it .
I fell asleep despite the lack of dinner and the noise , and when I woke up the next morning everything seemed to have changed . For a first , cameras had been set up in almost every corner of the bus , which meant the camera crew would be joining us for the rest of the tour . They must be living on their own bus , though , because there really wasn't any more room on this one .
As well as those new roadies , two more people had also moved in . Well , not exactly people .
“Spot ! Peyton ! How are my boys ?!” Alex yelled in delight , jumping down onto the floor beside his two dogs . The rest of the bus groaned .
“Your dogs , Alex” Matt said , coming to lay down the law . “You feed them , you take them out to piss , you walk them -”
“I get it , Matty” Alex said , while cooing over his dogs . “Oh , I mean Matt .”
Matt stared at him for a second , before shaking his head and walking away .
“Alright , kids . Up . You've got classes in the back lounge .”
Jeff didn't come through on his promise to make Maths fun . I sat glumly for almost an hour staring at a page of sums that made no sense to me , blinking rapidly whenever the numbers blurred out of focus .
“Since I'm such a nice person , you don't have any homework” Jeff said , looking pleased with himself . We took that as a dismissal , and got up to leave .
“I really needed to get off that bus” I told Pommie as the two of us wondered down to city centre . I looked around me and smiled . “I like Des Moines .”
“I hate maths” Pommie replied glumly , and I laughed .
“Me too , trust me . D'you feel like ice cream ?”
It was on the way back to the bus , while eating good ol' Ben & Jerry's , that Pommie froze .
“Pommie ?” I asked , kinda scared . Her eyes flashed to me .
“Have you ever watched My Fair Lady ?” She asked randomly .
“Um , yeah , I think so .”
“Well … I think I've got it .”
Back at the bus , Pommie hopped into her bunk and drew the curtain . I groaned .
“What is it ?” Nikki asked , coming up behind me .
“She's got an idea for the lyrics” I explained , “But she won't tell us what it is .”
“At least she's got an idea “ Nikki said , beaming . “This is great !”
“I just wish I knew what it was .” I bit my lip anxiously .
Since everyone had left for soundcheck , we were forced to stay behind and mind Spot and Peyton .
“I love dogs” Nikki said happily , playing tug of war with Peyton .
“Yeah , me too” I agreed , looking at Spot , who was snoozing on my lap . “But I'm starving .”
“Same . I could eat a puppy !” Nikki growled at Peyton . I rolled my eyes .
“Seriously , Nikki , I'm bloody hungry . Do you know if we have any food ?”
“We should . But we live with Jack , so ...”
“True , true .”
I took out my guitar , and started practising , which was something I hadn't done in ages .
“What can you play ?” Nikki asked .
“Therapy” I answered , “Alex taught me another one , but I can't remember it .”
“Play Therapy” Nikki instructed , closing her eyes .
My fingers hadn't touched the strings in days , but I tried anyway , and after the first few notes they warmed up and slipped back into the old rhythms .
“You want to learn something new ?” Alex asked , arriving back from soundcheck .
“Sure !”
He grabbed his acoustic guitar off of his bunk and sat down beside me . “Well , you've hard most of our songs by now . What do you want to learn next ?”
I paused , and looked at the setlist on the lounge's table . Everyone knew it off by heart at this stage , so mainly it was used as a page that you could put your used Starbucks cups on .
“I really like Jasey Rae” I said , turning to Alex . He grinned .
“Really ? Great !”
He taught me the intro , which to be honest was basically just a bunch of chords , but they were in a confusing order and took ages until I got them right .
“Relax , Halo” Alex said , “Just keep practising . Do you want to try the guitar solo now ?”
He demonstrated quickly , his fingers flying up and down the fretboard .
“Shit “ I groaned .
A/N - Thanks to Nikki and her friend , I'm now on Twitter , so follow me ! @StuckInCMajor !!