"Are you ready?" Ryan teased as Cass and I stepped out of the SUV. We'd made a quick stop to gather supplies for me and Cass, although Cass was a lot more prepared than me due to the fact that her parents were supportive of this decision, and swapped cars. We'd called the clerk to tell him that his car was at the Rentals place and quickly rented the SUV. This time the car was quite big enough, with Cass in the seat in the very back with suitcases surrounding her.
We answered Ryan with a series of squeals as we looked at the tour bus. We began to walk, but the 4 boys stepped in front of us.
"Are you forgetting where our tour is?" Ian said, his tone doubtful.
"Oh..." I said disappointingly. I did remember where it was, Australia, I just forgot about it until now. "So why is the tour bus here?"
"It's being shipped through in cargo, should be there in a few days. Which is why we're leaving early," Nash piped in, sounding very proud of the organisation skills involved.
"Okay, here's the plan," Ryan said informingly to Cass and I. "We'll go to the airport in a second, we're just here to load up the bus with our food so we don't have to go through security with it, and then we'll catch our flight to Australia. When we get in Melbourne we'll be two days earlier than we're due there, so we'll go into a hotel and stay there until the bus arrives. When it does we'll perform, get on the bus and go to Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Adelaide. It's going to be a long ride... You guys up for it?"
I looked at Cass and she looked back at me. Grins spread across our faces and we raised our eyebrows excitedly.
"Of course!" We said in sync.
"So what do we do now?" Cass asked, grabbing a dark brown lock of hair and twirling it in between her fingers. It was a habit of hers, it was quite cute. She only did it when she was nervous though, so I knew something was up.
"How long will you guys be loading the bus?" I asked curiously, somehow knowing what Ryan was going to say next.
"Us guys?! Hey, you're helping!" Ryan began to jog towards the bus, Cass and I following while groaning in a declining manner. I guess I'll have to talk to her later...
Before stepping into the bus I looked at the outside of it, taking in my road-home for the next few weeks. It was overall a very big bus, with windows along the top that stopped halfway along. The colours were amazing; the top half of the bus was a dark red with silver underneath it to line the bottom. The red was decorated with golden swirls that stretched the whole length of the bus. (http://www.google.com.au/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbnid=vmRE57_G6neuMM:&imgrefurl=http://hotchelleraefans.com/%3Fpage_id%3D551&docid=TxVa3ENgrn_51M&imgurl=http://hotchelleraefans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/hcr-bus-D.jpg&w=1024&h=768&ei=poB-UL2fJoyhiAep3YH4AQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=557&vpy=348&dur=583&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=177&ty=152&sig=109539734026148237880&page=4&tbnh=131&tbnw=173&start=68&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:62,s:20,i:319)
I jumped up the stairs that were in the doorway at the very front of the vehicle, having to step over towels and clothes. After a few seconds of searching, I found a spot of floor that was clear. I jumped over onto it, making sure not to step on any of the belongings. The boys thought otherwise, apparently, because they were trampling over the mess like it meant nothing. I looked around the interior. The coach had only one seat in it, being the driver's seat. Directly across from that was the door, and it slowly shut behind Cass, who was the last person in. The first thing that caught my eye in the bus was the cupboards at the back. Instead of being made from timber, they were made from mirror. I saw my reflection staring back at me. My clothes were looking dirty, my white shorts had turned to a light shade of grey and my hoodie felt cold against my skin. It wasn't made of cotton, but a special sweat resistant material designed to keep the heat out so fatigue would come slower. My hair was a mess, the waves had more frizz than usual and I tried desperately to flatten it a little, all the while the boys were walking around the bus putting things in cupboards which blocked my vision from the mirrors at times. A voice cut through my thoughts and I looked over to see Jamie staring at me expectantly.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, feeling sheepish about looking at myself in the mirror and not helping the boys. Although Cass wasn't helping either, she was sitting on the corner couch on the back of the bus.
"Pass me that towel," Jamie repeated. I looked down at my feet to see a white towel covered in what looked like mud. It was closest to the door so I assumed it was used as a doormat. I picked it up carefully, making sure to keep my fingers in a clean patch, and chucked it over at Jamie. He caught it in his open hand, not caring about getting them dirty. After shoving it in a hamper he then walked over to Nash and started a small conversation. I continued to look around the bus. At the very back there was presumably a bathroom, as there was a door right in the left hand corner. From the door there was a corner couch that stretched to the right hand corner, then made its way along the right hand of the bus. It stopped about a quarter of the way to the driver's seat. Along that side of the bus was the laundry hamper, a couch which looked like it folded down into a very small double bed, and then some more cupboards. These ones were made of timber. Down the other side of the bus was a small marbled table that came out a little from the corner couch, it had a small hole in it that would carry a coffee cup and on it was an Apple Mac and a few magazines. From the table, slightly to the left and right up against the body, was yet another couch. This one was black and made of expensive looking cotton, it only fit two people and looked very comfortable. Cass was still sitting on the corner couch, so I walked over and slumped down next to her, sliding so that my head was on her shoulder. I could feel her yawn, which reminded me to check the time. I grabbed my phone from my hoodie pocket and looked at it. It read '11:23'. Normally I would be browsing on facebook right now, all those interesting facebook fights and commenting rude things on 'Like if...' photos.
"Okay, we're done. Let's go," Nash said, quickly sprinting to the front of the bus and stepping out. The rest of the boys followed, as did Cass and I.
"Relax, it's only 11:30. We catch the plane at 1. We still have about an hour to get there," Ryan said, lifting his arm up and running his fingers quickly through his hair.
When we were all settled in the car, all of us being in the same spots as before, Ian took off at a fast speed. I began to feel my eyes go heavy, all the drama had made me exhausted. Ryan looked over at me, his hood over his head and the light of his phone illuminating his face. (http://www.google.com.au/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbnid=pxHakX-ZSvRJ7M:&imgrefurl=http://weheartit.com/tag/ryan%2520k%2520follese&docid=F3lWJy9e8xKcEM&imgurl=http://data.whicdn.com/images/19487298/tumblr_lw9wcjE2EC1r8tjkzo1_500_thumb.jpg&w=240&h=200&ei=kYd-UJmzHI-SiQfbgoDIAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=267&vpy=298&dur=721&hovh=160&hovw=192&tx=168&ty=68&sig=109539734026148237880&page=2&tbnh=135&tbnw=160&start=18&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0,i:126) I looked over at him also, giving him a small smile.
"Long day, huh?" He whispered in my ear. I made small 'hmph' sound, establishing that it had been a very long day. I shook my head, suddenly remembering it all and I felt my face fall. "Just don't think about it. Come 'ere." He lifted his arm up to let me snuggle underneath it. His body was warm, and I slowly closed my eyes. I wrapped my arm around his waist and squeezed a little, finally being still and almost drifting off. I could feel Ryan stroking my hair as I went under, it was something he always did when I was trying to sleep. Honestly, it helped a lot. Knowing he was there right next to me helped as well.
"Goodnight beautiful," I heard him whisper against my hair, his breath giving me a sudden warmth. He kissed my forehead multiple times just before I went to sleep.
* * *
I woke up to a loud thud, and I saw that the car had stopped in a car park and Ian was out the door. I sat up suddenly, seeing that Jamie had just woken up too. Ryan was asleep next to me, his head slumped forward and a tiny patch of drool on his hoodie. I smiled and let out a small laugh. I nudged him a little and he groaned, turning to the side and wrapping his arms around my torso, snuggling his face into my chest.
"Ryan, wake up," I whispered in his ear. He didn't respond. "Are you awake?"
"No," he replied after a few seconds. I laughed and pushed him a little to get him to sit up.
"Morning," I whispered to him, looking around to see Nash rubbing his eyes and Cass already outside with Ian and Jamie, who had exited the car as I was talking to Ryan.
"Morning." Ryan kissed my cheek and undid his seatbelt, stepping out of the car and turning to help me out as well. I looked over to the building in front of the car as I stepped onto the concrete. Illuminated letters on a sign said 'Nashville International Airport.'
This was all new to me, as I had never travelled. Neither had Cass, so this was my first time on a plane. I'd been to an airport many times, though, to greet Laura from when her and Nathan went to Bali, as well as a few other times that were a bit hazy as it was early in the morning. Our group began to walk to the doors of the airport. As I walked in, Cass by my side and Hot Chelle Rae in a horizontal line in front of us, a hot blast of air went straight into my face. It was refreshing, as it was quite cold outside. It usually was at 12:30 in the morning. We headed over to the departures section. I let the boys organize everything, standing in the background seemed easy enough. Before I knew it we were on the plane and ready to go. It was only a small plane, two seats on each side. I sat next to Cass and we were about 4 rows away from Ryan and Nash, who were then directly across the aisle from Ian and Jamie. I took the window seat, as looking around in the plane made me feel nauseas from time to time. Looking out the window helped a lot, I wasn't afraid of heights.
"Cass," I quickly said, turning my body towards her. She jumped a little from the sudden noise and opened her eyes from daydreaming to look at me.
"Yes?" She stretched the word out, making it last for about 5 seconds. I smiled nervously.
"Are you alright with all of this? It's not overwhelming?"
Well, yeah it's amazing and all. But I keep getting nervous around them. I mean come on, they're celebrities. And you're dating one of them; I'm just the tag along..."
"What!? Cass, that's crazy. I wouldn't have gone on this tour without you, you're not the tag along. You're the reason I'm here, on this plane, so don't ever let me hear you say that again," I lectured, making a lot of hand gestures as I spoke. "And hey, maybe you can get closer to Jamie," I winked. That put a smile on her face, and we both settled back into our seats. Cass put her earphones in and listened to music off of her iPhone, while I silently stared out of the window, waiting for the decent into Australia. After a while I slowly drifted off. I had no idea how long I had slept for, but I eagerly sat up. I felt reenergized and ready for Melbourne.
All I could see was darkness. The water was a long way down, but I could still see the waves somehow. I didn't know where we were but in the distance I could see land and lights. It wasn't Australia, as we were flying South-West over the South Pacific Ocean. It must have been South America. I thought about it for a while. I'd always wanted to go to South America, Brazil in particular. There'd been many places I wanted to travel to, but I knew I would never get the chance with looking after mum and all. One day I hoped to travel to Brazil and Russia, my two favourite places in the world. Although I hadn't been to those places yet, I knew they'd be great. There was a sudden shake in the plane and I whimpered. Turbulence. I hated it. In fact, I hated planes altogether. As a reflex I grabbed Cass' arm next to me. Her eyes were already open as she had felt the jolt as well and she gave me a small smile as I looked at her anxiously.
"Don't be scared babe, it's fine-" She abruptly stopped talking as a voice rang through the speakers. As the voice was speaking I looked out of the window once more, seeing land. Mostly paddocks, but that would mean that we'd be landing soon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the flight will now begin its decent into Melbourne, Australia. As you can see, the fasten seatbelts sign is now on. Please remain in your seats and fasten those seatbelts, thank you."
"Finally," I grumbled under my breath. I realised I was still holding onto Cass' arm, so I let go and snuggled into my seat, looking out the window to see the plane tilt to the left. I looked across the aisle and saw that the windows over there had their views blocked by the wing, so I tried to enjoy the view while I could. I saw the ground slowly getting closer, the buildings were growing taller and the cars were growing bigger. I saw the city centre, which consisted of quite a lot of large buildings and lots of small, ant-size people.
A few minutes later we were slowly lowering onto the tarmac. There was a thud as we landed and the brakes started. I was forced forward in my seat a little, my head was a few centimetres from the headrest in front of me. As was everyone else's, I noticed as I looked around shyly. The plane turned around the tarmac, which had quite a lot of twists and turns, but we finally stopped and people begin to unclip their seatbelts. Yet again, a voice rang through the speakers.
"And we have landed; it is currently Saturday the 3rd, 9:14am. It is 24 degrees Celsius outside and a sunny day ahead. We hope you enjoyed the flight,
and welcome to Australia."