Better Off This Way

I went off with my new morning routine. Wake up, brush my teeth, get dressed, make coffee, go on a walk to explore where we were for the day. I was enjoying the walk and someone was soon by my side.

“Good morning,” Zack smiled. “How are you?”

“Pretty good, how about you?” I returned his smile.

“I was wondering if you wanted to work out or something since you’re already up and running.” He laughed.

“Well I guess a jog wouldn’t hurt,” I shrugged, “maybe I should trade the coffee for water and these jeans for sweats.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.” He stopped in his tracks and watched me make my way back to the bus. I quickly grabbed a water bottle and threw on one of Neil’s shirts and some basketball shorts from my own bag. I threw my hair up into a messy pony tail and decided not to keep Zack waiting any longer. I was just about to make it through the door when I was stopped by none other than Shelnutt.

“Well don’t you look sporty this morning?” He laughed.

“I’m just going on a jog with Zack.” I explained, “Can you tell Neil that if he wakes up before I get back?”

“Yeah I guess.” He shrugged. I nodded and exited the bus promptly.

“That was faster than I thought.” Zack stopped leaning against the outside of the bus. I guess he walked over after I had left.

“Well let’s go.” I smiled and started to jog at a slow pace by Zack’s side. We jogged around the back of the venue past the remaining buses and then towards the side. As we approached the front we saw that a few fans were already lined up around the door. Some were sat on blankets with some food and their phones were out. I guess this should be more surprising but it was nearing noon already. But shouldn’t these kids be in school or something? I mean it is Thursday.

“Zack!” One girl called out. He smiled and waved before walking over to the group of twenty kids. He smiled and took pictures with almost every one of them. I saw a few kids wearing ATL shirts and not as many as I thought wearing ADTR shirts, but maybe that wouldn’t be the case tonight. Once he had talked to, signed something, and/or taken a picture with each of them we finished our jog around the venue. Well I guess it wasn’t terribly long or anything but I usually don’t even think about exercise so this was quite a bit for me.

“Was that too much?” Zack asked, not even the slightest bit out of breath.

“Kind of, I’m really out of shape though.” I admitted as I tried to catch my breath.

“Well if we keep working out together, you’ll be more than in shape by the end of this tour.” He winked.

“I hope so.” I laughed. After that it was a bit too quiet, like we were waiting for something else to happen but nothing ever did.

“I think I should go shower now.” I broke the silence we had going.

“Whoa, you’re done already?” He asked.

“Well yeah, cardio was enough for me.” I took a long drink of the water bottle that I just remembered that I had with me.

“That was only a warm up.” He laughed, “But I guess we’ll build up to weight lifting.”

“Weight lifting?” I tried not to sound too surprised.

“You’ve gotta get all of your muscles working.” He explained.

“So are you my personal trainer now?” I laughed.

“Yep that’ll be me, personal trainer and bass player.” He looked up at the sky, “I’ll be living the dream.”

“Dream on dreamer,” I patted his shoulder, “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.” He went back to his bus and pulled out a set of heavy looking weights and started to do some lifting. I caught myself staring and quickly went onto the bus to change.

“You were out for a while.” Neil kissed me.

“Yeah, we ran into some fans out at the front of the venue.” I shrugged.

“Ah, gotcha.” He nodded, “Anyways, the show’s gonna be great tonight! Are you gonna watch from side stage?”

“Of course I will baby,” I giggled, “I’ll watch the whole show!”

--

The day flew by faster than any day in my life. But it was time for the show now. I watched as kids came in through the doors and piled towards the stage, their eyes looking around the stage frantically, excitement for the show already building up. I chuckled to myself and hardly even noticed that it was time for The Wonder Years to perform. I honestly hadn’t gotten to talk to these guys yet but maybe I’d see them at the after show party tonight. Their singer was so full of energy and it reflected to the crowd as well. He didn’t even have to ask for a pit or for kids to jump, they automatically did. In between songs he would say something inspirational and I honestly felt it in my heart, there was no denying how passionate he was about music. When they reached the end of their last song, they exited the stage and I decided to talk to their singer before he got away.

“Dan, right?” I stopped him and tried to ignore the glistening sweat on his forehead.

“Right, and you must be Blithe.” He smiled and shook my hand, “It’s so nice to finally get to talk to you. You must be pretty busy with all of this reporting to do.”

“Kind of, anyways, your set was absolutely amazing.” I complimented his performance.

“Thank you, that’s always nice to hear.” He had a huge grin plastered on his face.

“I couldn’t help but notice how passionate you are about your music and I was thinking that I could incorporate that into your guys’ article.” I shared his smile. “I mean, I would talk to all of the guys, of course, but you were just so…”

“In love with music,” he filled in the blank for me.

“Exactly.” I laughed.

“Yeah well, after Riot Fest and when we’re back here we can work on that.” He said.

“Alright, thank you so much.”

“Oh no, thank you.” He laughed. “I’ll try to make it good for the article.”

I watched him walk off and noticed that the stage was already set up for the next band to play, which just so happened to be All Time Low. Zack was by my side and he nudged my hip softly.

“Ready to see the show?” He asked.

“Of course I am,” I laughed, “I’ve heard that you always put on a good show.”

“It’s all Jack and Alex.” He smiled. “They keep the kids entertained in between songs.”

“I bet you’re really good too.” I didn’t even notice how flirtatious I was being. The lights dimmed and the crowd started cheering for them.

“Thanks for the confidence boost.” He kissed my cheek and jumped onto the stage, playing right into So Long And Thanks For All The Booze.

Notes