School had just let out for the summer at my community college in Baltimore and I had finally finished my freshman year. I was left with a three month period of boring nothingness at my disposal, and this year, I wanted to do something. I didn’t want to stay at my mom’s house the entire time, but what was I supposed to do?
“Well,” Mom suggested. We were sitting at the kitchen table in our quaint little dinner. Having just finished dinner, I brought up my predicament. “Your uncle Matt will be over this weekend. Maybe he’d have some advice.”
I scoffed with laughter. “What ideas could Uncle matt possibly have?”
She looked at me, a confused expression on her face. “Maxine, you do know what he does, don’t you?”
“No. I just know he’s gone a lot of the time and has quite a bit of money. Hell, he could be an accountant for all I know,” I replied.
She shook her head and smiled. “He’s the manager of a popular band. All Time Low, I think they’re called. Maybe he could bring you along on the tour?”
I was about to object, but paused in thought. Spending a whole summer taking a giant road trip? I could handle that. “Not a bad idea. In fact, I’ll go call him now to give him a heads up.”
I trotted up the stairs to my bedroom, which my mother was nice enough to keep intact while I was away. The walls were a pale blue color, decorated with star stickers, childhood drawings, and pictures with friends. My twin sized bed was set against one of the walls, dark bed sheets covering the too small mattress. I grabbed my cell phone off of my desk and flopped down on the bed, my long legs hanging off of the edge a little as I dialed my uncle’s phone number.
“Maxine? You never call me anymore. Is there something wrong?” he asked once he answered. It was true I hadn’t spoken to him much lately. He was one of those uncles that you see every other Christmas, and that sends a singing birthday card to you every year. Still, he wasn’t a bad guy.
“No, I just had something I wanted to ask you,” I replied.
“Okay. Shoot,” he said.
“I’ve got nothing to do this summer, and I know you’re busy and all with that band you manage, but I was hoping I could, I don’t know, maybe help?” I wondered.
“Help? Like, join us on tour for an apprenticeship?” he questioned.
“Sure. That would work. I just don’t want to be stuck in one place all summer,” I mentioned.
He paused. “I don’t blame you. But I must warn you that the guys in this band are…kinda crazy,”
“Nothing I can’t handle!” I remarked.
“Well alright then. I’ll make sure it’s okay with everyone, but I don’t see why you couldn’t come. How about I pick you up when I come over on Saturday?” he decided.
“Sounds good,” I responded.
“Okay. Make sure you have a suitcase packed clear full. We’re going to be on the road for awhile,” he pointed out.
“Thank you so much! I can’t wait to go!” I declared.
He laughed. “Good. See you soon.”
“Bye.”
I will admit, I was a little uneasy about the trip. I was going to be stuck on a bus full of sweaty, grungy band members. I definitely wouldn’t fit in with them. I was a nerd in high school, and ended up as Valedictorian when I graduated. I always had my glasses perched in front of my blue eyes and my brown hair was usually pulled back in a pony tail. I wasn’t going to let them bully me though. Who cares how famous they were?
I began looking about my room, trying to find what I should pack. I set my plain black suitcase on my bed and began tossing clothes into it. Band t-shirts, jeans, and underwear were piled in, and I was struggling to zip the wretched thing back up.
“You know you’re supposed to fold those, right?” Mom asked from the doorway.
I sighed. “I knew that; I’m just lazy.”
“I take it Matt said you could tag along?” she wondered.
“Yup! He’ll pick me up when he’s over on Saturday,” I replied.
“Well, I hope you have fun. Let me know if you need help,” she stated.
“Thanks,” I said.
It took an hour, but I finished folding my clothes and got the suitcase zipped up without very much struggle. But what was I going to do to pass time while on the trip? I grabbed a tote bag out of my dresser drawer and wandered over to my bookshelf, grabbing titles off of it and placing them in the bag. By the end, it weighed almost ten pounds, but I was satisfied.
I got on my laptop and typed in “All Time Low Music”, hoping to find out what I was in for. Youtube came up with dozens of results for each song, so I clicked on a lyric video for a song called ‘Six Feet Under the Stars’ It sounded morbid to me, but I shrugged it off to listen to it. It wasn’t half bad, but it was still nothing compared to the bands I listened to. Green Day, Paramore, MCR, and Blink-182 would always be my favorites.
I stayed up into the early hours of the morning, trying to get familiar with their music, until I fell asleep at my desk. Saturday wasn’t very long away, and I was brimming with excitement and nervousness. Sure, I didn’t care if they bullied me, but I was sort of concerned that I could screw everything up for Uncle Matt if they didn’t like me. I tried not to think about the latter, focusing on the positive. Who knows? Maybe they wouldn’t be all that bad.

Notes

Sorry this chapter is kind of boring and slow going. I'll try to improve it as I go.