Welcome to the Family

Suddenly there was a hard knock on the door from in the living room area. Before either Brian or I could respond to whoever it was, Cody opened the door and poked his head inside the room.

“Hey, Brian?” He said, holding out Brian’s cell phone. “The A&R guy just called you. They said something about signing on a new band that asked for you.”

Wait a minute…was Brian leaving to manage another band? He was already co-managing others alongwith ours, so I couldn’t possibly see how he could handle it all at once. If he had agreed to manage someone else, would that mean we wouldn’t see him every day anymore? I don’t think we could last on this tour without him, at least, not for long.

Brian stood from his spot on the floor in front of me and grabbed the phone. “Sorry guys, I got to take this.” He said, walking to the back room and shut the door.

I looked up to see Cody staring back down at me with a questioning expression. I shot him a small glare and he backed off without asking me what was wrong, which was exactly what I wanted. I just hated having to do it that way. I wasn’t mad at him, or anyone, I just wanted to be left alone.

Even though I was in no mood to talk anymore, I got up from my bunk anyway and got a change ofclothes. I forgot to get dressed in something to sleep in earlier so now I felt all gross and decided I might as well change into something else for the rest of the day.

After I grabbed all that I needed, including my pillow to cuddle up with, I went into the bathroom and decided to clean myself up and change. My face was red and puffy and still a little tear streaked. I sighed and continued to wash my face off and the rest of myself before going back out into the living room.

I went and sat down by myself at the table, clutching onto my pillow. The guys were watching some TV show I didn’t recognize on MTV. None of them looked truly interested in it but continued to stare blankly at the screen. I sighed and laid my head against the table, clutching the pillow to my chest and closed my eyes for a minute.

I don’t know how long I had been like that but the next thing I heard was someone sitting down in front of me on the opposite seat. I looked up and saw Brian smiling sweetly at me, as if that could possibly cheer me up. Well at least he was trying, unlike the others who were all ignoring me.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be concerned about or not. In many ways, it was a bad thing for them to worry, like if they over-crowded me with questions about what was wrong, but in some ways, it was also kind of good. It felt nice to be cared about. It made me feel at least a little important to them. Now I was starting to sound selfish. I hated just listening to myself right now.

“So how did it go?” I asked Brian about the phone call, hardly even looking up at him as I tried to distract myself from my own thoughts.

He somewhat shrugged. “It went fine. They have a new band they would like me to check out. They even asked for me by name to manage them, but…” He paused, either for affect or he just didn’t want to finish his sentence.

I just nodded indifferently. It was up to Brian if he wanted to leave. I shouldn’t be the one to stand in his way. He had a job to do, and that included being around other bands and away from us.

Blake walked over to stand in front of the table, holding a can of my favorite energy drink. “But, what? Do you not want to be their manager?” He said, the question I was too afraid to ask for myself, not wanting to get my hopes up that he would stay.

“No, it’s not that,” He sighed, bringing his hands into his lap as he leaned back. “I just feel like I've got too much on my hands right now to start another project, you know?”

Blake nodded. Before my smile could be revealed, I snatched the drink out of Blake's hands and gulped down as much as I could to hide my expression of happiness. I didn’t want anyone to see how happy that Brian was staying made me.

“Hey, what was that for?” Blake asked but still didn’t take it back from me.

I faked a smile and shrugged. “Sorry, just thirsty, I guess.”

He looked as if he tried really hard to hide his annoyance with me. Blake was constantly nice to me and was always at my side through everything. Sometimes I felt as though I took advantage of his kindness towards me and never really appreciated him, or any of the others for that matter. They were all so good to me and yet I never seemed to return the favor to any of them.

I handed him back his drink and sincerely apologized. He could see that I meant it and gave me half of a smile, shrugging back. “It’s cool. Just…ask for a drink next time, okay?”

I smiled and nodded. “Thanks,”

His lips formed into full grin. “Of course,” He said, taking the can back, shaking it to see how much was left of it. He frowned again at its almost emptiness and went back to sit on the couch.
So are you feeling any better?” Brian asked quietly, leaning forward across the table to whisper. He knew I didn’t want to the guys knowing that I was upset and crying earlier, but I'm sure they could tell just by the way I looked.

I nodded somberly, which I knew he thought wasn’t very convincing. I had a feeling that if the others weren’t around, he would have come over to my side of the table to comfort me some more, but then again…maybe that’s just what I wanted him to do…

“We’ll be there in a couple of hours!” Bill, the bus driver shouted from up front.

My eyes grew wide, looking back over to Brian. “I thought you said I've been asleep for only a couple of hours? Did we arrive earlier than we thought we would, or something?” I asked, hoping that I hadn’t actually slept for that long. We were supposed to arrive tomorrow night, not in a couple of hours!

He smiled apologetically and shrugged. “Sorry, Chels’. I would have woken you up sooner, but you told us to wait until we got into Dallas.”

My expression didn’t change. “So I was really asleep for that long?” I almost shouted.

Cody turned to face me from his spot on the couch. “Yup, though you’ve been sobbing through most of the time you were asleep. We didn’t want to bother you and let you be.” He frowned, seeing the look on my face from crying. I tried to fix myself up but I had just been crying for too long.

“Thanks, I guess.” I told them, but then turned to Brian. “So what time are meeting up with your friends for lunch?”

He nodded as if I had just reminded him of it. “Oh, about one o’clock at the banquet center they have for the Warped Tour. It’s used mostly as a place to grab something to eat, but a lot of bands hang out there too. Who knows, maybe you will all see someone you’ve heard of before.” He shrugged.

“Cool,” I smiled, hoping that I would see a band I liked or maybe someone I've met before, like Paramore.

Maybe one of these days on tour I would be able to see the guys of The Used, or even My Chemical Romance again. I’d like to at least see them all once again, since they were still my friends, well…except for Bert.

Over all, I think I would rather avoid seeing him entirely. I'm sure if I ever did catch up with him again I would end up emotionally breaking down. There was just too many old memories between us, most I would rather never think about ever again.


† † †

Brian and the rest of us had just gotten off the bus, and walked out of the bus loading area and were now entering the banquet center to meet up with a few people Brian knew.

The cold breeze from inside instantly hit me as I opened the door. It felt nice after roughly five minutes of walking in the heat. I was just happy that we were in Dallas already so we could play our next show.

My curiosity was peaking, wanting to know why Brian’s friends would want to be talking about our band. I know they were in the same music business, but what did it mean aside from the fact that they might be interested in us? All I knew for sure was that they were going to listen to of a few of our songs, and then if they like us they’ll promote us, but what happens after that, I wonder?

Brian looked around for a second to see if he could find them. I guess he finally spotted, waving over to a big table with a bunch of men sitting at it with plates of food piled up. Seeing it all made my stomach start growling. I had forgotten to grab something to eat today and now, as I smell all of the food being served and eaten, I was starting to get hungry.

One of the many guys looked up at just the right time and saw Brian, waving him over. Luckily there were still empty spots to sit at, just enough for all of us to sit together.

“Come on guys,” Brian said, leading us over to the group.

There were about seven guys, and each of them had a plate of food and beer in front of them. Oh, great…I thought to myself. I really didn’t want to be dealing with a bunch of drunks I didn’t even know right now. This was supposed to be all business, wasn’t it?

“Hey Richard, sorry we’re a little late.” Brian said to a man that was a little older, pointing at us to sit down with everyone else.

The man definitely looked to be the type to work in the music business, just buy the way he dressed and styled his hair. He was almost goofy looking, not to sound impolite or anything, but there was no other way in describing it.

We all took a seat as Brian sat down. I was in between Kyle and Will and across from a bald guy and a dude with glasses and massive side burns. I felt kind of awkward since I had no idea who any of these people were and that they were much older than I was.

The man I guessed as Richard waved off Brian’s comment. “Oh no, it’s not a problem. We were all just enjoying lunch before you got here. They just started serving food over there if you guys are hungry.” He said, pointing behind us at what looked like a makeshift cafeteria with a bunch of people standing in line for it.

Brian glanced over at it and shook his head. “No, I'm okay.” He said, and then turned to the rest of us. “But go ahead if you want to.”

Everyone but me shook their heads and said ‘no thanks’. I on the other hand was starving, but because of how damn timid I was, I didn’t want to go over there and stand in line by myself. Brian looked at me for an answer.

I shrugged. “Maybe later,” My stomach growled and I silently cursed myself for not eating earlier.

Kyle must have been the only one to notice it, giving me a pointed look that told me what I already knew, that I should have ate a long time ago. I shrunk back into myself and looked away.

Brian nodded and turned away. “So, why don’t I introduce everyone?”

Richard nodded in return and smiled. “Sure, that would be great. Why don’t you introduce your band and I'll introduce mine.”

Wait, the rest of these guys were in a band too? I mean, most of them seemed to fit the part, but there was one that I never would have guessed to be a band member.

Brian started to call off our names to all of them, going from Blake, Will, me, Kyle and then Cody. We each waved and somewhat smiled when he stated our name.

Everyone waved back and smiled politely. Richard stood up from his spot at the end of the table next to Brian and began calling off names and pointing to each person. “Okay, well this is Mike, Howard, Adam, Joel and lastly, Justin.” Richard said, sitting back down.

I was about to nod to them as a greeting when the guy in front of me named Adam reaches out and extends his hand. I didn’t expect it at first and it took me a second to register what he was doing. I take his hand and he instantly starts shaking it vigorously.

“Hi, nice to meet you. What did you say your name was?” He said, flashing a big grin.

I gently try to retract my now sore arm but I knew he wasn’t going to let go until he got his answer. I try to mirror the smile but it comes off as shy and fake. “It’s Chelsea Daniels. Nice to meet you, too.”

He continues to smile as if he didn’t notice and finally let go. “So what’s the name of your band?” He said, looking to the rest of the guys.

“Vanity Release, what about you?” Cody asked.

“Sweet,” Adam nodded, extending out the vowels. I tried not to laugh at him but a quiet chuckle escaped. “Killswitch Engage. We’ve been together for about six years now.”

The guys nodded. “Oh, cool, I know who you are. I listen to you guys all the time.” Cody said. I actually listened to them too, probably even more than Cody did, but I was too afraid to say anything about it. I just had no idea what they looked like. I'm guessing neither did Cody.

“Oh, well thank you.” Adam said, taking a swig from his bottle.

“What about you guys? How long have you been in a band?” The guy named Howard asked us.

“Well the band started roughly around three years ago, but Chelsea became our newest member in 2003.” Blake said.

Howard looked from him to me. “Oh, so you’re the newbie, huh?” He and Adam laughed. I nodded and gave a small smile. “Well don’t worry, so am I. It’ll get easier, I promise.”

I laughed. “Thanks. Do you get as such a hard time for being the new guy as I do?” I asked, thinking about how much the guys poke fun at me for it.

He laughed as Adam slung an arm over his shoulder. Howard’s eyes grew big. “ALL the time.”

Adam grabbed the bandanna from he was wearing and started pretending to polish Howard’s bald head. Everyone began to laugh but it seemed as if the Killswitch guys saw this kind of stuff every day. Howard pushed him away as if he didn't even care and went back to taking a bite of food.

Brian and Richard went straight to talking business over everyone else, but because of where I sat and other conversations going on, I had no idea what they were saying. I hope that it was something good about us.

I tried listening in but it was no use. I was too far away from them to hear. Adam stood up from his spot, letting out this great big belch. I made a disgusted face, turning away so I didn’t have to smell it. Gross...

I tried not to glare up at him and kept looking away. “Well I'm gonna go grab another plate. You guys want anything?” He asked everybody, including our band.

Howard stood. “Yeah sure, I could use another beer.” Adam laughed and agreed with him.

Suddenly Kyle gently nudged me with his shoulder. I quickly turned to see what he wanted. He gave me that same look, then nodded his head up towards Adam as he stood there for a minute, talking to Howard before they left.

I shrugged, having no idea what he was trying to say. “What is it?”

He rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed that I couldn't understand. “Why don’t you go with them and grab yourself something to eat, before you get sick again.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I made it a little less obvious than the way he did it. “I'll be okay.”

That same damn look, I swear… “Chelsea, go, before I actually force feed you.”

I accidentally laughed. He suddenly looked confused, possibly wondering why I thought that was funny. I know he was serious, but I just couldn’t imagine him actually shoving a cheeseburger in my mouth. Okay, maybe I could…but still, I knew he wouldn't do it.

I grew serious again. “I just don’t want to go up there. I don’t know them, so it’ll just be awkward.”

He sighed, back to his annoyance with me. “Just go. You’ll be fine.”

I scowled at him and turned away, which was my way of telling him that I wasn’t going. I heard him grumble something under his breath, giving up with me. I just chose to ignore him with my back turned towards him.

“So are you coming?” Adam suddenly asked me. He and Howard were both looking down at me for an answer.

I looked up at him, surprised. I guess they had overheard our not-so-discreet conversation. My mouth hung open as I tried to speak but I was just too shy to say anything.

“Yeah, she’ll go.” Kyle answered for me. Damn it, Kyle…

Adam smiled and waved me up. “Well come on, let's go stand in line.”

All I could do was sit there, not sure how to move anymore. Adam laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite…hard.” He smiled and winked, which for some reason made me blush.

Apparently, he noticed and that made him laugh even more. Before I tried to speak, though I don’t think I could at the moment, Kyle forced me to stand up out of my chair. Well, at least I got this far, now maybe I could try to get my legs to work…

Adam and Howard both walked over from their side of the table towards me. Adam threw an arm behind my shoulders and led me with them over to the line. It all made me feel like I was in school again and was going to lunch.

“So Chelsea, how long have you been a singer?” Howard asked, trying to make conversation as I stood in between him and Adam.

It was all kind of weird that they put me in the middle, especially since they both were a lot older and taller than I was. Adam was one of the tallest people I've ever actually talked to. I felt tiny like a bug in his presence, though he didn’t seem as scary as his height would make you think.

“For as long as I can remember, actually.” I silently laughed to myself. “But not in any professional way until I got into the band.”

Howard smiled. “Oh, that’s cool. I started pretty young too, got into a few bands before I landed with this shitty job.” He joked, unable to stay serious as he finished his sentence.

Adam laughed and slung an arm over his shoulder, playing roughly with each other while I was right in between them. Now that was just awkward…

I slowly backed out of their way and watched as Adam had Howard in a headlock, polishing his head again. They acted almost like two teenage boys and as if I wasn’t even standing here to see the whole thing.

I tried not to laugh at them. It wasn’t really my place since I hardly knew them, let alone had just met them not even 20 minutes ago. I was next in line to be served since Adam moved into my place, standing in the middle.

I grabbed anything that looked good enough to eat but was light enough to where my stomach could handle it. Case in point, the only thing that seemed to fit was a salad, that and an apple and some bottled water.

I politely waited for the other two to finish grabbing their food, not wanting to be rude and just walk away from them. Adam walked over to me with a massive plateful of different things and another beer to drink. Howard was close with almost the same amount and together we walked back to our table.

I was surprised the food was free. Though I was happy I didn’t have to pay because right now, I didn’t have a penny to my name. I'm sure they could have easily made a profit from selling all of this food, but there were many hungry people here with not a lot of cash.

It was only here for the bands and whoever else that came along to get a free meal. Not a lot of the bands and people here could afford to go out to the booths and pay for a meal on a day-to-day basis.

I sat back down in between Will and Kyle, putting my plate on the table. Will saw a cherry tomato and went for it, popping it into his mouth and smiled at me. I laughed and shook my head at him. He liked healthy food just as much as I did. We both preferred a salad over some greasy burger any day. We were quite a like in many ways, that’s why we were such great friends.

After I finished eating, we all got to talking. It turns out that I actually kind of like these…very strange and erratic people. They really make me laugh, at points to where my cheeks turned red and became sore from laughing so hard, without pausing to take a break from smiling. I swear, I think I've never laughed so hard in my life.

Adam and Howard are the ones who really intrigue me the most. They’re almost two completely different people, but seem to be the best of friends. Adam is the crazy, wild one who doesn’t seem to have just one single thought going through his head at one point in time.

He is extremely loud and almost obnoxious, but that’s what made him funny. Especially when he used his burly man voice that sounded somewhat like a demonic growl, almost sending me to crawl under the table and hide, it was just that loud. All of the guys really seemed to like him just as much as I did.

On the other hand, when it came to Howard, he was almost quiet and kept to himself unless Adam went on to bugging him. Then he would get loud, having his own version of a booming voice. I guess that just showed the singer part of him. They were at a constant battle at each other, seeing who could rather show off better or have the best racist joke again Howard himself.

I tried so hard not to laugh at those stupid jokes, but Howard seemed to find it perfectly okay since he was the one poking fun at himself, and had Adam chiming in right along with him. I wouldn’t have found any of those jokes funny if it weren’t these two telling them.

After awhile of laughing our asses off, we all finally got down to business and talked music. Brian handed over our album to Richard for him and Killswitch Engage to listen to and then give us their opinions. If either of them liked us, then we would definitely have a big future for our band, as Brian had said. Then we all got back onto the bus to practice and get ready for our next show.

Notes

Okay, I know this chapter is a little boring, but I just needed to introduce the Killswitch Engage characters because they’ll definitely show up later on in the story, but for only a short time at least…And you do not have to like or even listen to Killswitch Engage to read this story. It really has nothing to do with them for just about the entire story. I'm just setting up Chelsea's life on tour before she meets Avenged again.