Chapter 7: Platform Blues

POV: Gabby

September 7, 2007

We were now in Arkansas, heading to the east coast and it was now a bit warmer. In our shopping trip Carrick had mentioned the tightness of my shorts, so we’d picked up a few pair that were a bit looser. They really did help because when bending or kneeling they didn’t dig in anywhere.

But, Zac had been acting weird the last few days, he wasn’t really avoiding me but he also wasn’t really asking for anything, not even lunch. I wondered if it had something to do with what Abigail had mentioned. She’d seen some tweets from the show in Seattle from some girls, one apparently tried to have sex with him and he couldn’t get it up. She’d asked me if I knew anything about it, but I hadn’t, in fact he’d not mentioned it to anyone on the bus that I was aware of. This apparently occurred while I was off shopping.

However, I knew from experience that guys didn’t take things like that well, if he’d had a problem like the tweet said, then it was possible his weird mood was a result of it. I’d gotten up early and was ready when we arrived, the temperature was in a comfortable zone really. Unloading the trailer didn’t take long now, we were all so use to what we could handle that we spent less time trying to figure it out. The guys were a bit shocked that I could carry some of the items, but I wasn’t a weakling. I set up the drums as usual, he’d not complained about how they were set up since I started, so it was now pretty much my given job. None of them liked when he complained about the set up. I was sitting on the stool connecting the symbol when he stopped in front of the set.

“Have you been setting them up all this time?”

“Since about the second show, maybe third. You raised hell the first show because you had to adjust everything.”

“How do you even know?”

“Wrote down how they were set up, how tight they were.”

“Oh..well..um..thank you for making sure they are right.”

I nearly fell off the stool, he’d just thanked me and I hadn’t heard him say those words the whole tour to anyone! Not even his brothers!

“You’re welcome.”

He walked back stage again and I finished setting them up and then moved to the wires, which this time weren’t under the table thankfully. Each venue seemed to be different about the connections, some were hidden while others were in plain areas.

“Hey, Gabs. I’m going for a run, can you join me?” Austin asked.

“I’ve never really been a runner.”

“I can do a slow pace if that’s okay.”

“Sure. Uh, let me finish this right quick.”

He waited on me to finish hooking up the few lines and then we walked to the back of the venue, he was doing stretches and I was just waiting for him.

“You should stretch, especially since you’re not use to running.”

“I didn’t know that.”

I just followed his movements, leaning side to side and side lunges, it was just copying his movements really.

“No, you’re doing that wrong.”

I felt his hands on my hips and could feel him behind me, it was a little awkward. Not use to men just being there and not being sexual.

“You want to keep this side straight and then lean straight down.”

He guided me sideways and I had to admit that felt good, he then guided me to the other side. The movements seem to stretch out the sides good.

“No offense, straight forward and I promise my hands don’t move and my eyes are somewhere in the clouds.”

I giggled some before leaning forward but I couldn’t feel him behind me anyway. He then moved my arms up.

“Do your shoulders hurt at night?”

“Yep.”

“This may help them then, you should do this before attacking the trailer too. Warm up the muscles in your arms and legs and prepare them for lifting and all.”

“I may start really, this is feeling pretty good.”

He smiled and before long we were jogging side by side down the sidewalk, fans knew him and his band mates but they didn’t like follow him down the street. I have no idea how far he was running, but he did stop when it was clear I couldn’t run anymore and still breathe.

“Deep breathes Gabby.”

“I…clearly….not..”

“Just breathe.”

It took several minutes before I could really breathe normally or close to normal. I was seriously out of shape when it came to running.

“Not a runner, I didn’t expect you to do the full thing at once. By the end of the tour maybe.”

“The walks were rough too. But, helped me not focus on being bored.”

He smiled and we rested there a bit, we sat on the ground but he kept the stretching going.

“So, I don’t know much about you at all.”

“There really isn’t much to tell, same thing I told Carrick.”

“What are your favorite color?”

I found that to be a strange question. “Blue, black, and sometimes red.”

“Do you have a favorite band? I mean you don’t sing along with them or even us. Not sure what you have on your phone or what you normally listen too.”

“I listen to a little bit of everything actually, I like Blue Sky on their album and Buttons for Punishments on yours.”

“Little of everything? So you listen to heavy metal?”

“Yeah, I do actually. I listen to some Metallica and I’ve heard Black Sabbath and Slayer, not big fans but I do listen to it.”

“I would have never guessed it.”

I smiled. “I use to dress it too, but let’s not spread that around.”

“Wow…I guess we should begin to head back.”

“Yeah, walk is soon.”

He chose a bit slower speed which helped me to be able to breathe when we got back. I was totally going to need a shower today. I also walked and for some odd reason, Zac kind of hung around me but he didn’t really hit on anyone, it was strange. When we got back they went to do their sound check. I was standing nearby and could hear something was wrong.

“Is there a wire crossed?” Isaac asked.

“Nope, there all hooked up right, I could clearly see and they had everything labeled.” I said.

We began the tedious task of checking them, because the sound was off and we couldn’t determine if it was the keyboard, guitar or the drums. It turned out to be the drums. The platform used to raise him up had wires pre-assembled, was something the venue did. But we couldn’t find the problem.

“It’s probably under the platform.” Demetrius said.

I didn’t need to ask which of us was getting in the floor for this one, I just took the notion and laid down to check. But, the wires themselves were under the drums, about a quarter back.

“If someone can get me a flash light, I think I can get to it.”

Zac ran for the flashlight and while he was absent I shimmied under the platform, it was a tight fit for me. But I found the wire to be chewed in half so while I was there Taylor shimmied his way up to me to help me re-wire it because breaking them down and moving the platform would take too long. I finished right after Tay shimmied out and when I went to move, I couldn’t.

Zac could not play with me under here, it would seriously rupture my ear drums because the base drum was sitting right over my head. But because it was a microphone I heard Taylor simply tap it and it sounded fine.

“You’re done, you can get up.” Isaac said.

I tried to move and I couldn’t. “Yeah, see…I would if I could.”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I’m stuck. I can’t…” I trailed off.

Fuck! I didn’t need to tell them the reason I couldn’t slide out was because I lacked the room needed for my boobs to clear the platform. I tried to shimmy a bit but it was a no go, I tried to maybe flatten myself and that wouldn’t work either.

“Do you need us to pull you some?”

“NO!” Shit that would hurt like hell. “Uh..can you lift the platform just a bit? Maybe an inch or two?”

“We can try.”

He gathered and I was pretty certain Zac was one of them, when I felt the pressure released I shimmied as quick as I could out from under it, the platforms were heavy. Yet, I was almost cleared when I heard fabric ripping and when I sat up cold air hit against my skin and it caused me to look down. The whole front of my shirt was ripped, I quickly closed the gap. But just by the look on Zac’s face, he’d seen a lot more than he needed to see. Perfect. The others turned away quickly. But Isaac slid his jacket off and held it out.

“So you can cover up and get to the bus. Are you okay? No cuts? You’re not hurt or anything?”

“No cuts. Thank you. I just needed a little bit of room. I’ll bring your jacket back.”

“Actually, can you bring me the blue one back? That one fell on the floor earlier today anyway.”

“Sure, no problem.”

I held the shirt until I got it on and then got the jacket on, I then headed to the bus. I ignored the hushed screams because they probably thought I was Isaac at first then realized I wasn’t male nor was I tall enough. I dropped his jacket off in the dirty clothes pile he had and then I went to get myself a clean, new shirt. I turned around to go to the bathroom and ran all into Zac, yelping some because I didn’t know he was even on the bus! Yet, it did explain the screams on my way to the bus.

It startled me more when I found myself between him and the wall. That was a quick movement from him.

“Zac..what are you doing?”

“I’m wondering why you wore blue.”

What the hell? “Uh…I like that color?”

I felt his fingertips on the left side of my neck and electricity seemed to travel across my skin.

“But…you wore a set.”

“How would you know that?”

He giggled and I wanted to melt. “The shorts you have on aren’t really that long and you kept your feet up and slightly apart when you were laying under the platform. It was enough to know the color and maybe the fabric, could be lace or cotton.”

He really wasn’t pressed against me, which maybe good given the way he was looking at me. But the fact that he knew what color my underwear was, well it was a bit strange. His fingers moved down my neck, sliding over the collar and then into the rip. I could tell where this was going, and I found that while my body certainly wanted too, I could feel the warm flush of heat in my thighs, the increased heart rate but my mind snapped me back to reality and I got his hand before he made it too much further.

“I need to change and get back inside.”

“That is not what you want to do Gabriella.”

I couldn’t quite deny that I liked how he used my full name, but that didn’t matter because it couldn’t happen.

“It is. There are several dozen women outside and I am sure any of them would be more than willing to help. I told you, I don’t do one night stands.”

I was briefly worried he wouldn’t let me leave, but when I moved he didn’t stop me. He remained right there and he was gone when I came out of the bathroom. I found the jacket Isaac asked for and when I got inside I could hear the drums, so he’d come back to finish the sound check. I took Isaac his jacket and when the drums stopped, a few minutes later I got a text message from him. I expected some line about how I wanted too or some shit.

Faygo orange. I’m having a random craving for that soda.

Faygo? What is that?

It’s a brand of soda and the orange is a flavor. Just that one flavor is all I want.

I was certain the soda wasn’t his craving but I said Okay and left to find it. I tried every store in walking distance and then took a cab to another six store.

Where the hell do you find that?!

I didn’t have all damn day to find the soda, I had to be back before the end of the show at least.

At the store?

So helpful…

I called Maxwell, he traveled with them a lot so he might know and especially if Zac had asked him for the same flavor or brand.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Faygo orange soda, where do you find it?”

“Gotta be for Zac, if there is a Piggy Wiggly nearby they usually have them.”

“Thank you. I’ve been to ten different places and he was no help.”

“He’s that way.”

I told the cab driver where and he left.

“Aside from needing a random soda, everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just miss you guys. It’s weird having all men around all the time but least there not sleazy.”

“Right, there not bad guys Gabs. No problems or anything?”

“No. Just miss home.”

“It’s okay. I saw some pictures of you in different clothes, did you finally shop?”

“Carrick took me in Seattle, I didn’t have anything warm and Seattle was like subzero ice age. Thanks dude for that, I appreciated freezing my ass off because you felt I needed no pants or long sleeves.”

“You’re so welcome. He did good. I approve. So, what else is going on?”

“Nothing, really. Tired.”

“I understand.”

We talked until the driver parked and I ran inside, finally finding the damn soda I grabbed an entire case and paid for it and then went back to the venue. They were on stage already so I waited beside the stage for their break. He walked off wiping the sweat off and I could feel my tongue run across my lips as well.

“Here is your craving soda.”

“I see you finally found it.”

“Yeah, took long enough. I’m glad the venue didn’t need me to run the merchandise, otherwise you would have been out of luck.”

“Story of my life.”

He took the bottle from me and nearly finished the whole thing at once and I went to find dinner for me, since it was a catering venue. I fixed a plate and sat down at the table. Carrick was sitting there too and he eyed the plate.

“I skipped lunch…”

“Ahh, was wondering if Zac made your plate.”

“No.”

“So...I got bored the other night and I was looking at random tour pictures online.”

“Nice, did you find any good ones?”

“Well…I think I found one of you.”

I paused mid-bite and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Twisted Metal the cover band. Found some old tour photos and I don’t know if the black haired girl is you or not.”

He brought up the picture and turned it around, when they say the past can haunt you they don’t lie.

“Is that you?”

“I wish I could say it’s not. But, it is.”

The picture was taken the first tour, it wasn’t really the best picture of me by any means. I was wearing black leather pants, a black bathing suit top and 4 inch heels and I was sitting in a girls lap. I had jet black hair and enough make up to cover at least 5 others.

“Seriously? You looked like this?”

“Yeah, I dyed my hair right after I met the lead singer of the band, said I would look hot with black hair. I believed him, Newton hated it but he didn’t mind much.”

“The clothes?”

“Oh come on Carrick, you appreciate that view as much as anyone would. I was 17, be glad because most the time I didn’t have pants on, it was tight skirts or booty shorts, which could really be underwear.”

“Your parents didn’t have a problem with this?”

I ate a few bites. “I didn’t give a shit what they thought and no, I’m not elaborating on why.”

“Wasn’t going to ask, I also won’t be showing this to anyone else.”

“They can find if they want too.”

“Well, no one knows what band to look for, I didn’t tell anyone else.”

“Thanks.”

I finished dinner and went for a hot shower. I didn’t much talk about past events, just wasn’t pleasant enough to discuss with anyone. Besides, after the tour the odds that anyone on this tour would keep up with me was pretty remote. I’d be lucky if they remembered my name at all. The hot water seemed to feel so good. Yet I could still feel his fingertips lingering on my skin. Could feel the body heat from him. I finally got out and after getting dried off and dressed I went to the bus and laid down.

I tried texting Maxwell or Abigail but neither replied. I had the night off, so I didn’t have to go back inside. It was barely 10:30, I had over an hour and I was alone on the bus. My memory swarmed with the images of him from earlier, how close he was to me and how his fingers sent electricity over my body. My own fingers didn’t hold a candle to his but even as they slipped inside my panties it was still the image of his. I knew what worked very well, so time didn’t matter but I was about to dip my fingers into myself when I heard voices on the bus, Zac and Taylor’s. I glanced at the phone and son of a bitch it had been over 2 hour! It never took me that long.

“Where is Gabby?” Taylor asked.

“Her curtain is closed, she’s probably already in bed.” Zac said.

I kept insanely quiet until they were in the back and then I got up and went to the bathroom. I needed to wash up some and wash my hands. Yet when I came out Zac was standing there in the hallway with this smirk on his face.

“Thought you were asleep but you got up as soon as we were in the back.”

“Bathroom.”

He leaned in and I wanted to back away.

“I would say based on the color of your cheeks, what you were doing had nothing to do with sleep and everything to do with your own hands.”

I tried not to let that cause any reaction. “Actually, I was asleep. You woke me up.”

I moved around him and went back to the bunk, closing the curtain. It took too long to fall asleep but I did eventually drift off.