Chapter 6 - Roxie
Roxie
“Oh my God, I am so happy you listened to me for once!” Meghan squealed.
I hugged her, then gestured to the open suitcase on my bed. “I invited you here to help me pack. Not to rub it in.”
“Too late!”
“Besides,” I added, “I didn’t listen to you. You wanted me to be their groupie. What actually happened is that I negotiated my way into becoming their graphics designer.”
“Whatever. You’re going on tour with them, and that’s what I wanted you to do. Where are your fun clothes?”
I frowned as she examined my closet. “Those are my fun clothes.”
Meghan sighed. “Oh, honey…”
We spent a few minutes arguing over which clothes I should bring, eventually erring on the side of too much rather than too little.
“I want nightly updates,” Meghan said while we gathered my toiletries.
“It’s not going to be that interesting.”
“I don’t care. You’re touring with a band, Roxie! You’re not allowed to leave me in the dark. I want all the juicy details, or I’ll imagine my own.”
“Fine,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll give you updates after every show. But not nightly.”
“I’ll take it! You’re going to have so much fun. You have no idea how jealous I am.”
“This isn’t a vacation, Meghan. This is basically a business opportunity. They have two hundred thousand Instagram followers. Designing their tour posters will be great exposure for me.”
“Plus all the other benefits…”
“You’re right,” I teased. “Getting to see the rest of the country is an amazing opportunity.”
“I meant the sexy benefits.”
I rolled my eyes for the tenth time since Meghan had come over. “I’m not going to fuck the band. Or any individual member of the band.”
“Oh come on! Roxie, look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to jump Riot Kane’s bones.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to him,” I answered carefully. “I just said I don’t want to do anything with him.”
“You’re a liar.”
“Fine. Let’s play out your scenario.” I paused my packing and crossed my arms. “Let’s say I sleep with Riot after the first concert in Houston. Now what?”
Meghan furrowed her brow. “What do you mean, now what?”
“Now what?” I repeated. “We have three more months together on tour. And now things are awkward because we’ve had sex. Now what am I supposed to do? You know how much I hate awkward situations like that.”
“Who says it has to be awkward? Maybe he falls madly in love with you, and you both live happily ever after.”
“Shut up,” I teased. “This isn’t a fairy tale, and I’m not falling in love with a rock star. Riot is hot, but there’s no real future there.”
“But it would be fun in the meantime!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her persistence. “Sure. Maybe. Let’s start carrying stuff out to your car. I have to meet them in half an hour.”
We finished the last bit of packing, then Meghan drove me over to where their tour bus was parked. I had to get a ride from her because I wasn’t going to have my own vehicle while on tour. I’d be traveling on the tour bus with the rest of the band.
On the way there, my stomach was a knot of excitement and nervousness. I’d never done anything this crazy before in my life. I was usually pretty calm and logical.
I just hoped it wouldn’t be a mistake I regretted later.
The four band members were gathered around the tour bus when I arrived. All the scattered equipment that was here a few hours ago was now packed up, and the equipment van had already departed for Houston.
Riot and the others turned and watched as we got out of Meghan’s car.
“You guys don’t have to stare,” I said while opening the trunk.
“Honestly, we’re just surprised you didn’t change your mind,” Violet said. “Glad you didn’t, though.”
“Let me help with that,” Milo said, shouldering in next to me to unload my suitcases. He was tall and lean, with messy brown hair and an easy smile that immediately put me at ease.
“Nice tour bus!” Meghan exclaimed. “Got room for another groupie?”
“Roxie made it very clear that she’s not a groupie,” Riot explained. Though he was talking to Meghan, his eyes were locked onto me like he thought I might suddenly disappear.
“Right. Sure.” Meghan winked dramatically at him. “She’s a graphics designer. I forgot.”
“You’re killing me right now!” I hissed at her.
“Just having fun with your new buddies,” she whispered back. Then she raised her voice and said, “I’m expecting you all to take very good care of Roxie on tour.”
I tried not to roll my eyes again.
“She’s safe with us!” Milo said.
Violet put an arm around me and added, “I’ll make sure she’s good. I’m more trustworthy than Milo here.”
“What? No you’re not!” he argued. “Why am I not trustworthy?”
Violet glared at him. “You know exactly why.”
Milo loaded my first suitcase into the storage compartment underneath the bus, then threw up his hands. “Are you seriously still mad about the Pop-Tarts?”
“It was the last one,” Violet said, acid dripping from every word. “You knew I was looking forward to eating it.”
“I forgot!”
While they argued, I hugged Meghan goodbye. “Thanks for the ride. And for pushing me to kind of consider this.”
“I’ll always look out for you, Roxie,” she replied. “Now go have fun. But not too much fun. Unless you really want to, in which case I give you permission and my full endorsement.”
Now I did roll my eyes. “Get out of here.”
“Keep me updated!” she said, blowing me a kiss before getting back in her car.
As I watched her drive away, I felt like a child being dropped off for her first day of school.
“Come on, babe,” Violet said. “Let me give you a tour of the tour bus.”
“I called dibs on giving her the tour!” Milo said, shouldering her out of the way and grinning widely at me. “Right this way, my dear.”
“I don’t need the royal treatment,” I said while following him up the steps onto the tour bus.
“This is how we treat all our guests. Especially ones who will be joining us on tour. Okay, confession: you’re the first person who’s ever toured with us. Because this is our first tour as headliner. But we’re very welcoming people! Don’t be intimidated by the sick jams we play on stage.”
“I’ll try,” I said, smiling at Milo’s hyperactive energy.
He gestured around the open area next to the driver’s seat. “Here’s the front of the tour bus. We’ve been calling it the living room, but we’ve only had the bus for a few hours, so that might change.” There was a booth and table that could seat four people, and two standalone chairs next to that.
“There’s a foldable laptop stand next to that chair,” he added. “We can basically keep that reserved for you and your laptop, since you said you need space to work.”
“That’d be perfect.”
“We were founded way back in 2019,” Milo explained while leading me farther back.
“Riot was one of the founding members, along with yours truly.” He paused to bow at the waist. “We recruited Violet next, and she brought along our original bass player. But he was kind of a dick, so we replaced him with Cash during 2020. And the four of us have been one big, happy band family since then. When did you first hear of our fame and glory?”
“I’ll be honest,” I replied with a grimace. “I hadn’t heard of you before you opened for Rainknife. But you’re really good!”
“Hell yeah, we are. Way better than Rainknife.” He glanced at me and raised his eyebrows.
“Rainknife is, quite literally, our favorite band,” I told him. “But I have to admit: you guys were better.”
Milo beamed. “I know you’re probably just being nice, but I’ll take it. Here’s the sleeping quarters.”
He paused at the back of the bus. There was a single bed squeezed into the left, and four bunks were built into the wall on the right. They all had privacy curtains that could be drawn, even the bed.
“Which one’s mine?” I asked.
“We’re currently in the middle of a heated band disagreement over the sleeping arrangements,” Milo said, lowering his voice as if sharing a hot piece of gossip. “Riot hates sleeping in a bunk, but Violet insists we share the real bed.”
I blinked. “Share it?”
“I mean, like, rotate who sleeps there,” he quickly added. “Violet gets it tonight, then you the next time, and so forth. But if you ever want to squeeze in with me when it’s my night, I can probably make room.”
He laughed, then raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m mostly joking. Mostly. The bathroom is in there,” he pointed to the door. “It’s actually really nice. Has a shower and everything. Violet’s partner did a good job.”
“Her partner?”
“She hates the word wife. Says it has too much baggage and gender expectations attached to it,” Milo explained. “But she’s married, and her partner/wife/fuck-girl’s father owns the dealership that gave us this bus. That’s her outside.”
Out the nearest window, I could see Violet hugging a woman with dark skin and a long braid that ran all the way down her back. Their embrace went on a long while, neither person letting go, both of them whispering to each other with their eyes squeezed shut.
“They’re a great couple, and Dana is really good for Violet,” Milo sighed happily.
“But don’t tell Violet I said that. We like to give her shit about how she’s not as hardcore of a rock star now that she’s settled down.
Besides, I doubt we’d be able to afford this awesome tour bus without Dana. We’re not that famous yet.”
“Can you afford a graphics designer, then?” I asked.
“Sure! I mean, I assume so. Cash is the one who does all our finances, and he says we can afford you. Anyway, that’s the full tour. Get comfy, because Cash wanted to get on the road ten minutes ago.”
I settled into one of the big chairs, which had a hook on the wall for my laptop bag.
The rest of the band filed onto the bus—Riot glancing at me for a moment before looking away, Cash nodding politely at me before buckling himself into the driver’s seat, and finally Violet wiping a tear from her eye while shoving past the others.
The bus rumbled to life, then Cash drove out of the alley and onto the main road.
I was terrified by what might happen over the next three months. How could I not be?
But as I glanced at my new tour mates, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly excited.