“Jesus! You scared the shit out of me!” I said, putting my hand over my racing heart.

            “Ha, sorry. I thought you had seen me already.”

Quinn Allman was a strange character. He had big, brown eyes with blonde and brown hair. His face was kind of scruffy, and his hair was showing some signs of not being washed. He had a beer can in his hand, even though it was barely 3:00, and I could tell he was already slurring his words.

            “Um, you do know it’s only, like, 3:00, right?”

            “Yeah, why does that matter?”

            “I guess it really doesn’t, but you really shouldn’t be drinking hours before a show, should you?”

            “It won’t really matter. I won’t get drunk… not until after the show at least.” He smiled and chuckled, and I couldn’t help but do the same. “So, what are you doing… besides laps?” He offered me some beer, which I declined. Drinking wasn’t really my thing.

            “Being bored and pitying myself for having to come here.”

            “Yeah, Bert told us about that… that sucks ass.”

            I nodded and was quiet before saying, “What’s Bert’s deal anyway? He was standing, like, an inch from my face when we were talking earlier.”

            Quinn shrugged. “I don’t know… that’s just Bert. I guess he’s just really comfortable around new people, especially girls.” Quinn laughed at his friend.

            As I smirked and rolled my eyes jokingly, I heard my stomach growl. It was then I realized I hadn’t eaten since that morning.

            “Hey, Quinn, you wanna go get something to eat with me? I’d rather not get lost on my own.”

            “Ha, sure, Rhiyan. Let me just go grab my shit and let Branden know.” Quinn finished the last couple sips of his beer, and in about five minutes, we were in a cab to go find food.

            I slept most of the flight. There was really nothing for me to do anyway. Plus, I was trying to show my aunt how miserable I really was. But she didn’t seem to notice anyway. The minute the plane landed, we were in a car on our way to the venue. Not much time to get your land legs, huh?

            After getting the band’s itinerary and our passes, blah, blah, blah, we were taken backstage. As soon as we got back stage, I saw a familiar face, and 4 faces that were anything but familiar.

            “Christine! How are you?” My aunt leaned in to hug John as she answered his question with a ‘great’. “And wow, Rhiyan! Look at you! You’re practically all grown up!”

            “It’s crazy how people do that, huh?” I said, as the boy with the long, black hair snickered.

            “You and you’re sarcasm… one day it’s going to get you in trouble.” John smiled at me as he pulled me into a hug. All I was thinking was ‘Too late’.

            “Well, I guess we should get acquainted, eh?” My aunt said. “I’m Christine Swisher and this is my niece, Rhiyan. She’ll be spending the summer with us.”

            “Nice to meet you both.” The boy covered in tattoos said. “I’m Jeph... this is Branden, Quinn, and Bert.” After shaking hands with everyone, my Aunt Christine and the guys all sat around talking about, in my opinion, stupid shit. I wanted to scream, and probably would have if Bert wouldn’t have interrupted.

            “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go check out the rest of the venue.”

            I don’t know why, but at soon as he started to walk away, I found myself practically yelling after him, causing him to stop and turn around.

            “Wait! Would you mind if I came with you?”

            “Nope, not a problem.” He said, smiling at me. I caught up to him and we walked down the hall and outside the venue. “That desperate to get out of there, huh?” He said, lighting up a cigarette.

            “You have no idea.” I said, sliding against the wall and sitting on the ground.

            “Actually, I think I do…” There was silence while Bert took a drag of his cigarette before he spoke again. "So, how old are you?”

            “Seventeen… I’ll be 18 the first week of September, though.”

            “So what’s a young, beautiful girl like yourself doing on a summer tour with a bunch of smelly bands?”

            “It’s a long story…” Wait, did he just call me beautiful?

            “Well, I’ve got nothing but time…”

            So, I proceeded to tell Bert the adventures that got me into this situation. It amazed me how intently he listened to me. It was nice to have someone actually listen to me for once besides Kaiti.

            “Well, I would say that sucks, but I can guarantee you’ll have more fun here anyway.”

            “Oh, really? And how can you say that? John said this was your band’s first tour.”

            “Well, yeah, but I mean, come on, think about it. We’ll be traveling all across the U.S. getting further and further away from the place where we call home.”

            “Well, I technically don’t have a home, so…”

            “What are you talking about? You live with your aunt.” Bert said, flicking his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it.

            “I mean, I’ve only lived with her since I was 10… and she really had no choice but to take me in.”

            “Where are your parents?” I was starting not to like Bert. He seemed kinda nosey just then.

            “Around…” I said, vaguely.

            Just then, my aunt came outside and made things way less weird for me.

            “Hey, Rhi, we’re moving our bags into our bus… will you come help me out?”

            “Sure, coming…” My aunt went inside before I turned to Bert.

            “Well, I guess I’ll see you later, then...” Bert said, smiling.

            “Yeah, I guess so… later.” I walked inside wishing I didn’t have to go away, but I guess all good things must come to an end, right?

            Summer… When you think summer, you probably think swimming pools, the hot sun, going on vacation, romance, etc., right? Well, I would, too, if my summer hadn’t already been decided for me. I, unlike everyone else, had to follow my Aunt Christine around all summer while she managed some stupid band on their stupid summer tour. And why did I have to follow my aunt? Good question!

            You see, I’ve lived with my aunt since I was 10 because my parents… Well, that’s not the important part. The important thing is since I wouldn’t be 18 until after summer break was over, so until then, my aunt was in control. But, I guess it’s not that big of a deal. She’s pretty chill.

            To be honest, I don’t know why I was dreading this tour thing so much. It’s not like I really had anything here to hold me back. The only friend I had was Kaiti, and she was going on a school trip to France for most of the summer.

            “Rhiyan, let’s go, hun… our flight leaves at 9:00” My aunt called up to me.

            “Alright, I’ll be right down.” Sighing, I grabbed me bags and headed downstairs.

            I bet you’re wondering how this whole thing began. Well, my Aunt Christine got a call from an old friend of hers, John Feldman, about two weeks ago. He told us about a band he produced and about how they were going on tour in mid-June. He also talked about the tour manager who was supposed to go on tour with the band, but she had a family emergency and couldn’t go out on the tour. So, it was Aunt Christine to the rescue.

I'll probably still get on myspace and i'll probably get on here to check messages and stuff so I don't end up with a shit load when I get back, but if I don't reply right away, don't think it's because I hate you or I'm stuck up or anything lol. I still love you all =D

So yeah, if you really need to get ahold of me, here's some ways...

MySpace: www.myspace.com/lany656

E-Mail: lany6562@yahoo.com

Snapvine: www.snapvine.com/alaynaattack

Alrighty kids... thanks for reading =) Be back in a couple weeks... I promise!!!

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            But what is really that great about the New Year? When you wake up on New Year’s Day, the sun still shines through your window the same way it did all last year. You’ll still, all in all, be the same exact person.

            They say the New Year is a chance to start over, but how can that be? Everything that you have ever gone through in your life will still be there. You can’t change the mistakes or accomplishments that have been made. And why would you anyway? Those acts of good or bad make everyone who they are.

            Another reason I don’t understand the celebration of the New Year is that it’s like celebrating one year closer to your death. Some people, like me, aren’t afraid of death. But what about those who aren’t? What about those people in the world who know that this might be there last year on Earth? What about all the men and women fighting for our country who might not ever come home? Do you really think they want to know that or celebrate it?

            But, as I sit here writing this, I realize that it’s not about all the deep meaning behind New Year’s that I just talked about. It’s about the hope for a better life. The hope that this New Year could be the year when all the things you’ve ever dreamed of just might come true.