I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed Jack’s mouth softly. “I’m going to miss you. I hate saying goodbye. I feel like we have said goodbye too many times since we met.”

Jack kissed my mouth gently. “You go show the world the star I already know you are. But I want you back in our bed as soon as it’s over, so don’t forget where you belong.” Another sweet kiss, but I snagged Jack’s bottom lip between my teeth as he tried to pull away. His grip tightened around my waist and he gave a low growl in response. “And you remember who you belong to.”

Jack’s driver brought us back to reality as he politely interrupted, telling us that we were cutting it close to make his flight. Jack tucked me safely into my car before getting into his own and pulling away. I was proud of myself for not crying too much on the way back to the bus.

Chapter 6

The next few weeks would take us up through Denmark, then into Sweden, before traveling back down to stop in Austria, eventually continuing south until our first stops in Northern Italy. The ride to Copenhagen was long and we spent the entire night and next morning moving. The bus stopped on occasion, switching out drivers and getting refueled, but for the most part we were on the road.

Sienna and I slept the entire night, both exhausted, the long night of rest very welcome. I was tired, both mentally and physically from my time with Jack, and Sienna was floored from partying. We had been taking turns with who got to sleep in the private bedroom that held a queen size real bed mattress, because the bunks were little more than a thin piece of cotton laid over the wood. I wasn’t sure if Sienna knew I was sad or if she just wanted company herself, but we both crashed in the queen bed together for the long night of travels.

I woke up in a corner of the bed, with no covers. Sienna, on the other hand was splayed out leisurely diagonally across the bed, with the covers wrapped snugly around her. I found it amusing that I was the one crunched in the corner then, as Jack had been complaining about my taking up the whole bed and stealing the covers back home.

As we made our way through the streets of Copenhagen, the city caught my attention and I found it worthy of waking the beast next to me. Sienna pulled the covers over her head as I tapped her shoulder and softly called her name to wake her.

“The bus better be on fire, Syd.” Sienna’s voice was groggier than usual, even though she had never been a morning person, ever.

“We must be in Copenhagen. The city is beautiful. I thought you might want to see it.”

“Do you have coffee for me?” No sign of Sienna’s face from under the covers as she spoke.

“Ummm … no, but I can make us some.”

“You really know how to work that thing?” Sienna brought the cover down enough to show just her forehead and one squinting eye.

“The coffee maker?”

“No, the vacuum.” She brought the covers back over her head before speaking again. “Of course the coffee maker. What the hell else would I be talking about? I tried to figure it out the other day, but it exploded all over the place.”

I laughed as I stood on the bed, about to hop off and make the coffee for my grumpy friend, but then I changed my mind and started jumping on the bed.

Sienna brought the cover back down to expose up to her nose. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I bet I can hit my head on the roof first.” I smiled and arched an eyebrow at my best friend, knowing she would never be able to forego a challenge, even if it meant getting out of bed before noon.

“I think I may move onto the other bus and send Justin to live with you,” Sienna growled, pulling the cover over her head.

I kept on jumping. Waiting. Knowing eventually she wouldn’t be able to help herself. I’d been hanging out with Sienna since elementary school and I was sure as the sun would rise that she wouldn’t be able to resist the challenge, albeit how silly it was.

A few more jumps and then Sienna growled as she jumped up and joined me in bouncing on the bed. When Sienna eventually yelled as she whacked her head against the top of the bus, claiming defeat, I couldn’t help but fall into a fit of laughter knowing that the prize I had let her win would probably leave her with a headache all morning.

***

I returned to the room with two large coffee mugs and two Ibuprofen for my friend. I didn’t know if she had a headache from hitting her head or not, but I figured she would need them for the hangover she probably had from the last few days of partying anyway.

We sat quietly on the bed, sipping our coffee and staring out the big picture window at the back of the bus in the private bedroom, taking in the beautiful scenery of Copenhagen. The bus drove slowly on the narrow roads as we passed block after block of low-rise buildings, most standing at only four to six stories. The buildings were architecturally stunning and painted a myriad of beautiful colors. Church steeples punctuated the skyline between the yellow, burnt orange and aqua blue historic buildings. Only a few modern hotels marred the quaint charm of the beautiful, historical city.

Sienna and I were probably most excited about playing in Copenhagen. We were scheduled to perform at an outdoor summer music festival instead of a typical theatre, unlike all the other venues on the tour. It was one of Europe’s greatest rock music festivals, spanning multiple days on multiple stages. Before we departed, the tour manager had told us that we were originally scheduled to play on one of the smaller stages, but the festival had just moved us to play on the Orange Stage, the largest of the six stages. Apparently, the tour was gaining popularity as we traveled and they expected too many fans for us to play at the smaller stage. The Orange Stage was where the more popular acts usually got to perform, because the viewing area could accommodate more than sixty thousand people.

As teenagers, Sienna and I had dreamed about going to the festival. We’d even priced out tickets the year we turned eighteen, but neither of us had been able to afford it. We loved the idea of playing at a big festival, but just being able to be a part of it as spectators was enough to be a dream come true.

The only parking for the tour busses was in the camper area. We would get to live the festival right along with the fans. Unlike Justin and Kyle, most people still didn’t know who we were, so at least until it was our turn to play we could enjoy the festival in relative anonymity.

Sienna and Kyle were especially excited at the stop, as they both planned to join the “nude run,” an annual tradition held on the Saturday of the four day festival. The run was an organized activity where people literally ran around the campsites buck naked and one male and one female would be selected to win tickets to the next year’s festival. The two of them had spent hours trying to talk me into joining them, but, unlike Sienna, I thought that activity would be more fun to observe.