.two.
“I can’t believe that poor girl died,” Natalie said as the Hanson brothers and their significant others drove on to the next city.
“I can’t believe that girl threw up all over me,” Kate complained drying her hair with a towel after taking an extremely long shower.
“Can’t you think about someone else rather than yourself, Kate,” Zac glared at her. “I mean she’ll be 6 feet under by the weekend and you’re more worried about your extensions being damaged.”
“Well, it’s not everyday you get puked on by some fat ass fan,” she retorted. “Have a little heart geez, Zac!”
With that Kate got up and walked into the back bedroom that Taylor and Natalie shared, shutting the door behind her.
“Zac, give her a break,” Natalie told him sympathetically.
“No,” he replied quickly. “She was the one that wanted to come on this tour and she shouldn’t have been showing off. If she hadn’t been running her mouth that chick wouldn’t have puked on her.”
Natalie sighed knowing that she would not get Zac to change his attitude towards her best friend.
“The poor girl sure as hell didn’t deserve to die though,” Taylor added quickly trying to change the subject. “I think we all need to pray for her. Let’s just take a moment of silence, after all, the last thing she did in her life was go to one of our concerts.”
The group bowed their heads as Taylor said a small prayer. In the last few years, Taylor had become extremely religious especially right before meeting Natalie when he claimed to have been going through some hard times. Isaac and Zac never complained about Taylor’s ideals and even appreciated the fact that he made them all go to church every Sunday. It kept their thoughts in perspective and even added a bit of sanity to their chaotic lives.
“So, where we headed to next?” Zac asked whoever was listening.
“The itinerary says Louisville, KY; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; a couple place in TX; and then back home to Tulsa finally,” Isaac told him reading off the calendar in his Blackberry phone.
“Sweet. I can’t wait to get back home. I need some major alone time at this point.”
“We told you to leave her,” Isaac replied in the nicest way possible.
“I know, I know, but she insisted on coming. Once we get home though I have a lot of thinking to do,” Zac said as he rested his head against the cool glass of the tour bus window.
Isaac dropped the subject as everyone started to wind down from the days events.
Kate finally came out of the back room, a cloud of smoke following her as she exited. The smell hit Zac’s nostrils and he glared at her. Everything she did annoyed him now.
“Couldn’t you wait until we stopped? Maybe Taylor and Natalie don’t like you smoking in their room.”
Kate rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him. She turned to Natalie.
“You don’t care, do you Nat?”
“Nope,” was all Natalie said trying to stay out of the argument.
“She smokes back there too, Zac. I was trying to keep the smell hidden so it wouldn’t bother you,” Kate explained looking down.
“Didn’t work,” Zac argued. “You stink.”
“On that note, goodnight guys,” Isaac interrupted as he stood up to get ready for bed, Natalie and Taylor following closely behind.
“Fuck off,” Kate whispered to Zac under her breath as they were left alone.
She slumped down into a seat, her head dizzy. Her body suddenly shivered, chills running down the length of her petite frame. She closed her eyes and ignored anything that Zac was saying to her.
When Zac realized that she was ignoring him he stared at her trying to figure out why she wasn’t arguing back.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked with a hint of compassion in his voice.
“I don’t feel good all of a sudden,” Kate replied trying to stand up. “I wanna go lie down in my bunk.”
Once on her feet she immediately lost her balance and Zac jumped up to catch her. At first he thought she was just being dramatic trying to make him feel sorry for her, but when he touched her skin it felt as though it were on fire.
“Damn, you’re burning up.”
“Yeah, no shit I told you I didn’t feel well,” she replied defensively as he led her to her bunk.
Zac ignored her comment and recalled the day’s events. What if Kate was getting whatever that brunette girl had? No matter how mad he was or how much they weren’t getting along anymore, he would not wish that illness on anyone.
After laying his feverish girlfriend down, Zac walked back to where he was sitting and opened up a book. All of the lights on the tour bus were off except for the one above him. Pausing in between a chapter, he sighed thinking about his and Kate’s relationship. Something needed to be done.
Zac stared out into the night sky through the clear glass. Looking up, he searched for the moon. When he found it hovering above them, he noticed there was an eclipse.
“Weird,” he said to himself not knowing that there was supposed to be an eclipse that night.
Fancying a bit of astronomy here and there he usually liked to keep up on environmental and Earthy happenings especially with all of the off weather the world has been having lately.
Zac took in the beauty of the full eclipse until he suddenly realized that there were no stars. None. He turned the light off above him and tried to see if there were clouds blocking his vision, but to no avail. All he could see was blackness. A vast amount of dark sky. Not a single star, planet, or constellation. He stood up, his heart pounding a bit trying to figure out this mystery when he saw them.
Off in the distance beyond the mountains and hills, shooting stars blasted down from out of nowhere. They rained down at explosive rates making Zac wonder if they were doing damage where they landed. Luckily, they were far enough away to where he wasn’t worried about them hitting the bus, but regardless it was a terrifying site to behold.
“Ok, now that’s not supposed to happen.”