I took in a long drag of the cigarette that burned between my fingers. I held the smoke in a bit longer than I probably should have - hoping that maybe if I tried a little harder I would die a little faster. As the smoke fell from my mouth and tangled in the breeze I laughed at how similar a cigarette is to life itself. You hold your own life between your fingers, you're in complete control, but yet you still light it up and watch it burn. It can slip from your fingers at any time to where it can either burn some more or eventually burn out. And the smoke was death. Life was giving you death, and you have no choice but to embrace your inevitable end, breathing it in, and then letting it reach out to eventually kill those closest to you.

"Smoking is a killer, you know."

"Yeah, so is life," I responded without turning to look at who had said it.

"Good point," the man's voice responded.

I took in one last drag before letting my life slip to the ground. I stomped it out, somehow wishing that I was linked to the cigarette and I would suddenly fall dead myself. But nothing was ever that easy.

"It's the truth." I shrugged as I ran my fingers through my hair from root to tip in an attempt to get it away from my face.

"I'm Vic." A hand came into my view, offering for me to shake it. I followed the calloused fingers to his broad wrist, to his toned biceps, and eventually up to his face.

"Sam," I replied. I kept my hand planted firmly by my side and gave him a slight smile and look of apology. I didn't like to touch other people's hands. It was just something that made me anxious. Like I was stepping too far into their lives. Our hands were portals to our worlds - our stories. I didn't want to share my story that easily.

He dropped his hand and offered me a smile. "So what are you doing standing behind the venue like this?" he asked as his eyes flicked to the building beside us. You could hear the faint pounding of music behind us, the building occasionally vibrating when it got loud enough.

"Needed a break from the chaos called reality," I sighed. "What about you?"

"Well, that. And I needed a quiet place to warm up my vocals," he shrugged a bit and held up some headphones that were sitting in the hand opposite of the one he extended out to me.

"Ah, I see. I'll let you be then." I smiled and began to walk past him, not wanting to keep him from warming up. Plus I was bound to be radioed in at any moment now. It was rare to get a full fifteen minutes to myself.

"I'll see you around?" Vic asked with hope laced in his words. I wasn't so sure of it, but he almost sounded a bit disappointed, too.

I turned around as I walked and shrugged my shoulders dramatically so he could notice them at the distance that was growing between us. I turned back around and made my way back around the building and closer to the chaos inside the venue. As soon as I got closer to the gate, my radio that was clipped to the side of my shirt went off, saying my name and a location that I needed to be.

"Copy," I replied into the radio as I began to head toward the Kia Forte stage. I had no choice but to weave in and out of the large crowds and the masses of people walking around the booths. Girls in skimpy clothes, boys with their shirts off, girls crying, boys bleeding, people kissing...you see everybody return back to their barbaric nature when on warped tour. The days are long, the sun is excruciating, and the atmosphere is hectic. It changes people.

I walked backstage and looked around, waiting for somebody to tell me what I was needed for.

"Sam?"

I turned around to see a guy with spiky hair and a bass around his shoulders looked at me.

"Are you Sam?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Okay you're supposed to help us find our lead singer. We're on in ten minutes and he's nowhere to be found. And the tool left his phone on our bus."

"What's his name?" I asked, going to grab my radio so I could ask if anyone had seen him.

"Vic. He's about yay high," he paused to place his hand up beside his ears, "mexican. Brown hair. Probably wearing a hat."

I laughed a bit at the coincidence. The man gave me an amused look before confusion washed over him a bit. “I know where he is. I’ll go get him,” I answered.

“Oh, thank goodness! Thank you so much! Please, hurry,” the man said as he clapped his hands together. He gave me a warm smile and turned around to tell the rest of the people beside him.

I broke out into a jog, making my way right back through the crowds of people and toward the fence that I had slipped out of only ten minutes prior. The noise of the stages started to mull over as I heard interesting wails coming from around the corner. The wails were followed by a deep voice going through different octaves and scales.

I saw Vic pacing with his head down and his earphones on over his hat. The cord was linked to his phone that was in his right hand as he took a few steps, turned on his heel, and then repeated the action. I grew a bit closer and Vic stopped when he noticed my shoes coming into view. He pulled his headphones down from his ears and quickly scrambled to pause whatever was playing on his phone.

“Back so soon?” he asked with an amused smile.

“Your band is looking for you. You go on in ten,” I panted just a bit. It was hot, and that short jog from the stage the Vic had already got me slightly winded.

“Oh, shit,” Vic said as he hurried to meet my side. We began to quickly walk toward the venue without a word. We walked back through the fence and hurried across the lot – weaving back through the barbarians as we did so.

We finally made it back to the stage that he was to be playing at. The guy I had spoken to earlier was holding up a white and lime green slimed guitar. Vic grabbed it and quickly strapped it around his shoulders.

“Thanks Sam,” the spiky haired guy said.

“Jaime, you know Sam?” Vic asked with a questioning look.

“Uh, no, not really. Someone sent her over to help me find you,” Jaime explained. “Why, do you know Sam?”

“Uh, not really. We just met before I started my warm ups,” Vic pouted a bit.

Jaime nodded and then turned his attention back to the circle of two other boys.

“C’mon, Vic! Leggo!” the tallest one said as he gently hit his drumsticks together.

Vic looked down at the phone and headphones that were in his right hand and then looked up to me. “Uh, could you hold these for me?”

“Sure,” I said as I held my hands out. He dropped his belongings into my hands, careful not to let our fingers touch. I was thankful for the fact that he had remembered my hesitation in touching his hands earlier.

He joined the circle with the other guys and they began to clap their hands while doing a little chant, each taking their turns in their pre-show ritual before finally coming together to end the chant and cheering. They march up onto the stage one by one, Vic is last.

He sends me a quick wink before running up behind them all to the waiting crowd. I’d never heard their music before. In fact, most bands on Warped Tour I hadn’t even heard of. That was one reason why I was hired for this job so easily. I didn’t want to work backstage to meet the bands – I just loved music, and I loved helping people. And I loved traveling. Especially after I had lost the only thing keeping me rooted.

I watched the boys perform – they had amazing skills. Not only in their music, but in their performance. They poured themselves into their microphones and instruments. They left themselves on the stage – playing with all of their emotions and energy. The fans accepted their energy, and in return, gave them theirs. I had never seen such chemistry between a crowd and band. I have never seen such a genuine performance.

“Hey,” Vic said in a thick, forced breath. His breathing hitched a bit and he let out a slight cough to clear his throat. “Thanks for holding that for me.”

I looked down to see his phone and headphones in my hands. I had nearly forgotten about them. “Of course,” I smiled. “Here.”

I held them up, and instead of him laying out his hands for me to drop his belongings in, he put his hands out, ready to grab them. He reached forward. I pulled my hands back quickly, and in the process dropped his headphones and phone onto the ground.

“I’m sorry!” we blurted at the same time.

“No, no,” I shook my head, “I’m so sorry I dropped your things. Oh my gosh, please tell me your phone is okay.” My hands went over my mouth to cover my shock.

Vic bent down to pick them up. When he came back up he examined his phone. “No damage done,” he said with a smile. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have reached for them like that…”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” I felt a bit awkward. “I just have this thing with hands…”

Vic gave me a slightly confused look, telling me that he didn’t quite understand, but smiled to tell me that he respected the fact. “You don’t need to explain. It’s okay.” He smiled widely and turned around to see the rest of his band putting their instruments back into the trailer that was pulled up behind the stage. “Want to, uh, come with me?”

I looked at the radio clipped to my shirt, realizing that I had been left alone for a little over thirty minutes now. I shrugged, figuring that I might as well take advantage of this free time while I could. I followed Vic down the ramp and toward the trailer. He stepped on and pulled his guitar over his head. “So, Sam,” Vic said as he bent over to place his guitar in a case with many others, “what exactly do you do around here?”

“I’m pretty much warped tour’s little bitch. I do whatever anybody needs me to do to keep things running smoothly.”

“I wouldn’t call that being a bitch,” Vic laughed. “You’re kind of a life-saver, really.”

I frowned at his words. A life-saver. I was definitely the opposite of that. I looked down at my hands, staring at the scars on my palms before shoving them into the pockets of my jeans.

“What do you do when you’re not on warped?” he asked. He was looking right at me, observing my actions.

I bit the inside of my cheek for a brief second before releasing it to reply. “Help prepare for next year’s warped. Call up bands, call up venues, figure out dates. Like I said, I just do whatever I can to keep things running smoothly. I like to help make things easier for other people.”

Vic smiled widely. “That’s awesome,” he said. “So should I thank you, then? For bringing us on warped tour?”

I shrugged and let out a chuckle. “Eh, I guess you could. There’s the possibility that I could have been the one to call your manager.”

Vic laughed a little bit. His name was called and he looked up quickly, and over my shoulder. I turned around to see Jaime holding up a water bottle. “You want a water?” Vic asked as he began to walk toward Jaime.

I ran my tongue along the back of my front teeth, feeling how dry my mouth was from my cigarette I had earlier. I nodded as a response and followed Vic over to where Jaime was standing. Vic set the water bottle down on top of the sound box that was next to me as he reached for his own water. I picked up the water and took a few drinks of it.

“Who’s this?”

Vic turned to look at the guy who had spoken. “This is Sam,” he said. “Sam, this is our drummer, and my little brother, Mike.”

“Hi,” I said with a slight wave.

“Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile and a nod.

“What are you doing tonight, Sam?” Jaime asked as he approached us. “The correct answer to that question is heading over to our bus for a bonfire.”

“Oh, um I don’t-“

“The only accepted answer is yes, sorry. Looks like you have to come,” Jaime shrugged and then walked off with a large smile.

Before I could open my mouth to say anything again, my radio went off from my shoulder.

“Sam, we need you at the bus.”

I sighed and turned to look at Mike and Vic who were each staring at me with curious expressions. Vic’s eyes were filled with wonder while Mike had a small smirk on his lips.

“Well, I guess we’ll see you at our bonfire tonight?” Vic said as more of a question.

“We’ll see,” I said as I offered him a slight smile. I quickly turned on my heel while pulling the radio toward my mouth a bit. “This is Sam – I’m on my way.”

-

“…and this is Tony, our guitarist!” Vic said happily as he finished introducing me to the people all around the bonfire. More people were wandering in as we stood there, but I recognized a lot of them to be members of other bands. Vic’s drink sloshed around in his cup a little bit.

“Why don’t you have a drink, girl? Vic, get her a drink!” Jaime said as he came up to us. “You know what? I’ll do it. What’ll you have, darling?”

I laughed a bit at the way Jaime rolled his ‘r’ in the word ‘darling’, his Mexican decent coming out in his intoxicated state. “Oh, anything non-alcoholic. I don’t drink.”

“Why not?” Tony asked with a curious expression.

My heart began to race. “It’s just not for me,” I answered as confidently as possible. I looked down at my shaking hands and tried to take a few subtle deep breaths to calm myself down.

“Are you alright?” Vic asked, carefully.

I nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Just got the shakes. Long day,” I said with a shrug.

“Here you are,” Jaime said as he reappeared holding a red cup out in front of him. “Ginger ale mixed with pineapple juice and cranberry juice. It’s my specialty punch mix,” he explained with a wink as he held it out in front of him.

There was nothing I could do – I had to reach out to take the cup. His hands were low on the cup, so if I grabbed it by the rim I could avoid his hand completely. I reached out to grab it, carefully placing my hand over the top. Jaime began to remove his hand, but just before he could pull it away, somebody called his name and he turned his entire body to the side, jerking his hand sideways causing our fingers to hit. I pulled my hand back in a panic, dropping the cup to the ground in the process.

My hand was tingling and I began to shake ever worse than before. My heart was pounding and I could feel the stress and anxiety building up in my chest.

“Woah, shit,” Jaime said, turning back around. He looked over to me as I stared at my hand that was covered in punch, but it wasn’t the punch that I was staring at. I looked at the scars on my hand and cringed as the shaking finally reached my spine.

“I um... I-I uh…have to go,” I said quickly. I turned around in a hurry and walked back toward the venue just as the shaking escalated.

I leaned onto the building for support as memories began to flood my mind.

Glass shards. Screaming. Sirens.

“Sam?” I heard Vic calling my name in the distance. “Sam?” he was closer now.

“Ye-yeah, I’m right here,” I said over my shoulder. I took in three, slow deep breaths and turned around with a smile. “Sorry, I just, um, got a phone call.”

It was a stupid lie, and I know that Vic didn’t believe it, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“Oh, it’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were alright,” he said with a slight smile. He no longer had a cup in his hands. He shoved them into his pockets and I watched as he slowly rocked back onto his heels and then back to the balls of his feet. I could see that he felt awkward and didn’t know what else to say.

“Look,” I said softly. “I’m not looking for a relationship or anything. I just want a friendship.”

Vic laughed a bit and kicked at the imaginary rock in front of him, scuffing his heel on the concrete. “You’re so straight-forward. I like that.”

“I’m serious,” I replied.

“I know, Sam,” he said. “I just want a friendship, too.”

He looked over to me and our eyes met and locked in place. I could see a world of hurt behind them – a broken-heart, and past of horrible relationships. I could only imagine what he saw in my eyes. Whatever he saw though, it made him smile. Something about him made me feel comfortable, like everything was going to be alright.

I looked down at my hands that had finally calmed their shaking. I made a relaxed fist, leaving my pinky flexed. I took in a deep breath and held it out to him. “Friends,” I confirmed with a smile.

He looked at my pinky and then down to his own. A shocked expression was on his face.

“Best friends,” he said as he smiled widely. He reached his pinky out and linked them together. The anxious feeling didn’t rise up into my throat. My hands didn’t shake like I somewhat expected them to. My heart didn’t beat as rapid as it usually would. I felt relaxed, even with Vic’s pinky in contact with my own.

And that was the year that Vic Fuentes became my best friend – my everything.

Notes

Since my other Vic story is coming to an end, here is my new one. I know the beginning is a bit slow, but please, bear with me while things get started. This one is going to be a good one, I promise. I'm really excited to write this.