My heart fluttered as I read the first message from them—it felt like my heart was actually going to fly away by itself.


'Hey Savannah, we were just wondering if you're back from the hospital yet and how you're recovering? We sincerely hope you're okay and are excited to see you at Warped'
Best wishes,
-Vic, Jaime, Tony, and Mike

I grinned, staring at my phone like an idiot for a good two minutes. I twiddled my thumbs for a moment, finding it difficult to think of something to say. Words could not express how thankful I was for them!

I decided to start off with a simple Hello, but then I erased it and wrote ‘Hi guys!’ instead. My face twisted for some reason as I typed—I felt awkward and extremely nervous to write a response for some reason. I found that my hands were shaking.

I am home from the hospital (finally), and everything is going pretty good now! The doctors said that I should recover in a week or so with no more problems.

I informed them about my health, first. It was true; the doctors said that my recovery should go by smoothly from now on, as long as I was especially careful with my head.

Thanks a lot for checking up on me, it really means a lot! And thanks again for the letters and the stuffed animals! They are so sweet, and I’m sorry I fell asleep without saying thank you and bye to you guys…

I wrote that next. I felt repetitive—thanking them a million times, but I couldn’t help it. They saved me on so many different levels, and I couldn’t thank them enough. And then guilt struck me—I guess it wasn’t my fault, but I was still mad at myself for falling asleep while they were there. I could only imagine how awkward that must have been. I cringed at the thought of my mom being alone with them—Oh, God. I hope she didn’t say anything too embarrassing.

I sighed, thinking about my mom again. What if she wasn’t going to let me go to Warped? They were expecting me, and it was only polite to not let those two tickets and two passes to go to waste…

I’m really excited for Warped Tour, though! To be completely honest, my mom is worried that I might not be recovered fully in time for Warped, but I think I will be able to go!

I figured that it would be best to warn them about my mom’s hesitation, but also of my genuine excitement. I closed the message with ‘Thanks so much for everything, again! Sincerely, Savannah.’

I sighed, tentative to hit the send button. Was this message too long? Did I sound crazy? I didn’t want to sound like a fangirl, even though my insides twisted and my heart swelled, indicating that I was, in fact, fangirling on the inside.

No, I wasn’t a fangirl. I was just… shocked. I couldn’t believe that they had actually messaged me, that they had actually taken time out of their day to see how I was doing. I wondered what they were doing, anyway, and what in that moment inspired them to message me right away.

I clenched my eyes shut and feverishly hit the send button, getting the action over with. No turning back, now, I thought. I didn’t like the way I worded it, but I had already sent the message and there was nothing I could do about it. Then a new thought occurred to me—did I respond too quickly? I didn’t want them to think that I was waiting by my phone for them to message me. I could already feel myself grow mortified at the thought.

I sighed, realizing how stupid I was being. It was just a message. I was just over thinking things, as per usual. I was eighteen years old, not thirteen. I was basically an adult. I should be able to handle a simple conversation with someone; just because they were semi-famous, didn’t mean that they weren’t regular people.

I took a calming breath, and rolled over (painfully) in my bed so I was facing the window, trying to get over my moment of anxiousness. I smiled softly as I hugged Jeffrey the unicorn gently. He was a plush stuffed animal, and he was the most comforting thing I’ve ever held in my life. I grinned to myself, realizing how much of a toddler I was being.

Within minutes, my phone buzzed again, and my stomach flipped.

Glad to hear you're home and well!
You're welcome, it's the least we could do considering the circumstances.
Jaime would like to know how Jeffery is and is hoping the marshmallows are going down well (he's nuts, excuse him)
Don't apologize, it couldn't be helped so don't sweat it!
Tell your mom not to worry, we will look after you between sets and before rehearsals.
Stop thanking us, it's not a problem.
Sincerely,
Vic, Tony, Mike and Jaime.

Like last time, I smiled at my phone for a few minutes before I mustered enough courage to reply. I laughed out loud at Jaime’s shout out—I could just picture him asking that. And then I also picked up on the fact that Mike’s name was not last anymore, and I silently wondered if they got in a fight over the order of the names. I giggled at the thought.

Before I replied, though, I called my mom.

“Is everything okay, Savannah? Are you alright?” she answered the phone in panic, and I already felt bad for worrying her. I should have just gotten up to talk to her—but then I remembered how painful it was just to adjust my position in my bed, let alone walk.

“Hey, sorry for scaring you. Everything’s fine. Uh, the guys messaged me on Facebook,” I began.

“That’s sweet, honey. What did they say?”

“Well, they started off with seeing how I was doing and all that, and then they brought up warped tour,” I said.

“Savannah, I’m still not sure that’s a good idea…”

Before she could continue, I spoke again. “No, mom, listen. They said, and I quote: ‘Tell your mom not to worry, we will look after you between sets and before rehearsals’,” I told her.

The other end was silent for a moment, so I continued. “They’ll take care of me, mom. It’ll be okay!” I said in a half-pleading tone.

“I don’t know if I feel comfortable with four men watching over you,” she said. I rolled my eyes.

“Mom, I’m not trying to be a brat, but, one, they are not creepy old men like you make them out to be. They literally are only a few years older than me,” I said. I blushed, realizing how creepy it was of me to know all of their birthdates—I knew Jaime and Tony were twenty-two, while Mike was twenty-four, and Vic was twenty-five. “And, two,” I started again before she could object, “I thought you liked them!” I exclaimed, but it came out as more of a question as the pitch of my voice rose towards the end.

“Okay, okay, you’re right, they are young,” she started, and I was shocked—I was never right! “And I did like them, you’re right about that, too. I especially thought Nick was sweet, and that Hi-Me one was adorable,” she gushed, and I face palmed.

“Er, mom, his name is Vic, but it doesn’t matter,” I said quickly with a laugh to let her know that it was okay—the last thing I wanted was to make my mom feel stupid.

“Oh, my bad! But, yeah, that Jaime one was so adorable. Did you see his dimples?” she gushed again, as I face palmed again.

“Mom!” I laughed.

“Sorry, sweets. Okay, I feel much better about this, now. You deserve this anyway, I’m sure it will be loads of fun. We’ll talk later. Go back to sleep,” she said, and I smiled from ear to ear.

“Yay! ‘Night mom, love you!” I said excitedly as I hung up the phone.

I smiled at my successful phone call, and then I fearlessly wrote a reply to the Facebook message.


My mom feels much better now, so that's good. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys live for real this time!
And, to Jaime: Jeffery is fabulous. I love him. :)
I know you said to stop thanking you guys, and I hope I don't annoy you with my excessive thankfulness, but I can't help it! It means the world to me, so thank you for brightening my day... well, and my summer, too!
Sincerely,
Savannah

I read it over a few times, making sure that it was okay. I didn’t want to say: ‘Thanks for turning my nightmare into a dream’, even though that was essentially what they did, but I didn’t want to sound so… I don’t know. That’s why I instead commented on how they brightened my summer, leaving out the fact that this probably brightened up my life, too. I just didn’t want to sound so… so… pitiful. But I was also incredibly grateful, and I think they knew that.

I dropped my phone on to my bed, wanting to stay up and see if they reply, but I was physically unable to. My eyes felt like they weighed a ton, and I could no longer keep them open. I snuggled up with Jeffery the Unicorn, falling asleep almost immediately.

~~

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Savannah,” I opened my eyes with a start, short gasps escaping through my semi chapped lips. I couldn’t remember why I was shaking and crying, nor could I remember why everything was so damn foggy… but I think I could thank the painkillers for that.

“Mom?” I asked, my voice a croak. I looked around my room as my vision cleared up. I noticed that my blinds were open, allowing weak rays of sunlight seep into my room—it must have been early in the morning.

“I’m right here, sweetheart,” she said softly, and I felt her comforting hands brush back the fallen hair off of my forehead.

“What's wrong?” I asked quietly, my mind still a little bit confused.

“You must have had a nightmare, baby,” she said sadly, resting her hand on my cheek.

“Oh,” I said, the word barely a cracked whisper. Oh, I repeated in my head as my mind cleared up and my nightmare flooded into my brain.

I opened my eyes and gasped, seeing that the world—everything I was accustomed to—was upside down. The gravel, which flickered in an odd way as if something reflective layered on top of it, was misplaced in the sky. The place where clouds normally would be was filled with grey structures, like buildings. The doors were on the tops of these buildings and the windows were on the bottom. Everything was reversed, and I didn't understand why.

As I studied the scene before my eyes, something else caught my attention. My head: it felt like it weighed a million tons. It felt like everything down to the last cell was forcing itself into my mind. The pressure in my head was almost unbearable, and I was sure that my face was a deep shade of purple because of this.

I took a breath, hoping that the breath would calm me down and hopefully relieve some pressure in my head, but I cried in agony as the breath I took sent sharp pains down my sides, as if someone was slicing me from the inside out.

I decided that it would be best to breath shallowly through my nose, and I also found that in order to avoid that sharp feeling, I had to stay very still. So that was what I did; I tried my hardest not to move, but the longer I stayed still the more I was aware of.

And, shit, was I aware of a lot of things. Something strapped against my chest made it even harder for my lungs to inflate. It was tightly bound against me, and the edges of it dug into my neck, just below my left jaw. This strap was hurting me, but it was oddly helping me, too—it was almost as if it was keeping me in place, wherever this place was...

My arms hung wildly around me, as if they weren’t a part of my body at all. My right one extended out, my wrist pointing up (or down—I was unsure as to what my bearings were) and my elbow locked. My left arm draped loosely across my stomach, like a stray piece of hair or a perfectly cooked piece of spaghetti. It almost didn’t look like an arm, at all, let alone an arm that could actually function.

Next, I noticed my legs: my right one was bent at an almost ninety degree angle, indicating that I was sitting down. After a moment’s reflection, I realized that I was, in fact, sitting down, but it felt unnaturally and definitely uncomfortable… as if I was upside down or something… My left leg was bent, too, but at a smaller angle and my knee was jerked up and in contact with a smooth, rounded surface…

Comprehension hit me suddenly like a train. The strap that was still constricting my chest was a seat belt! And the object my left knee was pressing up against was a wheel! I shook my head in confusion, immediately regretting doing so as the pressure increased, and I forgot why I had shaken my head in the first place. All I knew was that my head was surely going to explode with all of this pressure. The pressure was so intense; it felt like my blood was rushing into my brain, like it would if I were upside down for an extended period of time.

That was when I came to the understanding that I was upside down. My body dangled upside down, the wheel and the seatbelt being the only things keeping me from crashing down into the roof of the car. This explained the head rush, the way my knee pressed against the wheel, the way my chest tightened against the belt, the way the sitting position felt so unnatural…

I was in a car, and I was upside down.

Now, the question was, why?

Just as I thought this, I heard a terrible screeching noise. It rung in my ears, like a white noise. All of a sudden, everything became loud. More screeching, a hissing sound, a few screams, screams that I eventually found out were my own…

And then I heard the sound of sirens in the distance, and as each second passed the sound got louder and louder until they were at a consistent volume, indicating that they had stopped, and they were here.

But I didn’t think I could be helped—I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t think. The only thing I knew was that I had been in a car crash, and panic rose in my chest as I realized that I probably was going to die.

Fresh tears streamed down my face as I thought about my nightmare—an extreme recollection of the way I felt after the drunk driver collided with my side… I felt the pain in reality once, and now I had to relive it in my nightmares.

“Y-yes,” I stuttered. “A n-nightmare,” I nodded, telling my mom that she was right.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” she cooed again, continuing to brush my hair back.

“N-no,” I said, carefully shaking my head—the pressure was thankfully gone. “It’s n-not,” I cried. The memory was so fresh in my mind, I could almost feel the pain still.

“It is, Savannah,” she said sweetly. “It’s all in the past, and you’re okay now, which is what matters,” she reminded me. I nodded; she was right. The crash was stuck in my head and would continue to haunt me, but there was nothing I could do about it except move on.

I took a few calming breaths, relieved to find that they weren’t painful, and I nodded. “I’m okay,” I said quietly.

“If you need anything, call me,” she said, kissing my forehead. She gave me a concerned glance before exiting my room again. I forced myself to sit up in my bed, and I reached for my phone. I saw that it had fallen out of my hands during my nightmare, but it was within reach.

Or, so I thought. I miscalculated the distance my phone had fallen and how far away from the edge of the bed I actually was, so when I leaned over to scoop it from the floor, I fell off of my bed with a horrible thud. I yelped quietly in pain, not wanting to give my mom another reason to check on me. I wasn’t too hurt, though, only irritated with myself. I picked up my phone and slowly sat back down on my bed, my bones creaking as I did so.

I unlocked it, checking for messages that weren’t there. I was surprised to feel a pang of disappointment strike through me when I saw that I had no Facebook messages, but then I realized that it was only seven-twenty-three in the morning, and they probably were sleeping. Besides, they had no reason to respond to my message anyway.

I decided that I was too awake now to fall asleep, thanks to my nightmare, my fall, and my thoughts, so I decided to venture my way downstairs. To be honest, I was kind of getting sick of my room.

“Hey, sweets,” my mom greeted me barely—she was on the phone with someone.

“Hi,” I said quietly.

“Yes, okay, one second Carla,” my mom spoke into the phone and then she turned to me. “Hey Savannah, I’m on the phone with Casey’s mom. Can she come over? She’s worried about you,” she asked. I nodded positively, kind of glad that she brought that up. Casey has always been my best friend, and I was looking forward to seeing her.

She was supposed to go to the concert with me, but something came up. I was glad she didn’t, though, or else she would be like me right now. I shuddered at the thought.

“Look at what the cat dragged in!” I grinned and stuck my tongue out at Casey who had already made her way into my house. She immediately engulfed me into a big hug.

“Hey, baby,” she said softly, and I could hear a certain crack in her voice that revealed that she was crying.

“Casey!” I pulled away and pouted. “Don’t cry,” I said, hugging her again.

“I’m sorry! I just was so worried… and I was supposed to be with you! It’s all my—”

“Enough of that, buddy. I’m okay now, okay? You have nothing to worry about,” I promised. She nodded. “Thanks for coming over,” I said.

“Oh, honey, I was on my way before you even asked me to!” she said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes.

“Typical Casey, always showing up to places uninvited,” I joked. “Come on, I have loads to tell you,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up the stairs to my room.

“Hi, Mrs. West!” she called, waving to my mom with her free arm before we disappeared up the stairs.

“So,” Casey grinned at me, sitting crossed legged on my bed next to me. “I heard you had a special visitor,” she said, scrunching her face in excitement.

“Yeah, I did,” I said, blushing for some reason.

“Is it bad that I’m jealous of you right now?” she asked, laughing.

“Yes it is,” I said.

“But you got to meet them! That’s so cool! And look at all these stuffed animals!” she gushed, burying her face into a stuffed penguin—I was already holding Jeffrey the Unicorn in my lap.

“This is Jeffrey,” I said with a grin, hugging the plush pet tighter.

“Aw,” she cooed, giving him a friendly pat on the head.

“You don’t have to be jealous, y’know,” I said with a light shrug of my shoulders.

“Huh?” she asked, clearly confused.

“You’re meeting them, too, and you don’t have to be in an insurmountable amount of pain while you do,” I said nonchalantly, not allowing a grin to form on my lips.

“Wait, what?” she asked, not getting it.

“At Warped Tour. You’ll meet them there!” I said. The corners of my mouth started to twitch slightly—she still didn’t get it.

“Wha…? I’m not… Wait a second… What?” she blabbered.

I smirked. “Warped Tour. Pomona. You and me. All access passes,” I said. Her jaw nearly hit the floor.

“What? How? What?” she asked, looking like she was trying to avoid bouncing around in excitement.

“To make up for me missing the concert, they gave me two tickets and all access passes,” I explained, finally breaking out into a wide smile.

“Oh my God! And you’re taking me?! I love you!” she practically yelled.

“Of course I’m taking you, silly!” I rolled my eyes. “Who else would I take?” I added rhetorically with a grimace. “And I love you, too,” I said, giving her a hug before she could respond to my prior question.

“Wow,” she said, sitting there in astonishment. In her excitement, her maroon colored hair had swept around her face messily, her bangs sticking up in ridiculous ways.

“Fix your hair, goof ball,” I chuckled. She laughed and rolled her eyes, smoothing her hair back down.

“So, Savannah,” she started, a mischievous grin stretching across her face.

“So, Casey,” I reciprocated.

“We are going to Warped Tour to see our favorite band live,” she said seriously.

“Yes, I know,” I responded.

“I’m trying really hard not to freak the fuck out right now, in all honesty,” she said, sighing.

“Freak the fuck out all you want right now; get it out of your system before you meet them, please,” I said, not wanting her to completely lose all sense when she meets the guys.

She smiled widely and hoped off of my bed, turning on my stereo and blasting A Flair For The Dramatic. She danced around aggressively, and I watched, laughing hysterically.

I was so glad to have my best friend here with me; my day started out crappy, but Casey sure knew how to turn my moods around, and I loved her for that.

Notes

Hey yo it's Claire here
yay for collaborating with Scar... I don't know how I put up with her ;)

just kidding buddy <3

off to you my friend!