The Last Punch

“Cause this is a wasteland my only retreat! With heaven above you there’s hell over me! You said what about us, well what about me?
Hang from the gallows, asleep in the rain! Cause this is a wasteland, my only retreat. Paralyze me! Don’t let me jump, don’t let me fall!” The final words spilled out of Vic's mouth and the crowd went wild. “You’ve been a great crowd!” Vic yelled and the crowd continued. The guys exited the stage and gave the instruments to the techs. Of course I’m just standing at the merch table but, I’ve been with them long enough to know what they do right when the music ended and the bass faded out. Of course when everyone got out the came to the merch table so we worked frantically to get everyone the merch they were paying for. Towards the end of the line we had a few girls that wanted to meet the band.“When’s the signing?” One with ginger hair asked. She was a twig and so were her friends. “Like we really need to talk to them.” I looked at Emme and she shrugged.
“The signing was before the show.. You had to buy tickets online for it.. It’s a VIP thing.. I’m sorry..” I said looking at her. They all looked disappointed and walked away. One of the girls friends with bright blue hair rolled up her sleeve and I could see a bandage on it. I felt like shit but it’s not like I can do anything.
“That sucks man..” Emme said turning to me. All of a sudden we heard a commotion but continued to serve our merch girl purpose. I heard people yelling names then I noticed A Day To Remember was coming through and heading to their merch area. Usually all the merch was pushed together in one little area but this was a huge venue and our first stop. Eventually we would have to meet the other merch workers and stay with them for a few hours during every show. As the crowd started to dissipate we proceed to put the merch back in boxes. It took forever to put the stuff away but soon enough we got the bins piled up and waiting for the guys. I pulled out my phone to see tons of tweets that I was tagged in. I hadn’t noticed the notifications during the rush but as I looked through them it was mainly people tagging me in tweets for Tony and I to get back together. There were even a few tweets that said Mike had changed and I should take him back. I scoffed as I heard a squeal from behind me. I looked up to see Jeremy McKinnon walking towards us. All of a sudden a short, skinny woman with bubblegum pink hair ran up to him and jumped into his arms.
“Hey babe! How was work?!” Jeremy said, kissing her cheek. Emme and I watched intently as the band member gave his girl love.
“So they’re official?? Everyone said it was a load of shit!” Emme said in astonishment. I giggled and nodded.
“Who were you talking to?? I knew they were official from the start..” I laughed and Emme looked at me.
“Wait do you like know Jeremy? Like on a personal level??” She couldn’t stop staring at him and the bubblegum haired girl. I laughed and waved my hand in front of her face. She shook her head and looked at me.
“No, Mike told me.” Now Emme was fixed on me.
“Why’ve you been talking to Mike?!”
“We were just chillin', nothing big.” I brushed it off quickly and looked back to Jeremy and the girl. Jeremy pointed to us and Emme frantically waved. I slightly smiled and threw a peace sign. I giggled at Em’s effort to not look like a crazed fan. The girl and Jeremy walked over hand in hand. The band followed and so did the other merch girl.
“Hello ladies!” Jeremy said smiling.
“Good, Em here is a bit new to this. Don't mind her fangirling.” I laughed and so did everyone else, even Emme.
“No problem! So as you know this is my girlfriend, Katie.” He introduced her and she smiled.
“Hi! I’ve heard so much about you!! I truly love your modeling work!” She said blushing.
“Thanks! How’d you find out about my work?” I asked.
“How did I not sooner?! You’re amazing, I wish I could look like you and basically be you!!” She said nervously.
“Nah, you don’t, I’ve got a lot of shit. So what do you do for a living? Or do you just do merch stuff?” I asked looking around her at the guys coming to us. I slightly smiled looking at them.
“I’m an actress, but for now just merch stuff.” She laughed nervously and I nodded.
“Hey Alex! Sup Emme!” Jaime said as the guys got to us. Mike bro hugged Jeremy and Tony awkwardly stood by us. Jeremy and Mike started to have a conversation about how he has been doing since rehab. Vic and Jaime started to introduce themselves to Katie and Tony joined in. Emme and I awkwardly stood there waiting to load up the merch. While everyone talked Emme and I fiddled with the bins. I saw Tony and Mike shoot me a few looks. Tony’s in despair and Mike’s kinda flirty. When Vic saw that Mike was looking he lightly hit his arm and Mike snapped out of it. At least Vic remembers what happened… We The Kings joined us, as they continued talking the crew came over to us to arrange getting the merch back onto the truck.
No more than 30 minutes later we were all on the bus and heading for the next stop. As we were all sitting around in the front lounge my phone started to go ballistic. I noticed that it was Adrien, I quickly picked up and ran to the back lounge.
“Hey! What’s up?!” I asked him quickly.
“Just wanted to say hi, and tell you that the shop in NYC has taken off so well that Toby is now officially a SuicideGirl hired makeup artist!! That’s all, so what’s up buttercup?”
“Just really happy now about Toby! Anything else you would like me to know?” I laughed and his side of the line went silent.
“Uh..” His voice turned shaky.
“What?” I asked urgently.
“Connor..”
“Who?”
“Connor, the guy from high school..”
“What’s wrong???” I was now nervous and was demanding an answer.
“He was driving today and he got in a crash…” He said quietly.
“And?” I wanted to know more.
“He.. He, uh.— The hospital took him off of life support. He’s gone.” I was trying to say words but all that came out was tears from my eyes..
“H-he’s gone?” I asked trying to keep myself composed but when Adrien confirmed my question I could just feel myself slipping. I dropped to the ground and couldn’t help myself from sobbing. The words that were coming from the phone seemed irrelevant. I heard someone coming into the lounge but I didn’t look up.
“Alex… Are you okay?!” Jaime came to my side and started rubbing my back. I couldn’t compose myself and Tony took the phone out of my hand and started to talk to Adrien. When he heard what had happened he told Adrien he had to go and hung up. He stayed by side for what felt like forever. I wouldn’t stop crying. I must've fallen asleep or blacked out because I can’t remember anything after Jaime hanging up.

Notes

Hi guys!! I'm back and better than ever... I think... Sorry about Connor but it ties into things later. Comment, Rate, Subscribe!! <3 xoxo

"He's dead. He's gone. He's not coming back..." -ThatTrashHennessy