Three hours later, the bus had finally pulled into the band's next tour stop – Buffalo.
I pressed my face against the bus's window with excitement.
''IT'S SNOWING.'' I exclaimed, as I pointed to the white powder falling from the sky. I also noted that there was a good three inches on the ground.
Squealing excitedly, I threw on my long, black, trenchcoat, slouchy beanie, and striped scarf, and jumped off the bus into the outdoor air enthusiastically.
I twirled around in the snowy road, my head towards the sky, and my tongue intent on catching snowflakes.
Vicky-T tumbled out of the bus after me, giggling with joy.
She joined my twirling, and both our scarves swung around us, a blur of stripes and tartan.
Gabe got off the bus after Vicky, his forever-present Kid Robot cap replaced with a black beanie, and a smirk on his face.
Nate, Ryland, and Alex followed, throwing themselves at the snowy banks, snatching handfulls of snow and clumping them together to make snowballs. The trio exchanged an evil look between themselves, and began pelting Gabe with snow.
Almost immediatly – as though anticipating the attack – Gabe ran behind the bus, and returned split moments later, his own ammo in hand. He pelted his snowballs back at Nate and Alex, while Ryland had begun to throw the remainder of his snowballs at me and Vicky.
We squealed and begged for him to stop, but he wouldn't let up the attack.
Finally, when he was out of ammo and forced to restock, Vicky and I took our chance, and ran for the inside of the bus. We shut the door behind us, placing the bolt in place to lock it, and leaned against it, panting and laughing.
''You can't stay in there forever!'' Alex exclaimed, outside.
''Oh yeah?'' Vicky asked, as she leaned her head out the window.
''Yeah,'' Alex replied, as he threw a snowball straight into Vicky's face.
I broke out into loud giggles as Vicky pulled her head back into the bus. It was covered and dripping with snow.
''Shut up, Mads,'' she muttered, with a slight smirk on her face as she grabbed a towel and wiped the snow off.
After a good 10 minutes more inside the bus, we decided to surrender, and we opened the door.
''We surrender! We surrender!'' Vicky said, as she walked out of the bus, waving the white towel she had used to wipe the snow off her face above her head like a white flag.
''Good. Then we can finally go and get some hot chocolate. I'm fucking freezing!'' Nate replied, as he rubbed his bright red hands together.
Ryland and Alex nodded vigorously.
''And you're treating us, Mads, cause you locked yourself into the nicely heated bus for 10 minutes while we were out here in the cold, and we've already tortured Vicky enough this week,'' Alex added, smiling at us sweetly.
Vicky narrowed her eyes, and opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hands in surrender.
''Fine, fine. That'll make us equal, OKAY?'' I asked, looking suspiciously at the guys, as I expected them to pummel me with more snow as a surprise attack.
Nate, Alex, and Ryland muttered their okays.
Gabe, however, looked at me with a peculiar expression on his face. It was something between amusement and curiousity.
''What?'' I asked him, crossing my hands over my chest.
''Nothing. Nothing,'' he said, shaking his head, as I saw him and Vicky-T exchange yet ANOTHER secretive glance.
I narrowed my eyes as I followed Alex's lead to the nearest Starbucks.
April 2005
By the time Vicky-T had shown up in her old Volvo station wagon, I had thoroughly freaked myself out, imagining shadows and noises in the bushes, stories of rapists and murderers running through my head.
''Tell me what happened.'' she said, immediatley after i was safely inside her car.
''I – I left the party.'' I said, simply, as I wrapped my arms around myself. I was cold, after being in the outdoors for so long.
April isn't the warmest season in New York.
She turned up the heat in her car, and turned her attention back to me.
''I know you left – I saw you, remember? Don't bullshit me, Maddie. What happened? Is it Gabe?'' she asked me, her brows furrowed in concern, as her eyes concentrated on the road ahead.
At the mention of his name, I felt the tears prickling my eyelids again.
I let out a quiet sniffle, but nothing got past Vicky.
She turned towards me so quickly, the car swerved.
''Vicky! T–The road!'' I exclaimed, and she slammed on the brakes, stopping the car.
She looked at me, an intent to murder in her eyes.
''What the fuck did he do?'' she asked me, a dangerous tone to her voice.
I kept my eyes at the road ahead of us. We had stopped at an intersection a few blocks from my house.
''You might want to keep driving,'' I said quietly, as I noticed another car pull up behind us.
Vicky accelerated the car forward, her expression hard.
''Maddie, what in the fuck did he do?'' she asked me again, her knuckles gripping the steering wheel tightly.
I sighed and bit my lip, knowing that I had to tell her eventually.
''H – He proved everyone right,'' I whispered, as I pressed my nails into my palm to quell the numbness that was spreading through my body.
''He cheated,''
