Learn to Fly

by Heidi Hutchinson

  Carl texted Luke and Mike to join them and he pulled Sway and Harrison from their bunks, literally. He was obviously still mad at them. They all gathered around the food silently. Carl let them eat for awhile before he spoke.

  “Last night was stupid.” His voice was calm but serious. “The only thing that saved your asses from a full blown media evisceration was this girl, right here, going all Chuck Norris on that idiot.” He pointed at Lenny and the guys snickered quietly. “We’ve got a few more months before we can call it a day, you know what I mean?” They all nodded.

  The air was quiet and Lenny was again struck with compassion for the guys. While she was mad that they lied to her and Blake had come dangerously close to alcohol poisoning, she understood how badly they needed to expel some energy. They were rock stars after all.

  “Thanks, Len.” Blake gestured with his food and then looked down at the table.

  “Don’t think you’re off the hook with me,” Lenny was stern, “I’m still angry with you.” She sighed, “but I get it, more than you know.”

  Mike’s brow furrowed at her slight confession and he exchanged a look with Luke who shrugged. Lenny didn't feel the need to explain herself. The time for that would come later.

  “Next time you feel the need to prove your manhood, come and see me first. I have some alternatives that might interest you.” She slid out of the booth and started for the door.

  “Where you goin?” Sway asked.

  “I smell like a bar floor, I have to shower. You guys need to get your act together. Just because last night was rough doesn’t mean you can slack off at your show.” She almost cringed at how much she sounded like her father.

  ***

  Lenny left the bus and Blake swallowed another sandwich nearly whole and wiped his lips. “That chick is a genius; this food is a miracle cure.” He belched loudly.

  “She’s a lot stronger than she looks.” Sway said, tearing into a sandwich himself.

  “I’ve never seen anyone so pissed,” Harrison agreed.

  “I wonder what she did before joining us,” Sway mused.

  “Probably UFC,” Harrison said, half-serious.

  “Regardless, this should be a good lesson for all of you,” Carl interrupted gruffly. “Don’t cross her. She will mess you up.” They all nodded solemnly and he added, “She was mad when we got there but she didn’t ‘Hulk-Out’ till she heard that asshat talking shit to Blake. You all know Lenny to be level-headed and focused. Turns out, her line is you.” Carl let his words settle over them before he excused himself.

  The guys chewed quietly for a few minutes, thinking about what Carl had just said.

  Blake cleared his throat, “Um, Luke?” He said hesitantly.

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “I don’t remember a lot from last night…but I’m pretty sure I told your girlfriend to kiss me.”

  Light laughter erupted around the table. Luke rolled his eyes. “She’s not my girl.”

  “Not yet.” Mike replied quickly, causing more laughter.

  “Let’s just drop that whole train of thought right now, okay?” Luke was trying to look as serious as possible but the side of his mouth kept turning up. “Lenny is off limits to all of us, remember?”

  “Why ya smiling?” Harrison ribbed.

  “Go to hell.” Luke picked up his coffee and left his band mates laughing behind him. He went outside and stood in the warm sunshine, trying to push their comments out of his mind. He knew they were right; he couldn’t stay away from Lenny. He just didn’t want them to talk about it so much.

  He saw Lenny exit the crew bus, her bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around, taking inventory of her surroundings, having negligible eye contact with Luke, and headed to the backstage area. Luke barely hesitated, jogging to catch up with her.

  “Hey,” he said falling in step beside her. She flashed a quick smile but kept moving, clearly on business.

  “Scouting for a shower?” He anticipated her destination.

  “I can usually sneak into one.” She grinned at him and he fought back the urge to hug her.

  “You can use our shower.” He volunteered, already knowing what she would say.

  “That would be a bad idea,” she replied, “Besides, I like the adventure of finding one. I feel like I earned my shower that way.”

  “I just wanted to say thanks for all you did last night for Blake. I know it couldn’t have been fun watching over him all night.” Luke's words came out hurried and nervous.

  “It's not like I was going to sleep anyway.” She held up her coffee, “Thank God for caffeine, am I right?”

  Luke shoved his hands in his pocket, trying to figure out how to ask why she had blamed herself for Blake’s actions last night. And why she had gone to such great lengths to protect him.

  “I know it wasn’t my fault that Blake acted like a colossal moron last night,” Lenny said as if reading Luke’s thoughts. “I just know that if I woulda been there, it wouldn’t have happened.”

  They rounded a corner and Lenny stopped to face Luke. They had just enough privacy so that no one could hear them but not enough for anyone to think something else was going on between them.

  “What about the Street Fighter routine, where’d that come from?” Luke was genuinely curious. He saw the video on the news this morning and couldn’t help but wonder at this mysterious woman who had worked her way into their daily lives.

  “I told you I have three older brothers, right?” Luke nodded. “Nathan is a MMA instructor and he thought I should have a basic knowledge for self-defense. I just let my temper get the better of me last night.” Lenny shook her head with embarrassment. “I guess you were right, I’m part of the family now. I couldn’t stand to hear someone ridicule one of my brothers. I wanted to take him out.”

  Luke chuckled, wishing he could have been there to see it in person.

  “Now, I have to go find a shower and get this...ick off of me.” Lenny made a face as she glanced down at her messy clothes. She pointed her coffee at him, “Don't follow me, we can't have people talking.”

  Luke nodded and she gave him a half smile and turned down a darkened hallway. He watched her until she was completely out of sight. He knew she was right, but that didn't stop him from wanting to be around her all the time. She was completely amazing. And a little dangerous. And he couldn’t get enough.

  Chapter 5

  Falling

  Lenny took up her usual post in the sound booth with Greg, the sound engineer. Her inability to do any laundry the last couple of weeks had left her with a ratty pair of jeans and a vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt she had stolen from her brother, Scott, years ago. Her long blonde hair was in a loose mess around her shoulders due to Luke's 'request' that she not wear the braid anymore. She hated to admit it, but her headaches had gotten substantially better.

  She found herself on her feet, swaying her hips to the music and singing along with every song. This band, their music, had always pulled deeply at her soul. She found it difficult to keep up the depiction of stoic observation, like a good employee should, when they took the stage. She could get lost in the words, the beat, the melody... Something about Luke Casey's velvety voice had an energizing yet calming effect on her. It filled her senses like the fresh pine blowing through the trees back home...

  After the accident, she had found little to no comfort in those around her. But Double Blind Study on her play-list made her feel like she wasn't alone. Someone out there understood what she was going through. Her friends only added to the pain she was going through and DBS became her safe place. And now, here she was, on tour with them, eating with them, watching over them, taking care of them. They would never know how much they had taken care of her over the past two years. When she went into that interview weeks ago she never dreamed that she would end up here.

  The crowd was insane. Bodies jumping up and down and slam dancing without stop. Crowd surfers kept popping up and making their way from one side o
f the pit to the other. The band played three encore songs and the fans went wild. Lenny smiled with satisfaction, knowing that last night’s incident had just drawn a larger crowd.

  The band had a small meet and greet after the show before they could get on the road. They had limited the amount of after-show events because of time restrictions so this was a rare occurrence. Less than ten people, a few radio winners and some friends of Carl's that had driven nearly ten hours from Hartford.

  Lenny's eyes kept being drawn back to the threesome that had arrived with Carl's backstage passes. The tall, dark-haired girl was lively and friendly, dragging the shorter brunette girl with her in happy exuberance. The short girl seemed...detached. She looked uncomfortable and politely irritated by her surroundings. Like she had something far more important on her mind. The lone guy in the trio chain smoked almost as much as Carl.

  Lenny saw Sway zero in on Tall Girl and she made her way that direction to intercept. Sway had barely said a word and the girl's happy face changed to annoyed in a second. Lenny quickened her pace. Sway was going to get slapped one of these days. Why did he think he could hit on anyone?

  “You're feisty, I like it.” Sway's lip curled up and Lenny saw Tall Girl take on a more combative stance.

  “Hi, I'm Lenny.” Lenny stepped in between them and stuck out her hand. “You must be Carl's friends from Hartford.” Tall Girl shook her hand and turned her glare into a more pleasant expression again.

  “I'm E,” she introduced herself. “I only met Carl today,” she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at the guy looking too cool for school. “David got the tickets.”

  “Lenny, I was having a conversation.” Sway leaned over her shoulder and gave her a scolding look. E's glare returned and Lenny's smile widened to an uncomfortable degree of fakery that hurt her cheeks.

  “Let's get you guys a drink.” She turned E and her friends towards the refreshments table. When they had taken a few steps she turned and grabbed Sway with two fistfuls of his shirt.

  “She's going to kill you, Sway,” Lenny warned in all seriousness, “You have to back off.”

  “Take it easy,” Sway's grin was adorably naïve. He really thought he could get anyone. He brushed off Lenny's grip and headed after E again. Lenny wanted to stop him but she also kind of wanted to see what was going to happen.

  As the evening progressed and things began to wrap up, Lenny was amazed at E's restraint. She would have clocked him by now.

  Lenny found out that E was a personal trainer and they exchanged different tips and techniques. Sway's jealousy was apparent. E spoke to Lenny more than him and he started to get huffy. When they were getting ready to leave, E gave her number to Lenny to keep in contact. Lenny was excited; she didn't have many friends who she could talk with about fitness anymore.

  “Gimme her number, Lenny.” Sway begged like a toddler after they had returned to the bus.

  “No, Sway. If she wanted you to have it, she would have given it to you.” Lenny staunchly refused.

  “Please, Lenny!” Sway dropped to the floor of the bus in a pleading posture, “I have to talk to her again.”

  “Why this girl, Sway?” Lenny raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn't even talk to the two slutties drooling all over you. I almost had to hose them down. What made this girl so important to you?”

  Sway pulled himself up off the floor and threw his body into a chair. “You wouldn't get it,” he grumbled.

  Lenny crossed her arms and waited. He ran his hands through his long hair a few times and sighed heavily.

  “I met her in Spain awhile back. She turned me down then too.”

  “She didn't mention that,” Lenny said thoughtfully.

  “She's the only girl to turn me down,” he looked over at Lenny and rolled his eyes, “besides you.”

  “So, you just want what you can't have?” Lenny was disgusted.

  “No, she's...aww forget it.” Sway waived his hand at her dismissively, “I'm going to get some sleep.” He trudged towards the back of the bus.

  “What was that about?” Harrison asked as he handed Lenny a water bottle and sat down on the floor.

  “I'm not totally sure,” Lenny frowned down at her water.

  “You wanna kill some zombies with me?” Harrison asked hopefully. It didn't matter how late a show went or long they'd all been awake, Harrison loved to play video games.

  “Might as well.” Lenny smiled and tousled his hair as she sank to the floor beside him.

  ***

  The label had heard that Travis Cline had tried to pick a fight with a girl at a bar in Virginia Beach and pulled Juniper Highlights off the tour the next morning. They didn’t have enough clout for the company to take that kind of a risk. Lenny was pleased, it served them right. But that meant Double Blind Study didn’t have an opener. Harrison suggested they use local bands at every venue, giving new talent a platform. It was an instant hit, increasing the band’s reputation for staying true to their humble beginnings.

  Additional things had changed since that night. The dynamic had shifted between Lenny and Carl. She was going to have to get a lot closer to the guys to prevent what had happened in Virginia. That meant distancing herself from Carl a little more and staying nights on the band's respective buses.

  He appeared to understand her point of view and respected it. He had asked her to walk a fine line and he seemed satisfied with how the situation was evolving. He gave the guys a little more space, and only really saw Lenny when she brought him coffee in the mornings.

  They were coming up on another day off and the anticipation was palpable. The crew was looking forward to blowing off some steam, but the band wasn’t sure what they were going to do yet. Blake’s foray into bar-top stripper had made them a little more wary of letting loose.

  “Maybe we should just practice,” Mike suggested from his seat in the corner.

  They were all riding in the Red Bus as the convoy traveled to their next venue. Lenny had been surprised at how much time they actually spent together. It was a lot. She had always assumed that bands got on each other's nerves and needed their space. Or maybe that was just girls in high school.

  “That’s a pretty good idea, actually,” Luke concurred with his friend.

  Sway and Blake groaned in unison. Harrison had no response except the occasional grunt as he decapitated a zombie.

  “I hate this game,” Lenny said under her breath from beside him.

  “Lenny, you said you had ideas for how we could demonstrate our manhood,” Blake stated flatly. The guys chuckled and Lenny turned a wary eye over her shoulder.

  “Yeah…” she said noncommittally.

  “What can we do tomorrow to be men?” Blake folded his hands in his lap.

  Lenny smiled at his phrasing and bit her lip. “I’m glad you asked, actually. I already set something up for us tomorrow.” She turned around as her avatar died and Harrison let out a whimper.

  “All of us?” Blake asked, one black eyebrow raised.

  “Yep. Should be fun. And dangerous enough to keep you out of trouble.” Lenny stood up and stretched her cramped legs. Harrison needed a new hobby, this was going to wreck her knees.

  The guys tried to persuade her to reveal her idea but she remained tight lipped.

  “I’ve already cleared it with Carl-”

  “You clear everything with Carl,” Sway grumbled. “That guy is sooo boring.”

  “He’s not that bad,” Lenny defended, “He has a job to do and I respect that, you should too.” She chuckled as Sway rolled his eyes at her. “You know, you guys aren’t always puppy dogs and ice cream either.”

  “I’m actually hurt that you would say that,” Mike remarked as she plopped down on the sofa next to him and he threw an arm across her shoulders. “I strive to always act as puppy-like as possible.”

  She laughed and shoved his leg. “Ha ha ha,” she said sarcastically but her smile was genuine.

  “C’mon, just tell us what the big pla
n is.” Harrison’s eyes were round and dark with pretend innocence. His mother must’ve had a hard time trying to keep him honest, Lenny thought with amusement.

  “Nope, you’ll just have to trust me.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch, signaling the argument was over.

  The guys grumbled a little while more, a common occurrence as they started to wind down from their performance. It wasn't too much longer and they crawled into their bunks one by one until only Luke and Lenny were still awake. They continued to visit quietly but Lenny was very aware of the shift in mood after everyone had gone to bed. It had predictably become more...intimate.

  He could make her palms sweat with a look. Not to mention the fact that whenever they were alone her body suddenly wanted to fall asleep. It was like it knew that Luke had dark powers that could cause her body to relax and finally rest for unspecified amounts of time. It wanted to curl up against him and lose all connection to reality.

  She hated her body. Traitor.

  “You should probably get some sleep, too,” she reminded Luke. His face fell slightly at her sudden subject change and she wished things didn't have to be so complex between them.

  “What about you?” He asked with uncertainty.

  “What do you mean?” Lenny felt her heart rate quicken. Stop it! Calm down! She scolded it internally.

  “You don't sleep much...do you?” Luke's gentle confrontation left her without an explanation. She could lie to anyone. Her parents, her brothers, her friends. But not him. It was way too hard and required too much cognitive function, which she was somehow lacking in his presence.

  “Not quite,” she finally muttered.

  “Why not?”

  It was a simple question. Lenny wished she had a simple answer. What could she really say? Sure, they had gotten closer during their morning runs every day and Lenny considered him a friend. He told her anything and everything about himself, becoming transparent and real. But there was still so much he didn't know about her. She could change that. She could answer his question honestly and open up to him. It was only fair.