Novocaine Hearts

Lexa's POV

Okay, so our post show introduction with Black Veil Brides was a bust, but I wasn't going to let in bring my band down.
While myself and Nate were back at the bus, we showered and changed into clean clothes.
"How are we meant to wash our clothes on tour?" I questioned.
"I don't think you do. I'm pretty sure they hang them outside to air them out..."
"Eww!"
"Pretty much, I'm sure we can wash stuff on our off days. Depending on where we are."
"Well that's gonna suck. Okay, umm, I wanna go get some food. Are you gonna wait for PJ and Sax?"
"Yeah, I'll wait for them. Oh and please don't make us more enemies, that would be great" Nate said sarcastically.
"I said I'm sorry! I know BVB are your idols, but face it, they are douchebags" I shrugged.
"I'm gonna ignore you now. Go get food" he laughed.
I shook my head as I exited the bus and made my way over to catering.
I figured there wouldn't be many people here at this time. A lot of the artists would be doing interviews for press or warming up for their set tonight. But as I entered the line, there were more people than I thought.
I sighed at the thought of not being able to get a table to myself.
Catering served a lot of different food to feed everyone's needs, but all I wanted was chips and gravy.
I held my plate and scanned the area for a semi-empty table.
My eyes laid on a table that only held one guest and she was frantically writing in a note book, while grazing on a plateful of salad.
I weaved my way over to her table so I could introduce myself.
She didn't look up to my approach.
"Uhh, hi" I murmured.
"One sec" she said holding up a finger, but still looking down.
As I waited patiently, I couldn't help but examine all her tattoos. She very feminine letter work on the fingers of her right hand. Her left hand was mix of different things. Her arms were blotted with different pieces, but all tied in beautifully.
She eventually looked up at me with her big green eyes.
"Sorry, hi, I'm Riley" she said extending her hand.
"All good. I'm Lexa. Do you mind if I sit?"
"No, no, go ahead. Here I am taking up a whole table with my shit" she said collecting her papers.
"What are you working on?" I asked politely.
"Oh, umm, bits and pieces. I recently got signed to a small record label and my EP just got released, so now they wanna know when an album will be ready" she huffed.
"Oh fun. My band actually got signed recently too. Our album just came out, so this is our, I suppose, first proper tour" I smiled.
"Nice. So what band are you in?"
"Novocaine Hearts. I'm a guitarist, can't sing for shit" I joked.
"Awesome. I was meaning to come by your set, but I must have lost track of time" she said shaking her head.
"What time did you play?"
"Oh, I was really early. I was at like... 12? it can be a real rise and fall in this industrie" she said running her hands over her hair.
"Why?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, last year I was on this tour as a guest. Mainly sung with Pierce The Veil, but this year, I'm on my own, which leaves me in the lower ranking."
"So what? That shouldn't matter. So many people would kill to play Warped! It's all about exposure. And I'm sure people love you, I mean you are gorgeous!"
Riley chuckled. "Being gorgeous only works if you're a guy. Remember who the aimed fanbase is? Being a girl here, you have to have talent. I'm trying to find mine..."
"I'm sure you're just as talented. This year has the most female artists ever! That's gotta be worth something?"
"Oh for sure! Fucking Amy Lee of Evanescence! Hayley Williams, Jenna McDougall, Ashley Costello, Juliet Simms, Lynn Gunn, Taylor Jardine, you and myself. It's a big list. I heard Alternative Press wants to do an article about it."
"That would be so awesome!"
"I think they'll organise interviews soon. So get your story ready."
"Oh no... My story is not kid friendly... No one needs to know the shit I went through" I stressed.
"Sweetie look around. Every person here is damaged goods. Everyone has a story or a deep secret. It's the reason we do what we do."
"What's your story then?" I asked.
Riley shrugged. "I had a rough family life so I moved away. It made things good and bad, but I came out of it alive" she explained giving me a small smile.
"What... that's it? Bad family life?" I said underwhelmed.
"Well I barely know you so I'm not gonna go into every fucking detail, but since you really wanna know, I'll give you 2 other key points as to why is was a 'bad family life'. My mother was murdered when I was 12, then my father killed himself when I was 20, so I'm sorry if my story didn't match your expectation" she spat. Anger written all over her face.
I didn't quite know what to say, so I looked down at my food and ate.
I was relieved when I saw someone nearing our table.
"Hey Riles, are you gonna come watch the show?" A man's voice said.
"Yeah, I'm ready to leave here anyways" as she spoke I could feel her eyes boring into me.
"Who's this?" He asked.
I looked up and tried to not be awkward, but when I looked up I cringed. It was Ashley Purdy staring back at me.
"Hey, I remember you. I was watching your set. You're Lexa, you ca-"
"Yes, I'm Lexa, thank yo-"
"You called me a manwhore" he said interrupting me.
"What?!" Riley said glaring at me.
"I'm really sorry about that! I was mad and it just slipped out!" I said in a rush of words.
"Do some research next time" Ashley said bluntly. "For future reference, this is my wife, Riley" he said placing an arm around her.
Riley smirked. "You're really not off to a great start. I suggest you don't make anymore mistakes, otherwise there will one less girl on this tour" she said getting up from her seat.
"Riley, no need to use threats. Just go, I'll meet you at the stage" he said pushing her away.
Once Riley was out of earshot Ashley sat in her place and gazed at me.
"Look. I can forgive and forget what happened earlier and so can Jake. He's just giving you constructing criticism, it's what he does. Everyone here does it and you just gotta take it. I'm happy for a clean slate with your band and mine, but I can't promise anything with Riley. So good luck."
Ashley then stalked out of catering and Nate entered not long after.
"What's been happening?" He asked casually.
"I think I can fix things with BVB."

Notes

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-Tina xx