I woke up in the morning in New York City. The last five nights there were shows, each in a different city, and finally we had a break from the road and were able to spend at least a night or two in a hotel before we continued on the road. Of course Lex was still sound asleep and taking up more than half the bed. From my spot lying on my side, I looked at him as he was lying on his back wearing his black and white checkered boxers. He had his black socks on from the night before with his right hand draped over his chest, and his other arm dangling over the edge of the bed. He made a small grunting noise and he shifted in his sleep which called my attention to his face, and his hair. Actually, I noticed his lack of hair. A shiny bald head had replaced his hideous Mohawk. I usually wasn’t a fan of bald men, but I smiled because it was better than his limp Mohawk. With my right hand I reached over and rubbed his bald head. Still sleeping he swatted my hand away and rolled over onto his side facing the opposite wall.

There was no concert scheduled for that night, instead Hanson had an appearance on TRL. The Love of Belladonna had the entire day off and I had a feeling Lex would spend his day catching up on sleep. It seemed like lately that was all Lex ever did in his spare time.

I rolled onto my back and extended all of my limbs. I stretched my entire body as I yawned and then I sat up in bed. I looked over to Annie and Topher’s bed to see Topher sleeping by himself. At this point I heard the shower turn off. A few moments later Annie came walking out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel with her red hair wrapped up but sticking out a little bit of another white towel.

“Hey, Jovie, it’s not often I beat you out of bed,” She was looking through her bag, for something to wear before she looked back at me. “You know what? Since the guys are going to sleep all day I say we do something fun today. Just me and you.”

“And what do you have in mind Miss Annaliese?” I asked placing my feet on the floor then standing up to stretch again.

Annie smiled a devious smile and tossed me a black bikini. “Oh, I dunno, have a glamour?”

“A glamour day?” I questioned, “and how do we do that?”

“First we can walk around the city. Maybe see what Fashion Avenue has to offer. Once we’ve seen everything we can lay out by the pool, or if we really want to cause a stir we can lay out on top of the van in our bathing suits and drink green tea from martini glasses.” She explained. “Duh.”

“On top of the van?” I questioned raising my eyebrows.

“Or Hanson’s tour bus- if Taylor doesn’t have a hissy fit or anything.”

“They’ll be at the MTV studio today; they’ll never have to know,” I said with a devilish grin before I rushed into the bathroom and slipped into the bikini then called for Annie to help me with my hair and make-up, after all she’s the one fascinated with pinup girls. After a little while Annie had transformed me into a pin-up girl. She teased the front of my hair then pulled it back to form a bouffant, then proceeded to pull the rest of my hair into a high pony tail and curled the ends out for a little extra bounce. She applied bright red lipstick and drastic black eyeliner, and instantly I was transformed into a glamorous 50’s girl.

“Do you know what time they were leaving for the studio?” I asked Annie as I pulled on a pair of jeans over my bathing suit.

“I have no idea, probably pretty soon though,” she replied buttoning her jeans. Once we were dressed we stepped out into the hall and started walking toward the elevator when we were spotted by Zac , who just leaving his hotel room holding Kate’s purse.

“My, My look what we have here,” he stated obviously noticing the make-up Annie and I were wearing. It was quite different than my usual roll out of bed and splash water on my face look.

“Look at you,” said Annie nodding at the purse in his hands.

Zac smiled and explained “We made it all the way to the taxi before Kate realized she forgot her purse. Of course, it’s my job to run back up and get it.”

“Of course,” I nodded as we walked toward the elevator. The doors opened and the three of us stepped in.

“Going down?” Zac asked while he smiled.

“Where else would I be going?” I asked trying to act serious. I couldn’t keep a straight face, instead I broke out into a smile.

“Did I miss something?” Annie asked before pushing the Lobby button. I shook my head and then turned to Zac who was leaning with his ankles crossed up against the back wall of the elevator. His arms were crossed over his chest while he held Kate’s purse.

“So how long are you gunna be gone today?” I asked Zac.

“Well, we should have left like ten minutes ago and we should be back by five-thirty or six, because Natalie and Taylor have dinner reservations tonight for 7. Then I get to watch Ez and Ellie.”

When the elevator doors opened Annie stepped out followed by me then Zac. We walked out toward the crowd of girls waiting out front. Isaac and Kate were waiting by the car on the street.

“Hey girls, don’t you look nice today.” Isaac said as Annie and I approached them.

“Aren’t you a charmer?” Annie asked smiling.

“Yeah,” Kate said as Zac handed her her purse “what’s the occasion?”

“Just girls’ day in the city’” replied Annie with a small smile.

After Zac, Kate and Isaac left Annie and I flagged down a cab. We spent a good amount of time window shopping, because of course on tour we had no money. It was still fun to walk around the city and pretend we had the money.

After while I started to complain about my feet hurting, so Annie and I grabbed another cab and headed back to the hotel. After skillfully climbing to the top of the bus we unrolled out towels and took off our jeans and tank tops. She handed me my plastic martini glass and poured green tea into it.

I laid down on my towel and put on my headphones. Hating every minute by the alkaline trio had just started when I spotted Lex jogging toward the bus. I paused my iPOD and removed my headphones as he climbed up the back of the bus and walked over to me.

“Good thing I like my girls slutty.” He stated, looking me up and down.

“Good thing I like my boys to be assholes.” I replied coldly. “What do you want?”

Lex shrugged and squatted down next to me. “Me and the rest of the band are gunna go see what New York has to offer. Then we’re going to go see a comedy show at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade tonight. I told Kate you were coming, so she said she wanted to come with us too. Be ready by like 6:30ish.”

“Actually I think I don’t want to go tonight.”

“Well, suit yourself Joves. It’s your loss not mine.” Lex got up and walked back to the back of the bus. He turned around and climbed back down the end but I kept staring in his direction. Lately I was getting so fed up with him. We haven’t had too much time alone lately and it seemed that everyday he was more and more of an asshole. It was all I could think about. Annie noticed me staring and asked what was wrong.

“I hate Lex.” I replied still looking to where he was standing.

“No you don’t, Jovie.”

“He just makes me so mad and I, like, can’t even stand him half the time. He’s turning into such a jerk. I mean, I love him to death, but he’s driving my freaking crazy.” Annie shrugged her shoulders and gave me a sympathetic look.

“You want me to stay in with you tonight instead of going to the show?”

“No, it’s okay. I think Kate would feel a little out of place if you didn’t go.”

“You sure?” I nodded and put my headphones back up to my ears to hear alkaline trio say everything I was thinking:

Sit down, and please make yourself comfortable. I might need some time to dance around what I need to say. I love you to death; I think I need a break. I spend my days worried out loud. I gag in my head, I choke it back down. It hurts me inside to save you inside. So Close my lips tight, move eyes to the side. This is the way we disappear. Its easy if you burn out like a star. This is the way we disappear: its easy like a fifty foot fall. I’m waiting for whatever better time to evict these words that have rented out my mind. I’m hating every minute that I don’t speak loud, like a year laying down.

Relax on this bed of nails, on this plastic sheet your blood leaves a trail right back to me. A problem you see. Would you please allow a moment to think? This is the way we disappear. Its easy if you burn out like a star. This is the way we disappear: its easy like a fifty foot fall. I’m waiting for whatever better time to evict these words that have rented out my mind. I’m hating every minute that I don’t speak loud, like a year laying down.