Young Writers Society

Shilo

There were no words to express how much better I felt when Corey started acting more like himself. He looked at me a little strangely and told us not to call Zoe. I could've worshipped him. He frowned at my swaying form (curse you, sleepiness), got off the couch, picked me up, and dropped me in his spot.

"You-" he pointed at me- "sleep. I have to murder Sam in Guitar Hero." I mumbled something -might've been night night pretty boy- and completely crashed.

When I woke up, Ever was practically passed out, hanging off the edge of her bottom bunk, Sam and Corey were still in the midst of battle, and I.... was hungry. I half-stumbled, half-bolted to the kitchen and tore open the fridge.

"Er...Lo? You okay?" Corey called.

"FOOOOOODDD!!!!" I called back, seizing a microwavable pizza. In five minutes, I marched back in proudly, holding my meat lover's deep dish for all to behold.

It was gone in two minutes flat.

All of it.

I beamed and made that little sound of contentment cats make sometimes. Ever woke up, eyes still half lidded.

"Mmwha? Foo?" she mumbled. I laughed and got her a Hot Pocket. She nibbled on it while I challenged Sam to an epic duel. Ever and Corey watched intently; this was a battle between the two guitarists, and therefore guaranteed to be awesome.

Well, the Youth was getting back on its feet. Maybe off balance, but getting up anyway.

Corey Flint, drummer/songwriter:

The pizza Shilo had microwaved was gone in two minutes flat, even minus the one member that was still crashed, Ever. I was glad that Shilo was back up, and I felt guilty for being so glad. Zoe...I snapped out of the thoughts and depression that came with Zoe's name.
Ever woke up and after Shilo fixed her a hot pocket, I handed the guitar I'd been using in Guitar Hero over to her. Shilo and Sam were our two guitarists, so watching them battle it out was going to be interesting. I didn't know if I was rooting for Sam or Shilo, though usually my vote was for Sam, because Zoe would be mad that I had cheered another girl on. But seeing as I was Zoe-free--I ignored the pain of the words--I decided I was rooting for Shilo.
I sat down on the couch next to Ever, leaning forward.
"Who're you rooting for?" Ever asked.
"I...uh...Shilo. I'm rooting for Shilo." I told her and ignored the surprised look on her face as she said, "Same."
"Woo...Go Shilo!" I said half-heartedly.
"Wha'?" Sam asked. "You're rooting for her?"
I smirked and nodded.
The battle betwen the two guitarists began as they both began to try and out-do eachother on the videogame.

Shilo

"HA! Beatcha, Bleach Boy!" I shouted, doing a victory dance in place. Sam scowled. Ever was bouncing up and down, arm stick straight, completely vertical.

"Uh, Ever?" I said.

"Me next! Against Sam!" I laughed and handed her the controller-er, guitar-er, oh whatever!

I plopped onto the couch next to Cor. I fingered a lock of my hair.

"I need to retouch soon," I said, really for no reason. He was actually the only one who didn't dye-or in Sam's case, bleach, his hair. He grunted. His eyes flashed to the window, which was starting to show blurred city lights. I smiled. I turned around in my seat and pressed my face against the window. I loved the city, especially at night. If it was raining or snowing? You would have me on a leash.

"I'm going to make a video for the site," Corey finally said, with such determination it was almost scary. He got up. He returned a few moments later, camcorder in hand.

Corey Flint:

I watched Shilo press her face against the window of the bus, followed her eyes as they observed the city at night. Her eyes were filled with awe, and a small smile played on her mouth. I smiled lightly and then stood up. She took her gaze away from the window.
"I'm going to make a video for the site," I declared, and went to get the camcorder. I came back into the lounge where Shilo was once again staring out the window. The camcorder was red. I pressed the "ON" button and hit "RECORD". I pointed the camera at myself.
"Yo," I said, "It's day one on the road for the Youth..."
I grinned and turned the camera towards Shilo, who was still staring out the window.
"And here's Lo, staring out the window and daydreaming about some stupid guy, or whatever girls think about," I snickered.
Shilo rolled her eyes and looked at the camera. "Heyheyy!"

Shilo

"And here's Lo, staring out the window and daydreaming about some stupid guy, or whatever girls think about,"

"Hey!" I cried, whipping away from the window.

"Kidding, Lo. And here are Ev and Sam, absolutely killing it in Guitar Hero,"

"Oh, I'm not letting you off that easy!" I yelled, tearing myself away from the window and following him. He did this close to every day, as a favor to our fans. I snatched the camcorder out of his hand and pointed at myself, in all my rumpled-haired, wild-eyed glory.

"Shilo here. I'm going to give you guys a tour around our wonderful tour bus- well, say hi, guys!" I told Sam and Ever. Both grunted and continued smashing the keys. Buttons. Whatever you call 'em. I was introducing Jim when I felt a pair of hands sneak around my eyes.

"Corey!" I shouted. I put the camcorder down and tried to fight him off. When that didn't work, I shoved his hands away and started to chase him around the bus.

I came back thirty seconds later, holding a squealing Corey by the hair.

"So guys, that's day one! We'll talk to you tomorrow, when we'll be in, where guys?"

"New York!"

"That's right. Catchya later, gators, stay young!" I said, and stopped recording.

As Corey began the process of uploading the video, he grumbled, "Go easy on the hair, jeez, Lo..."

I leaned over his shoulder. "I don't know about you, but I do it for the fans." I whispered, and ruffled his hair.

Ah, our lovely, caring band.

Corey Flint:

"I don't know about you, but I do it for the fans," Lo grinned and ruffled my hair playfully.
I smiled and said, "Nah. I think you do it for the guys."
She blushed and said, "Nuh-uh!"
I turned around while the video uploaded to the site--it would take at least five minutes--and I looked at Shilo teasingly.
Instead of saying "yeah-huh," I said, "Yeaaah, hun, I think it's for the boys."
She giggled again, shaking her head no.
The computer ding-ed, alerting us the video was downloaded to the site. I scooted over on the seat to let Lo sit down, and we watched the video, laughing our heads off.
Ever and Sam came over to see the video they'd barely taken part in, and I left so they could sit down. Lo followed me over to the couch, where I plopped down and popped open a Coca-Cola.
I held it towards her. "Wanna sip?"
Sam rushed over and grabbed the Coke out of my hands, downing practically half of the can.
"Thanks man," he grinned.
I snorted.

Ever~

After being utterly demolished in Guitar Hero and watching the video, Ever slunk over to the fridge, craving one thing and one thing only. Reaching into the very back of the fridge, she found it. Sugary sweetness! She pulled the bag of candy from the back of the fridge and proceeded to walk over to the couch, sitting down and biting into a mini Snickers. "They need to make a Bass Hero. Then I'd kill you all." She glared, looking around. "Or we can all just get Band Hero," she hinted, and then flailed around when her teeth got stuck together by the frozen, but quickly meltin, caramel.

She fell off the couch, rolling around until her teeth were released by the gluey mess. She, then, grabbed a Laffy Taffy, her mind already beginning to get haywired. And as if nobody noticed, Ever ate three more pieces, and grabbed a huge Red Bull from the fridge, sipping on it gingerly, and just waiting for the overload.

Three minutes later, it came. Ever slammed the half-full Red Bull down on the table, and began to scream out lyrics to a random song, turning it on the stereo and jumping around. She pulled Shilo from what she was doing, dancing with her best friend wildly, her arms flailing as if she was moshing.

Shilo

Oh god.

Ever was hyper.

Epic destruction was imminent.

Which meant only one thing.

We had to join her.

I was first to reach the fridge, drain a full Monster can, five Pixie Stix, and two bags of Skittles. I let out an energized "WHOOOP!" and grabbed my guitar, blasting a solo that could've made Brian Welch proud. (Don't mind me, he's just my hero.) I mumbled a sorry to Jim (who actually looked amused) and ran up and down the length of the bus. Corey was soon to join me, and we sang "Psychadelium", one of our favorite songs that me and him co-wrote, as loudly as humanly possible.

Sam was pleading with Ever to give him the key to Bubblyland, while she refused with a thick Southern accent. (said: ax-ay-unt) He then did an air guitar solo on his knees and tied a necktie firmly around his forehead. We all decided that looked fun and did it ourselves.

I don't think I need to tell you that getting hyper meant having the time of your life in our language.

Ever~

Ever gazed out the window as they flew passed a Wal-Mart. "Stop the bus! Jim stop the bus!" The bus lurched to a stop, all four of them stumbling into the wall. Ever smiled wildly as the bus parked in a Dollar Tree parking lot. It was 4 AM, but Wal-Mart was still open. Ever grinned and grabbed her wallet and camera, running inside.

They were a band on their way to stardom.

It was the time to party.

The dorky, teen way.

Ever, without waiting for the others, ran inside and ran to the toy isle, eyes shimmering with joy. "YAHOO!" She screamed, after grabbing a skateboard and flying down the isle. So what if they got thrown out?

It's not like the manager could stop their goofy, hightened spirits.

Shilo

I watched Ever skate down the halls. Me, Sam, and Corey looked at each other and shrugged.

Worth a shot.

Sam let out a Tarzan-esque battle call and grabbed a shopping cart. He promptly stepped on one of the rails and and kicked off. Corey sat me on his shoulders and ran through the aisles while I held my arms out and made airplane noises, and a few "pew pew pew!" 's. More than a few employees shouted for us to behave, a few threatened to call security, and more than a couple tried to chase us. We just laughed maniacally and turned down the house goods aisle.

I looked at Corey.

He looked at me.

And just like the old days, we grabbed two cans of spraypaint, one in each hand, twirled them like sheriffs in old westerns, and began our work. I reassumed my position on his shoulders, and we both held our arms straight out on either side, and sprayed like there was no tomorrow. By the time we were done, there was a fine mist of red, black, purple and blue in our wake.

We met up with Sam and Ever in the frozens. "Okay, okay, serious now, we need stuff." Ever said in a hushed voice. I wondered how many times she had done this before. We composed ourselves, disposed of any and all evidence, and started shopping regularly. When we reached the check out, we were four completely different people. We paid, thanked them, and made a mad dash back to the bus.

"Ever, you are brilliance in a bottle." I said, ripping apart a Hot Pocket.

Corey Flint:

I laughed, and playfully punched Shilo on her shoulder once we were back in the bus. The Wal-Mart run was fun, even though we had been acting like a bunch of idiots. But hey, what do they expect when they give teenagers a pack of Red Bull and Skittles?
Shilo giggled and kicked my leg in response to my play-punch.
I snorted. "Was that supposed to hurt?"
Shilo rolled her eyes at me dramatically, and Sam plopped down beside us on the couch, still doubled over in laughter. Ever yelled "Halabunga!" and jumped on the couch, laying across all three of our laps. I shoved her onto the floor, sticking my tongue out.

Shilo

I laughed as Ev tumbled to the carpet, then stuck a thumbs-up behind her, signaling her health. I caught the time- 5:15. I squeaked.

"Guys, we have to go to sleep! Now! Today's our first concert!" I yelled, bolting for the bathroom, pj's in hand. I heard scraping, the sound of stuff being moved, and the occasional "THUMP!" followed by an annoyed "Ooooww..."

I emerged pajama-clad and scrambled into my top bunk, followed by the others. We were all out in three minutes, thanks to caffeine crashes.

I fell directly into a dream: I was battling Zoe on a concert stage, Corey was dead, Ever was crying and clutching her stomach, and Sam looked like he was in a coma. There were Youth fans everywhere, screaming and singing, and Zoe was screaming something about freaks...

The dream faded out to black, and I was granted peaceful sleep for the rest of the night.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been gone.

I'm a little confused. What exactly is going on right now???

They're about to wake up on the day of their concert. I'll post that now.

Shilo

I woke up groggy. I stumbled off the bed and into the lounge. What time was it.... 11:45.

OH CHIZ.

I screamed a little and ran back to the bunks. "Guys! Guys, c'mon! WAKE UP! Concert day!" I yelled, waking them all. I grabbed my bag and raced into the kitchen, slamming the door and locking it. I ran back in hopping on one foot, the other being jammed into my knee-high Converse over my bright purple skinnies. I pulled the turquoise lacy cami up under my black deep v neck shirt and grabbed my brush with my teeth.

Ever ran down the hall in a frenzy, fully dressed and muttering, "Gloss, gloss, where's my- AHA!" Corey ran out of the bathroom, toothbrush dangling out of his mouth, buttoning his jeans and jumping a little. Sam was running around, flat iron in hand, screaming, "Dear god, where's my freaking JACKET?!"

Eventually, when we were all ready, I told Jim to step on it. The bus lurched forward, and we fell.

"Oh, there's my makeup bag," I muttered, and grabbed it, working on my eye makeup, a blend of purple, silver and bright turquoise. I was putting away my eyeliner when we screeched to a stop, and we stepped into the next step of our career.

Sam

We stopped abruptly. I almost fell again, but caught myself.

"Alright! Are you guys ready?" I asked. I was a little nervous, and I could tell everyone else was too.

"I think so." Shilo said. I looked at Corey and Ever, and they nodded.

"Then let's get this party started." I said. We walked off the bus and into the big building. This was going to be a fun night, I just knew it. Plus, it could also be one of the biggest days of our careers. It was the start of it all.