You were twelve again. You were twelve again, and running around in that stupid polka dotted bikini you practically lived in that summer. You were still flat chested, and all your friends were boys. You were running from someone. You were squealing at them to stop, whining almost. It took you a moment to makeout what you were saying your heart was racing so fast. "Tony! Stop it!" Oh yeah this was your birthday, he was chasing you with cake as all your other friends watched, and your brother was laughing too.
He chased you his outstretched hand a mess of cake and blue icing. "Come back here ali! Birthday girls always get caked!" Tony said sprinting after you as you rounded the big tree in your yard. You were running as fast as you could, but it wasn't working he was faster. Finally he caught up to you, and flung himself on top of you, taking you both down. He mashed his hand in your hair and face coating you with the goopy icing. "Tony! I'm gonna get you back!" You said as you wiped the icing out of your eyes. You slung it off your hands. He was on the ground rolling in the grass laughing. It wasn't funny to you though.Well it was a little but you were also really mad.
You got him back too, when you in the house to rinse the icing out of your hair. You opened your water balloons, your brother had gotten them for you. You filled up four of them. You waited until tony had started eating his cake, and then you ran out of the house, and threw them at him. Two of them smacked into his chest. One got his face, and other hit his stomach. He'd been so mad he threw you in the pool. You were trying to dunk him..

You came out of your dream with a smile on your face. It wasn't often that you had dreams that were memories but sometimes it happened. Sometimes you missed your childhood. The dream made you think of tony though, you hadn't talked to him in a couple os weeks. You wondered what he was up to as you took your clothes off to step into the shower.
You were actually stepping into the shower when your phone rang. You wrapped a towel around yourself. You almost didn't get to it in time you answered without looking at the name display.
"Hello!" You said a bit louder than needed out of your excitement at almost not getting there.
You heard a breathing for a second. "Ali? Is that you?" You realized it was tony. " Yeah tony, you know you have awfully obnoxious uncanny timing. I was just getting into the shower. Also I just had a dream about that birthday where we went at each other with cake and water balloons." You said giggling a little at the thought.
"Oh, I'm really sorry. You might as well turn the water off for the time being. And unless you want to sit there naked, which I am perfectly okay with you might want to get a towel. I have some news, and I need to ask a huge favor." He said and you could hear that dangerous smile in his voice.
"I don't really make a point of answering my phone naked tony." Ali said as she went to sit on her bed. Then she jumped up again remembering she was also supposed to turn off the shower.
Once the water was off you returned to your bed flopping back on it and looking at the ceiling. "Okay captain my shower is off and I am laying on my bed. What is this favor?" You said waiting for his reply.
He laughed before he spoke. " so you mean to say you are laying on your bed nearly naked and talking on the phone to me?" He paused for a moment. "Some would think you were up to no good little ali. Are you trying to seduce me?" He asked and you could hear the innocent tone in his voice.
"Tony, I could be in the shower right now. Don't make me hang up on you. Considering I miss you, that would be a sad turn of events." You said smiling.
You and tony were good friends even from a distance you always teased each other this way. You were annoyed because he built up the news and now he was withholding it.
"Ali, stop trying to talk dirty to me! I told you I had news!" You just shook your head smirking up at the ceiling. " So you know warped tour is coming up like as of tomorrow right?" He asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I was going to come see you when you guys played the l.a. show." She said closing her eyes. She was tired she wished she had slept longer, but she was glad that she was talking to tony she missed him. They didn't get to talk often, his hours were different from hers generally.
"What if I said you had a free ticket to see me much sooner and a lot more often?" You sighed. "Tony stop being cryptic and tell me what you mean."
"Fine fine, our merch girl quit because her boyfriend proposed. We're in need of a new one. I thought since you always love the tour and we're good friends so you wouldn't be uncomfortable on the bus with the guys since you've met all of them at least once and you wouldn't have the whole band worship thing going on.What do you say Ali?" Tony stopped talking.
Honestly it took me a minute to piece it all together. When I did I was speachless.
" tony are you telling me that your band mates want to pay me to come on tour with you and a world famous band and twenty other world famous bands all summer? Of course I want to go! Yes! Oh my gosh, what do I pack for two and a half months of being on a bus and outside? I'm going to need to go shopping. Who's going to get my mail?......" I rambled off a few more details I had no idea how I was going to handle before tony cut me off.
"Ali! Go get in the damn shower I'm going to be there in ten minutes." You could hear the smile in his voice he knew that he really had surprised you.
"Tony why didn't you let me take a shower and tell me all this when you got here!?" You asked a little miffed that there was no way you'd be out of the shower when he got here?"
"Do you want to argue or shower!?" He said laughing now." Oh shut up tony I'm taking a shower now and I don't know if my door is already unlocked if it is come on in if not oh well guess you can wait 'till I get out. Bye now!" You said now laughing as well.
You almost, almost didn't go check to make sure the door was unlocked but then you caved and did it anyway. Then you hurried through your shower shampooing conditioning and shaving way faster than you should have. Tony was coming! You missed seeing him glued to your brothers hip everyday. You saw your brother all the time he still lived quite near but tony was never home!
When you got out of the shower you walked into your bedroom your body and hair wrapped in towels. I was humming to myself as I entered my room and stopped dead almost choking on my own spit. Tony was laying in my bed on top of the covers his socked feet hanging off the end.
"Tony!!!!!" I almost jumped on him and then remembered you weren't wearing clothes. "s**t tone, get out for a minute!" I said trying to cover even more of myself.
Tony laughed covering his eyes as he got up and walked out.
Quickly I pulled on a bra and underwear then a pair of fitting shorts and a band tank. I left my hair in the towel and opened my door tony was leaning against the fream waiting for me with his arms crossed smiling, but just barely. I don't know why the sight of him made me feel all quaky but I wasn't about to stop and question a weird tummy feeling. "Tony I missed you!" I said as I tackled him in a hug.
"Missed you to Ali.." He mumbled into my hair as I continued to hug him to tight. I finally let go and we both put on shoes. We left my apartment to get lunch and also to go talk to my boss. We also had to go shopping for some stuff I would need. Not to mention some new memory cards, I don't know how often I'll be taking pictures or able to print my shots so I may just have to wait and do all of them at the end of the summer.
"So al's how is school I know you work at that studio part time, but I guess not anymore." he said smiling. I linked my arm in his making him look whipped to any passers by but I didn't care, and he didn't pull away so it must not be too uncomfortable.
"It's good. I'm actually mostly online that's why I didn't even think about refusing I can do my assignments while we're gone so it doesn't intefere not to mention i'll probably do even better with such a wide range of potential."
I was practically bouncing with the possibilities. Yes L.a. was big, and mostly beautiful, but it was still home and sort of boring sometimes. I was getting a great chance too see so many things that I've only glimpsed from other photographers lenses.
We spent all day out eating twice and shopping for a whole bunch of stuff for the tour. Tobny helped me telling me about all the stuff he and the guys brought and what they usually regretted not bringing. He told me some of the truely terrible things that had gone astray and been fixed and the pranks that all the bands played on each other. Though the most appalling was probably Jaime's mike incedent with bring me the horizon. I'd never tried gin and tobasco but this definitely wasn't urging me towards it.
I talked to my boss and he said it was fine, he was glad I was finally taking a summer off, and then I even payed a visit to Ada, my girl best friend of forever. She squealed with delight and said she would definitely pick up my mail.
It was a wonderful day, and when we got back to my place we stayed up packing all my stuff until finally it was all done. I had all my clothes packed, my makeup, my toiletries, and everything I could ever possibly need for the summer, and brand spankin' new first aid kit. I was prepared like a boy scout.
We collapsed on my bed and fell asleep laughing at the glow in the dark stars I'd stuck on the ceiling one night when I was hammered. I liked them once I was sober so I never took them down.
Tony was just laying there pn his side his eyes drooping sleepily a cute little barely there sleepy smile on his face. It was so cute, so innocent I had to take a picture. I didn't even think about it I grabbed my camera off of my nightstand and snapped a picture, he smiled larger once I was done.
"Is it a good one?" he asked just like old times when he and my brother would always cater to me when we'd hang out and I wanted to take pictures.
"Yeah tone it's a good one I'll show you in the morning." I said touching his face lightly. My fingers were warm from his cheek.
*******
It was a month into the tour and I was having a bl