Valestoc

~Chapter One: The Poet's Words~

The picturesque beauty of Shorehaven was displayed again in all of its glory as the sun shone down brightly on the glorious metropolis, soaking the city in its usual bathing light; a warmth just right for being outdoors. The heat of the day was not oppressive as some of the summer days had been, however it seemed perfect for what Claire Nichols had in mind as she continued to throw various items of clothing from her wardrobe onto her big double bed as she searched for what seemed like a needle in a haystack. Well, kind of anyway, she was trying to make a haystack the size of a needle in that she was trying to decide what to pack in her bag to take with her, and when you owned a wardrobe full of clothes, that was not an easy task, especially when you had to fit the other essentials in there too.

Searching through her clothes to find all of the ones she wanted had taken hours but at least she was almost done when she could finally find the last thing she was after.

"Yes!" Claire exclaimed triumphantly as she saw her quarry and reached to pull it from under a pile of clothes she had forgotten she had had. "How did you get under there?" She asked the red and black plaid schoolgirl-style skirt she had spent the last hour looking for.

Heading over to her bed, Claire began sorting through the mess, fawning over clothes she either couldn't fit in her bag or wouldn't be the right kind of thing to wear where she was going.

Halfway through packing her bag, the 20-year-old heard her phone ringing, playing one of her favourite tunes which she had made her ringtone. It took a moment for her to find the thing under all of the mess that covered her bed but when she finally found it she smiled for a moment as she saw her boyfriend's name on the caller ID.

"Hey Mike." Claire said happily as she answered the phone, resting it on her shoulder as she continued sorting her clothes out, finally picking out those which she wanted and folding them neatly before packing them in her bag.

"Hey babe, you all ready?" Her loving boyfriend of two years asked pleasantly.

"Almost, just finishing packing, what time will you guys be over?" She asked, trying to hurry. She didn't want to forget anything but if Michael was calling then they would be on their way over soon.

"Should be on our way in a minute when Matt gets the van going." Michael answered with what sounded like a jest at their friend as Claire heard Matt in the background saying something in reply. "Should be about ten minutes after that, so Matt says in about fifteen?"

"Sure, I should be ready by then." She replied before Michael told her he would see her then and they hung up.

It took Claire another five minutes but finally she was all packed. Clearing her clothes onto the floor she headed over to the mirror to touch up her make up before checking her clothes.

She had decided to wear something normal to travel in, she would be in the van with the others for a few hours as they drove where they were going, and she didn't really need to dress up until tomorrow, so she was wearing her black pvc trousers which showed off her smooth thighs and tight ass well, a tight black band t-shirt with a band on called Chiron (their name written coolly above the picture), her thin black hoody which had flames on the back and her black knee high boots, although she had left the heeled ones as it probably wasn't wise to take them to a field. Well, maybe she wasn't completely dressed down.

Touching up her dark brown lipstick, Claire smiled at herself in the mirror as she zipped the hoody up half way. Her long, straight dark red hair hung perfect down her back and over her shoulders, her large bright green eyes seemed to sparkle like gems while her clothes emphasised both her small, slim waist, her flat stomach and her large 38D tits that were encased by the tight band t-shirt.

Michael should be most impressed indeed, Claire thought to herself with satisfaction.

Turning back to the bed, she checked her bag once more as she thought how nice it would be to get away from home for a few days and head to the biggest festival on the west coast. Valestock was the festival that the City held every summer, and it always drew the biggest bands from across the world, namely because of the weather and the popularity of the city, but also because of the place in which it was held. Valestock was always held in the countryside around the city known as The Dales. Vast rolling fields, forest, lakes, hills and other things besides that really came to life in the summer and gave the rock festival that added glamour. Claire had always wanted to go, but something had always come up, however this year she, Michael and four of their friends had saved up, one of them had even bought an old van to drive them there and back again, and this time they had finally made it, if Matt could get the van working that was.

Satisfied she had got everything, Claire took her bag downstairs and left it in the hall as she waited for Michael and the others to show up. Finally, after another twenty minutes, Claire heard a horn sound outside and looked out the window, waving at Michael to tell him she was coming before she went to say goodbye to her parents and headed out of the front door.

"HEY!" She heard the guys cheer in the van as she came out into the sunshine, putting her dark sunglasses on as the light shined brightly.

Claire smiled amusedly at the guys' cheering and even more so at the van. It was an old looking van that looked like a slightly smaller version of a Ford Transit, however it had blacked out windows on the side and from what she could see, make-shift cushion-sofa things along the one side. Matt had spray-painted some...'things', Claire couldn't quite make out what, along the sides, but despite its odd appearance it was perfect to be heading to a festival in, really rock and roll.

As she reached the side of the van she kissed Michael quickly before she climbed into the back, him following and pulling the door shut behind him.

Sitting down on one of the cushion-sofa...things...along the wall opposite the door, Claire noticed there was another one on the opposite wall by the van's side door. She was also actually surprised how much light came in through the dark windows, not to mention the one Matt had made in the roof. Wow, he had done a great job on this after all.

Looking at Michael as he sat beside her, she smiled at him, his handsome face smiling back at her warmly. His hair was gelled up and in some stylish fashion while he wore one of his tight band t-shirts, emphasising his hot body underneath.

Sitting opposite Michael on the side with the door was Zach, Michael's younger brother. He was the same age as Claire's brother; both were just eighteen - two years younger than her and Michael. There was another Archer brother however Michael didn't really talk about him much except to say that he was in the prison up in Codleton, so Claire hadn't asked either.

Zach had inherited his brother's good looks, though. He seemed to be just as toned as Michael was, however whereas Michael was the artistic-guitarist type, Zach was the sporty-drummer type. While his hair was still the same dark colour it was a little longer than his brother's and he usually wore it under a bandana, usually a different one every day from what Claire had noticed. Also, whereas Michael had brown eyes, Zach had a blue so bright that his eyes seemed to glow like sapphires when the sun came out.

Then there was Anthony Kella, or as everyone she knew called him, Tony. Tony had been a friend of her and Michael's for as long as all three had known each other separately, the same with Matt too. They had all met each other during the last couple of years at high school. Matt, Tony and Michael had wanted to start a band back then, but that hadn't really taken off too well. Tony was Latino, his skin was golden and his dark eyes piercing, while his dark black hair hung in braids to his shoulders which occasionally he tied back. He was the singer in the 'band' that the guys had wanted to create, and from what Claire knew he would have been good at it too. He was attractive, poetic, confident, and had incredible presence, not to mention a great voice.

Looking away from where Tony lay against the luggage at the back, to the cab of the van, she smiled as she noticed the mass of black hair that was tied back at this point but that usually made Matthew Richards look like some kind of bear or lion. While the others were all toned, Matt was taller and a little more built than they were, in a bigger build and muscular kind of way, although he wasn't what anyone would call huge, just in comparison to the toned others, he was also black to their varying shades of white. Matt was the 'bass player' in Michael's make-believe band, and had kept his thin-stripe of a beard under his bottom lip ever since he had been able to grow it. Still, it suited him and it didn't detract from his looks either, nor his skill with building things.

In the time it took Claire to glance at everyone and smile, the van had already started moving.

"Don't forget that we need to grab Sam on the way, Matt." Claire called out to her friend and Matt raised his fist in acknowledgement.

"Already on my way darling." He called back in reply. Matt always called everyone by some odd name, whether it was brother, bro, darling, beautiful, honey, or whatever, but there was usually always one or the other at the end of whatever he said.

Claire smiled as she turned back to Michael and began talking with him about how much she was looking forward to the festival, or what bands she really wanted to see, which led to some compromises when Michael named others he wanted to introduce her to -- like an up-and-coming band on the 'unsigned stage' called Dark Desire who Michael was adamant he wanted to see -- until ten minutes later the van pulled up and the front passenger door opened for a moment before in climbed her younger brother Sam, pulling the door closed behind him as he shook Matt's hand in greeting.

Sam was a skater, he usually wore those odd shorts that finished just below the knees with a t-shirt and a cap of some kind. Oh, and he always had his skateboard with him, which while he was really good at using it, was not really appropriate for taking to a festival held in a huge field. Sam was accounted attractive by the ladies that he and Zach hung around with, often down at The Strip, however where Claire had naturally dark red hair, Sam had a blonde colour, that was only lightly touched with her darkened crimson.

"Don't know why you've brought that with you." Claire jibed her brother with a small amused smirk at Michael.

"Probably the same reason you brought half your wardrobe." Sam replied and Zach laughed gently.

Michael did too and Claire couldn't help but smile. She would get him back before long.

The journey to the festival was long and warm. Shorehaven was the biggest city Claire had ever been to and driving through Gainborough took some time before finally they were out on the open country roads of The Dales. While the Dale roads were far from being unkept, they were not as clear as the roads in the City and every now and then the van would bounce up and down as Matt drove over some random rock or pothole or something. When Michael asked about why it bounced so much, Matt cleared his throat and said rather abashedly that he had been working on that and to watch getting in and out as any heavy movement would make the van bounce around until he finally fixed the suspension. That made Claire feel completely safe of course -- perhaps Matt wasn't so good at building things as she had first thought.

Despite the length of time it took and the rather unsteady ride, after some time they finally pulled into the large parking area of the festival grounds and Matt pulled over as close as he could towards the entrance.

Piling out of the van, the six of them headed into the camping grounds to pick a spot, which after much searching they finally found one big enough for the tent that Tony had brought with him. The thing slept six people and had a little 'communal' area

After a long time and a lot of confusion, the six of them finally had the tent set up and had dumped their things inside. After which Claire, Michael, Tony and Matt decided to have a wander around and see the huge area that made up the festival's stalls, businesses and fair ground rides.

As they made their way around the mass of people already gathered and the tents, stalls, portable cabins, fair rides, and other strange objects, Claire stared around in amazement at all of the things there were to see, pointing several out to Michael and having other things she never expected pointed out to her by one of the others. The whole place was alive and filled with cool or random things, and the beautiful red-headed girlfriend grinned in open excitement as she thought that the festival she had always longed to go to was not just shaping up to be as good as she had always imagined, but in fact better! Even just the stalls on their own were amazing; merchandise, make up rooms, even shower rooms, and that was just the beginning.

During their wanderings Michael and her stopped off at a stall that sold band-specific belt buckles while Matt and Tony headed to the stall opposite to pick up some signed merchandise of one of the bands they liked. Another time they bought ice creams and ate them as they wandered around exclaiming over this, buying that, getting fake tattoos, and so on.

They must have easily spent a good hour or two walking around before Michael and Matt finally said that they felt like heading back as they handed over the money for two crates of beer from one stall. Claire told them to go ahead and she would catch them up soon as she still wanted to see the clothes stalls and figured that the guys probably wouldn't want to trudge around after her; she fully intended on making the most out of the innumerable clothing stalls. Unexpectedly though, Tony decided to stay with Claire and so the two headed towards one of the clothes stall's that Claire had had her eye on earlier, laughing as they chatted and walked on eating another ice cream in that baking heat.

"I can't decide between that one and that one." Claire said as she pointed out two band tops. One was an ordinary band t-shirt, though of the fitted kinds for women, the other was a long-sleeved top which was also fitted but left the shoulders bare, as if someone had cut the shoulder pieces out, though it connected under the arm to the rest.

"I like that one." Tony said as he pointed out the long-sleeve and Claire laughed at him.

"You only like that one because it's tighter than the other one." She chided playfully as she elbowed him.

"Well, you're asking a guy for his opinion, I gotta be honest." Tony replied with equal amusement as he started to finish his ice cream. It had taken him twice as long as everyone else to eat his. "Besides, you should just pick the one you like, who cares what anyone else thinks."

For a moment Claire frowned at the two tops, turning them and running her fingers over the material, trying to work out which she actually liked.

"I like the long-sleeve too. It's different to the others." She said finally and Tony laughed as he continued licking his ice cream.

"Then you should get that one." He replied as if it were the simplest decision in the whole world.

Claire thought for a moment before she spoke again.

"You think it'll suit me?" She asked as she glanced between the two tops.

Tony looked at her a moment before he shook his head slightly.

"Of course it'll suit you, you'd look good in anything you put on." He answered and Claire smiled at him, grateful for the compliment.

"Aww, thanks, I think I will then." She said before turning to the stall attendant and buying the long-sleeve.

Heading away from the stall Claire had a spring in her step. She felt completely content and more than a little happy for finally getting to the festival and at just how amazing it actually was. Not to mention being there with some good friends. It was a good feeling, and a beautiful day, and all the beautiful red-headed girlfriend could do was smile excitedly at everything around her as she and Tony headed to a couple more stalls, one for Tony to buy a beautiful looking notebook and pen, which he wanted so he could write while he was here, and the other so Claire could buy Michael a flame-design guitar strap, so that he could be ready for when he actually did get around to buying a guitar.

It didn't take long before they retraced their steps and headed back to the tent, though. The others were all outside, sitting with a cooler box someone had got from somewhere which held the beer beside them and a camp fire in the middle of the group with a pot that Matt was stirring, obviously cooking something to eat. And so the daylight passed in warmth and good friendship.

The night just got better from there as the sun slowly began to sink into the horizon. Around the fire the six of them laughed and joked, ate and drank, and a little later on listened as Tony sang various tracks which attracted the attention of others who were camping nearby until their circle of six grew to a sprawling thirty. Two people even brought over a couple of acoustic guitars and began to play as Tony sang, deep into the night as the light faded to darkness, lit only by the hundreds of fires in the camping field.

That was the first time Claire had heard Tony sing in person and she sat and listened, her arm linked with Michael's mesmerised by how good he actually was. It seemed to require no effort for him, the music simply flowed melodically from his mouth without ever hitting a wrong note and those around listened attentively, caught up in his voice and expressions and applauding as each song came to an end.

And so the night went on into the small hours, however finally, Claire decided to go to sleep as she wanted to have energy for the next day, as the shows began tomorrow and there were a couple of bands that she really wanted to see. So, soon enough, the knockout red-head was curled up next to Michael in the tent, listening to Tony still singing outside, before finally she drifted off to that harmonic melody.

The next day Claire awoke on her own and looked around smiling as her eyes cracked open. Michael was obviously already out seeing one of the bands he really wanted to see who just happened to be playing early in the day, while the two bands Claire wanted to see today weren't playing until the afternoon.

Taking her time to clean herself with the wipes she had brought and fix her make up, Claire had a look through her bag to decide what to wear when she noticed the top she had bought the day before. Smiling cheerfully, she quickly rummaged through her bag, pulling out some gothic-style black material trousers with zips and chains on them which would go perfectly with the top. Before long, Claire Nichols had both the top and trousers on with her red and black lace underwear underneath and her black knee high boots to finish the outfit off. The top did look good from what she could tell, it was tight and outlined her small, slim waist, her flat stomach and emphasised her large 38D tits as it clung to her and was cut a little lower than she had originally noticed, although it didn't show any of her impressive cleavage. Not that she minded that, on the contrary. Still, the top looked good, especially with the trousers which were snug on her thighs while being loose at her ankles and calves. She did wish that Michael was here to give her his opinion, though, she didn't have a full length mirror to look at and it would have been nice to have an opinion from someone who could see all of her. Shrugging, as there was nothing really to do, Claire headed out of the tent and smiled as she noticed her brother and Tony sitting around the now extinguished fire, already drinking at this time of the day.