The Matchmaker of Decaydance

“So,” Ryland said, sitting down on the couch that was on the bus. “If you guys ever do it in the shower, don’t lock the door. There’s only one bathroom in this place.”

“Ha ha, Ryland. Maybe we’ll just use your bunk,” Gabe countered.

“No way, dude. It’ll already be taken.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“They bicker like this all the time,” Vicky said as she passed through the room.

I made a face. “Do they?”

Then ‘I Don’t Care,’ Fall Out Boy’s newly recorded song (that I recorded with my phone in the studio), started to blare from my pocket. I only used that ringtone for two people, and I’m pretty sure Patrick wasn’t calling. I left the room and headed to the back of the bus, unaware of Gabe following me.

“Yeah?” I answered, a little rudely.

“Listen to me for two seconds, Alana,” Pete said.

“Time starts now.”

“I was just mad. You decided to go and screw Gabe, of all people, in my house.”

“It’s my house too. I help pay for it.”

“You’re my little sister, Alana.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to come barging in my room in the middle of the night.”

I heard him sigh. “I’m just looking out for you.”

“I’m twenty-three. I can take care of myself. Look, I’m leaving on Warped Tour today with everyone and it doesn’t look like you’re coming. I know you’re my older brother, but I’m a big girl now.”

“You’re going on Warped? Are you going to be able to control yourself?”

“There you go again, doubting me!” I said, my voice rising. “If you’re going to be like this, I will never talk to you again. I promise you.”

“Do you really, Alana? I’ve always been like this with you.”

“Yeah, and it was fine when I was fifteen. Now, eight years later, when both of us are adults, it’s not. You nee to back off, Peter. What are you going to do now that I’m going on tour with them? I’m sharing a bunk with Gabe. Are you going to come beat him up for that? Do you remember what happened to my thing with Ryan after you stepped in? I hardly ever talk to him anymore.” I paused to take a breath. “You have a habit of ruining my long-term relationships if they ever get serious. You’re not having this one.”

There was silence on the other end, and I could just imagine Pete standing there, shell-shocked, just like Gabe was doing in front of me.

“Is is Pete?” he whispered.

I nodded.

“Alana?” Pete’s voice quietly asked.

“What?”

“However long you want to ignore me, go for it. Just know that I love you and I’m sorry.”

The phone clicked as he hung up.

“You okay?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “He’s just being difficult.”

“Hey, can we talk?”

There was suddenly a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Um…sure.”

“Oh, jeez, not like that. I just don’t want to put any tension between you and Pete. I know you two are really good friends and stuff, and since I showed up I’ve noticed that you two have been fighting a lot.”

Relief washed over me. “If he thinks there’s something wrong with the idea of us, then that’s his problem. He just needs to get used to the idea.”

Gabe came over and wrapped his arms around me. I snuggled into his chest, a big, stupid grin on my face.

“I don’t want to mess anything up with you two,” he mumbled into my hair.

“You haven’t, and you won’t.”

“So about this thing with a guy named Ryan…was it a particular one with the last name Ross?”

“Shut up,” I said through a yawn.

Gabe just laughed.

“What time is it?” I asked, swatting him on the shoulder.

“Almost eleven.”

“I think I’ll go to bed. Cuddle?” I asked hopefully. I am the biggest cuddle monster to ever walk the face of the earth.

“Sounds good.”