Mental Fiction Follows Me

“Hey, I think hear the cops!” Johnny yelled.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Aiden said and looked over at me. I shrugged my shoulders and watched the approaching swirling lights.

“I could’ve handled all this by myself, and we wouldn’t get interrogated by the cops,” Deandra said from my side.

“I helped, get over it,” I mumbled.

“What are you? Some kind of person trained to help people in need?” Deandra asked with a sarcastic tone.

“Yeah, actually I am,” I said without turning to look at her.

“Bullshit,” Deandra muttered under her breath. This time I did turn to look at her, and she paid attention to the look in my eyes.

“I spent ten years of my life defending this damned country just so you can stand here and say that, okay?” I said quickly.

“Yeah. Okay,” she said and looked away.

“Syd, you okay?” Aiden asked. I stopped rubbing my temples and smiled over at her.

“Just fine, hun,” I said.

”We should’ve just stayed on the damned bus. Then we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Sage said. For once, I completely agreed with her.

”Oh, hush up! You did the right thing, Syd. You saw someone in trouble and you saved her,” Lillian said in her usual soothing voice. Well, it wasn’t working this time.

”Yeah, I saved an unappreciative-”

“Excuse me? Miss?” I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the officer standing in front of me. Everyone else, besides me and Deandra, had backed up considerably. I guessed that the second and third officers had told them to step back after they were told Deandra and myself were the prime suspects.

“I’m sorry. What did you say, Officer?” I asked.

“I said, do you mind explaining just what happened here?” he asked.

“Well, I was over there on the bus-”

“You mean, by the bus?” I looked over at the officer and gritted my teeth. I wasn’t in the mood to be interrupted, and I didn’t like his tone of voice.

“No, I mean I was over there on the bus. I saw this young gentleman hit her, so I ran over to help,” I said. I had looked down at the unconscious man with a sneer, and I had motioned my head towards Deandra.

“And you are the person he hit?” the officer asked.

“What do you think?” Deandra snapped. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like stupid questions. The cop scribbled away at a notepad while Deandra and I stared, or glared, at him.

“So, what happened?” he finally asked.

“He hit me, I started to hit him but...Syd...interrupted and knocked him out,” Deandra said.

“He hit me too,” I said.

“He did? Where?” the officer asked and looked at my face.

“What? Do you think I’m lying?” I asked and raised my shirt. On my left side there was a darkening bruise from the mystery guy’s big elbow.

“Oh, okay. What started the fight?” he asked and turned to Deandra.

“I fail to see how that’s relevant. The only important thing is that he hit me, and that’s all you need to know,” Deandra said snappily.

“I-uh-umm...”

“Johnson, I’ll take over from here,” another, older, police offer said. Johnson nodded his head and hurriedly walked away.

“My name’s Officer Gary Roberts, and I want to know the truth. No bullshit,” he said and looked back and forth between Deandra and myself. Deandra and I exchanged looks, and then she sighed.

“His name is Nick Houser, and he’s a cheating sonofabitch. I found out and decided to leave. I’m currently on my way to my sister’s house with my belongings, and he followed me. I stopped here to eat, and he was waiting at my car when I returned. He tried to talk me into coming back, but I wasn’t having any of it.

“Look, I’m twenty-three years old and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I feel like I have a right to make my own decisions, and I made them. So, can you please arrest him or something?” Deandra asked.

“Of course I can, but I doubt you’re going anywhere any time soon,” Officer Roberts said.

“Why do you say that?” Deandra asked.

“Well, ma’am, it looks like someone slashed your tires,” Officer Roberts said. Deandra and I looked down at the same time, and the two tires I could see were definitely flat. Deandra started muttering curses under her breath, and Officer Roberts grabbed Nick’s arm.

“Huh? What?” Nick asked hazily.

“You’re under arrest,” Officer Roberts said and pulled out some cuffs.

“What’s your role in all this?” the officer asked after he got through reading Nick his rights.

“I jumped in to help,” I said.

“Most people don’t do things like that,” he said.

“I’m not most people,” I said and smiled. His eyes soaked in my tattoos and he shook his head in agreement.

“So, do you want to ride with us to the station?” Officer Roberts asked Deandra.

“She can ride with us, sir, if that’s okay,” Aiden said quickly. I didn’t even see her walk up behind the cop. Sneaky, evil, short people.

”Not everyone can be freakishly tall like us,” Sage said.

”We are not freakishly tall!” Lillian yelled defensively.

”I don’t know...our height is kinda unusual in most females,” I thought.

“Syd, you coming?” I looked up to see Aiden staring at me with a knowing look.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” I said and followed her and Deandra towards the bus.

”This is going to be interesting...”

”Agreed.” ”Agreed.”

About Three Hours Later

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” Deandra said for the hundredth time.

“Do you think she’s trying to say she doesn’t like us?” Nikkita asked.

“Nah, it’s just Syd she doesn’t like,” Aiden said and elbowed me. I elbowed her back and then propped my arm on her head. She knocked it off and glared at me while I continued to smile.

“I’m not gonna argue with you there,” Deandra said.

“Likewise,” I said.

“Is it always like this?” Craig asked.

“I’m not sure...” Brian said and looked warily over at us.

“I think it’s entertaining,” Zacky said. All four of us cut our eyes over at him.

After a few hours in the police station, the whole Nick being locked up thing went smoothly. As for Deandra, we somehow convinced her to come with us. So, she is now a merch girl, just like us three. After that, we learned that the Escape The Fate guys would be residing on our bus for the next week. We didn’t pick their bus up until then. How’s that for crowded?

“Why don’t you two get along?” Nikkita asked.

“Because she’s an ungrateful twit,” I answered.

“Because she’s an unneeded wanna-be superhero,” Deandra replied.

“Twit?” Deandra asked at the same time I said “Wanna-be?”

“This is too funny to be real,” Aiden said.

“I agree,” Nikkita said.

“Syd, can’t you just play nice?” Brian asked me.

“She started it,” I mumbled and crossed my arms defiantly.

“That’s not true! You started it when you jumped off this damned bus!” Deandra yelled.

“No way! You started it by getting with a stalker!” I yelled back.

“Is that the best you can come up with?!” Deandra yelled.

“I’ve got a whole arsenal ready for you!” I yelled.

“Then bring it on, old lady!”

“I’m not old!”

“Are too!”

“I’m only four years older than you!”

“You look fourteen years older!”

“You look fourteen!”

“I’m hungry!” Deandra and I both stopped and turned to look at Max, who was smiling at us sheepishly. He pushed some hair out of his eyes and gave us a small wave.

“So, old lady, got anything cookable?” Deandra asked me.

“You know, youngin, I think we got a few things,” I said.

“Lead the way, or do you need a walker first?” Deandra asked.

“You just crawl right this way,” I said and started towards the kitchen area. I slid into the booth and gestured towards the cabinets and mini-fridge. Deandra started pulling stuff out, and a few minutes later Nikkita and Aiden joined me in the booth.

“We thought we’d come...”

“Supervise,” Aiden finished and smiled over at me.

“Don’t worry. I’m an excellent cook,” Deandra said.

“Sure smells like it,” Nikkita said. I had to agree with her on that one, it did smell really good.

Aiden, Nikkita, and I played poker (without removing any articles of clothing) to pass the time. Deandra hummed lightly to herself as she continued to cook on the microscopic stove. The time passed quickly, and before long Deandra was pulling out plates.

“So, what is it?” Aiden asked.

“Lasagna,” Deandra said with a smile.

“Mmm...yumm,” Nikkita said.

“Max!” Deandra yelled. A few seconds later Max stepped in front of us and eyed the plate in Deandra’s hands.

“Is that for me?” Max asked with wide eyes. Aiden and I started laughing at his childish look while Nikkita snuck some lasagna.

“It’s all for you, and tell the guys to wait. I’ll bring a plate to them,” Deandra said with a smile. Max took a bite as he walked off, and I heard him mumble “I’m in love” before he completely disappeared out of sight.

“You know, maybe you’re not so bad after all,” I said as I fixed myself a plate.

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that,” Deandra said and smiled. I smiled back and sat down to start on my supper.