Tension's Like a Fire

The lack of natural light caused Sally to lose track of the time she’d been there. She knew it hadn’t been too long.

In reality it had been two days since the night she’d been kidnapped. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of anyone since they left her so silently after strapping her on the table. She missed seeing other people. By this time she was wishing for ‘Sleeper’ to come back.

Because now the only face she was seeing was his.

The face she’d tried so hard to forget. She’s been fighting for years to get that stupid face out of her head. That stupid, stupid face that she loved so much that it hurt.

Of course the last time she saw him he was 15.

She often wondered if he ever grew into that big awkward nose she loved so much. How his voice sounded without it cracking. She wondered if he was there for her brother when she left.

Her brother had been one of her best friends, she hated that she left him. That guilt ate her up inside.

She’d called back home once about a year or so after she ran away -just to make sure he was alright she guessed- and he answered. He still sounded the same. When she thought about it she wished she’d said, “Hey Alex it’s me,” rather than, “Is Jose there?” but she knew it was way too late now.

But as she laid staring at the plain gray ceiling she kept thinking about her brother’s best friend that she just so happened to fall in love with.

As she began to nod off again she began seeing the day she realized she was in love with him. It got clearer the closer her eyelids got, she’d dreamed this many times before.

Again they all sat around in Rian’s parent’s garage after a jam session that her being the younger sister/best friend of the lead singer got her into. This was only about a year before she ran away.

Alex , Jack, and Rian were flirting around with the idea of starting a real band. All they’d need was a bassist and to stop playing New Found Glory and Blink covers to write their own crap.

She was sitting on the beat up dirty couch that Rian’s parents moved to the basement after buying a new one, of course it’s far dirtier now that they’d no longer yell at him for the stains.

“Hey you can’t make that joke when my little sister is in the room!” Alex joked after Jack told a totally hilarious but equally inappropriate joke about masturbation.

“Shut up, like I more so enjoy listening to my brother talk about his penis.” She laughed back.

Laughter was what always came when you mixed all their personalities together. It was easier to come by than coffee at an AA meeting when they were hanging out.

She loved how they never treated her like the annoying little sister that always found a way to snake her way into her older sibling’s personal life. They looked at her as a friend too.

“Sally you know if it wasn’t illegal you’d be all over that.” They even teased her just like she wasn’t anything more than a friend to any of them. Not tiptoeing around trying to appease the older brother that could get angry about even the tiniest off-color remark made toward his little sister.

“Fuck you Jack!” Was the best reply she had in her arsenal for that situation. I mean how often are you really required to have a quip to go against a remark that suggests you’re into incest?

“That’s you’re other dream.”

If only he knew.

“Hey don’t talk about fucking my sister.” Alex said back like he wasn’t even paying attention, just a programmed reaction.

“Oh thank you my valiant brother who’s the protector of my virtue.” She said dryly. “ Jack I wouldn’t fuck you with Bret Michaels’ dick and that thing’s been everywhere.” The harsh sarcastic words were what kept her sane made her believe that her crush on her brother’s best friend wasn’t as obvious as she feared it was.

Rian was just sitting back watching the show and laughing his ass off.

Jack crawled to her from his spot on the floor and grabbed her hand peering up into her eyes playing hurt. “But baby last night was magical. I thought you meant it when you said you’d still respect me in the morning.”

She looked down into the big brown puppy eyes that had humor laced beneath the surface “pain”.

“I didn’t respect you before last night.” The side of her mouth jerked up into a lopsided smile.

Their eyes stayed locked and a smile raised to one side of his face as well.

There was a new flutter in her heart her mind produced the words, “I love him” for the first time.

The world would often disregard this thought as a preteen crush and most of the time they’d be right. But she was the exception that proved the rule. She honestly fell in love with Jack Barakat.

She only wished he felt the same when he looked up at her and started laughing his adorable laugh and falling back clutching his stomach reeling from how far they took that joke.

She knew that would never happen, she was only his best friend’s kid sister; or friend at best.

“You guys are out of your fucking minds.” Rian finally managed to stop laughing long enough to get the words out.

She opened her eyes again more confused about time than before she fell asleep.

Her mind began demanding that they just do what they’re going to do already.

She was longing for their torture.

Little did she know this was phase one of the torture.

What she did know was it would only get worse.