Comfortable Liar

concert; to act in harmony or conjunction; to form combined plans

"You guys were amazing!" I yelled as I jumped on Alex's back.

"Yes, we were," Brandon said and wrapped an arm around Aiden's shoulder. As it turns out, they used to date about a year ago. They were together for three months and then decided that they were just better off as friends.

"They sound so modest," Raynee said with a smile.

"Hey, who's this?" Dan asked.

"This is our newest friend, Raynee. So play nice," Aiden said and glared at him. Dan raised his hands in the air and continued to smile.

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"Oh, Raynee! Meet my brother! Alex!" I yelled.

"You don't have to scream in my ear!" Alex yelled back. He pushed at my arms, which caused me to fall back. My body braced itself for landing on the hard ground, but arms caught me instead. I knew it was none of my guys, because they were all in front of Alex. The person who had caught me lifted me back into an upright position and kept their hands on my upper arms.

"Matt," Alex said, glaring above my head.

"Alex," the deep voice behind me said. Matt...but that meant...

"Hi, Red!"

"Someone please kill me," I mumbled. Alex grabbed my arm and jerked me towards him, and then he pushed me behind him. I finally turned around to see the four people I had come to dislike immensely.

"What are you doing here?" Brandon asked.

"We're not here to cause any trouble," Jimmy said.

"That's all you guys know how to do," Kyle said.

"Well, not this time," Brian said.

"I need to talk to you," Matt said, still looking at Alex.

"Do I want to hear it?" Alex asked.

"I think you do," Matt said. It was weird how his facial expression never really seemed to change. Eerie, almost.

"I'll be back in a minute," Alex said. Everyone watched as the two walked away, and then we all turned to look at each other. Most of us were glaring, while the remaining three hellions smiled on.

Alex's POV:

"What is it?" I asked, looking at my former best friend. Yeah, you heard right. Me and Matt used to be really close friends, until we got too competitive with each other.

"Our label wants us to work in the studio, starting after school," Matt said.

"You drug me back here to tell me that?" I asked. Matt crossed his arms and looked down for a second.

"They like your band and they want you to join us," Matt said, almost reluctantly.

"Are you fucking with me? Because I really don't feel like listening to your shit tonight," I said.

"No, here's your proof," Matt said and pulled something from his back pocket. I caught the unopened envelope with my name printed on the front. I looked up at Matt, who just nodded his head. I opened the envelope and quickly scanned the single page. I read it one more time, and then I shook my head.

"You're messing with me," I said. There was no way it could be true, could it?

"Believe whatever you want, V. Call them later and see for yourself. I did my part," Matt said and walked away. I watched him disappear, and then I looked down at the paper again.

Matt's POV:

I walked back to where everyone was, leaving Alex alone with his thoughts, and I instantly felt eyes on me. I didn't even have to turn my head to know who it was. I don't have any room to talk, I was staring earlier.

"Where's Alex?" she asked.

"Still thinking over some things," I said.

"What's he got to think about?" Zacky asked. I just shrugged, not bothering to answer.

"Strong silent type, eh?" I turned my head slightly to the side, and all I could see was a bright sea of red. Bright blue eyes stared up into mine, and she wasn't nearly as calm as she sounded. Every emotion shown in her eyes.

"Something like that," I said. She smiled, and it looked genuine. I could see the anger burning in her eyes.

"You might scare all of them, Matt, but you don't scare me," she whispered, low enough so that I was the only one who could hear. I thought about saying something back, but she had already backed up.

"Come on, guys, let's get out of here," I said. We started to walk off when I heard someone yell my name.

"Matt, wait!" I stopped, turned, and saw Alex jogging towards me.

"What?" I asked, almost impatiently.

"I believe you, and I think we should talk about this," Alex said.

"What's there to talk about?" I asked.

"If we're going to do this, we're gonna have to get along. At least a little," Alex said.

"You willing to do that?" I asked. Alex's hazel eyes, lighter than mine, narrowed.

"I'll do it if you do," he said. I looked past him and at his bandmates.

"And them?"

"They'll do the same, if your guys will."

"Fine, deal," I said.

"Deal," he said. We continued to stare at each other, and then we both turned and walked away.

Erika's POV:

Alex turned around and started walking back towards us.

"What was that all about?" Kyle asked.

"Matt's label wants us to work in the studio," Alex said.

"So we're gonna have to work with them?" Brandon asked.

"For a little while, yes," Alex said.

"Do we have to?" Dan asked in a whiny voice.

"This could be it for us, if we take it," Alex said.

"If? You guys have been wanting this forever," Aiden said.

"Yeah, it's all you guys talk about," Johnny said.

"If you guys don't want to work with them, then we won't," Alex said.

"I can put up with them," Kyle said.

"I guess I can," Brandon said. Everyone turned to look at Dan, who still hadn't answered.

"What the hell? Count me in!" Dan yelled.

"Oh! Alex! Raynee has a question for everyone!" I yelled after jumping back onto Alex's back.

"Yeah, Raynee?" Alex asked.

"Well, why the guys were talking about...guy things, I told the girls about the party Jamie invited us too. We decided that we'd go if you guys came with us," Raynee said.

"I'm always up for a party," Alex said and then looked at the guys. A collective yell erupted, and I took that as a yes.

"Now let's go party, tonight!" Dan yelled. Another yell followed, and we left through the back door to start our night.