Cause a Scene Like You're Supposed To

Katherine Murphy moved her body swiftly, pouring pasta in the pan that was sizzling on the stove top. She waited ten minutes or so for it to get tender, then mixed butter and cheese in it, stirring it around for a few minutes before announcing its completion.

“Lucy!” Katherine called the three-year-old over.

Lucy didn’t budge.

“Mac & Cheese is ready,” Katherine stated, watching Lucy’s lips turn into a grin as she pulled herself away from the television screen and met Katherine in the kitchen as quick as she could. Katherine smiled softly at this, knowing the child loved Mac & Cheese with everything in her.

Katherine poured the meal into two bowls, shut the stove off, and sat down next to her daughter. The two of them sat together quietly, downing their meal quickly.

It was so lonely in that house.

It had been a week or two since Alex left for Warped Tour, and Katherine was coping worse than she thought she would. And believe her, she thought she would cope bad in the first place.

Alex had been calling as often as he said he would, but Katherine was starting to get to the point that she’d ignore half of his calls. The joy she used to get when her phone would ring, displaying his picture on the screen, slowly had began to fade away. Sadness filled its place. Hearing his voice just wasn’t good enough anymore, especially when all he did was tell stories of Warped Tour.

She didn’t want to hear about it anymore. She didn’t care about it anymore.

All she cared about was the boy who was saying it, and he wasn’t there anymore.

Katherine finished up her meal, then cleaned up the mess Lucy had made. The little girl giggled, licking the cheese off her face audibly, and Katherine smiled in response.

In Katherine’s eyes, she was starting to look more like Alex every day, and she was starting to posses his personality traits, as well. Though, Katherine couldn’t be sure if it was really there, or she was just imagining things.

Katherine wished Alex could see their similarities like she could.

But they both knew he couldn’t. Not now, at least.

No, Alex was 3,000 miles away from Maryland—in California. Katherine always kept track of where he was, as much as she wished she didn’t half the time. Alex was bathing in sun and taking pictures of palm trees and putting on shows. And Katherine was sitting in a cold kitchen with her three-year-old, eating Mac & Cheese.

Not that she minded… she just… felt empty. She knew she shouldn’t be this upset. It’s not like Alex was going to be gone forever. With a snap of her fingers, he’d be back again.

She snapped her fingers.

He wasn’t back.

The doorbell rang, causing both Katherine and Lucy to dart their heads towards where the sound came from. Katherine got up and answered it, revealing Christine standing in the doorway.

“What are doing here?” Katherine grinned.

“I was in the neighborhood,” Christine answered, making Katherine laugh. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in years!”

Katherine nodded, agreeing, even though she knew it had only been about a week.

“How are you?” Christine asked as Katherine moved aside, allowing her to enter her house.

“I’ve been better,” Katherine admitted, “Alex left for Warped,” she informed her.

“Oh, right,” Christine recalled, sitting on Katherine’s sofa. “Well, let’s go shopping today!” she offered. Katherine agreed.

She was so thankful for the friends she had.

-----

Alex Gaskarth furrowed his eyebrows in frustration as he reached Katherine’s voicemail once again. He sighed, waiting for the beep to leave the same message he always did.

“Hey Katherine, it’s Alex. Are you ignoring my calls?” Pause. “Well, uh, call me back. Bye.”

She never would call him back. The rare times she’d actually answer when he called, she’d make stupid excuses that Alex could easily see through. He didn’t question them, though. Quite frankly, he was scared of the response she’d give him.

Alex didn’t know what to do. What always kept him going was the fact that there was this amazing girl waiting back home for him. And now, he wasn’t so sure that she willing to wait.

What would she want him to do? What was her plan?

He wondered if she was giving him her permission to see other people. Maybe she was even indirectly asking him to.

No, of course she wasn’t. His imagination and the unknown now blurred the facts. He didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore.

Maybe she found someone else. She was so scared that he would; he could easily see that much. He never thought of it in the opposite way. Maybe he should be scared, too.

He sighed again, still not knowing. All he was doing now was confusing himself.

That night, he was going to call her. He was going to call her until she got so sick of it that she was forced to pick up. And then, he was going to talk to her about it. He was going to get something out of her.

Yes, that’s what he was going to do.

Right then though, he had a show to put on. He was going to put on his happy face and suck it up for all the people out there, and for himself. He had sulked before, and he wasn’t about to do it again.

Besides, he couldn’t deny the happiness putting on a show brought him. Music would never let him down.

Who needs girls, anyway?

Alex Gaskarth sure as hell did not.