Light Me On Fire

“So, you’re coming to band practice today, right?” John asked me, as he pulled to the front of my house.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

I looked at him. “That’s what I said.”

He stared back at me for a moment, before shutting the car off. He turned in his seat and cocked his head to the side. “Okay, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, facing the front so I didn’t have to look at him.

“Why the sudden attitude? You were fine before we got to Denny’s.”

“I don’t have an attitude.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t,” I said, finally looking at him.

He rolled his eyes. “Are we really going to start this shit again, Sophie?”

“What shit, John?”

He turned the ignition, starting his car and shrugged. “Whatever. Come if you want, I guess.”

I let out a dry laugh. “Now look who’s being a little bitch.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, asshole.” I placed my hand on the lever, opening the door. Before I could get both legs out, John pulled on my arm, keeping me from getting out.

“Why the fuck am I an asshole?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Because you just are, John.”

“That’s not a reason, Sophie. What the fuck did I do to make you angry?”

“Nothing. Now let me go, so I can get out.”

“No,” he said, simply.

“No?” I laughed and pulled my arm from his grasp. “You don’t get to tell me what the fuck I can and can’t do.”

“All I’m trying to do is get an explanation. You don’t get to just be a bitch whenever you fucking feel like it.”

“On the contrary, my good friend, I do.”

He scoffed. “Get the fuck out of my car, Sophia.”

As if I weren’t hurt enough, him saying that really did the trick. I could already feel the tears pricking my eyes. I pushed him as hard as I could, which didn’t really do much but have him bump into the window, before hurrying out of his car. I slammed the door shut and didn’t bother in glancing back at him. I rushed into my house, and up to my room. To no surprise, Nick was still passed out on my bed, lying on his belly.

I kicked off my shoes and climbed in beside him, curling into his side. I felt his arm wrap around my waist, before he turned his head to look at me. “How was breakfast?”

I ran my left hand through his hair. “How did you know I went out to breakfast?”

He chuckled. “I heard you talking to John earlier.”

“Oh,” was all I said.

He must have sensed something was wrong, because he turned onto his left side, facing me and placed his right hand over my cheek. “What happened, baby?”

“Nothing,” I lied, hoping the tears wouldn’t start again.

“Sophia Lyric, don’t lie to me.”

I sighed. “John broke up with Elle.”

He furrowed his brows. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yes. But we sort’ve got into an argument outside.”

“Just now?” he asked and I nodded my head. “What was it about?”

“To be honest, I don’t even know, Nick.”

He gave me a look before pulling me closer to his chest. “Well … I think the guys are having band practice today. We could stop by and maybe you two could work this out?”

I shrugged. “I don’t really care if we work it out or not.”

He laughed and placed a kiss on my forehead. “You’re only saying that because you’re mad at John right now.”

“Whatever.” I wrapped my arm around his torso and buried my face into the crook of his neck. “I have you and that’s all I need.”

“Well, I can’t say I don’t like hearing that.”

I laughed softly and kissed the skin just below his jaw line. “Can we go back to sleep? I sort’ve missed out on a few hours.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” he said.

It didn’t take long before his chest began rising and falling steadily, letting me know that he had fallen back asleep. I, on the other hand, couldn’t get my mind off of the argument John and I had had. I know I shouldn’t have snapped at him, but I couldn’t help myself. He had broken up with Elle, and I still couldn’t have him. I think I was more upset with myself than I was with him. I had a perfectly good, attractive, lovable boyfriend lying right beside me, and yet, I was thinking of his best friend – my best friend.

______________________________________________________

“Hurry up, Sophie! It’s already five-thirty!” Nick yelled at me through the bathroom door.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the black hair tie from the counter. I threw my hair into a sloppy bun, and grabbed my phone, before opening the door. “Happy?”

He smiled. “Very. Now, let’s go.” He held his hand out and I placed my own in it. We made our way downstairs, just as my dad was coming in the door.

“Ah, going out again, are we?” he asked while sifting through the mail in his hands.

I shrugged. “It’s just to John’s band practice.”

He nodded his head. “How are the boys coming along?”

“They’re pretty good, actually. John still acts like a little bitch in front of people, though, so they have to stick to Pat’s garage for now,” I said.

My mother threw me a look. “Watch your mouth, Sophia Lyric.”

My dad laughed. “Well, you two have fun.”

Nick smiled. “Thanks, pops.”

“I’ll be back in a little bit. Love you guys!” I yelled over my shoulder, before shutting the front door. We got into Nick’s car and began making our way to Pat’s.

“So … Are you going to try and talk to John?” he asked, once we were on the main road.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on if he wants to talk to me.”

“What do you mean?” He lowered the volume on the radio.

“John’s more of a bitch when it comes to arguments; he knows how to hold a grudge,” I explained.

Nick laughed and shook his head. “For as long as we’ve been friends, I don’t remember ever getting into an argument with him … That’s weird.”

“It’s not normal,” I joked.

He flipped me off as he made a left turn. “Well, if he does want to talk to you, will you?”

“I guess. We started this argument over pretty much nothing, you know.”

“Well that’s all the more reason to end it.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Soon enough Nick pulled into Pat’s driveway, parking behind the massive white van they would soon be touring in after graduation. He was the first to get out of the car, and I followed soon after. The front door was open, and I shook my head.

“Pat’s just asking for someone to come in and rob him,” I said, before shutting and locking the door behind me.

Nick laughed. “In this neighborhood?”

I shrugged. “It’s a possibility.”

He laughed once more before grabbing my hand and we made our way to the garage. As soon as we stepped foot inside, I nearly fell over. It was hot and muggy and packed with John, Kennedy, Pat, Jared, Garrett, Kelsi, Becca, and another brunette girl I had never seen before. I walked over to the group of girls whilst Nick joined the boys.

“Nice to see you’re finally here,” Becca joked.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I haven’t been having the best day.”

“What’s wrong? You and Nick get into a fight?” Kelsi asked me.

“Nope.”

“Then what happened?”

I looked at the brunette standing awkwardly beside Becca and arched my brows, holding my hand out. “I’m Sophie,” I introduced myself.

She gave me a bright smile, shaking my hand. “Alaska, but everyone just calls me ‘Laska.”

I returned my smile. “I’m assuming you’re here with one of our boys?”

She laughed. “I’m a friend of Jared’s.”

“She says she’s just a friend,” Kelsi laughed.

“It is possible to just be friends with a boy, Kels,” Becca said.

“I know, I know. I’m only teasing!”

Alaska laughed. “Jared’s cousin actually introduced us. Obviously, I go to a different school and after realizing that pretty much every guy that goes there is a douche, she decided to introduce me to her cousin – Jared.”

I smiled. “Well, if you two do hit it off, you better take care of our ginger! He’s precious and I’ll take down any girl who breaks his heart.”

Alaska nodded her head, almost in a timid way, before Jared walked over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “As much as I love you for being protective over me, I don’t need you to scare my friend off.”

I chuckled. “Oh, Jared, you’re so cute.” I pinched his cheek and he slapped my hand away.

She laughed. “Which one are you with?”

“John,” Kelsi coughed.

I glared at her, but before I could speak, Alaska beat me to it. “He’s the one with the dirty blond hair and green eyes, right?”

“That would be her John,” Kelsi said, still stringing along the joke.

Becca laughed and looked at me. “What? Am I supposed to say something?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, that’s John, but I’m not with him. I’m with Nick; the other ginger in the room," I said, raising my voice on the last part.

“I don’t like being referred to as ‘the other ginger’, babe,” Nick said, giving me a look.

I smiled. “Sorry, boo.”

“Babe? Boo? Oh, God, make it stop!” Pat groaned, before taking a seat behind his drum set.

Garrett laughed. “I’m with you, Pat.” Becca cleared her throat and he immediately stopped laughing. “What I meant was-“ his sentence trailed off as she made her way to him.

“What were you saying?” she asked, as she stood directly in front of him.

“Um …” He licked his lips. “Pat?”

“You’re on your own,” he laughed.

Kennedy rolled his eyes. “Kelsi, do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Can you run out to my car and grab me those chords in the back seat?”

She sighed. “Why not? I’m just your girlfriend, right?”

He laughed and gave her a peck on the lips, before handing his keys to her. “I love you.”

“Mhm,” she said, going to turn around.

“Babe,” he said, dragging out the ‘a’.

She smiled and turned back around. “I love you, too.”

“Can we hurry this up?” John asked, grabbing his mic from the stand.

“What crawled up your ass?” Jared asked, after gesturing to Alaska to have a seat on the couch.

“I’ve got shit to do,” he snapped.

Jared rolled his eyes. “Well excuse the fuck out of me.”

Alaska looked at me. “Are they always like this?”

I laughed. “Not really. John and I just happen to have gotten into an argument earlier, hence the reason he’s in a bad mood.”

“Oh,” she said, before arching her brows, still clearly confused.

Becca took a seat beside her. “I’ll catch you up to speed with all the drama.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

I walked over to Nick and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’m gonna talk to him.”

“Good luck,” he told me, before giving me an encouraging smile.

“John?”

He turned around and rolled his eyes. “Oh, look, it’s Miss I-Can-Bitch-Whenever-I-Want.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go outside.”

“Whatever,” he said.

I led us out of the garage, through Pat’s house, and out to the backyard. “I’m not gonna waste time, because I know you guys have to practice, but I’m sorry for earlier. I didn’t have a right to snap at you, and I’m sorry I did.” He nodded his head, but said nothing. “You’re not going to say anything?”

He shrugged. “Do I need to say something?”

“Okay, why the hell do you have an attitude? I just apologized.”

“And I accept your apology.”

“Then why are you still acting like a jerk?”

He sighed. “Look, I’ve got some shit on my mind and I don’t mean to act like an asshole, but I really just need to get this practice over with, so I can go.” He turned around to go back into the house, but I grabbed his hand.

“Hey, hold on, JohnO,” I told him, turning him around, “what’s going on?” I could tell he was debating on answering me or not by the look on his face. “Just tell me.”

“Elle’s not too happy about us breaking up,” he said.

“That’s not surprising.”

“She sent me a text just now talking a bunch of shit, and I really think I need to go talk to her, face to face, before she does something stupid,” he finally said.

I arched my brows. “Stupid? What do you mean stupid?” I asked, throwing out all of my ill feelings towards Elle. If John breaking up with her was causing her to have something like suicidal thoughts, I could push aside her ugly attitude for the time being.

“No, no, not like that,” he said, noticing my expression. “She, um …” He sighed and grabbed my hand. “Soph, she’s trying to get you off the team.”

“What?” I asked, stunned.

“She thinks I broke up with her for you - don’t ask me why. She texted me saying she was going to talk to the coach come Monday, and tell him about you drinking and smoking.”

I felt tears swell in my eyes and I shook my head. “B – but, she was the party, too!”

“She wasn’t drinking, Sophie.” I clenched my jaw and pushed him out of the way. “Wait! Where are you going?!” he questioned, running after me.

“To rearrange Elle’s fucking face!”