Just Like You

Rustling from outside my bunk wakes up and I groan within two seconds. My head has been cut open by evil little elves and their tiny pick axes are slicing into my brain.

The curtain is pulled open and I groan again as light hits my eyes. Emily’s smiling face is the first thing I see.

“Good morning, Ms. Whiskey, how are you today?” her singsongy voice is grating to my ears and I clutch at them. She hands me some Tylenol and a glass of water. I quickly down them before chugging the water. My scratchy throat soothed and the promise of the removal of pain, I turn over to go back to sleep.

”Oh no you don’t,” she grabs my shoulder and pulls me back over. “The doors just opened, you’ve gotta get up. Our set is at two and Paul’s looking for you,” she leaves me with that.

I groan and stumble out of bed and into the bathroom after grabbing some clothes. I pull on some black cloth shorts and a zebra print tank with a zipper down the middle. A red see-through top goes over. After putting on some pink lipstick and a little mascara, I head out of the bathroom for my jewelry box. I grab a bunch of bracelets and put them on. Some blue feather earrings go in my first hole and I take out yesterday’s lightening bolts, deciding to leave the second hole empty. A black multichain necklace goes around my neck and I slip on some red flats.

Going for the door, I grab some sunglasses and leave. A body pushes off from the side of the bus and I look over at David. He gives me a hesitant smile.

“Hey,” I smile and he looks relieved. He steps over towards me and looks a little uncertain.

“I’m really sorry about…” he starts sincere, but his tone changes a little, “about hitting that asshole last night,” he ends on a smug note. I chuckle, knowing he’s not really sorry. He’s just making an effort because he’s figured out that’s what I want.

“Don’t lie, it’s not cute,” I smile and he looks bashful, “but anyway, thank you for defending me,” I go up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his cheek. He grins and we head for the mess tent.

His hand bumps against mine a little as we talk about what we’re going to do today. His fingers grab onto mine and I look up at him. He smiles at me before looking forward. My insides churn as I think about what I’m doing.

My plan about Oli seems so far to have been a total failure and a waste of time. And David’s a really good guy. He’s cute, sweet, and an amazing singer. He seems really sincere about liking me, not like that two faced Oli. It was fun while it lasted, but maybe the bigger thing to do here would be to let it go.

We get in line for some food, but David spots Kyle near the front. With a promise to catch each others sets, he heads off for his band mate. Feeling a little awkward, I stand there with one hand holding my other arm, just looking around.

“Good morning, love,” a voice says close to my ear. Startled, I look up at Oli. He smiles at me and stands close to me. He watches my face and when he sees my confusion, he laughs.

“Oh, you don’t remember anything from last night, do ya?” his eyes are mischievous and I start to get a little worried.

“No…what happened?” I ask and he chuckles. He leans close, his lips barely away from mine. His brown eyes are right there in front of me and he chuckles.

“I guess you’ll never know now, huh?” he raises an arm to ruffle his hair as he looks off to the front of the line. My brow crinkles as I try to remember. The last thing I remember is that tech I danced with trying to kiss me. And a hand pulling me away towards the buses…

“We didn’t!” I gasp and look up at him. He laughs at me again and I frantically try to remember the rest.

We reach the front of the line and Oli quickly fills his plate. I can’t help but notice we both take all the vegetarian food. When he notices, he grins.

“Meat is murder,” he points out before walking off to join a group of guys. I stand there awkwardly with my plate of food until I head over to an empty table.

Five minutes into my meal, a blond guy comes over.

“Is it okay if my friend and I sit here?” he asks as he looks a little worried I’m going to say no. I nod enthusiastically and he looks relieved. “Hey John!”

A boy with curl brown hair and a pair of glow in the dark glasses quickly comes over and the two guys sit down. I look at them for a second, trying to figure out why they seem so familiar.

“You’re Brian Dales and John Gomez, aren’t you?” I ask, hoping that I’m not wrong. The blond guy, Brian, grins and nods.

“You know us?” John asks and I smile.

“I love your music. In Color is one of my most played albums on my iPod,” I admit easily and the guys chuckle.

“Good, because I have to say, Kiss N Tell is at the top of my most played,” John says and I grin.

“I’ve listened to Chelsea so many times, I could sing it right now,” I tell them and we’re all grinning. We launch into a talk about pop music in an alternative scene until a body plops down next to me. I look over at Oli with a raised eyebrow.

“Oy, what are you three talking about so animatedly?” Oli asks before shoveling some pasta into his mouth.

“Pop music,” John answers and Oli gags.

“Oh gross. Mainstream is so lame,” he says and Brian, John, and I exchange looks of disbelief. Did he really have no idea who he’s talking to?

“Talk about generic and boring,” Brian rolls his eyes and I bite back a smile.

“Man, everyone and their hardcore moms are doing screamo now a days. It’s completely over done,” John chimes in and Oli glares at them. I let a giggle escape and Oli fixes his glare on me. Without a word, Oli gets up with his plate and returns to the same group of boys.

The three of us break out laughing and I grin at the two guys. “Thanks for that. It seems everyone is taking my side.”

“Well what he did was a jerk move, and then to continue to talk to you? Talk about a dick,” John points out and I can’t help but laugh.

“You guys are so awesome. I couldn’t catch your set yesterday because I was on at the same time, but today I’ll definitely be by,” I tell them as we finish our meals. We toss our plates and head off in different directions.

I head over to the Bbycakes booth, just remembering Emily telling me that Paul was looking for me. When he sees me, he hurries over, a glare on his face.

‘I’ve been calling you all mornin’! Where’s your bloody phone?!” he practically yells. I put up my hands in surrender.

“Back on the bus…uncharged?” I give him a lopsided smile and he heaves a sigh.

“Anyway, all your merch is missing! Me and the guys brought it out after we put up the tent and when we came back with our stuff, all the boxes were gone!” he says and my jaw drops.

“Someone stole it all?!” I ask, flabbergasted. He nods glumly and I don’t know what to say. “What’re we going to do?” I say hopelessly.

“We can order more, but it’ll take at least a week to get here,” he says and I moan. All those days and not a cent made!

“Paul!” we look over at his girlfriend and she’s pointing to a booth across from the tent. A tatted up guy is waving one of my shirts at us, grinning evilly. My jaw drops when I see it’s the Drop Dead Clothing’s tent.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I yell, totally unbelieving. Oli came up to me earlier, acting so smug and thought he could just talk to me after he stole my merch?!

I storm over to the tent and snatch the shirt out of the guy’s hand. I glare at him and he shrinks back.

“Where is the rest of my merch?” I growl and he points a shaking finger behind his tent. Paul and the others grab the boxes after kicking over the boxes of Drop Dead’s clothing. The guy doesn’t do anything because I continue to corner him. “Now where the hell is Oliver Sykes?”

“He checked in here after eating and then said he was going back to his bus,” the terrified guy says and I turn a heel, heading for the parking lot. The crowd parts in front of me as I make my way. People dodge out of my way until I’m at the bus with BMTH spray painted on the side. I bang on the door and it opens in a minute.

Oli looks at me, confused, as I storm past him onto his bus. When I see it’s empty, I slap him.

“How dare you!” I shriek. “How dare you steal my merch and then just act like everything’s all right in the mess tent! How dare you insult me and then act like we did something last night! I would never do anything with you,” I yell at him as he stares at me, completely dumbfounded.

“Stole you merch? What the hell are you talking about?” he says but I just glare at him.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. I bet you told your flunkys to steal my merch. I bet it was your ingenious plan. You’re such a fucking asshole,” I glare at him, getting up in his face. He looks down at me for a second. He seems unsure about something until he presses his lips against mine.

In total shock, I stand still for a moment. He continues to kiss me until I melt against him. I can feel him smirk against my lips, but I’m too busy running my hands through his black hair. His arms wrap around me, holding me tight as our kiss deepens. Blood rushes to my head as his lips move off mine to my neck. My breath comes out in little gasps as he gently nips at the skin on my neck.

“Quinn,” his cool breath runs over my heated skin, waking me up. I push him away, backing up as I do. He reaches for me, but I jerk away.

“Who are you?” I ask, my eyes wide and confused. He reaches for me again, but I brush by him for the door.

Outside, I lean against this side of the bus, catching my breath. As much as I hate him right now, I have to admit he’s an amazing kisser.