Sequel: A Cherry Sunset ›
A Dawn I Thought We'd Never See
Disasters + Dates
“Guess who has a super huge black eye!” Jack Barakat’s eyes were wide with excitement as he sat down beside me under the food tent.
“Guess who is super annoying when I’m trying to eat?” Victoria rolled her eyes and continued to pick at her hot dog while I ignored both of them and scarfed my salad down.
“Anyway!” Jack yelled at Victoria and then faced me with a smile. “You should be happy to know that the jerk from yesterday has a pretty black eye.” This time I rolled my eyes, already guessing he was talking about Oliver.
“Oli’s black eye is so like this morning’s news.” Victoria smirked as Jack’s mouth dropped open.
“Since when did he become ‘Oli’ and not ‘Oliver’?” Jack said Oli with affection, and Oliver with distaste. The scene made me giggle and then start to choke on my lettuce. Jack hit my back cautiously as he continued to stare at Victoria with one eyebrow arched.
“Since I started hanging out with Lee and the rest of the boys,” Victoria told him with a duh tone. Jack gasped dramatically while I looked at her skeptically. It had technically been one afternoon she’d ‘hung out’ with them.
“Traitor.” Jack glared at her.
“Whatever, dork.” Victoria rolled her eyes at him again and then sent a mischievous smile my way. “Speaking of which, we have to go.”
“Go where?” I asked confused as she took my plate away to trash it with her own.
“To watch Bring Me The Horizon’s set, of course.” Now she was giving me her best puppy eyes. “Lee and Tom invited us.” Here she winked at me. “I think he fancies yeh.” She imitated their accents again and Jack switched his shocked gaze to me.
“You! You’re hanging out with Oliver too!” His big brown eyes looked so disappointed.
“Apparently so.” I smiled and waved at him while Victoria grabbed my hand and pulled me up, dragging me with her.
“Bye Jackie!” Victoria yelled over our shoulders. I barely heard him grumble something in response. “So,” she started as soon as we were away from the food tent and merging with the crowd.
“Wait.” I stopped her as something dawned on me. “Who’s watching the merch?” I was surprised I hadn’t mentioned this when she’d showed up earlier while I was eating.
“BMTH pulled some strings and got this guy to cover for us while we watch their set.” I could already feel the drama storm coming when I saw her eyes twinkle. Who would win between Norma Jean and BMTH?
“Oh gee, that makes me so much more excited to watch them!” I faked enthusiasm and Victoria side glanced me a glare.
“Just don’t be rude to them like that.” She completely ignored my lack of want to watch these boys that probably had high pitched singing that would hurt my ears.
“Promise.” I smiled and filled it with as much false sincerity as I could muster. Victoria noticed and slowed our pace so we were walking together instead of her dragging me.
“Why are you acting so dramatic about watching a set instead of working?” She had a point and I was surprised by the answer that came out.
“Because Oliver is a jerk.” I sounded like a two year old and I folded my arms over my chest to fit the part.
“Oh, come on Emily.” Victoria sighed and started to pull me again. “Oliver’s grouchy, so deal with it. He’s hardly around anyway, besides, I already told you Tom likes you.” She winked and had her mischievous grin on.
“Yes, you did, but you know my rules about dating on tour so I don’t understand why you keep bringing it up.” I slightly leaned my weight on her to push her just a bit.
“Because you need to live a little, Em.” She pushed me back and we both started giggling as we tried to push the other to the ground.
“’Ey, ‘ey loves! No reason teh fight o’er meh.” I recognized Tom’s voice and looked over to see Victoria had cleverly steered us toward a stage without my notice.
“Serry Tom, you’re just so irresistible.” Victoria winked before she pushed me toward him and ran off to where I saw Lee standing with some other guys. I stumbled into him and he steadied me.
“’Ey Emileh, ‘ow are yeh?” Tom smiled and I felt my cheeks warm the longer he kept his hands on my sides.
“I’m a bit off balance, but otherwise, I’m great. You?” I pulled calm off pretty well when my insides were being completely chaotic.
Tom opened his mouth while he shrugged but someone interrupted him before he could talk. “God damn. Take the bloody phone!” Oliver marched up to us with a cell phone held at arms distance from him. “She won’t stop fuckin’ talkin’.” His nose scrunched up.It looked cute.
Tom curiously took the phone before giving me an apologetic smile. “Excuse meh.” He walked off and started talking to whoever was on the phone, leaving me with a thick, awkward silence and Mister Oliver.
I crossed my arms and looked over the crowd that was assimilating on the other side of the stage. It was odd that Oliver hadn’t left yet, like he was waiting for me to say something, and I could feel him staring at me.
“What’s yeh’re name?” His voice startled me. Partly because of the long silence we had been in and partly because it didn’t sound like it usually did, harsh and spiteful. Now it sounded soft and melodic.
“Emily.” I begrudgingly responded and turned my face to see him. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t’ grimacing either. I bit my bottom lip as my focus fell upon his left black eye. It made my stomach squeeze.
“I’m Oliver.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked around quickly before stepping close to me and lowering his voice. “And I think yeh owe meh an apologeh.” He stepped back and winked his left eye. The shock wore off in seconds nad replaced itself with anger.
“I owe you nothing, douche bag.” I growled and stomped off to Victoria. How dare he think it was my fault. Douche fit him perfectly. However, as I approached Victoria and a small group of boys, I knew she wouldn’t let me go, not on my own anyway. I quickly pulled my phone from my back pocket and texted to the person in my inbox. SAVE ME! @bmth’s set stage
“Emily!” Victoria’s tone had me hiding my phone as quick as I could and smiling up at her in seconds. “Where’s Tom?” She inquired with that expectant look in her eye.
“Oh. He’s on the phone with, uh, somebody.” I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
“Well come here and meet everybody,” Victoria grabbed my elbow and pulled me into their circle. “You already know Lee, and this is Jona, Matt Kean, Matt Nicholls, but we call him Matty.” They waved as she said their names and I waved back. “And this is Emily, my whore.” I rolled my eyes at her.
“Right, well, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’m supposed to be meeting,” I froze as I realized I hadn’t checked to see who exactly I’d sent my message to. I’d just sent it as quickly as I could.
“Meet who, Em?” Victoria tilted her head and gave me a sickly sweet smile.
“Well,” I hesitated. I’m an awful liar and I know she’s already speculating that I’m lying. Shit, come up with something fast!
“Emily!” I turned at my name by instinct and sighed with relief at the sight of my savior. “Sorry I’m late doll.” He sprinted over and wrapped his arms around my waist, bending over slightly to kiss my cheek. “Hey Vee, I’m stealing my Emily from fyou.” Victoria rolled her eyes.
“Whatever Burns.” I was surprised by how easy she’d dismissed us and turned back to everybody else. I waved with my free hand and let Kyle pull me with my other.
Once we were out of ear shot and going only goodness knows where, I threw my arms around him and squeezed. “I love you, Kyle Burns.” He gave me that wide grin and squeezed me back, picking me up off the ground.
“And I love you, Emily Hale.” Kyle started to spin us in circles. “Which is why,” his serious tone took me off guard as he stopped spinning and set my feet back on the floor. “I’m taking you to dinner.” He grinned proudly.
“Dinner?” The concept escaped me. After all our talks he was completely ignoring the point that I was, in a way, off limits. He looked amused with my befuddled expression.
“Yes, dinner with food and music and you and me.” He gripped my hands in his, giving them a light squeeze. “And I’m refusing to let you reject me this time.”
“Kyle,” I started with my easy-let-down speech, but abruptly stopped when he bent down to press his lips against mine. My stomach fluttered as I tried desperately to ignore the fizzies going on inside me. This was against everything I’d set up for myself. Things could only go worse from here.
Kyle pulled back, still smiling proudly, and took advantage of my speechlessness. “I shall pick you up at six sharp, tomorrow evening. Bye Emily.” He quickly pecked my lips again and then turned to leave, a huge smirk on his face the whole way.
I scowled at his back for awhile, trying to figure out how he cheated me out of my own game, before finally giving up and sighing. I looked around to see that Kyle had dumped me in front of my own merch tent. I rolled my eyes before politely excusing the boy that was supposed to be running the tent, but in reality was just listening to his iPod and ignoring customers.
“Guess who is super annoying when I’m trying to eat?” Victoria rolled her eyes and continued to pick at her hot dog while I ignored both of them and scarfed my salad down.
“Anyway!” Jack yelled at Victoria and then faced me with a smile. “You should be happy to know that the jerk from yesterday has a pretty black eye.” This time I rolled my eyes, already guessing he was talking about Oliver.
“Oli’s black eye is so like this morning’s news.” Victoria smirked as Jack’s mouth dropped open.
“Since when did he become ‘Oli’ and not ‘Oliver’?” Jack said Oli with affection, and Oliver with distaste. The scene made me giggle and then start to choke on my lettuce. Jack hit my back cautiously as he continued to stare at Victoria with one eyebrow arched.
“Since I started hanging out with Lee and the rest of the boys,” Victoria told him with a duh tone. Jack gasped dramatically while I looked at her skeptically. It had technically been one afternoon she’d ‘hung out’ with them.
“Traitor.” Jack glared at her.
“Whatever, dork.” Victoria rolled her eyes at him again and then sent a mischievous smile my way. “Speaking of which, we have to go.”
“Go where?” I asked confused as she took my plate away to trash it with her own.
“To watch Bring Me The Horizon’s set, of course.” Now she was giving me her best puppy eyes. “Lee and Tom invited us.” Here she winked at me. “I think he fancies yeh.” She imitated their accents again and Jack switched his shocked gaze to me.
“You! You’re hanging out with Oliver too!” His big brown eyes looked so disappointed.
“Apparently so.” I smiled and waved at him while Victoria grabbed my hand and pulled me up, dragging me with her.
“Bye Jackie!” Victoria yelled over our shoulders. I barely heard him grumble something in response. “So,” she started as soon as we were away from the food tent and merging with the crowd.
“Wait.” I stopped her as something dawned on me. “Who’s watching the merch?” I was surprised I hadn’t mentioned this when she’d showed up earlier while I was eating.
“BMTH pulled some strings and got this guy to cover for us while we watch their set.” I could already feel the drama storm coming when I saw her eyes twinkle. Who would win between Norma Jean and BMTH?
“Oh gee, that makes me so much more excited to watch them!” I faked enthusiasm and Victoria side glanced me a glare.
“Just don’t be rude to them like that.” She completely ignored my lack of want to watch these boys that probably had high pitched singing that would hurt my ears.
“Promise.” I smiled and filled it with as much false sincerity as I could muster. Victoria noticed and slowed our pace so we were walking together instead of her dragging me.
“Why are you acting so dramatic about watching a set instead of working?” She had a point and I was surprised by the answer that came out.
“Because Oliver is a jerk.” I sounded like a two year old and I folded my arms over my chest to fit the part.
“Oh, come on Emily.” Victoria sighed and started to pull me again. “Oliver’s grouchy, so deal with it. He’s hardly around anyway, besides, I already told you Tom likes you.” She winked and had her mischievous grin on.
“Yes, you did, but you know my rules about dating on tour so I don’t understand why you keep bringing it up.” I slightly leaned my weight on her to push her just a bit.
“Because you need to live a little, Em.” She pushed me back and we both started giggling as we tried to push the other to the ground.
“’Ey, ‘ey loves! No reason teh fight o’er meh.” I recognized Tom’s voice and looked over to see Victoria had cleverly steered us toward a stage without my notice.
“Serry Tom, you’re just so irresistible.” Victoria winked before she pushed me toward him and ran off to where I saw Lee standing with some other guys. I stumbled into him and he steadied me.
“’Ey Emileh, ‘ow are yeh?” Tom smiled and I felt my cheeks warm the longer he kept his hands on my sides.
“I’m a bit off balance, but otherwise, I’m great. You?” I pulled calm off pretty well when my insides were being completely chaotic.
Tom opened his mouth while he shrugged but someone interrupted him before he could talk. “God damn. Take the bloody phone!” Oliver marched up to us with a cell phone held at arms distance from him. “She won’t stop fuckin’ talkin’.” His nose scrunched up.It looked cute.
Tom curiously took the phone before giving me an apologetic smile. “Excuse meh.” He walked off and started talking to whoever was on the phone, leaving me with a thick, awkward silence and Mister Oliver.
I crossed my arms and looked over the crowd that was assimilating on the other side of the stage. It was odd that Oliver hadn’t left yet, like he was waiting for me to say something, and I could feel him staring at me.
“What’s yeh’re name?” His voice startled me. Partly because of the long silence we had been in and partly because it didn’t sound like it usually did, harsh and spiteful. Now it sounded soft and melodic.
“Emily.” I begrudgingly responded and turned my face to see him. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t’ grimacing either. I bit my bottom lip as my focus fell upon his left black eye. It made my stomach squeeze.
“I’m Oliver.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked around quickly before stepping close to me and lowering his voice. “And I think yeh owe meh an apologeh.” He stepped back and winked his left eye. The shock wore off in seconds nad replaced itself with anger.
“I owe you nothing, douche bag.” I growled and stomped off to Victoria. How dare he think it was my fault. Douche fit him perfectly. However, as I approached Victoria and a small group of boys, I knew she wouldn’t let me go, not on my own anyway. I quickly pulled my phone from my back pocket and texted to the person in my inbox. SAVE ME! @bmth’s set stage
“Emily!” Victoria’s tone had me hiding my phone as quick as I could and smiling up at her in seconds. “Where’s Tom?” She inquired with that expectant look in her eye.
“Oh. He’s on the phone with, uh, somebody.” I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
“Well come here and meet everybody,” Victoria grabbed my elbow and pulled me into their circle. “You already know Lee, and this is Jona, Matt Kean, Matt Nicholls, but we call him Matty.” They waved as she said their names and I waved back. “And this is Emily, my whore.” I rolled my eyes at her.
“Right, well, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’m supposed to be meeting,” I froze as I realized I hadn’t checked to see who exactly I’d sent my message to. I’d just sent it as quickly as I could.
“Meet who, Em?” Victoria tilted her head and gave me a sickly sweet smile.
“Well,” I hesitated. I’m an awful liar and I know she’s already speculating that I’m lying. Shit, come up with something fast!
“Emily!” I turned at my name by instinct and sighed with relief at the sight of my savior. “Sorry I’m late doll.” He sprinted over and wrapped his arms around my waist, bending over slightly to kiss my cheek. “Hey Vee, I’m stealing my Emily from fyou.” Victoria rolled her eyes.
“Whatever Burns.” I was surprised by how easy she’d dismissed us and turned back to everybody else. I waved with my free hand and let Kyle pull me with my other.
Once we were out of ear shot and going only goodness knows where, I threw my arms around him and squeezed. “I love you, Kyle Burns.” He gave me that wide grin and squeezed me back, picking me up off the ground.
“And I love you, Emily Hale.” Kyle started to spin us in circles. “Which is why,” his serious tone took me off guard as he stopped spinning and set my feet back on the floor. “I’m taking you to dinner.” He grinned proudly.
“Dinner?” The concept escaped me. After all our talks he was completely ignoring the point that I was, in a way, off limits. He looked amused with my befuddled expression.
“Yes, dinner with food and music and you and me.” He gripped my hands in his, giving them a light squeeze. “And I’m refusing to let you reject me this time.”
“Kyle,” I started with my easy-let-down speech, but abruptly stopped when he bent down to press his lips against mine. My stomach fluttered as I tried desperately to ignore the fizzies going on inside me. This was against everything I’d set up for myself. Things could only go worse from here.
Kyle pulled back, still smiling proudly, and took advantage of my speechlessness. “I shall pick you up at six sharp, tomorrow evening. Bye Emily.” He quickly pecked my lips again and then turned to leave, a huge smirk on his face the whole way.
I scowled at his back for awhile, trying to figure out how he cheated me out of my own game, before finally giving up and sighing. I looked around to see that Kyle had dumped me in front of my own merch tent. I rolled my eyes before politely excusing the boy that was supposed to be running the tent, but in reality was just listening to his iPod and ignoring customers.