I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

Kyle and Harley were becoming fast friends, hanging out at every possible free moment.

Kyle seemed to be the one person that actually understood her, and was there for her as a sort of release from her horrible life. He listened, he made her laugh, and he was what she needed to keep Harley balanced.

It had been so long, Harley had forgotten what it was like to have a good friend in her life.

As her friendship with Kyle grew, her friendship with All Time Low continued to shrink.

It seemed as though the crew and members of All Time Low were ignoring her, acting as though she didn’t even exist. So, while they isolated her from their parties and jokes, Harley continued to hold phone conversations, or go for walks with a certain Kyle Burns.

At first, things were okay. Things had returned to the way they were when Harley had first embarked on Warped Tour—she was on outsider who leaned on others outside of the band for support.

It was when Harley found out the reason that they were ignoring her, that things began to unravel in an unpleasant way.

Jack had approached her one afternoon, as she typed away on her laptop with her bunk certain closed. She had greeted him, awkwardly, the communication between them altered now that both had not spoken to each other for days.

He climbed into her bunk, causing her to have to retract her legs and curl them underneath her so that he could fit in the small space.

“Is it true?” Jack had asked, his brown eyes narrowing slightly with a hint of conviction and scrutiny.

“Is what true?” Harley asked offhandedly, continue to type a letter to a friend back home.

“Is it true...that you’re sleeping with Kyle Burns?” Jack must have misinterpreted her confused expression, for he continued, “Not that I care, but that’s what everyone’s saying. After all, it’s your life so you can do whatever the fuck you want with it, and I actually like Kyle. I would never judge you like that Harley, and you know that...”

“No,” Harley cut him off abruptly, “I know that you wouldn’t believe something like that, Jack.” She paused, realization hitting her as to why everyone seemed to be ignoring her. “What do you mean, I’m sleeping with Kyle Burns?!”

Jack’s eyes widened in comprehension, before cursing under his breath.

“Lisa spread this stupid fucking rumour that you and I were sleeping together. The guys got pissed, and I told them that we were just awesomely cool best friends.” Harley found the corners of her lips pulling upwards at the mention of her and Jack being best friends. “But Lisa had also spread a rumour that you were sleeping with Kyle; and even though I told Rian that it was fake, he saw you and Kyle together and went ape-shit. He, Lisa and Alex came up with this plan and convinced everyone to ignore you because apparently you are some sort of slut.”

“Alex?” Harley’s voice rose an octave as she felt her heart drop, “He called me a slut?”

“Well,” Jack paused, gnawing on his lower lip, hesitating, “Not exactly using that word, but something along those lines. I’m sure Lisa was putting him up to it.”

Did Alex really think of her as a slut? Or was he just jealous that she was ‘sleeping’ with Kyle?

“Right,” Harley sighed, nodding her head slowly. Jack continued to look at her, waiting for her to say something more. When she remained silent, he spoke.

“So, we’re cool right?” He grinned.

“Of course, Jack.” Harley said, her mind racing.

She knew that Rian would not believe her if she told him that she wasn’t sleeping with Kyle, because he probably had been brainwashed by Lisa and Alex. And Alex...well, Harley didn’t want to think about him then. Maybe, if people were staying away from her because of Kyle, she could stay away from Kyle and they would believe that she wasn’t sleeping with him.

Harley grinned, formulating a plan in the back of her mind. Jack continued to talk, happy that he was reunited with his friend, about what appeared to be some sort of football game that had occurred the night before.

Harley forced herself to listen, just happy that things were slowly returning back to normal. Maybe, things would be looking up from now on.

_________________________

Ignoring Kyle had fit easily into Harley’s everyday routine.

When he called, Harley looked at the Caller ID on her small cell phone and pressed the decline button. When he sent her a text, she read it over, her heart breaking after every word, before she would delete it and act as though it had never even been in her phone.

When he would spot her in the crowds, she would weave her way out of his sight, busying herself with another conversation. When he was playing with Forever The Sickest Kids, she would avoid the stage at all costs. The parties he went to, she avoided. She only ventured out of the bus for her merchandise shift, and even then, she only worked when she had too.

Jack’s visitations were frequent, which helped her keep up the social aspect of her life without talking with Kyle. Her plan seemed to be working, and the band was slowly bringing her back into their conversations at the sight of a Kyle-free Harley.

The only time avoiding Kyle was unavoidable, was when he appeared in front of her a week after the rumours had started.

Harley had been sipping on a Red Bull energy drink, downloading some new music to her iPhone, when a head of platinum blonde hair poked its way through the door.

Harley had not taken much notice, her eyes still glued to the computer screen, but it was only when Kyle’s lanky figure was straight in front of her bunk that she knew she was in trouble. In fact, she was screwed.

“What do you want, Kyle?” She snapped, watching as his dark brown eyes clouded over with confusion.

She knew she had caused him pain, and he looked generally worried for her, which caused her heart to break. Her hand found its way to her mahogany hair, and she began running her frail fingers through it in attempt to appear angry and not the nervous wreck she actually was.

“I want to know why you’re not talking to me.” Kyle said, even though Harley had already known that he would say that.

She glanced longingly at the door, wishing that Kyle would just notice how uncomfortable she felt and he would just leave. Knowing that her wish would not be granted, she scoffed, crossing her bony arms across her chest.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been busy.”

“You’re a shit liar,” Kyle hissed, towering over her. “And you know how I know that? Because I’m your friend, and I know you.” Harley opened her mouth to object, but he continued. “So can’t you just tell me why you’re staying away from me?”

Harley sighed, knowing that Kyle was too persistent to leave without an answer. “Lisa sort of...started this rumour that you and I are sleeping together, and now none of the band is talking to me.”

“Sleeping together?!” Kyle laughed. He did more than that, he went into hysterics. Harley stared at him wide eyed as he gripped his sides and continued to chuckle, obnoxious laughter spilling out of his lips. “Why would I—you know I have a girlfriend right?”

Harley thought back to all of the conversations that Harley and Kyle had, and attempted to remember Kyle speaking of his girlfriend. Kyle had talked about girls, but none of them were someone that he specified he dated.

“You...do?”

“Yeah, Mindy White.” He nodded affirmatively, before chuckling once again. “I can’t believe Lisa would do that! She’s the bitchy blonde right?!” Harley found herself laughing, but quickly caught herself.

“No, Kyle! Stop that!”

“Stop what?” He asked, sniggering again. “I know bitchy isn’t the nicest word, but I think I’m entitled to call her whatever I w—”

“I’m not talking about insults!” Harley sighed deeply, “Stop trying to be friendly! Can’t you see that I can’t be your friend!”

“Why not?” Kyle furrowed his eyebrows, pouting slightly. “All you have to do is tell them that I have a girlfriend, and that I’m not sleeping with you. It’s quite simple.”

“They won’t believe me! In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the best person to talk about infidelity.”

“You’re over-thinking things, Harley. Just like you always do. And Rian doesn’t know that you cheated on Travis. Just tell Rian how you feel. Be calm, and he’ll listen.”

“Kyle!” Harley frowned, raising her voice slightly. “You’re not listening to me! I can’t tell Rian anything. Rian still thinks of me as a stupid little girl who is ten fucking years old! He’s never going to understand me, and for some stupid reason, I thought that maybe you would understand me!”

“I do understand you. I just think you’re being too sensitive about this.”

“Kyle!” Harley cried, standing up but only reaching Kyle’s chest. Harley attempted to glare at him, but had to crane her neck painfully to do so. “Don’t you understand? I can’t be seen with you! I can’t be near you. I can’t talk to you. You just, you need to go.”

“Harley I just think—”

“I know!” Harley snapped her fingers, ignoring him. “I’ll call you later, when the guys are passed out. I think they’re coming back soon, and if they see me with you, they’ll freak out. You should leave now, we’ll talk later and sort this all out.”

“You’re not being fair to me Harley.” Kyle said, frowning. “You wanted a friend to listen to you, but you won’t let me help you.”

“Kyle,” Harley frowned, “it’s my life. A lot of people on this tour have been forgetting that. I can do what I want, okay?”

“I’m not stopping you,” Kyle raised his hands in defeat, smirking, before heading towards the door. She watched his retreating figure until it was out of her sight.

“Now, they can’t find out about this, okay?” She called out, and heard a grunt of agreement from Kyle.

She heard the sound of the bus door open, as well as the sound of Kyle’s voice faltering.

“Uh, Harley?” Kyle called, causing Harley to advance towards him.

“Yeah?!”

“Your brother is at the door.”

Of fucking course.

Harley felt her heart rate increase as she swung her legs off the bed and onto the floor, before pulling her body into a standing position. She found herself walking towards the door briskly.

Might as well get herself ready for a confrontation.

What she saw in front of her would have been thoroughly amusing, had it not been under those circumstances.

Kyle was standing, on one side of the door, getting ready to leave. On the other side of the door stood Rian, Kara, Alex, Lisa, Jack, Zack and Flyzik.

Rian and Alex looked thoroughly pissed off, though both of them barely reached Kyle’s chin. Lisa looked amused, like a gossip blogger ready to post something on her site, while Jack had his face twisted in an oh-shit-what’s-gonna-happen-now?-face. Zack looked doubtful, but otherwise his expression was indifferent. And Flyzik, Flyzik had no idea what was going on, and was currently looking over something on his clipboard.

Kyle was the first to speak, tugging his beanie over his ears.

“I was uh, just leaving.” He seemed intimidated by Rian and Alex’s double-glare, but used his height to push his way through the small crowd that had gathered by the bus’ step.

“What’s he doing here?” Rian asked through gritted teeth, his tongue poking the side of his cheek in a way to force himself to keep calm.

“He and I were talking, that’s all.” Harley attempted to keep the calm as Kyle had suggested, but found her anger boiling at the sight of Rian’s assumptions wafting through the air.

“I’m sure,” Rian attempted to smile, but it came out as a forced grimace. “Why do you do this Harley? Why do you have to be such a, such a...slut?” An intake of breath was heard from the group surrounding them. “I brought you on this tour because Mom and Dad had nothing to do with you this summer! I—” His voice rose in anger, and he found himself yelling and screaming, just like Travis had weeks before.

Harley flashed back to Travis, and felt a familiar pang of guilt, but returned her focus to Rian.

“You brought me here because you wanted to seem like the good kid! Don’t fucking lie! It’s always like that, isn’t it Rian? You always want to appear like a fucking SAINT so everyone will love you! You just want to be Mr. Popular, Mr. Fun-loving. But you’re not!”

“I am not the good kid, Harley! That’s quite obvious! I fucking drink and party every day, that’s not exactly a saint! I brought you here because I felt sorry for you! Mom and Dad always talk about how you’re such a nuisance to them! All they would do is complain about you and how you do nothing and how you’re so shy. They probably told you that Warped Tour was a good opportunity or some shit! Yeah, right! They just wanted you out of the house, so they could get rid of you!”

“SHUT UP.” Harley yelled, tears accumulating in the corner of her eyes at Rian’s harsh words. “Mom and Dad love me, and you know it! They just wanted us to get along, but obviously, that’s not happening. You’ve been such a fucking dick to me this entire tour! I’m twenty, Rian! I am fucking twenty! I’m not two years old! You can’t keep treating me like shit!”

“I’m not treating you like shit!” Rian yelled, feeling all eyes on him. “I’m protecting you! I don’t want you to make the wrong decisions. I don’t want you to become a screw up that has to quit college just because you’re having a fucking baby or something! I didn’t get to go to college, Harley. If this doesn’t work out of me, I need other options! And I don’t want you not to have options!”

“Screw options! I can do what I want! Options have nothing to do with sleeping with people. You and Kara have sex all the time. Am I not allowed to have sex with anyone? I’m sure you lost your virginity in high school, and I did too! I’m not a virgin, Rian! I can sleep with whomever I want. I’m not even sleeping with Jack, or Kyle. Kyle has a girlfriend anyway! Right, Kyle?”

“Yeah, I do. Her name is—”

“Shut the fuck up, Burns.” Rian scowled, cutting him off. “I don’t care about your virginity. I just care what you do on this tour. I don’t want everyone talking shit behind your back, Harley! They’ll call you a slut, and gossip behind your back and the next thing you know, your love life is up on the internet for a million rabid fan girls to see. I don’t want to find out that my little sister slept with someone, and I don’t even know about it. If you’re in a relationship, just fucking tell me. It’s not complicated!”

“JUST FUCKING TELL YOU?!” Harley shrieked in bewilderment. She stared at him, wondering if she had seriously gone through all this shit and he wanted her to just fucking tell him. “JUST FUCKING TELL YOU? IT’S NOT COMPLICATED?! YES, RIAN. FUCKING YES, RIAN.” Harley seethed, her throat becoming sore from all the shouting. “I AM JUST FUCKING TELLING YOU THAT EVER SINCE I STEPPED FOOT ON YOUR GODDAMN TOUR BUS, I’VE FELT OUT OF PLACE AND NOT WANTED. EVER SINCE I MET TRAVIS, THE ONE GUY WHO I ACTUALLY THOUGHT LOVED ME, YOU’VE TRIED TO RUIN OUR RELATIONSHIP. AND AT FIRST I’M THINKING ‘OH, OKAY, HE’S JUST BEING OVERPROTECTIVE’ BUT YOU AREN’T, RIAN. YOU ARE JUST BEING A FUCKING PRICK.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT ME! I AM NOT A FUCKING PRICK! YOU ARE—” Rian yelled, the vein in his neck sticking out slightly.

“All I want to do is have fun, Rian! All I want to do is have a good time, and have an actual summer that I can go to my friends back home and talk about! All I get is a summer where I have to fucking WORK MY ASS OFF in order to get paid a crap amount of money. All I get is a fucking boyfriend who I couldn’t even spend time with because you would always insult him. If you wanted me to JUST FUCKING TELL YOU, I will. IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, YOU’D UNDERSTAND.”

“I do know anything about you! I know everything about you!” Rian attempted to calm Harley down, who was now a flushed, screaming mess.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! DO YOU KNOW THAT TRAVIS BROKE UP WITH ME? DO YOU KNOW THAT KYLE AND I WERE GOING TO STOP BEING FRIENDS ANYMORE BECAUSE OF YOU?! DO YOU KNOW THAT I FUCKING SLEPT WITH FUCKING ALEX?! NO, YOU DON’T!” Harley screamed, her eyes widening once the words left her lips.

Harley felt the air around her turn cold as a blanket of silence covered the group. After a few moments of processing and shock, the silence was broken.

“WHAT?!” Jack, Rian, and Zack seemed to crow all at once, their gazes alternating between Alex’s shocked face and Harley’s embarrassed one.

"Holy fuck." Jack murmured, shock evident on his face., “I did not see that one coming.”

“ALEX?!” Lisa scowled, her eyes glaring at Harley menacingly. “You’re kidding me right! You’re fucking kidding me!” Alex just looked back at Lisa, Rian, Jack and Flyzik, who was now looking up from his clipboard.

“I, uh, I have to go.” Alex mumbled, attempting to walk away.

“Alex, what the fuck? How could you cheat on me with this slut?!” Lisa swivelled around to turn to Harley as Alex made his escape. Rian was yelling and cursing after him, while Flyzik was attempting to calm down the group. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” Lisa screamed, her lipstick-covered lips turning into a scowl. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” She repeated, throwing herself at Harley with her nails out in a clawing gesture, attempting to scratch at her face like a cat.

Harley stumbled back as the weight of Lisa crashed onto her, and both girls tumbled to the floor. Harley felt pain ripple through her spine as Lisa pushed her down, one hand on her throat and the other on her face. Harley felt the salty taste of blood as it began to pool in her mouth, the bitter red liquid causing her to flinch.

This was all too much to process. Lisa was on top of her, Alex was running away, Rian was cursing, no doubt ashamed about his younger sister and Jack was shouting something in the distance. Harley felt her mind spinning and the air leave her lungs as she attempted to struggle against Lisa's vicious attacks.

Att first Harley wanted to fight her, but there was no point in attacking Lisa when she was the one who had commited the crime. Sure, Lisa was a bitch. But Lisa wasn't the one who slept with Harley's boyfriend.

“Catfight!” Jack hooted, jumping up and down like an excited child.

“Dude, grab her!” Rian screeched, as Matt and Zack grabbed onto Lisa’s forearms before dragging her off Harley.

“I’m going to fucking beat your ass!” Lisa yelled, attempting wriggle out of Harley’s grasp. “HOW DARE YOU FUCK MY MAN!”

Zack and Matt dragged Lisa away and were followed by Jack, who was no doubt calming her down in the bus, away from Harley and Rian. Alex had disappeared long ago, leaving Harley to stand awkwardly, awaiting a lecture.

Harley looked for the platinum blonde hair of Kyle, but he appeared to be absent from the scene as well. Sighing, Harley looked at the floor, inspecting the solid gray cracks of the concrete. Harley licked her lips, tasting the metallic flavour of blood.

“Harley Marie Dawson,” Harley heard Rian’s deep voice thunder in a tone that she had never heard before, almost like a parent. She meekly looked up at him, and noticed the expression of pure anger that masked his face. “You are going to stay in your bunk for the rest of Warped Tour. You are not going to talk to anyone including Jack, Kyle, Zack, any of the crew members and you are not to touch Alex. You are going to fucking do what you’re told, and only go out of the bus when you have to work. When you work, you are only to talk to Vinny for business purposes, or not at all. You are not going to party. You are not going to do anything.”

“But—”

“You are not going to do fucking anything, do you understand?”

Harley’s tawny eyes locked with Rian’s identical ones, and it was only then that she noticed the smouldering look of pure fury that swam within them. She nodded slowly, a sense of fear floating throughout her body.

“Good,” he grunted turning back to the bus. “Now go to your bunk. And stay there.”

And it was then that Harley realized that she was right back to where she had started.

She was at rock-bottom, and the tears in her eyes proved it.

But things couldn’t possibly get any worse. Or could they?

After all, it was Warped Tour.