I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

“Harley, get over here!” a loud voice hollered from the back of the bus. “Now!”

“Don’t get your thong in a bunch!” Harley shouted back, smiling at her unusual pervertedness.

Grumbling under her breath, Harley threw down the tube of mascara she was about to open, and trudged towards the voices.

Once she reached the couch area, she stopped in her tracks, seeing another person besides the familiar four boys.

“You remember Kara,” Rian stared at her oddly, introducing a recognizable brunette.

Kara had been Rian’s second girlfriend, and his only girlfriend throughout high school.

It seemed as though they were still inseparable, and Harley just wanted to steal a ring and shove it on Kara’s finger already, so Kara could be her sister-in-law.

Of course, neither Rian nor Kara admitted that they wanted to be married, and instead remained content with being in love.

Kara smiled at her and murmured a greeting, ignoring Harley’s appearance.

It was Saturday morning, twenty minutes before Harley was to meet Travis at the coffee shop, and she was a complete mess.

Her hair was in the midst of being curled, and had one or two curlers still remaining attached to some of the strands. Her makeup was only partially done, her lips were covered in gloss.

She had yet to put her proper pants on, and while wearing a nice striped tank top and cardigan, her lower half was still covered in stained sweatpants.

“Nice to meet you,” Harley mumbled back, waving her hand in the air before running back to the bathroom.

Rian shouted something about manners, but Harley paid no attention, and instead shut the door.

She pulled a pair of nice skinny jeans and removed the curlers, beginning to fluff her hair for a tousled look.

A quick knock was heard, before the bathroom door swung open to reveal a surprised looking Kara.

“So...you’re getting ready.” Kara stated, but instead of leaving, she entered the already-cramped bathroom, and shut the bathroom door.

“Mmhmm.” Harley nodded absentmindedly, staring at her reflection in the mirror and running her hand through her hair, attempting to fix it.

“Are you going out?”

“Mmm.”

“With who?”

“Travis.”

“McCoy?”

“Clark.”

“Oh.”

“Mmm...”Harley murmured, picking up the tube of mascara and sticking it carefully near her eye. The bus shook from the potholed road, and a line of black smeared across Harley’s forehead. “Fuck!” Harley spat, picking up a tissue and wiping it off, before glancing nervously at her watch.

“So, where are you going for your date?”

Harley dropped the tissue.

“It’s not a date,” Harley muttered tensely, her voice cracking slightly on the last word. Kara raised an eyebrow, already suspicious of Harley.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” Harley lied.

“You’re lying.” Kara laughed, and Harley sighed, wiping off her makeup and deciding to go natural. She didn’t have time for Kara and her guessing games.

“Yeah,” Harley nodded, giving up. “Who knows? It’s at a coffee shop nearby. But don’t tell Rian, or he’ll flip a shit and come after me with a chainsaw.” Kara smirked and shook her head.

“I promise, I won’t say a word.” Kara smiled, reassuringly. “Have fun.”

“I hope I will.” Harley sighed, pursing her lips and leaning against the bathroom counter.

________________

“Come on, Harleyster!” Jack whined, waving at Harley from across the parking lot.

They had finally arrived in the central plaza, and Harley had stepped off the bus, feeling like a disaster.

She should have been happy, considering that this was her first real stop off of tour.

Though they had stopped in many other cities before, bus stops were usually only for bathroom breaks in proper places, gas, snacks, and fast food stops.

The latter seemed to be the most popular, judging by the numerous McDonalds bags that littered the floor of the living room. At first, Harley had attempted to clean up, but soon the litter had kept on growing, and she began to get lazy.

She should have been happy that she had the day to herself, but instead, she felt like crawling up in a bed and dying.

Her nerves seemed to close up her throat, and butterflies were bouncing around in her stomach, giving her the feeling as though she would throw up.

She approached Jack cautiously, before forging a smile.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna skip out on Wal-Mart. I don’t really like it that much.”

“Why?!?” Jack looked like a deer caught in headlights, as though she had just exclaimed that Santa wasn’t real.

“I’m not a big department store shopper,” Harley lied, “I think I’ll just hail a taxi and go shopping somewhere more low key.”

“Are you sure?” Jack looked worried, “I’ll come if you want...”

“No,” Harley interrupted quickly, “I think I need some time alone.”

“Oh,” Jack smiled, nodding understandingly. “Meet us in two hours, then! I’ll get your number from Rian, and text you when we’re ready to go.”

“Okay,” Harley nodded, not completely believing her preposterous lie.

She watched Jack disappear across the parking lot, no doubt going to tell her brother. She dug around for a moment, finding her phone before sending a text quickly.

Hey, I’m coming now.

A few seconds after she sent it, her phone began to vibrate, making her involuntarily smile.

See you soon, youngster ;)

________________

Most people would have been bored, sitting in a coffee shop with an almost-complete stranger, drinking a latte, but Harley was not most people.

Also, it helped that the almost-complete stranger was Travis Clark.

Travis was right about the coffee shop. It was more of a local thing, so she was surprised that he knew about it.

It was quaint, with paintings in warm colors stretching across the walls. There were small tables, stools and couches that decorated most of the area and an overenthusiastic looking barista watched them eagerly.

Travis looked gorgeous as always, in a light blue shirt that matched his eyes, and dark-wash jeans.

He was sitting across from her, his hands fiddling with the lid of his cup, as he brought the mug of scalding coffee towards his lips.

They were both getting along fine, much like the first time Harley had met him, which was a good thing, since she wasn’t sure if she could handle any awkwardness.

“You’re kidding.” He looked at her, amusement dancing in his bright blue eyes. He brushed his ginger hair back, leaning towards her, surprised.

“No, they actually said that!” Harley laughed, remembering the day before when Jack and Zack had another fight for the remote. “Boys and their remotes.”

“Of course...silly, silly, boys.” Travis shook his head in mock shame, “But us men, that’s a whole different story. We’re much more manly, and fight over much more important things...like the couch.”

“Oh! The couch, how could I forget!” Harley rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

Silence filled the air for a beat, as they looked at each other. They both dissolved into a fit of laughter, causing the barista to rush over to them, asking if they wanted a refill.

Travis glanced at Harley, but she just shook her head. She looked down at her latte, and realized that she hadn’t drunk that much of it.

She quickly picked it up and took a long sip, feeling much more accomplished.

Travis managed to pry the barista away, and turned his attention back towards her. She looked around quickly, noticing that the barista had returned to eyeing them from behind the counter, waiting to pounce and take their cups.

Aside from her, and Travis and Harley, only two other tables were occupied.

One of them was filled with a family of five, two sunburnt parents—the mother with a big floppy sunhat, and the father with a cell phone attached to his ear—and three annoying kids.

Two of them were teenagers, one a boy who looked about fifteen and bored to death. His younger sister, who looked around thirteen, was complaining to her father about why she wasn’t allowed caffeine.

The father paid her no attention, and instead continued to babble on the phone. The mother was taking care of the youngest child, who had proceeded to knock over the coffee mug and spill it on the table.

The boy yelped in surprise, as coffee dripped onto his pants, and the girl continued to whine.

The other table was occupied by a man in his late forties, with salt n’ pepper hair, who was reading the newspaper and had yet to look up.

Travis continued to tell a story about his bandmates, and how one used to sleepwalk, but Harley didn’t pay much attention.

Nothing was wrong, and Harley did like Travis.

Her lack of enthusiasm was because the door had been opened, and in had stepped Zack Merrick.

Harley’s first thought was to panic. Zack was a danger to her, and he could jeopardize her secret relationship with Travis.

Not that she had one now, anyway. But still.

Then she realized that Zack was quiet, and probably would have had her back, since he was one who was the least likely to gossip.

He spotted her almost immediately, and looked utterly confused once his eyes landed on Travis, but he kept his mouth shut. He let out a small wave, moving his fingers upwards before returning them to his side.

He glanced backwards, before walking up to the barista, who was practically jumping out of her seat at the sight of a new customer.

Harley let out a sigh of relief, but her breath hitched once again, as the door opened for a second time. In stepped her worst nightmares...Jack, Rian, Alex and Kara.

Her next instinct was to hide. She wanted to grab Travis and shove him into the women’s bathroom, not caring that he was the opposite gender. She wanted to run in after him, and hide for as long as it would take for her brother and his friends to leave.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Rian seemed set on something, and scanned the coffee shop before his eyes landed on her. He looked betrayed, and a little hurt.

Her eyes flickered to Kara, who was practically hiding behind Rian in embarrassment and shame. It was quite obvious that she was the one who had told Rian where they were.

Harley desperately wanted to run across the coffee shop and give her a good slap on the cheek, but somehow she felt her bottom sink into the chair.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she felt the blood snake upwards to provide a rosy blush on her face.

Rian would yell at her, and she would get kicked off of tour. Shit.

Her eyes landed on Jack. Jack looked surprised, but then immediately excited, which meant that he would no doubt tease her about her date later. She knew she should have found this reassuring, but for some reason, that feeling in her stomach intesified.

She was frozen.

Alex just stared at both Harley and Travis, his expression indifferent.

It was odd, as he had yet to make a perverted comment in the past few days. The barista had hustled over to them, and seated them not too nearby, but close enough to see what was going on between her and Travis.

Kara whispered something to Rian, who looked at her strangely. They glanced at Harley, and it was all Harley could do, not to sink into the ground.

Luckily, Travis was kind and charming, and attempted to distract her from the group sitting opposite her.

“At least Rian didn’t bring his spear this time,” Travis mumbled, and Harley laughed anxiously.

“Is it sad that I can imagine him in a toga?” Harley asked, in a strangled voice.

She was feeling a huge weight lift off of her shoulders as the tension in the coffee shop began to fade. Travis nodded, glancing back at the table near them.

Rian was glaring daggers into Travis’ head, or at least attempting to. How dare he—that twenty three year old bastard—hit on his nineteen year old sister?!

It should have been considered illegal. It was a good thing that his girlfriend Kara had told him about Harley’s meeting place, even if it accidentally slipped out.

He wasn’t sure he could stand thinking about Harley with some idiot like Travis.

Sure, Rian had thought Travis was his friend, but apparently not, since Travis would stoop so low.

Rian observed his table, and laughed. Jack was still chatting rapidly, about something completely unimportant, while Zack was rubbing a coffee stain off of his shirt.

Alex had stayed oddly silent the entire time, along with Kara, as both of them were watching Harley intently.

“I didn’t know Harley liked Travis...” Kara stated finally, glancing at Rian.

“She doesn’t.” He stated sharply, his eyebrows furrowing together. Kara stayed silent, eyeing the couple sceptically. “What makes you say that?’ Rian continued.

“I mean, she’s got the whole ‘hair-flip, smile, wink’ thing going on, and she wouldn’t just get that dressed up over a trip to a coffee shop. “ Kara pointed out, but Rian kept his mouth in a thin line, refusing to believe it. Seeing this, Kara continued, “Travis! Look at him! He’s leaning forward, because he’s interested in her. He obviously thinks she’s pretty, and he’s trying to get her to laugh. They’re perfect for each other.”

“When did you become Dr. Phil?” Alex broke the uncomfortable stillness, speaking for what seemed to be the first time that afternoon.

“I’m not,” Kara defended, “I just think that they’re good for each other. At least, he likes her and she likes him.”

“Fucking—,” Rian growled starting to go off into a rant. He watched as Harley smiled, and Travis lightly touched her shoulder.

“Bullshit!” Alex exclaimed, finishing off Rian’s sentence. Rian looked surprised, as did Jack and Zack, who looked up from their conversation.

“Believe it honey,” Kara smiled, casting another glance at Harley and Travis, “because it’s true.”