You're No Good At Lying

“Man, I love hotels!” Exclaimed Morgan, sending the once pristine duvet into a wrinkled mess as he flopped on one of two large sized beds. Andrew, another tech for the band, fell backwards on to his bed.

“Do you have any advil, Morgan?” Asked Spencer as she leaned against the wall. Her head was pounding, and a chocolate bar could have done her wonders. When he didn’t respond, and instead just carried on his conversation with Andrew, Spencer took it as a ‘no.’ So much for taking care of his little sister.

“Yeah,” he agreed, covering his face with a pillow. “It was really nice of the tour to let us stay in one for the night.” Andrew sat up, his bleach blonde hair falling in his face. Andrew was a nice guy, in Spencer’s opinion, though she was pretty positive he had some form of ADD or ADHD. He tended to twitch a lot, could hardly sit still, and often made crude jokes about her and Zack’s sex life. One time, he offered to go out and buy a pair of kinky handcuffs for the two of them, to which she responded that the only thing she would be doing with handcuffs would be handcuffing him to a streetlamp on the side of the road where he could fester and starve. “Don’t you think, Spencer?”

Spencer tried to hide the scowl on her face. “Uh hu,” she muttered, watching where her foot landed as she entered further into the hotel room. In actuality, what the two boys saw as a five star hotel, Spencer saw as a room full of disease and semen stains. She supposed it was just because they had been cramped on a bus for so long, but then again, so had she – so why was she the only one looking at the hotel room for what it was?

The duvet looked scratchy, not to mention there were stains on it that made Spencer want to puke. The bathroom was small and dingy, and Spencer was pretty positive she saw a pubic hair crawl down the shower drain. Since when could pubic hairs crawl!? There wasn’t much of a view, it smelled musty, it was cramped, and the fact that she would have to spend the night with her brother and his insane friend made Spencer want to curl into a ball. Yet she handled it with the same expression she handled all situations she didn’t like: without one.

“You’ve been spoiled,” Morgan stated with a click of his tongue. “You’ve been spoiled by spending every night for the past week and a half in Merrick’s bus.” Spencer dropped her backpack and stared at him with the kind of intensity that usually made his blood run cold, but today he stared back at her with an equal amount of anger.

“Dude!” Andrew interjected, sitting up quickly on his bed. “I heard their bus has TVs in every bunk!”

“No way,” Morgan refuted, turning over on his side so he could face the bottle blonde.

“Is it true, Spencer?” Questioned Andrew.

Sarcasm had no use for Andrew, because it all just went over his head, but Spencer was in no mood to correct their petty rumors. “Oh yeah,” she said flatly, “and there’s an aquarium.” She saw Andrew’s eyes go wide as she leaned down and began to dig through Morgan’s bag. Spencer pulled a crisp ten-dollar bill from his wallet as the boys’ conversation about the All Time Low tour bus became heated. In the midst of their argument she exited the room, trying to remember where exactly she saw the vending machine on the way up.

Her steps made a soft pitter-patter on the carpeted floor, the elevator nearing reach. The ride down was silent, albeit a bit awkward as she stood in one corner and a-middle aged man in the other. When they both exited, Spencer made a beeline for the vending machine, looking inside with heightened anticipation. As if the world was crashing down on her in slow motion, she saw that there were no more chocolate bars. Sure, there were chocolate bars with caramel filling, with peanut butter brittle, with fruit pieces, but those didn’t look nearly as appetizing as they sounded. Spencer wanted a pure bar of chocolate. With an exasperated sigh she spun on her heel and ambled towards the hotel gift shop. For a moment she considered waiting until everyone went out; the hotel gift shop was going to be incredibly expensive. But then again, it was Morgan’s money she was spending, and Spencer wasn’t exactly on good terms with him right now.

Ever since their fight a week or so ago, the air between them was cold and intense. Taking Zack’s advice, Spencer refused to apologize for the comments Morgan said to her. At the same time, their argument wasn’t like most arguments they had, and they both knew that this wasn’t something that they could just forget and get over.

In other words, spending his ten dollars would feel like sweet, sweet revenge. Not nearly enough revenge, but just the right amount to get her through the night.

Chocolate bar and magazine in hand, Spencer scanned the medicine options that sat before her. Each bottle of pills was more expensive than the last, and yet with every type of medication she rejected her head seemed to pound harder. Finally, she reached out and took the smallest bottle of Advil offered, scanning the label and considering if she had any other options.

“Oh my gosh!” She breathlessly exclaimed, feeling a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. A pair of lips made their way up her neck, and Spencer melted into the embrace of the man she had been hoping to see all day. “Zack!” She girlishly squealed as he hugged her a bit tighter.

“Why are you buying medicine?” He finally asked, spinning her around.

“I have a headache,” responded Spencer, trying to walk towards the cashier but was blocked by Zack. She rolled her eyes as he brought a hand up to her forehead, though inside Spencer felt a swell of happiness. Zack wanted to make sure she was okay; the last person that cared that much was her mother. “Do I feel warm?” Spencer asked softly, and Zack shook his head once he had removed his hand from her face.

“No, you feel alright.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling contently. In one swift movement, Spencer ducked under Zack’s arm and began making her way towards the cashier to pay for her three things. “But I’m still going to buy the Advil,” called the girl over her shoulder. Pushing her purchases towards the man behind the counter, Zack caught up to Spencer swiftly, his hand instinctively resting on her lower back.

“$9.89 is your total,” he said, and Spencer breathed a sigh of relief. She handed him the bill and received a few coins in return. With her chocolate, magazine and Advil in the bag, the couple walked out of the store and back towards the elevator.

“So what are you doing tonight?” Zack asked, and Spencer shrugged.

“I guess I’m doing whatever Morgan’s doing.” She paused, before asking, “Are you excited for your interview?” With an amused grin on his face, Zack chuckled.

“How did you know I had an interview tonight? I didn’t even know until this morning.”

“Because,” Spencer responded with a cheeky smile, “You combed your hair and you brushed with a different toothpaste. Crest instead of Colgate?” Zack rolled his eyes. “It’s working!” She insisted, taking his hand in his. “Your smile looks whiter already.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Zack grumbled, pulling her for a heated kiss just as the door opened to her floor. He stuck his hand out so the elevator door wouldn’t close, his other hand sliding something thin into Spencer’s back pocket. “We’re getting back from the interview at 11:30,” he stated quietly. “Room 614. You can let yourself in.”

“I’ll be there,” she responded, leaning up for one more kiss before she took the step out into the hallway. When the doors closed, Spencer pulled out what she already knew to be a room card, her excitement inflating to a size that she had never known before.

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“Are you almost done?” Spencer yelled over the blasting music as Morgan downed what must have his seventh drink.

“Nearly!” He exclaimed, spinning on his heel and making his way back into the dance floor. Spencer wasn’t going to stand for this; it was nearly 11:15, and none of her brother’s friends showed any sign of wanting to return back to the hotel. She was hoping to go out for dinner, not to a club. And for crying out loud, Spencer didn’t wear that damned push up bra (the one that both tortured her and made her chest look huge at the same time) so that men she didn’t know could stare at her. She wore it for Zack, and at this rate he would never get to see it… or see her wearing it… or… or… Spencer didn’t know. But things weren’t going as planned.

With a frustrated groan, Spencer pushed and shoved her way towards the door. She would walk back to the hotel if she had to, and Morgan could find his own way back for all she cared. Facing the blistering wind, Spencer wrapped her arms around herself and walked the way she came. Each step felt like she was being pushed back, but she knew that the quicker she got back to the hotel, the quicker she could see Zack.

Nearly twenty minutes later the hotel was finally in view, and Spencer’s pace had quickened to that of a brisk walk. She had texted Morgan a few minutes ago and explained that she had already left, but like she had assumed, he had yet to respond. Spencer welcomed the warmth of the hotel with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. The trip up to his room was uneventful, and with shaking hands Spencer slid the card into the receiver and waited for the light to turn green. “Zack?” She called, closing the door behind her. Spencer was thrilled to find that the heat had been cranked up, and she felt comfortable even as she slid off her coat and hung it behind the door.

“Hey Spence,” Zack responded, sitting up on the bed and muting the TV. “How was your night?” Spencer shrugged as she kicked off her shoes.

“Alright, I suppose. How did the interview go?”

“Really well,” he gushed, and Spencer smiled. She crawled on to the bed with Zack, lifting up his arm so she could lie close to him. Zack turned the television back on, but Spencer wasn’t in the mood to just sit around and watch the news. She couldn’t explain why or how, but Spencer felt… pretty. She straightened her hair, put on her favorite sequined tank top, and paired it all with her lucky pair of skinny jeans. And since nothing even remotely ‘lucky’ happened to her when they went out tonight, Spencer was going to make her own luck.

Before Zack had time to react, Spencer was straddling his hips and attacking his lips with hers. “Whoa,” Zack muttered, looking Spencer in the eye when she pulled away a few moments later. “Where is this coming from?”

“C’mon, Zack,” Spencer begged, leaning down and sucking on the spot next to his collarbone that made him go wild.

“Alright, alright,” he moaned, running his hands up and down her sides. “But are you sure?”

“What am I – sixteen?” Spencer teased, brining her lips back to his. “Of course I’m sure.”