Kiss My Ass

Lyle couldn't believe her luck. She wanted to complain, she wanted to cry, she wanted to bitch about how ridiculously unfair it was that she had to work with Alex. She really wanted to. But she refused to let herself; instead, constantly repeating over and over again in her head that life wasn't fair.

Of course, she had known that already.

But she was filled with foolish hope that maybe, just maybe, Alex would be able to suck it up and be the mature one. But that was useless. Alex had never known a mature day in his life, Lyle was sure of it.

She resigned herself to the fact that she would be the one sucking it up and being mature and somewhat stoic (again) because, well, Alex would never be able to. Maybe she had hoped that the two of them could talk privately about everything that had happened. And maybe she had hoped that, since four years had passed, he would've forgotten all about it. But that wasn't going to happen.

Though it was a relief in some way. Instead of calling her a whore (or slut or, well, any insult that he could think of) Alex merely implied that she didn't know how to do her job. And maybe that hurt her on a different level; one could argue that it potentially hurt her even more.

Of course, not that she would ever admit that.

+

By the time Alex sulked back to the apartment (slash penthouse) that he and the band were staying in, there was no way he could hide his frustration. He had barely said anything else the rest of the day and, well, no one was really complaining. A quiet Alex meant a happy band because no one had to listen to him complaining about Lyle.

Because, well, that’s all he had talked about. Whenever he could.

It was quite annoying, really.

Jack cringed as Alex slammed his door shut. “Someone’s on his period,” he mumbled.”

“Well—“ Erika started but she was interrupted.

“Dude, if this is how he’s going to act just because Lyle is helping us on the album, then maybe we should ask for someone else,” Rian said, always the logical one.

Zack shook his head. “I don’t see how that’s fair for her. Should she lose this opportunity because he’s being a queen?”

Rian shrugged. “Good point.”

“Do they even remember why they hate each other?” Zack asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“It’s because Lyle slept with some football player during senior year,” Jack said.

Erika sighed. “It’s because—“

“He’s acting like she fucking cheated on him then,” Zack mumbled.

“She never slept with him,” Erika said loudly, breathing a sigh of relief when everyone stopped talking and actually looked at her.

“But she said she did,” Jack said quietly.

“Technically, no. She just…never denied it,” Erika corrected him.

“That’s just as bad,” Jack mumbled.

“I know.”

“Does Alex know that?” Rian asked.

“At this point, I don’t think it matters. He’s going to find a reason to hate her anyway,” Jack said. Which they all knew to be true—Alex could hold a grudge; he was a master.

“It was four years ago—why does he still care?” Zack asked.

“Because he’s been into Lyle for years,” Jack muttered.

Erika jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “Don’t spread his business around!”

“Well, it’s true!” Jack said, rubbing his side, a pout on his face.

Rian blanched. “For real?”

Jack paused. “Are you kidding me? You guys don’t see it?”

Rian and Zack shared a look before shrugging.

Jack rolled his eyes. “And everyone says that I’m the idiot of the group,” he mumbled.

“What are you saying, Jack?” Zack asked.

Jack just sighed and pointed to his fiancée. “Take it away, babe,” he instructed before walking off to the kitchen.

Erika watched him walk away and decided to try to explain it as clearly as she could. “Alex said he was so mad in high school that Lyle had slept with Ryan because she never told him, right?”

“Right,” Rian said with a nod—he remembered that much.

“Wrong. Well, right because he did say that. But wrong because he was mad because he liked Lyle.”

Zack paused. “I can’t picture Alex actually having a crush on someone,” he mused. “It’s so…odd.”

Erika shrugged. “I pretty much thought the same thing all throughout high school,” she admitted.

“So just tell him that they never slept together,” Zack said with a shrug.

“That won’t work,” Jack said, walking back to the living room with a bottle of water in hand.

“How do you know if you don’t try?”

“Because I know Alex,” Jack pointed out.

“We all do,” Zack snapped.

“It won’t work!” Jack snapped. “Alex is determined to stay mad at her so he can pretend like he doesn’t still care about her. Even if he believed us, he would still find a reason to hate her,” he explained. “It’s Gaskarth 101.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Rian asked.

Jack sighed. “I don’t have an answer for that one.”

+

The next day, Lyle told herself that she would keep her cool. She did not need to freak out on Gaskarth again. She was more mature, more collected than that. Besides, it was completely unprofessional of her to let that get in the way of work.

She got ready quickly, considering she had overslept (only because she hadn’t fallen asleep until roughly three in the morning). Instead of her usual dress-to-impress attitude, she decided she really didn’t care. She dressed in a pair of baggy boot-cut jeans, a white v-neck, and a plain black hoodie. She tossed her hair up quickly and applied a small coat of mascara and lip gloss before grabbing her bag, slipping on her Vans, and making her way to the studio.

Matt was already there but Lyle wasn’t surprised. Even though she was always early, Matt always seemed to beat her there. Joining him in their usual recording studio, she set her bag down on the floor.

“Do you ever sleep?” Lyle asked.

Matt took a sip of his coffee and lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Every now and then,” he joked.

Lyle smiled and spun around in the chair a few times. Okay, she could still act like a child Just sometimes.

“Did you and Alex used to date?” Matt asked her suddenly.

She grabbed the desk of the soundboard to stop herself from spinning. “What?”

“The way he was acting yesterday made me think of the bitter and rejected ex-boyfriend,” he told her.

“No, we—We never dated,” she reassured him. “We all went to high school together—besides Zack. And we just…grew apart senior year,” she said. After all, that was the most delicate way to say it.

“Grew apart?” he asked.

Lyle sighed. “I’d really rather not discuss it,” she said quietly.

“If—“

“It won’t happen again.”

“Lyle—“

“Matt, I promise it will not happen again,” she repeated. “It was the first time either one of us had seen the other. We were caught off guard. I can’t speak for him but I’m going to do all I can to keep myself in check.”

Matt nodded. “Lyle, I only say something because I know you have the chops for this. And I don’t want any sort of personal issue to get in the way of this opportunity for you. So whatever is going on, you two talk about it and work it out, okay?”

Lyle paled. “I don’t think he and I need to discuss this at all.” Yeah, the last thing she needed was to be alone with Alex to talk about high school.

That wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Lyle, if you two can’t work together, I will take you off of this assignment,” Matt told her.

She couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping, but she quickly recovered. After all, she understood what Matt was saying. While part of her was screaming that it wasn’t fair, she knew that was just how the situation worked. “I understand, Matt,” she said quietly.

Matt took another sip of his coffee. “That’s not my first choice, and you know it. I want to keep you on here. But it won’t be up to me, it will be up to the label. And All Time Low brings in money, so they’re going to side with them no matter what. And if your internship is a casualty, that won’t bother them at all,” he explained. “To the label, people like you and me are expendable—the artists are not. It’s not the way it should be, but it is.”

“It kind of is the way it should be,” Lyle said softly. “Our roles exist for the sole reason of the artists. Without them, our positions wouldn’t be necessary at all.”

Matt shrugged. “That’s a cynical way to look at it.”

“Like you said—we’re expendable. Labels have to keep the artists happy more than the employees,” she told him.

“You seem to have a firmer grasp on this than any of the other interns,” he said.

“The other interns are fucking idiots,” Lyle said quietly.

Matt smiled. “I don’t know how some of them were picked in the first place.”

“Probably sleeping with someone higher up.”

Matt paused. “Considering they’re all married, I hope not.”

“Would it surprise you?”

“Not at all.”

Lyle smiled and was about to reply, but the door opened and the members of All Time Low (plus Erika) walked in, smiles on their faces (well, save for Alex).

“Good morning,” Jack said before sitting down on the couch, sipping on a Mountain Dew icee that Lyle recognized was most definitely from Speedway.

Lyle smiled, her eyes falling on the icee. She was jealous; there was no way she could hide it. She hadn’t had an ice in so long.

Rian elbowed Alex in the back, earning himself a harsh glare. “Go,” he muttered.

Lyle glanced between Alex and Rian quickly, before deciding she just didn’t care. She turned away and focused her attention on the sound board. Anything to not have to look at Alex.

Go, Rian mouthed to Alex, pointing to Lyle.

Alex shook his head, mouthing something along the lines of no and you can’t make me to his friend.

Rian kicked his best friend’s shin.

Alex squealed slightly. “Hate you,” he mumbled.

“Go.”

Alex frowned before walking over to Lyle and setting down a Coca Cola icee on the desk in front of her.

Lyle paused, looking at the icee and then up at Alex. She didn’t know if it was a joke, but it probably wasn’t. And while she knew he probably didn’t remember it about her (and, if he did, he probably wasn’t going to be the one to go out of the way to do something nice for her), and while it was probably most of all Rian’s doing, she couldn’t not smile.

“I—We—Rian got that for you,” Alex blurted out.

“Oh,” Lyle said, attempting to hide her surprise. Maybe there was a part of her that thought Alex did remember and did think of her. Whatever. “Thank you.”

Rian rolled his eyes. “It was Alex’s idea.”

“Oh…thank you,” she repeated, though she wasn’t sure what was going on.

“It was not,” Alex snapped.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lyle said quietly. “Thank you…to whoever it was.”

“You’re welcome,” Rian said with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex muttered, rolling his eyes.

“So… Who’s ready for today?” Matt asked with a smile.