Have You Ever Really Danced On the Edge?

We still aren’t talking. It’s been three days, 3 hours, 17 minutes and not a single word. In fact, whenever Pierce the Veil came over to our apartment, it was just Jaime, Tony, and Mike. I had never seen Pierce the Veil apart like this – until a girl entered the picture.

Even Mike, obnoxious and friendly Mike, had resorted to not meeting my eyes. He was probably torn: his brother or his good friend? There was no easy solution. However, Jaime and Tony acted like nothing was wrong, thank God. Jaime would give me updates on how Vic was acting while Tony would hug and console me.

As of late, Vic had resorted to having very little patience with everyone and holing up in his bedroom. Jaime joked that finally, more of the album would be written but I didn’t find that too funny. Half an album about how much I suck… great.

I wanted desperately to take all of my problems, and like ironing a blouse, take out all of the wrinkles – the little petty problems. But there was little compromise with how stubborn Vic and I were. There was no gray area for Vic: we were either together, or not together at all. And that was a tough realization.

Upon my epiphany, I knew we couldn’t really work. It just wouldn’t happen, it was like someone or something didn’t plan for us to be together.

“Stop moping around, it’s not like Vic died,” Tony quips and smiles at me to reinforce his joking nature. I roll my eyes, not actually mad.

“Easy for you to say, it’s been three days of ignore-Anna-and-drive-her-crazy.”

“So you want him to talk to you just so you can, essentially, end things?” Tony asks, his brow furrowing.

I feel my brow furrow as well. When he put it like that… “Well, I mean, I want to end things romantically, but fix things… friendshiply?”

Tony just laughs, “Girls are so confusing.”

“You just got lucky with Steph, she’s probably one of the easiest-going girls I’ve ever met!” I compliment, slapping Tony’s arm playfully in the process.

Tony bashfully looks down and gives me a small smile. I’m telling you, this kid is precious! “Yeah,” He agrees, “She is pretty great.”

“Oh, my god. Stop! I can’t even take it! You’re too adorable! If you and Stephanie don’t work out, please come to me and we will get married.” I say dramatically. Tony rolls his eyes; it’s kind of his default expression when he’s with me.

“Speaking of Stephanie, she wanted to hit the mall with me today. Would you want to come along?”

I contemplate slightly; a break out of this house would be nice… “Okay, yeah, I’ll come.”

- - -

At the mall, Stephanie is a hurricane. She’s talking and talking and talking. Tony and I listen kindly and let her go. She was like that Tasmanian devil from Looney Tunes! She was whirling from store to store.

Finally, Tony coaxed her into grabbing a little lunch at the food court.

Tony and Stephanie opted for Chipotle while I sauntered toward Panda Express. I was patiently waiting in line to order when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn and wish I could die.

While dating Brandon for three years, I had met an extensive amount of family members. In Wisconsin, I would see them scattered about in public, nothing too serious or harmful. But this… this was terrible, awful luck!

The culprit of the tapping was his older sister, Megan. Megan looked similar to her younger brother: brown shoulder length hair that she curled, doe-like brown eyes, and athletic build. In high school, Megan swam on the team so she was very muscular and somewhat intimidating as she was at least 5 feet 9 inches compared to my 5’2.

Her smile was innocent as she opened her arms, “Annabel!” I had never heard her call me just Anna.

I stepped into her embrace, an unsure smile adorning my face. As if things couldn’t get anymore confusing in my love life! “Megan! Hi, what the heck are you doing here?”

Yeah… in San Diego… OF ALL PLACES!

“Oh, I’m actually just here on business. I recently applied for an internship with To Write Love On Her Arms, and I’m actually thinking about moving here: thus, interning in San Diego.”

“Moving?” I say, dreadful. No, please God, NO!

“Well, yeah, and a boy might have something to do with California of all places,” Megan explains and smiles. “However, said boy lives in Oceanside so we’re not exactly close. But it was better than being in Wisconsin and him in Oceanside.”

I’m puzzled, “So why San Diego?”

“This is where I’m interning for now. We’re setting up a tent at the Warped Tour date.”

“Oh! That makes sense. It’s really nice to see you,” I say and look for Tony and Stephanie in the crowded food court. I needed them to distract me from Megan before she asked about –

“So, what happened with you and Brandon, Annabel? I thought things were going pretty well.” Her tone was sincerely concerned for our relationship, but I just felt like she was prying and that it wasn’t any of her business.

“Yeah, we aren’t together anymore. It wasn’t really working. We were too far apart and I’ve been meeting new people that he didn’t approve of.”

“Hmm,” She looks me up and down, probably checking for any sign of a lie. Or any emotion she could report back to him about. “You didn’t cheat on him, did you?”

“Megan! No! It ended on bad terms, kind of - I mean we fought about it. And we haven’t talked, obviously. I think we needed a little bit of a separation. Three years is a long time and we were fighting a lot.”

“Annabel, I’m just asking because Brandon is a mess: a complete and utter mess. He told me things weren’t very positive when you went your separate ways. I don’t know your relationship nor do I claim to but… you guys worked. And I’m honestly worried about him. I don’t want to force you to get back together, but maybe just closure would help.”

“A mess?” I ponder, trying to imagine Brandon being sad about us not working out.

“Yeah,” Megan nodded solemnly. “I know this is probably really stupid hearing this from me. But Bran needs someone to talk some sense into him. Binge drinking and signs of depression is something you should take seriously, Annabel. Please tell me you’ll try to talk to him?”

I feel numb. “Yes, I will. I promise.”

“Oh, Annabel. Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t agreed. He’s really a mess –“

“Annie, damn girl, this line is super long!” Stephanie comes bounding up, not noticing Megan. “But look! McDonalds is open!”

I clutch onto Stephanie’s arm, catching Megan's bewildered face. I take that as my cue to leave. “Oh! Yes, I see it! I’ll get Panda Express some other time. Thank you, Megan. For keeping me informed and uh… it was nice seeing you! BYE!”

As soon as we’re a safe distance away, Stephanie is asking who Megan was.

I shudder, “She was no one. Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t want to talk about Megan and her crappy family. However, a feeling of guilt about Brandon’s behavior was seeping in. And as much as it would suck, I would definitely have to step in. Once again, I was balancing two boys on my shoulders. I fear I would surely shatter.