If I Had Common Sense, Ronald Radke, You Would be Dead by Now

Heavily dressed in snow-castle-building attire, Monte and I both stepped outside, blasted by the cold air. I glanced at him, and he seemed unaffected by the winds whipping us in the face. I hid my nose under the scarf that my friend had made me back in high school. It smelled like laundry detergent. Well, at least my sense of smell was untouched by the cold. I can't feel my feet. Already.

So into the backyard it was. The space back here was abundant, as was the snow. Literally, the snow was almost at the top of the six foot fence. But that was probably because of the wind causing snow-drifts.

"So uhh..." Suddenly it was awkward, “I guess we're gonna have to just dig into the drift." I suggested.

"My thought's exactly." Monte said. It sounded like he was smiling. Just because I couldn't see his mouth. You know. Scarves and everything.

"Well, let's get to work!" I half exclaimed, half sighed.



I looked at Monte, feeling accomplished. Dusting off my mittens, I crawled inside the large, hollowed out hole that we created in the snow. It was practically a room in itself. Well..not really. Maybe 4 feet wide by 2 feet long and high but that's a considerable size. There's even like.. this little tunnel leading into the room. I was proud. Hopefully it wouldn't cave in on us. We both crawled in, but were huddled next to each other due to the room constraints.

"So..." I started, breaking the silence. Monte was often of few words, but not always. We just needed to get the ball rolling, "How's Angela?" I asked. I saw his face light up, he was always glad to talk about her. His girlfriend of almost a year, Angela was the girl he planned on marrying one day.

"Don't you ever get tired of hearing me talk about her?" He asked with a laugh.

"No," I smiled, "I like listening to other people's lives. Especially one as vibrant as yours." I grinned.

"I wanna hear about yours though." He pouted.

"What's there to hear?"

"Well, you're dating Escape the Fate's ex-singer. And you're trapped in the house with The band. And their new singer. Who happens to be your ex." He put gently.

"Well, I'll have you know that in all honesty, I couldn't give a flying fuck about Craig." I smiled. And yes, I had picked up cursing from some of the boys. Monte elbowed me and winked.

"What about Ronnie ." I smiled to myself and blushed.

"We're good." I mumbled softly.

"Just good?"

"Yep." I said and nodded, biting my lower lip. After a few seconds of silence, "Alright I fucking love him." Monte laughed.

"Duh. Anyone with eyes can see that. I'm actually surprised that he let you out here with me. You two have been attached at the hip for the past few weeks."

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm diagnosing you with severe lover's syndrome, there's no cure." He said, placing his hand on my shoulder seriously. I laughed.

"It doesn't feel all that deadly."

"The diagnosis isn't even the worst part! First you fall in love, then you won’t leave each other’s side, then you get married and die old together! It's horrible!"

"I suppose you would know?" I point out with a smile. He points a finger at me.

"Don't change the subject."

"What subject?"

"The subject we were talking about." He suggests.

"Which was...."

"....Stop confusing me, you bitch." He said playfully. I punched him in the shoulder lightly and laughed.

"Hey, I didn't do anything."

"Sure you didn't." He said, dragging out "Sure" sarcastically. It was quiet for a minute.

"Can I ask you something seriously?" He asked. Worried I replied quickly.

"Anything."

"Well uhh," He started, unsure of where to go, "What are your feeling on Craig trying to get you back?" He asked timidly. My heart dropped, and I frowned.

"It's not happening. I have one good thing in my life now, and that's Ronnie. I'm not losing him."

"That's what I thought..." His voice trailed off. "He really hurt you didn't he?"

"Yeah. He really, really did." I mumble. He puts a hand on my back.

"Hey, I'm sorry for asking...He's definitely been acting different since you and Ron got together so I just thought maybe he had something up his sleeve to try and spoil that...I don't want you to go back to him or anything, I was just curious." When Monte gets nervous, I think he rambles a lot. This little thought made me smile a bit.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm just happy to have Ron. I know it seems soon, but I think he and I loved each other before we even got together....I don't want to sound desperate or anything."

"Oh no, you don't," He said, "It's great that you have someone to share that emotion with. I'm happy for you."

"I'm, happy for me too, " I smiled. "I really am..."

Suddenly I heard a door slam shut.

"Shh." I said softly, and peeked out the little crawlspace-entrance we made. It was Max. Monte and I looked at each other.

"Ambush?"

"Like you have to ask." I whispered, already working on a snowball. Monte and I made a total of eight before I started throwing them. Well, actually I carved a hole that I could fit my upper body out of without the cave collapsing. The first throw, I missed and his the car. I ducked back down immediately.

"He didn't see you." Monte said, handing me another snowball. I peeked above the small hole and saw Max fumble with his keys. The next ball his him right in the side of the arm. Then Monte went. Then me. Then Monte, who then hit Max in the back of the head. I suppressed my giggles, holding another snowball as I peeked above the hole. Max was no longer at the car. I sat up a little straighter to peer over the car as far as I could, but no Max.

"Gotcha!" Max screamed from behind me and tackled my exposed upper body, crushing the cave but thankfully not Monte.

"Max! Max. MAX, GET OFF!" I yelled and laughed as he wrestled with me to the ground. Monte got on top of him. Now it was a Max sandwich.

"Oooof!" I said as the wind was knocked out of me from having the weight of two grown men on top of me.

"Hey, hey hey! Guys cut it out!" Rob said. "Jesus we were just gonna go get some food. Stop harassing them, Max."

"But I- but they were- uugh!" Max growled and glared at me. I smiled and winked.

"Come on Maxwell, you attacked me!" I said innocently. He glared again.

"You should probably get inside before you guys catch pneumonia. Or before Ron and Craig kill each other."

"You left them in there alone?" Monte yelled, "Have you lost it." He made a face much like "You're a fucking idiot." And helped me up so we could run inside. We wasted no time getting in the door. The first thing I heard was :

"You only wish she really loved you!"