Love Creates First Class Liars

The next three days were absolute hell. It felt as if the reason of my existence had just disappeared in the wind, leaving me behind quite depressed. It was the last day of our short break before we were supposed to head off to the next venue and I couldn't help but feel disappointed in myself for letting Harley take Kat. At every waking moment of the day the band and crew had helped me search everywhere for her. I wasn't the only one missing her although I think I felt the guiltiest for letting it happen. I should have been there when she woke up. She should have seen my face first, not that bastard Harley's. And now he had probably sold her some complicated lie as to how she ended up in the hospital and how they had been really close or something. He must of fed her a very realistic lie as to gain trust from Kat. Even with amnesia, I'm sure she still must have been stubborn and not eager to trust people. It had taken me almost the first two years of middle school to gain her complete trust.

“Alex!” Matt shouted, waking me from my thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“You zoned out again,” He replied with a sigh. I replied with a simple, “Sorry” and fell back on my bed. Matt sat down next to me and took a deep breath which signaled one of his long speeches.

“I know you miss her Alex. We all do. And we've spent the last 3 days looking for her non-stop. But Harley could have taken her anywhere by now. He was an idiot, but he wasn't stupid. He most likely would have taken her someplace far away from here. We have no idea where that place is but we need to get on with the tour. Harley's going to expect you drop out from Warped, and you need to show him that you're not giving up, okay? This tour is only around a month long, from July 12th to August 14th, and as soon as it's over, we're going to keep looking for her, I promise. The police have already been notified about the situation and are doing their best to look for her. They can't do much since according to the hospital she went willingly and she is of age, but they are going to be looking for her. There's really nothing more we can do.” I simply nodded and agreed with him.

“You're right. We have to go on with tour.”

He seemed a little taken back by my reply, expecting me to be more difficult, but quickly ran up to the front to get the bus started. We were back on track and ready for the second show.

- - -

A Month Later

- - -

This tour seemed like the longest one we had been on yet, although we had been on much longer ones in the past. Not a day went by where everyone wasn't worrying about Kat or picturing all the horrible things that had happened to her. We all felt terribly guilty, especially Carson who kept getting constant calls from Kat's worried mother, asking if they had seen her. We were finally back in Maryland and I was now determined to pick up searching for her.

As I set my large suitcase and duffel bag on to my bed, I quickly dug my phone out of my pocket and dialed Kat's number again. I knew her number by memory now after calling her countless times during tour, all with no reply. I listened impatiently to the phone dialing.

“Hi! You've reached Kat's phone. Please leave a mess-”

“Urgh,” I yelled as I threw my phone down on the ground. It was useless. I was never going to find her. Why wouldn't she answer my calls? It wasn't just me. Jack, Zack, Rian, Carson, Vinny, Greico, Matt, Danny, and Evan had all tried too. Harley must have told her not to talk to us or something. Why else wouldn't she answer when our caller id flashed across the screen.

Then all of a sudden, I felt extremely stupid. After running downstairs, grabbing the house phone, sprinting back up to my room, and jumping on to my bed all in a rush, I once again dialed Kat's number, hoping that she didn't have my house number in her contacts.

“Hello?” A voice answered cautiously. I almost collapsed right then and there. Kat had picked up, and I had heard her beautiful voice for the first time in a little over a month.

“K-K-Kat?” I stuttered.

“..Who is this?” She hesitated. I froze. If I told her I was Alex, would she freak out and hang up? Should I lie? What should I say? “Helloo? You there?”

“Yeah um, sorry.” I sounded like an idiot. My girlfriend who I hadn't spoken to in so long was on the phone right now and I couldn't think of what to say. “It's Harley,” I choked out, mentally slapping myself out of stupidity. Harley could be with her right then or maybe I didn't sound anything like him. But Harley was the only person I could think of at the moment that she trusted, even though she really shouldn't.

“Oh. Hey Harley,” She said all of a sudden taking a bored tone as if she really didn't want to be talking to him. “I thought you were going to be out all night with friends? Is something wrong.” I held back a gasp. She had believed me.

“Oh um, yeah but there.. was a problem. Sorry, um, I mean- Could you meet me somewhere?” I stuttered.

“Yeah sure, are you sure you're fine?”

“I'm fine.”

“Okay, well what about Starbucks?”

“Sure, sounds good. Wait which one?”

“The one we always go to...”

“Where's that?”

“Did you have a couple too many drinks?”

“What? Oh yup. Yup that's it,” I said sounding like a complete retard. God, if she actually went and believed me it would be a miracle.

“Okay then,” She replied and gave me some quick directions before we said our good-byes and hung up. I literally couldn't move. All I could think was I just talked to Kat. And I was going to see her.

I was going to see Kat.

This might possibly be the best day of my life. Depending on how she reacted when she saw me.

- - -

After googling the Starbucks on Google Maps, I had found that where ever Harley had taken Kat wasn't that far from where I was now. In all honesty, I had thought they might have been on the over side of the country. But maybe that's what he wanted us to believe. Have us looking out in other states, when really they'd be hiding just a couple towns over. It was pretty smart actually.

It took me about half an hour to get to the Starbucks and once I got there, I literally ran inside. After a quick check for a dash of bubble gum pink hair, my search turned up empty. Disappointed that she either hadn't come or had decided not to wait for me, I trudged over to the line to order a coffee. The line was made up of four people; two girls with matching University of Maryland sweatshirts and high ponytails, a short, curly-haired, boy who worked at the neighboring Wawa according to his dark green apron, and another girl with died bleach blond hair and choppy bangs, brilliant blue eyes, and a small, but curvy figure. It was the girl In front of my who caught my eye. She wore a blank The Maine tank that clung tightly to her body and a pair of dark, ripped short-shorts. A collection of wristbands littered her wrist and I noticed a simple diamond stud decorating her nose.

“Umm..a tall vanilla bean frappachino, please?” She asked as she approached the counter. An older woman with graying hair nodded her head as she set about making her order.

“Name please?”

“Kat.”

My jaw hung open and my eyes widened at her answer. As the girl grabbed her frappachino and sat down, I got a better look at her. She had a tattoo of three birds flying in the wind on her collarbone and small gauges in her ears. She couldn't be my Kat. My Kat had pink hair, green eyes, no tattoos, and three piercings in each ear. No gauges or nose piercings. Still, she looked just like her. She had Kat's slight frame and high cheekbones, not to mention that award-winning smile.

“Excuse me, sir? What can I get you,” The woman behind the counter asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Um, I'm okay. Nevermind,” I told her as I strode out of line and over to the girl who claimed she was Kat's table.

“Hi?” She asked as I stood next to her and looked into her deep, blue eyes. It had to be Kat, but it couldn't be.

“Hi.” I replied, still gazing at her beauty. She must of thought I was an absolute creep. “Are you wearing colored contacts?” I blurted out. She seemed shocked by question but recovered quickly.

“Is it that noticeable?” She asked. “Personally I hate them, but um, my boyfriend told me I looked better with blue eyes. I know that seems a little rude and kinda weird, but he's the best, really! Just looking out for me. But they're originally green.”

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” I asked, calming down a little bit. It had to be Kat. Her voice was Kat's and now I knew her eyes were Kat's too. But she had changed so much in so little time.

“Well, I was supposed to be meeting my boyfriend here but I guess he's not coming since it's almost an hour now, but sure I guess.” I pulled the chair out before sitting down and then leaned across the table towards her. It took all my will power not to kiss her right then.

“So tell me about yourself.”

“Um, I don't know who you are? “ After she said that, I had an urge to curl up and cry, but I stood strong and carried on.

“Well, um, I just moved here and I'm looking for friends. So, I figured you'd be a good start.” It was a lame story, but she seemed to buy it. I desperately wanted to tell her the truth, but who knew how she would react? Harley must have told her something about me for her to ignore all my calls and texts.

“Okay, well my names Kat, that's short for Katarina. I've lived in Maryland all my life and about a month a ago my boyfriend, Harley, and I went to go see Warped Tour where I fell in the mosh pit and hit my head extremely hard resulting in a severe case of amnesia. I can't remember a lot about my life before the accident, which is actually really depressing and kind of scary, but Harley has helped me a lot.” As she spoke, anger boiled inside me listening to the lie Harley had fed her. The worst part was she believed every word he had told her without a second doubt.

“Oh I'm so sorry! You said you can't remember a lot. Does that mean you remember some parts?” I asked.

“It's fine, and yeah I remember somethings. But the people I remember most is this group of friends I used to hang out with. I can't think of their names. There was this girl, she was my best friend I think, and she had brown hair but as we got older I think she died it dark red. And then there was this guy, I can't remember his name. But he was a close friend too. Really crazy and always acted high, from when I first met him in middle school up into high school. Then there was this other guy with really curly hair who was really quiet, but a great friend. Also, this other guy with a buzz cut. He was quiet too but super nice. He had the most amazing smile.” I listened as she described my friends and found myself super upset that she hadn't mentioned me yet. Did she not remember me? The thought made me feel like crying.

“And then there was Alex. I remember his name. He was my best friend,” She said with a smile on her face. “Actually, you kind of look like him. Sort of. What's your name again?”

“I never said my name, but it's um..Chris,” I told her, reading the name tag of a Starbucks employee who just walked by. Maybe I should tell her that I'm Alex. Her best friend that caused that smile on her lips when she thought of him. But it still didn't explain why she refused to pick up when I called her. “So who was this Alex kid you were talking about,” I asked holding back a smirk.

“Well, we were best friends. I think up until the last year of high school when we started dating. I don't exactly remember this part, high school's kind of a blurry memory for me, but Harley filled me in. Apparently things went great until he started drinking.” This confused me. Harley told her I drunk? Well, I mean I had a few beers I shouldn't of had in high school but what did that have to do with this?

“What do you mean..?”

“He um..started abusing me I guess.” She told me quietly.

“WHAT?” I shouted.

“Woaah, calm down. I don't remember it, it's fine.”

“How do you know he wasn't lying? Why would your best friend hurt you?”

“I don't really know. But Harley's not lying,” She replied confidently.

“And you know that how..?” She stood up and lifted her shirt up a tiny bit revealing a stomach covered in scars. Scars that I had seen many times before. Scars that Harley had given her.

“He didn't do that,” I told her.

“Um.. How do you know? I just met you today. Sorry, but I'm going to believe my boyfriend over some stranger.”

“I'm not a stranger Kat. I'm Alex.”

Her eyes widened and she ran out of the store.