We Won't Back Down

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sheila

We had been in the Northern Territory of Australia for half a month now and I was going to make the best of it. My parents have done everything in their power to ruin it for all of us, but I was barely in the house to deal with their shit. Not to mention, Max was constantly blowing up my phone with his bullshit. I needed to keep my mind off of him as much as I could…the very thought of him caused pain to course through my being and I felt like a broken compass, not sure where to turn or where to go.
Thankfully today was one of those days where us girls got dressed up and went to the bench, which I would never do in the States and had a mini photo shoot. Thankfully, our parents were feeling gracious and let us borrow the car.
"This is so fantastic!" Dahlia exclaimed, letting the water wash over her feet.
"You mean being out of the house and away from the dictators?" Athena said coming from out of the water, not even caring that her sundress was clinging to her.
"When are we not happy to get away from them?" I rebutted and laid back, glad I had remembered sunscreen this time. I had a big sun bonnet on as well as an umbrella and sun glasses.
I was pretty sure everyone passing by thought I was a vampire and honestly I couldn't blame them. I was the palest of my sisters and when I wasn't pale, I was burnt to a crisp.
Before I knew it, there was a snake slithering over my foot and I remained calm. By the size of it it was either a python or a boa, which they would bite only if they felt threatened. The snake was obviously used to humans because it slithered on up to my shoulders.
"Well Vincent, there you are!" a males voice said from behind me and I didn't bother to make a move to look around.
"Whoa Sheila, how are you so calm?" Athena asked and I smiled.
"Snake charmer." I said jokingly, while the guy came into view. He had that Australian sun kisses skin and a nice build. His face was slightly freckled and hair was auburn, with these intense green eyes.
"Thank you so much for not freaking out, he is tame but still a snake." he said, "just lift him up and over, he should be fine and calm." the accent was making me melt on the inside but I listened to every word he was saying and lifted Vincent off my shoulders.
"You have a way with snakes ehh?" he asked, sitting down next to me. "Ah forgive me mate, my name is Donovan Erikson, though my mates call me Donny."
"Sheila Elwell, these are my sisters Dahlia and Athena." I smiled at him, taking off my sunglasses to look at him better.
"Beautiful names for beautiful ladies." he said, glancing over his shoulder
"That not just Vincent you found mate, hello I'm Daniel Smith." a guy whom I'm assuming is good friends with Donovan said coming up to us. He wasn't as built as his friend but he was much tanner and had sandy blond hair kept styled in spikes.
"Danny this is Sheila, Athena and Dahlia Elwell from...you girls from America?"
"Is it that obvious?" Dahlia asked, laughing and smiling at him.
"Only a little bit if anything." Danny said smiling back, Dahlia was about to respond when her cellphone started going off.
“Excuse me guys, I gotta take this call.” She jumped up and took off, which meant that it was Ronnie calling. I turned my attention back on the Aussies and flashed them a brilliant smile. They were anxious to return it.
“Wait, wait…sooo its Donny and Danny?” Athena said with a smirk and I was almost afraid she would offend them if she released her restrained laughter.
“Aye mate. Is there something wrong with that?” Danny cocked an eyebrow at her. A giggle escaped Athena’s lips and she walked away quickly before she pushed too far. I don’t know why the fuck she finds it so funny.
“So are you girls just vacationing over here?” Donny asked, turning to me.
“Um, I guess you could say that.” I flashed a genuine smile at him. Sure, technically we had recently moved to Australia. But according to Dahlia, Ronnie was supposed to sneak us out of the country soon. But it had been almost a month since we had been there.
“Really? So how much longer are you mates going to be here for then?” Danny questioned as Athena came up beside me, seeing as she had recomposed herself from her outlandish sense of humor.
“Hopefully not too much longer.” Athena said, without thinking. I turned to face her gave her the are-you-kidding-me look. Her eyes widened as realized what she had just said to two hot Australian natives. “O-oh… Oh, no. I mean, not that this isn’t a lovely country or anything. It’s beautiful. It’s just that, we’ve been away from home for quite some time now.” She attempted to save herself. I swear, she could be such a dimwit sometimes. I love her death, but what the fuck?
“No worries love, it’s completely understandable. It’s nice to take a vacation, but it’s not quite home is it?” Danny said, giving Athena an understanding smile. She nodded and looked down at the sand she was wiggling her toes in an attempt to shade the light pink blush that had developed on her cheeks.
“Oh my, look at the time Danny! We got to get a move on. The event starts at two.” Donny exclaimed and Danny’s face lit up with recognition. I cocked an eyebrow at them.
“What event?” I asked them, curiosity getting the better of me.
“Crazy good rock show down at the pier. We sell merch for the bands every year. You ladies should come check it out. There are some really good musicians showing up this year.” Donny explained to me and I noticed Athena’s gaze snap up at Donny when she hear ‘rock show’.
“Really? That’s awesome! Of course, we’ll be there! Maybe we could even come see you guys at the booth? For your break or something?” I asked, knowing these shows usually last all day.
“Absolutely! We could use some company, couldn’t we Danny.” Donny said, elbowing Danny in the ribs. Danny let out a quiet “oof!” before he nodded and shoved Donny playfully.
“Sweet! We’ll be there. Oh, is there a chance we could get your numbers you go. You know, in case we get lost?” I asked, giving them my best puppy dog eyes.
“How about I give you mine, and Danny gives you sister here his? That way you two could swap the numbers so you have them both.” Donny grinned at me. I nodded because I knew they needed to save some time. I pulled out my phone and waited for him to start telling me his digits.
Athena took out her phone and typed in the number that Danny gave her. He winked at her and kissed the top of her hand before taking off after Donny who given me his number and bolted. Damn it! Why couldn’t I get a kiss on the hand? But it was okay, because almost immediately after they had left, I received a text from him.
Hello Love,
I miss your pretty face already.
-Donny
I love Aussies.
“Hey…where did those two guys go?” Dahlia asked as she came back to where we were and grabbed her things.
“They had a concert thing to help at; we will probably go to that later.” Athena explained, making our way to the rental car and we both got into the back since we couldn’t decide who was going to get shotgun.
“Alrighty, well I have good and bad news for you both.” She said, reluctance was hinting in her voice. That couldn’t be a good thing when it came to her, it was just one of those things we have come to know about her.
“Bad news?” I asked, not really caring what the good news could possibly be.
“Ronnie brought the guys with him over to the house.”
“You two come here!” Ronnie exclaimed, bringing Athena and I into his arms causing us both to both crack up laughing. Shit like this is why I was glad these two had gotten together, he was just like an older brother that we never had. I noticed Athena’s eyes shoot over to Ryan, who had been staring at her since she had come into the room.
“Good to see you Ronnie, how have you been?” I asked, sitting down on the couch while he moved over to where Dahlia was and they started cuddling. Jacky had the nerve to sit down right beside me acting like nothing was wrong, so I scooted over to the very edge.
“Been really good, touring all over the work and meeting so many new people that it’s insane.” He said before turning his attention to Dahlia as they started making out. I sighed and made my way up to my room, halfway closing my door and lying down on my bed.
“You don’t seem happy.” Jacky’s accent stated, causing me to jump and a glare found its way to my face.
“Why does my happiness matter to you?” I muttered, turning my attention to my cellphone that now had Max Green lit up on it as he was calling. Men, they never get the fucking point do they?
“Because believe it or not, you were important to me.” He said sitting down next to me and I glared at him even harder.
“If my happiness meant a damn thing to you or if I was so damn important, I would not be in this situation now would I?” I snapped, forcing him off of my bed walking him towards the door. “I really liked you Jacky Vincent and you took that part of me and crushed it, just because you were a big time rock star and didn’t want to be forced to cheat on me. I then got my heart broken by the one guy that I thought would never hurt me, but he just believed I was a damn notch in the bed post. So fucking excuse me, if I’m not ready to jump your fucking bones the moment you walk into my room, uninvited. I’m done with bullshit coming from all directions and if you keep messing with me, I will not be afraid to beat the shit out of you!”
“A lot of bark for a girl with no bite…darling, you know you want me or you wouldn’t fit it so hard.” He leaned down and whispered into my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine. I grabbed his arm and punched him in the nose, closing and locking my door afterwards.
My phone started going off again and I had, had enough as I answered it.
“Sheila, finally I wa…”
“No, Maxwell Scott Green, I don’t want you to contact me anymore, I am done with this bullshit harassment of yours. You hurt me in the worst way possible and I trusted you, I loved you Max and you just wanted to fuck and run. So please, go fuck yourself and leave me the hell out of your drama!”
I hung up and packed my other camera, extra batteries and a bag to put them in as I text Athena to grab the keys and meet me at the car. I needed fun and these boys were going to be my source of it.