Summer Heat

“FUS RO DAH!”

Austin giggled in excitement, cheering as he watched me use Unrelenting Force to shout someone off a cliff in Skyrim. It was a late show day and we had nothing better to do until he went on than to play video games. It was 12:47 and I’d already been playing for over 4 hours now. Ever since my run-in with Dan a couple days ago, I haven’t been able to sleep well. It was crazy how those four words could affect me so much.

“I know your secret.”

A commotion coming from the front of the bus made me put the game on pause and head up there, with Austin hot on my heels. Alan was trying to keep someone from coming onto the bus, but him being a little on the short side, was posing as a problem at the moment. I stopped in my tracks when I realized the person he was trying to stop was Dan.

“Ava! There you are! I need to talk to you, but this little ginger short shit won’t let me in.”

Austin tensed up and started to go after Dan, but I put my arm out to stop him.

“No. He’s not worth it, guys. Just give me a couple minutes to figure out what the hell he wants, and then we can go get a bite to eat or something else.” I watched as Austin and Alan reluctantly moved out of the way to let Dan in before I walked back towards the bunk area so we would at least have a little bit more privacy.

I turned to face him and crossed my arms. “What do you want, Dan? I don’t feel like dealing with your shit today.”

“Ava,” he hesitated. “I know you and Austin are faking it. I can tell by the way he looks at you, and the way he looked at his other girlfriends. It’s way different. What I don’t really understand is why? Why would you put so much effort into this fake relationship of yours? What the hell is going on with you lately? Is it just that you can’t live without me, so you create a fake relationship to fill the void?”

I stared at him, in a state of disbelief. “Are you so conceited that you actually belief that? No, I’m not in the so-called relationship with Austin to fill the void you left. I’m in it to make you jealous and make you realize what you’re missing out on. I want you to hurt as I do. I want you to feel how I feel. I want you to realize that maybe, just maybe, you need to calm down on the fucking weed. You’re always high these days, and sometimes, I don’t recognize the person who you’ve become. I don’t love and want to be with that person. I love and want to be with the old Dan Jones, who was so scared to ask Alex for permission to take me on our first date. I miss that guy.”

I pushed past him and past Austin and Alan, and off of the bus. I ignored the greetings from everyone I went by, looking for only one person. I found him talking with the guys of CNCC.

“Lyman,” I said, pulling off the lanyard that was around my neck with my ID badge on it. “I quit. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t stand to be near him, around him, or even see him. All I want to do is go back home to SLC and forget everything that’s happened lately. Or maybe I’ll just move to Cali like I’ve always wanted to do. All I know is that I have to leave. I hope you understand.”

I didn’t give him the chance to respond before I walked away and back to the buses to pack my things. I didn’t talk to anyone; I just zoned them all out. I didn’t want to make this any harder than it already was. I called for a taxi to take me to the airport and headed out of the gates. Putting my things in the trunk, I took one last listen of the bands playing and the fans screaming before getting in the taxi and hopefully starting a new chapter of my life.

~* One Week Later *~

I unlocked the doors of my new condo located beachside in Long Beach, California and stepped in. I still didn’t believe that this was all mine. This was exactly the fresh start that I needed. Walking around the condo, I made a list of items that I needed to buy in order to make it feel more like home to me. I touched up my hair and makeup before heading out the door and down the street to a local store that sold just about everything.

Browsing down the aisles with my already almost full cart, I checked off a couple more items. I was starting to get a little worn out from all the moving and shopping, so I figured that I would just finish my list another day. I headed up to the front of the store to checkout, but not before running into someone else’s cart with mine.

“Oh, shit! I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention at all! It’s just that I just moved here, so I’ve been dealing with that and not getting much sleep lately and-…”

“Hey,” he smiled. “It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention either, so it was partially my fault too.”

I giggled softly at his accent. “So, do you live here?”

“Yes, actually. I just moved here as well, but I’ve been crashing on my mate’s couch until I can afford to get an apartment to rent or something.” He pushed the sleeves up on his hoodie to reveal two tattooed arms.

“Well, I know we just met, and I don’t even know your name yet, but you seem really laidback and I have an extra bedroom in my condo if you wanna be roommates.”

The smile on his face grew. “Thank you! That’s so sweet of you… I don’t know your name in order to properly thank you.”

“I’m Ava. Ava Koehler.”

“Well, Ava,” he put his hand out for me to shake it. “Thank you so much for the generous offer. And I’m Danny. Danny Worsnop.”