Wanted

Christmas was just a week away, and Eliza realized that she couldn’t be happier. Well, that was a lie, but she liked to believe it. Shades of Grey played odd and end shows, going as far south as Virginia, and as west as Indiana. When she wasn’t with her band or Thomas, she spent time hanging out with Arin.

At first, she found it a bit weird at how close of friends she’d become with her drummer’s cousin, but then they started hanging out more. He went with her to the numerous photoshoots that Thomas had set her up for, and hung out, helping her keep up with her Twitter and Facebook pages.

Taking a break from her work, she’d flown to Maryland to spend time with Katie’s family who had unofficially ‘adopted’ her. They were currently at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to do a bit of shopping.

Eliza looked up from the text conversation she’d been having with Arin to see what Katie was holding up.

“Would this palette look good with my skin?”

Eliza looked at the colors in it and nodded. “Yeah, I would say so, but I wouldn’t use that blue. I think it looks weird.”

“You’re weird,” Katie retorted.

Eliza laughed and responded to another text before putting her phone in her back pocket. She picked up a tube of mascara before moving on to the primers.

“I could live in Sephora,” Katie said, sighing.

“I love this store so much,” Eliza said, lifting an eye shadow up.

She rubbed her finger in it and blended it in to the skin on her hand. After determining that she liked the color, she put it back and picked up the little box.

“Kat Von D’s makeup will be the death of me,” she said as she examined another color.

“I guess we should stop shopping for ourselves,” Katie said, frowning.

“Who gives a fuck? If we can afford it, why shouldn’t we splurge?”

“As if you don’t already have enough clothes and shit, Miss Model.”

“You’ve got a little bit of green…right there…” Eliza said, pointing to her own upper lip.

Katie flipped her off and went back to looking at the products.

“Besides, I’ve already got your presents,” Eliza said, picking up an eyeliner.

“When did you get it?”

“Like forever ago. I already gave everyone their presents, with the exception of you, Val, and the guys, of course.”

“Are you coming with us this year? We’re going to Brian’s dad’s house again.”

“Yeah, I miss McKenna a lot, so I need to see her.”

“Is that the only reason you’re going?”

Eliza looked at Katie. She’d been trying to not-so-subtly bring up Brian since Eliza had gotten to Maryland and she was sick of it.

“You just asked if I was coming because everyone is going to be there. I’m going to see my friends and to see McKenna, who happens to think I’m an ‘amazing role model’, as she so enthusiastically said when I talked to her last week. She begged me to come, and since when have I ever been able to say no to that kid? Just because Brian is going to be at his father’s house doesn’t mean I’m going to see him.”

“Fine,” Katie said, holding her hands up in a surrendering manner. “I was just asking.”

They moved around to the perfume and Eliza almost fell over laughing as she got Katie in the back of the head with some awful smelling perfume.

“You fucking whore,” Katie said as she furiously tried to get rid of the smell.

Eliza laughed as she went to stand in line with her purchases. She felt the hair on the back of her neck raise up and her body tensed. That’s when she heard the squirt of something and she whirled around to see Katie backing away, a bottle in her hand.

“Oh, ew,” she said and reached over her shoulder to try and fan the smell away.

Katie laughed as she put the perfume back and went to stand in line behind Eliza. Blindly, Eliza stuck her leg out behind her and heard the faint “ow” and knew she’d connected with something. She smiled, took her bag from the woman behind the counter and moved to the side to wait on Katie.

After they left Sephora, they headed to Anthropologie to browse through the clothes and accessories there.

“I’m starving,” Katie said.

Eliza looked back and forth between a dress in her right hand and her phone in her left. Arin was having problems with a few things and needed her help. She let go of the dress and focused on the phone, using both hands to text back to him with an idea.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Huh?” Eliza asked, lifting her head up.

“I said I was starving. Can you get off your phone for five seconds so we can go eat?”

“I thought you wanted to get that shirt,” Eliza said with a frown.

“I’ve already paid for it,” Katie said, holding up the bag.

“Oh.”

“Did you still want to run into the city?”

“Can you wait that long to eat?” Eliza asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Katie said. “I mean, we’re less than an hour from D.C., so yeah, I can wait.”



When they got to Katie’s parents house that night, they immediately dropped their bags in the room Eliza was staying in and collapsed on the bed.

“It must suck being a girl,” they heard from the doorway.

Their heads lifted off the bed to see Zacky standing in the door looking at them. They laughed and dropped their heads back to the bed.

“Yeah because being a dude and playing baseball all day is so bad,” Katie said.

“Come on, we’re gonna watch a movie?”

“Who is ‘we’?” Eliza asked, lifting her phone over her head.

“You, me, Katie, and Blayne.”

“I’m in,” Katie said and lifted herself up.

“I don’t wanna!” Eliza cried.

She flipped herself over on the bed and clung to the comforter as Katie pulled on her foot.

“Get your ass up!”

“Fine!” she said.

She pushed herself up on all fours and then just rolled over to her right. Katie and Zacky laughed as she rolled herself to the edge of the bed and almost rolled off until she twisted her body to land on her feet.

“You’re like a cat,” Zacky said sounding astonished.

“It’s the pussy in me,” Eliza said, shrugging.

They laughed as they walked down the steps. Katie’s parents were out at some country club thing, which left them the whole house. Blayne was already stretched out on the large reclining chair and as Eliza walked by she flicked him in the ear. While he was turned to see who had done it, she grabbed the remote from his hand.

“Hey! This is my house, bitch!”

“I’m the guest, fuckwad,” she shot back.

“Still a bitch.”

“Still a fuckwad,” Eliza said, making herself comfortable on the couch.

She found “Underworld” playing on a channel and clicked on it.

“Oh, my God, this is the gayest movie ever,” Blayne complained.

She threw a pillow at him.

“This movie is the shit. You can go fuck yourself.”

Zacky and Katie laughed from their positions on the loveseat.

Things were quiet for a few minutes, everyone watching the movie, until Eliza’s phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her pocket and pressed a few buttons before letting her hand fall to her side. When it vibrated again, she picked it up, smiled at the text and replied. This happened several times before Katie finally snapped.

“What the fuck is your deal?”

All heads in the room snapped to her, quizzical looks on each of them. Eliza saw Katie staring at her and her eyebrow lifted.

“What are you talking about?”

“You sit here and you talk about Brian and how you love him and maybe you should give him another shot and bullshit after bullshit, yet for the past three days you’ve done nothing but text Arin! I don’t fucking get it! Does he have a magic dick or something?”

Uncomfortable, Zacky pulled his arm from Katie, but she was too angry to notice. Eliza, on the other hand, laughed.

“Uh, I wouldn’t know,” she said with a chuckle.

“Well you’re acting like he’s got this fucking hold on you or something!”

“For your information, yes, this is Arin, but there are other people I talk to besides him. Some of the texts included Jimmy, Nisa, Dominic, Wiki, and Thomas. God, get your panties out of a bunch.”

Katie’s blood boiled as she watched Eliza go back to texting.

“No! Fuck this!” she cried and stood up.

She stalked to Eliza and grabbed the phone.

“You were the one who tried to talk Val and I into thinking speaking to Brian again was a good idea and now you’re fucking talking to some other guy? How can you live with yourself?”

Eliza just looked at her, a shocked expression on her face. “What the fuck?”

“You had this incredibly sweet moment with Brian less than a week ago and now you’re devoting your time to another guy. I just don’t fucking get you, Eliza. Who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck am I? Katie, who the fuck are you? Even if I was trying to talk to Arin, I figured you’d be happy because I was moving away from Brian!”

“Yes, but I didn’t expect you to go off fucking someone else!” Katie burst out.

Her anger taking on a new toll, Eliza stood up and ripped her phone back from Katie.

“How can I fuck someone else when I’m still fucking Brian!?”

Katie’s jaw dropped. Zacky looked away from the group, his lip pulled back knowing nothing good would come from that statement. Blayne was still watching television.

“You’re…You’re still talking to Brian?” Katie asked.

“I never fucking stopped, Katelyn! God, do you really think I could switch off my feelings for him!? Of course I’m still talking to him! Everyone knew it but you!”

“What the fuck are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I can’t control my heart, damnit!”

“Yeah, but it’s Brian, Eliza! You could ruin everything!”

Eliza just blinked.

“Jesus Christ, can someone get me a fucking neck brace?! Seriously, Katie, the whiplash you’re giving me is ridiculous right now.”

“I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t fucking tell me something like that!”

“Probably because I knew you’d react exactly like you are! Fuck, one minute you’re wanting me to be back with Brian, and when I tell you we’re working on it, you tell me I’m ruining everything!?”

“Eliza, best friends tell each other everything.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe we aren’t best friends,” Eliza said.

Katie watched her go, her jaw open, and she flinched when the front door slammed shut. Tears welled up in her eyes and she slowly made her way to the stairs. She slowly climbed them and walked into her room. Zacky followed her and quietly closed the door.

They didn’t say anything as they got ready for bed and it was only when they were lying down that Katie finally spoke.

“You knew?”

“I knew a little bit,” he responded.

“How could you know and not tell me?” she asked, sitting up.

“Believe it or not, Eliza’s right. I knew you’d react the way you did. Most of us knew, actually. We want them to be together, Katie.”

“I want them to be together, too!” she cried. “I just didn’t want it to be too soon! I think they need to chill out!”

“What do you think they’ve been doing, Katie? They talked the entire time they weren’t together. At Halloween, they decided to work on their friendship and see where it goes. I’m guessing she only slept with him recently.”

“I can’t believe you knew,” she said, shaking her head.

“What I can’t believe is how shitty of a friend you’re being right now. What would you do if you and I were in their position? Would you still talk to me? Better yet, what do you think Eliza would do if the roles were switched?”

“I don’t know what I’d do,” Katie said, quietly.

She looked at him as he sat stoically beside her. He rubbed his hand over his face before he stood up from the bed, taking a pillow and a blanket with him. He got to the door before he turned around.

“Maybe you should think about that for the night. Maybe you’ll see a tiny bit of what Eliza’s going through. You and Eliza are best friends, Kate. I know for a fucking fact she would support you in anything you do. She's already shown that, hasn't she? She let you date me, knowing what it could do if we were in their position.”