My Warped Summer

Allison's Point of View

“Great job!” I hear a familiar voice call as we walk off stage. Hell to the no. None other than Kellin Quinn is standing off the side on stage left, where Katelynne and I were exiting. Thank God Scarlet’s not around.

“Thanks,” I say shortly, grabbing Katelynne by the arm and leading her off.

“Who is that?” Katelynne whispers, looking back at him with admiration.

“Scarlet’s kind of boyfriend,” I reply, agitated. Why is he here anyways?

“Kind of?” she asks, curiosity rising in her voice.

Kellin looks back at Katelynne and gives her a wave. She smiles, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Oh no. Oh God no. I see where this is going.

“Well, things tend to go downhill when you’re dating an over-possessive pansy,” I say, giving Kellin what I hope is a threatening glance. I turn over my shoulder, hoping Katelynne would follow. Instead, she just stands there as Kellin comes down to meet her.

This is bad. Very, very bad. I need to find Scarlet. As if she heard my thoughts, I spot her coming barreling toward me.

“We need to talk,” she says, grabbing my shoulders.

“Dang right we do,” I say, glancing over at Kellin and Katelynne loudly flirting.

Scarlet grabs my wrist and pulls me toward the bus. Quickly, we climb the stainless steel ladder leading up to the roof.

“I sure hope the bus doesn’t drive off with us up here,” I say, sitting across from Scarlet.

“Eh,” Scar replies with a shrug. “If it does, just hang on tight.”

She laughs, but I by face shifts into terror at the thought of it. This makes Scarlet laugh even harder.
“Yeah, yeah,” I huff, poking her leg with my shoe. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh yeah!” Scarlet says, snapping out of her laughing spell. “Alright, so you know Alex Gaskarth?”

“Mhmmm,” I say, leaning in to hear her.

“Right, well I ran into him at the practice room today,” she continues. “And he was helping me out with the pedals and everything. But then he notices my bracelet Kellin gave me and goes completely apeshit. And then after that he starts acting like a total douchebag. Seriously, it was so weird.”

“Well,” I say after a long pause. “Has it ever dawned on you that Alex Gaskarth may have feelings for you?”

It’s Scarlet’s turn to go apeshit. She gives me a look of such disbelief I can’t help but laugh.

“You think this is funny?” She says, throwing her hands up. “There is no way Alex could have feelings for me. No way.”

She shakes her head profusely.

“Nope nope nope nope,” she continues with her denial. “And besides, he knows I’m dating Kellin.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” I said, clasping my hands together. “I saw him and Katelynne flirting earlier after the show.”

This leaves Scarlet seething.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she says, crossing her arms. “Unbelieveable.”

As if on cue, a loud whistle comes from down below us. I peek over the edge to find Vic standing below.

“Don’t fall!” He calls, reaching his arms out. “Just. Get down here.”

With a nod, I start climbing down the ladder with Scarlet following behind me. Vic reached out to help both of us down. Such the gentleman.

“Alright,” he says as we both hop down. “You guys up for a party?”

I look over at Scarlet, making sure she’s alright with it.

“Hell yes we are,” Scarlet says with a determined look on her face.

“Okay then,” Vic says with a laugh. “See you guys at the main tent at eight.”

*#*

“Scarlet Smith!” I say, looking at the state of her wardrobe. There she was, standing in her ripped black shorts and tank top. “It’s freezing outside.”

“Eh,” Scarlet says, carefully swiping on some eyeshadow. “I’ll manage. Hey, can you do my hair?”

With a sigh, I pull Scarlet’s hair into a French braid down the back.

“Alright done,” I say, getting up off the couch. “We ready?”

“I think so,” she says, twisting the loose hair at the end of the braid. “Let’s rock this.”

We show up to the main tent, filled with band members and crew. I waved to all the people I knew as Scarlet heads in the direction of the drink table.

“Well, there she goes,” I say to Vic as he strides up beside me.

“Hey,” he says, sneaking an arm around my wait. “At least we’re alone now.”

“Alone with the rest of these people that is,” I reply, motioning around at the party.

“That can be fixed,” Vic says with a devious grin on his face. He takes my arm and leads me into the corner of the tent that is unoccupied. Here, you can barely hear the rest of the party.

“Alright,” he says, sitting on the ground. I sit facing him.

“So,” I say, bumping his knee with mine.

“So,” he replies, doing the same.

Soon, it turns into a full-on tickle fight. Well, it isn’t much of a fight seeing as I’m just flailing on the floor. But it’s a tickle fight nonetheless. After a minute, Vic gives up on the tickling and gently holds my face.

“Now that Genevieve’s gone, we are up to our own devices,” he says with yet another grin.

“And what devices would those be?” I ask him.

He kisses me long and hard, sending chills down my spine.

“Those devices,” he says with a smile. He stands up, holding his hand out toward me. “Dance with me?”

We head out to the dancefloor, swaying along to all the songs playing.

I look up from Vic for a moment to see two figures dancing dangerously close on the dancefloor. I notice the braided blonde hair and realize it’s my best friend. And what’s more, she is grinding on what it looks to be Alex Gaskarth. Oh dear. God, he’s pulling her hair out of the braid now. This shit is getting serious. I have to do something. Think, Allison think.

In a moment of blind bravery, I look around and yell, “Fire!” at the top of my lungs.

Immediately, everyone begins to rush around the tent. Scarlet breaks free from Alex and rushes around, looking for me.

“Did someone say fire?” She says in a slur, bumbling toward me. Oh no, she’s drunk.

“Vic!” I call, looking at my boyfriend who has the most hilarious look on his face. “Help me out here!”

Taking Scarlet under one arm, I manage to walk her halfway out the tent before Vic comes to help me.

“Thanks,” I whisper, looking over at him.

“Sure thing,” he says with a laugh.

We take Scarlet back to the bus and put her on the couch. She falls asleep almost instantly.

“Sorry for ruining your party,” I said as I walk him out.

“What are you sorry for?” He says with a grin on his face. “That was priceless.”

He gives me a kiss before he turns and walks away.

“Oh hey!” He calls after a minute. “What’d you even call fire for anyways?”

“I saw my best friend dancing with Alex Gaskarth!” I yell back.

I could hear Vic’s laughter all the way from the bus.