Synthetic Love

“I’m scared of heights” I said looking down. I hated admitting it. Hell, I hated admitting I was afraid of anything. Especially to those close to me.

“Hey, no need to be embarrassed,” Devin cooed, lifting my chin softly. I could feel my cheeks warming against my will. When he kissed my cheek I could tell he really wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel.

“Um we can go on the ride if you like,” I said softly. Devin grinned before grabbing my hand. I kept my eyes focused on my lap as the ride started. As we neared the top, Devin began singing City Lights. I took the chance and looked out at the view before us. It was beautiful, all the colored lights of the city shining as bright as the stars above us. “You have a really good voice Dev,” I said cuddling up to him. It was true, but as great as the view and his voice were, I was still kind of scared by far off the ground we were.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I replied, kissing his cheek. I leaned my head down, resting it against his shoulder as the ride stopped again, letting people on or off.

When we started moving again, Devin pulled back slowly, forcing me to sit up. “I know that you’ve only been broken up with Brodon for a few days but I would love to be your boyfriend again. I can treat you better than I did when we were last together and you complete me, my love so will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes, yes I will,” I said, smiling. He leaned in towards me, kissing me softly but passionately. We broke apart, our foreheads rested together. It was strange, but since that night when I told him the truth, it had felt like we were back in our relationship. We shared the same bunk, went almost everywhere together, and kissed each other. But just by this simple action, Devin made me feel like the most special person in the world. The good kind of special, that is.

Soon after the ride finished, Dev got the text telling us to meet Ryan and Allie near the entrance. Everything felt perfect again. Devin and I were officially together again, and I was surrounded by people that continued showing me that they cared. When we got back to the bus, it was actually quiet for once. The guys bunks were all closed. It was weird that they were asleep so early, but I wasn’t about to question them.

I climbed into our bunk, quickly followed by Devin. We were trying to decide on what movie to watch when I remembered something that could help me get my way. His eyes were trained on the computer, so I don’t think he saw the smirk on my face. And judging the by the fact that he jumped about two feet when I poked his side, I was pretty sure he wasn’t expecting it. Devin squirmed around the bunk, trying to get away from my fingers, while also trying to not to fall onto the floor.

“Balz told us what he and Chris walked in on yesterday,” Ryan said. “Allie and I don’t want to listen to the two of you doing it.”

“Fuck you guys,” Devin said, laughing. “I’ve had to listen to the two of you more than once on this tour. Anna and I just thought we’d return the favor.”

“All of you shut up,” Angelo groaned. “None of us want listen to any of you. Go somewhere else or go to sleep.”

We layed there in silence for a few minutes, but I couldn’t take it any longer. This time though, Devin saw it coming. He jerked to the side quickly, jumping when I poked his side once again. Unfortunately, he had a comeback this time. He growled quietly before shifting in the bunk to pin me down. I grinned up at him as he interlaced our fingers before leaning down to kiss me. It was different this time though, still passionate, but this time it was hungry, wanting more. I pulled Devin down, closer to me. I could feel him pressing against me as he began trailing kisses down my neck. I bit back a moan as he hit that certain spot. His hands slowly roamed my body, biting my neck softly. I couldn’t take much more. He returned to kissing me on the lips as I slid my fingers along the waistband of his pants.

The curtain of the bunk was jerked aside suddenly. Devin fell to the side, moaning. Why did I feel like we’d been interrupted before? “Since you two get keep quiet, I’m separating you for the night,” Chris said, pulling me out of the bunk.

“Wait, do I have to leave?” I asked as he carried me to the back of the bus.

“Because you’re a lot lighter than your boyfriend. Now, you’re sleeping here tonight,” he said, dropping me onto the couch. “If I have to separate the two of you again tonight, I will tie each of you down until we get to the next venue.”

“Fine, but it’s your fault if the monsters eat me tonight,” I said. Chris gave me a strange look before walking back to his bunk, shaking his head. You’d think he’d be used to my strangeness by now, but I guess not.

I shifted around, making myself comfortable before drifting off into thought. This was further than Dev and I had ever been before, and we’d only gotten back together a few hours before, but somehow it felt right. Maybe it was because I had a say in it this time. Brodon and I had never done anything more than kiss and sleep in the same bed, and there was a reason I hadn’t told anyone what happened when I moved back in with my father after leaving Scranton. And if I had my way, no one was ever going to know either.

I must have drifted off into sleep at some point, considering the next time I looked up, there was a blanket covering me and a pillow beneath my head. And Ricky sitting on the edge of the couch, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “What do you want Horror?” I asked.

“So, what did you do to make Chris bring you back here for the night?” he asked.

“Dev and I were still awake, and apparently we were making too much noise,” I said simply, not wanting to give out details.

Ricky wriggled his eyebrows. “Now I get it,” he said, jumping off the couch. “You two were trying to be like Ryan and Allie.” I threw the pillow at him, hitting his head as he reached the doorway. Instead of throwing the pillow back like I hoped he would, Ricky turned around, grinning again, walking out backwards.

I didn’t feel like getting up to get the pillow, so I stayed where I was. Who had brought the pillow and blanket in last night? And how did I not wake up when they did? Normally I woke up whenever anyone came near me while I was asleep. “I knew I was right the other day,” Balz announced, walking into the room, followed by Angelo.

I shook my head. “No, then you were wrong. Last night was a different time and you didn’t say anything, so it doesn’t count.” He stuck his tongue out at me childishly, and I knew I’d won.

“But why did you have to come back here and do that stuff?” Angelo asked. “You were already out, so you might as well have gone to some cheap motel for the night, where you wouldn’t interrupt peoples sleep.”

“Really? A cheap motel? That’s where people go in the movies and end up getting murdered. Besides, we had to get back so we could start driving,” I explained.

“You mean you don’t want to be murdered by a crazy guy with an axe?” Balz asked.

“Maybe eventually,” I said. “But last night I wasn’t in the mood to die.” Our conversation spun off from there, and eventually Balz wandered back towards the front of the bus, leaving Angelo and I alone.

It was quiet for a few minutes, until he took a deep breath. “Anna, we all care about you, you’re like a sister to us. Except for Ghost, ‘cause that would just be fucked up. Whatever the two of you decide to do or not do, just be careful. We don’t want a baby on this bus.” I laughed, and thanked him for his support, knowing he meant what he said. I joined everyone else in the front of the bus, where we spent the next few hours watching movies again. Then as usual, I helped Allie set up the merch table. This was one of the bigger venues, so I offered to stay with Allie and help out instead of watching the show from backstage like we’d been doing.

We could tell Brodon had been up to something online to get people to hate me, as many of the chicks who came by made snarky comments or refused to let me get whatever product they wanted to buy. It wasn’t until later that Brodon’s real plan surfaced.

It was after the show, and I was packing the last box into the trailer when some chick who’d taken a pretty good beating recently came around the corner, leading a pair of cops. “That’s her, officers,” she said, pointing me out to them. There really wasn’t any need to point, considering I was the only other person out here at the time.

One of the cops made his way over to me, while the other stayed with the chick. “Ma’am, would like to tell us what happened between the two of you?” he asked. I hated when people called me ma’am, it made me feel old. “I was working at one of the merch tents throughout the entire concert. I might have sold her something, but we had a lot of fans buying shit, and if she did come through, she sure as hell didn’t look like that. I’d remember if someone came through beaten up like that.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to watch your language,” the cop said. “This young woman claims you followed her outside after she and her friends bought a shirt from you. She says you threatened her, telling her you’d beat her up if she didn’t take back something she’d said about your ex-boyfriend. Is that correct?”

“I’ve had a lot of people say shit about my ex tonight, but like I said, I didn’t leave the table until about half an hour ago when we started packing everything up.”

The two cops looked at one another, nodding. “This occurred less than twenty minutes ago. I’m going to have to ask you to turn around for me,” the cop said. I didn’t want to, but I knew things would be worse if I argued. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the chick smirking at me as the handcuffs were tightened around me wrists.

“Need something else?” I asked her shortly. Her grin disappeared instantly.

“Please refrain from speaking to the victim,” the cop said. I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything else as the four of us began walking back in the direction they’d come from. We stopped by the pair of police cars in the parking lot, where I was told to stand with my back against the car. The still-unnamed chick and I were questioned, by the cops while they took notes. She put on an innocent act while I was attempted to burn holes into the ground. They let her go first, and left me standing there, hands behind my back, while they conferred beyond ear-shot.

“Anna, what the fuck is going on?” I looked up to see Devin running towards me, quickly followed by the others. Behind them, I could see the chick standing there watching me. With Brodon holding her smiling.