Blessed with a Curse

I was excited when I first found out that we were playing Warped Tour again this year. It was nice to finally be one of the bigger acts too. I was pretty thrilled when I found out some of the bands we would be touring with. It would be nice to catch up with some of the ones we already knew. I was also excited about meeting some of the new ones, too. My excitement, however, was short lived. It had been my brother, Tom, who killed it.

I had been coming home from a shitty date with my girlfriend. We had managed to get into five fights during our two hour date. It was a new fucking record for us and not in a good way. Honestly, I was relieved when I paid the bill and dropped her off at her house. She was getting on my last nerve.

Anyway, after dropping her off at home I had gone back to my place. I had been planning to just be a lazy fucker and sleep through to the next day. Tommy, however, chose to screw that up.

The first thing he said to me when I entered the house made my mood sink lower than it ever had before. I wanted to punch something. I almost did which would have been bad because the thing closest to me was a mirror. That would've ended very badly. Seven years of bad luck plus a bloody fist and mess of shards. Yep, that was definitely not appealing.

The news that pissed me off so much was that Blood on the Dance Floor would be performing at Warped Tour this year. I hated them. It wasn't only because of their music, though. They just seemed like complete assholes who thought about nothing but themselves. They looked ridiculous, too. I couldn't believe how much fucking make up they always wear. I hate women who wear a lot of make up so imagine with men? I hate it. I really just hate them.

Then there's also the fact that they've got the nerve to insult a girl online when she made a video about being bullied. That made me sick. That made me dislike them even more. It just proved me right. They were assholes. They didn't care if they hurt someone. They didn't care if they left someone crying and broken. They were heartless jerks.

That was why I found myself glaring at the Jayy most of the first day. Whenever I saw him, it brought back memories of the jerks I had put up with back in school. I didn't like those memories. Anyone who triggered them, by default, fell onto my enemy list.

I didn't see him very often but when I did, I noticed other things that I didn't like. His mannerisms drove me insane. I had barely spoken to him but just the way he spoke when arguing with me had reminded me how irritating some gay men could be when they speak. Now, I’m not homophobic and I never will be. I don’t care who other men choose to screw around with. I honestly didn’t usually care how gays acted. For Jayy, however, I did.

He had a tendency speak with a slightly pitched voice which seems to be pretty common among gay men. I never cared but coming from him, it just got on my nerves. He sounded so obnoxious earlier. On later observation, I realized that he was very obnoxious. I was never a fan of people like that. The contacts he wore also freaked me out a bit but that’s not as important.

Right now, I had just spotted him across the room talking to Dahvie. I’m pretty sure I saw them both look my way a few times but I didn’t care. I just couldn’t stand them.

“Oli, quit staring,” Jordan snapped, shoving me unexpectedly.

The push almost knocked me off my chair. After regaining my balance, I shot him a look over my shoulder. He was looking right back, his arms crossed. I rolled my eyes.

“Fuck off,” I muttered back as I walked toward our bus. Jordan followed.

“What the hell were you glaring at those guys for? It was creepy as hell. You’re not homophobic, are you?” he frowned, eyeing me suspiciously. I rolled my eyes yet again.

“If you actually feel the need to ask me that, we have a serious problem,” I answered back.

We got to our bus and I got on, walking straight to the backroom. Entering, I found Nicholls and Pierce the Veil’s drummer, Mike, sitting around talking. There were a few beers on the table which I quickly took advantage of. I plopped down on the couch next to Mike while Jordan took a seat on the little table next to the beers. Matt eyed me curiously. I watched as his lips curled into a knowing smile as he leaned closer.

“Let me guess,” he chuckled, raising a brow, “Dahvie? Or Jayy?”

I stared straight ahead, not answering right. I turned my gaze to the label on my bottle, rereading it several times before glancing up. All eyes were on me which wasn’t surprising. I sighed lightly, taking a few sips of my beer.

“It’s nothing,” I grumbled, keeping my eyes down.

“Oh, come on, even I can tell that’s bullshit,” Mike stated, laughing lightly. His statement caught my attention.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” I scowled, holding his gaze.

“It means even a damn stranger can tell you on the verge of punching something,” Jordan cut in sounding exasperated.

“Christ, can’t you just fuck off?” I snapped back at the keyboardist, glaring. He glared right back.

“You never answered me earlier,” he said, ignoring my request. “Are you being like this because one of them is gay or what?”

Matt started laughing at that question, shaking his head at Jordan. “Give me a break, Jordan. He’d be the last person to sink to that fucking level.”

My eyes lingered on Matt for a minute before turning to Jordan. He was waiting, an expectant look on his face. He wanted me to confirm Matt’s statement. Sighing, I drank before speaking.

“I’m not homophobic. I never have been and never will be. I honestly don’t care what gender they prefer. I just… I’ve never liked them. That’s all.”

I heard Matt chuckle from Mike’s other side at my final statement. I saw him reach over Mike to shove me. He knew I was just putting it lightly. I pushed his hand away, biting my lower lip to keep from smiling randomly.

“So now that that’s been settled,” Matt said, rising to stretch. “I was about to go with this guy to join his band on their bus. You’re welcome to come.”

I glanced at Mike who was getting up as well. He glanced between Jordan and me, waiting for an answer. I looked at the time.

“What time are we heading out?” I asked, looking around.

“8,” Jordan answered. “We have about two hours before we need to go. Let’s just go. It beats staying cooped up in here.”

Nodding, I pushed myself off the couch and followed Mike off the bus. While I was annoyed by Jayy’s presence on the tour, I wouldn’t let it ruin my experience. I’d just do my best to ignore him until it was absolutely necessary to acknowledge him. That shouldn’t be a problem…right?