Decided to Break It

Before we went to the studio, I stopped by Vic’s place to grab a little something. Yes, Echo was my girlfriend and you’d think I’d need nothing else, but I did. So what? I told her to wait, got out of the car and headed towards his little white house. He had very little furniture in there but when I got in, his brother, Mike, told me to sit and wait. I pulled up a lawn chair and did as I was told. “So…” Mike said as he grabbed a lawn chair and sat in front of me. “Who’s the hottie in the car?” I immediately got defensive. “She’s mine.” He put his hands up. “I was just askin’ man. She’s real hot.” He peered out of the blinds a little to watch her. “She’s mine.” “Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time. What are you two anyway?” “We’re dating.” “I thought you were gay.” “Fuck you.” He cackled, but I didn’t know what was so funny. “Okay, well, you know you’re a little behind on what you owe Vic right?” His tone changed from fuckin’ around with me to extremely serious and it made me uncomfortable. I scratched the back of my neck. “Oh yeah, man. I know. I’m paying him back in installments. We talked about it already.” He shook his head and rubbed his chin. “Yeah, well, that doesn’t work out for me. I need it all now or…”

“Why do you need it? Me and Vic got it all handled.” “This ain’t about you and Vic anymore.” I stood up, ready to leave, but he got up faster and blocked the door. “I don’t need any today. I’ll come back tomorrow or something and talk to Vic.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t work out for me either.” “Where’s Vic?” Mike glanced outside of the little window on the front door and smirked. “I’d hate for anything to happen to your little…” “Watch it, fuckhole.” He laughed. “Whoa man, I’m just sayin’. You don’t wanna piss me off.” I just stared at him, hoping to intimidate him but he just smirked. “You’ve got until tomorrow night, Ramsay. I want the full thousand. Or it’s your girlfriend. Choose wisely.” He stepped to the side and I quickly got out of the house and into the car. Echo turned to me and smiled. “Everything alright, love?” I glanced at her, shivering, and put my eyes on the road. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Josh! There you are!” My mom said across the room once we got to the studio. There were a lot of people there and I was a little uncomfortable. But having Echo with me made it better. She held my hand and followed behind me as I walked through the crowd. We got a few weird looks from people, but it didn’t matter to me. I only needed her with me and I needed her safe. That was it. “Hey momma.” I hugged her and she whispered to me “you look like hell.” That’s what I needed. “Thanks, momma.” “Echo!” She squealed. She hugged her and then stepped back to look at us. “I feel like I haven’t seen you two in ages. Are…” She gasped and then put her hand on her face. “Are you two…?” I looked at Echo who smiled at me and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Yes, mom. We’re dating.” “Finally!” Her excitement was too much for me to handle. I definitely needed a hit. Echo hugged my side and I looked down at her gorgeous eyes. They were enough to get lost in. She lifted herself on her tiptoes and kissed my chin. “Echo, your dad was looking for you earlier. You may wanna go see him.” My mom said. She nodded and went over towards him on the other side of the room. I figured it would be okay. He couldn’t be that stupid to do something in public, right?
My mom put her hand on my back and hugged me from the side. “What’s going on with you?” She asked. The music was loud and the smell from the buffet was enough to make me sick. I desperately needed a hit. “What do you mean?” “I feel like something’s off with you. I don’t know. You’ve been weird these last few months. And you’ve lost so much weight. I’m worried.” I smirked a bit. “Nah, I’m okay.” “Well yesterday, your math teacher called me. You haven’t been to class in three weeks? And before that…” “Is this really the time to talk about this?” “Well, when are we going to talk, huh? You haven’t been home and when you are you’re just in your room. Baby, I’m just worried.” Well, I was going to ask her to loan me the money I owed Mike but I couldn’t now. I smiled at her. “Mom, I promise, I’m fine. I love you.” She gave me a weak smile. “I love you too. Now, go find your girlfriend and you two get some food. Your set’s up soon.”

Once all of our friends got there, Echo and I told them about us. For the most part, they seemed happy. Except Kevvy, Matt and Amanda. Matt rolled his eyes and Amanda just kept hugging on him and rubbing his arms. I didn’t care. Echo was way better than her anyway. Kevvy was just quiet. It was a little awkward sometimes, I won’t lie. We all sat around the table, them talking about something but Echo kept my attention. I kept hers too, but not for the right reasons. “Are you okay?” She kept whispering to me. The last time, I just kissed her forehead and shook my head. “Babe, you’re shivering and you’re extremely pale.” “I’m fine.” “Something’s on your mind. Are you okay?” “Echo, calm down. I’m fine.” I may have said it too sternly. I didn’t even realize it until she let my hand go and looked away from me. I looked up and saw that Kevvy was staring at me too. He looked pissed. My dad came up to me a few minutes later and told me it was our turn to play. I gathered the guys and we got on stage rather quickly. I dropped my guitar a few times before I got a good grip. “Um… hi.” The microphone screeched. “We’re Marianas Trench and this is Say Anything.”

We finished three songs and played decently well. We got a lot of compliments once we were done and even the other guys said we were amazing. But I didn’t think we did well. Not at all. Echo ran up to me and kissed me. “Baby, that was great!” She smiled and hugged me tightly but I wasn’t feeling it. I’ve never performed so badly before. I hugged her back. “Give me a minute?” She shook her head and I made my way to the bathroom closest to the banquet hall we were in. I rushed in, splashed water on my face and just leaned over the sink. “Need a hit, huh?” I looked behind me and saw that Mike guy again. “What do you want?” “I like to keep an eye on the people that owe me money.” “How’d you get in here?” “Quit asking questions, Ramsay. Just make sure you get my money. Don’t want me having to stop by 1712 Acadia right?” I balled up my fists and stepped closer to him. He put his hands up. “Don’t do anything stupid, Ramsay. I’ve got people ready to do my bidding.” “Where the fuck is Vic?” “He’s tied up right now. You’ll deal with me from now on.” He held up a little baggie. “Pure snow right here.” He wiggled in front of my face and I reached for it. “It’s 100. You want it?” I didn’t answer. Of course I wanted it. I just didn’t have the cash for it. “1100 tomorrow.” He put the baggie in my hand. “Or I’ll end up at your girls’ house. No one wants that… except me of course.” He smirked and walked out of the bathroom.