Dizzy Hurricane

“Come on Vic, they’re pulling up right now!”

I cross my arms and pout as he rushes out of the main building.

“My bad, you know how the paper work is,” he says, getting into the car before me.

“Tell me about it,” I huff, strapping in my seat belt.

I’m so excited that we’re going to see Ally today, I can’t wait! I’ve wanted to talk to her face to face about the past few months at the academy. Through the car ride I gush to Vic about how much fun it’s going to be; the three of us hanging out together for the first time. He agrees with me and talks about the time when he and Ally were at the student lounge and they played video games, he said that he loved it and found it hilarious how competitive she was. He said at one point that she threw her controller onto a beanbag chair and pinned him down for beating her in a round of Marvel vs. Capcom. She loves those games.

I watched him as he laughed - his eyes barely visible from the way they squeezed together whenever he’d get into a good laugh. Vic and I have become very close. Sometimes I feel bad about it because I feel like I’m replacing Ally in a way. But at the same time, I like it. I like the attention Vic gives me, it makes up for the attention that Reggie doesn’t give to me. Don’t get me wrong – I still love my bubbie wubbie – but it’s different with Vic. He knows how to have fun, and he actually listens to me when I have something to say. It makes me so happy. It makes me feel weird though whenever he talks about Ally. Whether he’s on the phone with her or reminiscing, like he did just a while ago, I hate the way his eyes light up when her name is mentioned. He tells me how much of a drama queen she is and how much stress she caused him last year, but it’s like that all goes away when he talks about the times they have those nice days. Like when they would have deep conversations, the times she stood up with him when he and Elizabeth broke up. Or all the fun times in music when he was having an off day and she’d cheer him up or goof around at break time.

He claims to have moved on, but his smile says otherwise. Before he can go off on other tangents of spending time with Ally, I ask him about his band’s success in the past few years. His eyes widen and he happily talks about Warped Tour last year, forgetting the topic of Ally. Ha, mission accomplished. Hey, I’m not doing anything wrong; when Ally talked to Vic about feeling horrible when Jack passed by her house I took it as a go to flirt with Vic. I mean, she didn’t mention getting over him, but she didn’t say that she wasn’t either – so it’s okay, right?

I try to keep my flirting to a minimum throughout the car ride, but I fail miserably. It’s just so hard to hold back from him. It comes so naturally, even though I’ve never been one to – cheat. NOT THAT I AM CHEATING; this is just harmless flirtation going on between two friends. Its totes normal, it’s just a little fun. I was mid-compliment when Elizabeth interrupted us and asked me about Reggie. I had completely forgotten about him at this point. I didn’t want to seem like a bad girlfriend to Ally’s sister and brother in-law, so I just started blathering on about him. I could tell Vic was a tad bit upset, but it just kind of fueled me to go on. I liked the fact that he was jealous, because then it only meant that he was into me. I enjoyed it.

As we got into the elevator I started to get super duper excited, we’re going to see Als!! I beamed at Vic and he gave me a smile in return. I wanted to reach out my hand and grab his out of pure joy, but fought the urge. My boyfriend is Reggie – not Vic, I must stay faithful to him, no matter how hard it is.

I squeal as the door flies open and Ally embraces me.
_______________________________________________________________

A huge smile spreads across my face as I see Naomi coming down the hall. She runs into my arms and gives me a hug with a small shimmy. She makes a comment about how much my hair has grown before Vic pulls me out from where I was standing under the door frame and hugs me. He lifts me and twirls me like the time I got in to M.J Academy. I giggle as he tells me how much he missed me. I didn’t want this moment to end, but of course it eventually did. He plants me on my feet, revealing his big smile.

“You ready to lose at some arcade games tonight?” He asks, winking at me.

I roll my eyes playfully. I had only mentioned to him that I wanted all of us to Dave and Busters today.

I wanted to treat Lizzy and Kellin because of all the trouble she had been through these past few months.

“In your dreams,” I say, flipping my hair behind me.

He attacks me by tickling my sides and sends me in fits of laughter, pleading with him to stop. He doesn’t though, because he’s a boy and a jerk. He finally stops and I notice Lizzy standing in front of me. I freeze, taking in her appearance. She has changed so much; the short hair, the weight loss, she didn’t even have that familiar shine in her eyes whenever she’s round Kellin. A rush of emotion comes out of nowhere, throwing me into a crying fit.

“I missed you so much,” I choke out.

I roughly embrace her, kissing her check and apologizing for my childish behavior in the last years. I apologize for putting her through so much pain and that she had to put up with me for so long. She assures me that things are going to be betterfrom now on out and tells me that she loves me.
When we’re done greeting each other, I welcome everyone into the apartment. Lizzy and Vic gaze at how spacious and high maintenance it is. Meanwhile, Naomi and Kellin help themselves to my fridge since they have already been here. Lizzy stays standing around as Vic pulls me onto the couch and starts spilling the pasts few months of the school year. He talks about the new annoying guy that took my spot in music class and how much he wants to punch him when he realizes that he took my spot. A small ‘awwwww’ goes through my head when he adds that he wants to punch the guy regardless for being so whiny. I bring my legs up and rest my arms on my knees as he continues on about school. He also mentions that Brendon is taking on the class since Mrs. Jones took a leave for her newborn.

I watch him closely as he goes on about his band’s progress and the coming gigs. I really missed talking to Vic like this; where we can chill and just be natural around each other – the whole phone thing was not working out for me. I punch him in the arm and ‘yell’ at him for not visiting me sooner. He apologizes and tells me that he didn’t have an excuse for coming over except for the fact that something in him was holding him back. I ignore that because I didn’t know what he meant by it and ask him about his friendship with Naomi. His smile vanishes as he purses his lips. I cock my head to the side, wondering why the sudden change in mood.

“We’re fine,” he mumbles, looking away.

“Um, the face you’re making doesn’t support what you’re saying,” I say, pushing my hair out of my face.

He searches my face for a second, and then stares into my eyes. I feel like shuddering under his intense gaze. He sighs, looks past me towards the kitchen, then moves closer to me.

“I like her,” he whispers.