Pressed Flowers

It started off really subtly and awkward. Like two ten year olds who don't know how to express their love.

They away sat near each other on the tour bus and they always laughed at each others jokes, even though they were the stupidest things ever. Like if Frank made a reference to something that happened during the last tour, Acacia would burst out laughing even if she didn't understand the joke. And if Acacia told a joke that wasn't humorous in the slightest, Frank would act like Will Ferrel just burst in the room wearing nothing but a leopard print thong.

But today, the worst scenario, played out right in front of me...

Frank asked Acacia out for coffee.

They thought I was asleep on the couch when in reality, I was just resting my eyes. Frank and Acacia were sitting on the floor, with their backs against the wall, Ray and Mikey were discussing lyrics for a new song and Bob was actually asleep in his bed.

"Hey, do you, uh... wanna go grab some coffee...maybe?" Frank asked and I bet anyone $10 that he was rubbing the back of his neck when he said those dreaded words.

Don't you dare say ye-

"Sure, I love coffee!" Acacia answered instantly.

Acacia, you hate coffee.

"Great, do you think Gerard will mind?" Frank asked. At least he remembered the rules!

"Nah, we can just grab him a coffee too." Acacia waved it off. "Let's go."

I could hear their footsteps as they walked out of the room. "LIAR!" I screamed as I jumped to my feet, my hands in fists and my skeleton onesie a little disheveled. Ray started screaming like a little girl but Mikey didn't even flinch.

"You were awake that whole time? What is wrong with you!" Ray screamed and threw a pillow at me which I skillfully dodged. Actually he just had really bad coordination and it landed like ten feet away from me.

"Frank agreed to the rules and now look at him! He's getting coffee with my sister!" I yelled and Mikey sighed.

"Gee, we've been over this. It's not that big of a deal and I think they really like each other." Mikey shrugged. "Now Ray, I was thinking that adding 'they'll rip up your heads, your soul up to shreds-'"

"This is not the time for making new music!" I announced and snatched the lyrics away from them. "What is this anyway? 'They say that teenagers scare the living shit out of me?'" I spat out the words like poison. "My Chem could never sing something like this!"

I paused and read the lyrics over a bit. "Actually, this is really, really good! But instead of saying 'your soul up to shreds' it could be 'your aspirations to shreds!'"

I sat down and for the next half hour, we wrote, scribbled and sang the lyrics for what we were hoping to be our next great hit. But then I remembered that my best friend was taking my sister out on a date and I shot out of my chair, yelling and Ray started screaming like a little girl again.

"I have to stop them!" I screamed. I whipped around to face Mikey one last time, "Add one more chorus to the end and then it'll be perfect!" And with that, I raced off.

I didn't realize how ridiculous I looked until I was standing outside the hotel, still in my skeleton onesie and with people staring at me like I was an idiot.

I grabbed the first person I saw, which was a pretty girl with black hair and dark eyes. "Where's the nearest café?"

"Um, I think it's on third street?" she answered.

"Thanks!" I grinned and sped off. Seconds later, I backtracked and faced the stranger again. "Where's third street?"

"It's about five minutes from here." she replied. "You have to take a right and then a left and then two more lefts and then turn right on the roundabout and then another right and you're there... Or I could just take you?"

"Yeah, that'd probably be easier. I'm Gerard, by the way." I introduced myself as she led me to her car.

"I'm Lyn-Z. Why do you have to get to the coffee shop so bad?"

"My best friend and my sister are about to fuck!" I replied dramatically as we got in her small, silver car and started driving.

"In a café? That's...kinky."

"Well, maybe not then but they're on a date right now and if one thing leads to another, they'll probably have sex in a month or so. Nevertheless, I need to stop it before anything happens!" I slammed my fist on the dashboard.

"What are you going to do when you get there?" Lyn-Z asked and I froze.

"....uh...maybe burst in there yelling?" Lyn-Z slammed on the brakes and if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, my nose would probably be broken. "That bad of a plan?"

"They'll both hate you and then they'll bond over their hatred for you. What you have to do is stay out of sight and make sure everything goes wrong. That way, they won't even want to attempt dating again!" Lyn-Z explained and I gave her a high five. She was brilliant!

"That's perfect! I just have to stay out of sight and everything will go as planned!"

Lyn-Z started driving again and soon enough, we were at the café. I slipped out of the car and started walking towards the door when I realized that Lyn-Z wasn't following me. I turned back, "Aren't you coming?"

"You want me to come?" she sounded bewildered, like this was the last thing she was expecting.

"Well...yeah." I shrugged and she smiled. Soon, Lyn-Z was by my side as we walked into the clothing store beside the café and purchased some hoodies and hats. Now disguised, we walked into the café without anyone recognizing us.

Frank and Acacia were on the far side of the café, sharing a muffin as they waited for their coffee to be made. I went up to the barista and pulled out a fifty dollar bill. "I'll give you this if you dump those people's coffee on them."

The girl didn't even glance, up, she simply grabbed the money and the drinks and headed over to Frank and Acacia.

It didn't work out as I planned at all.

The barista pretended to trip and the cups went flying, making coffee spill all over Acacia, but missing Frank.

"HOT!" Acacia screamed and jumped up, trying to shake the coffee off of her. Everyone turned to face her as Frank grabbed a bunch of napkins and tried to wipe the drink off of her. Except for the fact that it had spilled over her chest so her was pretty much just fondling her boobs.

"Get it off, get it off!" Acacia screamed and in a moment of passion and pain, ripped her Beatles shirt off and dropped it on the floor. It took about three seconds before Acacia realized what she did and screamed, blushing like mad.

Frank didn't know what to do. In his defense, neither did I. Acacia half naked was not something I wanted to see. Ever. Finally, Frank pulled off his shirt too and handed it to my sister to put on. So now, Frank was shirtless, Acacia was beyond humiliated and nobody knew what to do.

Finally, Acacia broke the silence. "I fucking hate coffee!"

Frank grabbed Acacia's hand and led her out of the café while everyone else just let the recent events sink in. "That didn't go as planned...." Lyn-Z said and turned to me. I hadn't looked away from the table where Frank and Acacia previously were. "Gerard?"

"Sh- she didn't have a shirt on..." I squeaked. "I think I'm scarred for life."

"At least she was wearing a bra?" Lyn-Z tried but I shook my head.

"I don't think I'll ever get that image out of my head. I need therapy." My voice was hollow and scarred. Not only did I have that lovely image stuck in my mind forever, but Frank also touched her chest and became the hero by giving her his shirt.

"Want to get a drink and talk about your feelings?" Lyn-Z asked and I nodded.

"Yes please."