Pressed Flowers

Have you ever been out in public, maybe in the mall, in a restaurant, or worst of all, at a swimming pool, for example? Have you ever just looked around and picked out all the obvious stereotypes in the crowd: the sick guy who shouldn't be in public, the group of teenaged girls who don't understand what 'inside voice' means, the mother who brings her kids to places she knows they won't behave in?

And then the worst yet, the Couple.

The Couple is a species that the human race doesn't quite understand. They have the looks and characteristics of any normal human, but the behaviour of a wild beast. Many don't understand the change that takes place between the human and the Couple other than in the end, there's a lot of PDA and nasty stuff going on.

And that's what Lyn-Z and I had to become. We had to bring our public display of affection levels to an all time high when we're around Acacia and Frank and we couldn't tell a living soul (other than Justin and Marie) that we were fakes or else the word could make it back to my sister and then all hell would break loose.

"I love your hair like that, Gee." Lyn-Z purred in my ear as we sat next to Frank on the tour bus. There wasn't much room to sit but judging by the disgusted look plastered on his face, Frankie boy was NOT happy with the current seating arrangement.

"I love your eyes like that." I whispered back and Frank's face contorted in confusion.

"What does that even mean? Her eyes don't look different on any other day!" Frank burst and we both turned to glare at him.

"She's wearing smoky black eyeshadow while most of the time she just wears plain gray or nothing. Plus with the added contouring and highlighting, her eyes look bigger than they usually do, minus any bags." I snapped back.

"Ugh, it's like you know nothing about makeup!" Lyn-Z growled and we both turned back to each other and started kissing - Eskimo style. We had been doing it this way for like two hours now and I'm pretty sure I resemble Voldemort by now.

In my defense, the only reason I knew all that was because I was waiting for Lyn-Z to get ready and she explained the entire process to me. When I do my stage makeup, I just kind of smear white all over my face, put masking tape over what I don't want black, and give myself a ninja mask.

I didn't know about all this contouring, highlighting, shadowing shit.

The tour bus pulled up to a stop and Frank shot away in disgust. Acacia was the lucky one and got to stay in Frank's bunk when he was stuck by me and Lyn-Z. When he was out of sight, I shoved Lyn-Z off my lap and tenderly touched my nose.

"I think you rubbed all the skin off." I whimpered.

Lyn-Z pulled herself off the ground and tapped on her nose before wincing back. "Can we just put Band-Aids on them to make them feel better?"

"But they're not bleeding." I laughed.

"Yeah, but everything feels better when you put a Band-Aid on it." That sounds logical.

"Okay."

We searched through the entire bus before we finally found Batman Band-Aids and delicately put them on each others noses. Lyn-Z, of course, took a picture and Tweeted it. When we were figuring out all the parts in the plan, we decided that publicity would have to be a big thing.

Because now, it wasn't only to break up Frank and Acacia. It was to get our bands more publicity so we could touch more lives. That was what both of us wanted with our bands so if doing this meant that both our bands could get noticed, then that's what we'd have to do.

We finally left the bus after we were safely bandaged (Lyn-Z was right, it did make it feel better) and skipping towards the gas station with our fingers interlaced. I had to apologize though because it was hot in the tour bus so my hands were all clammy.

It just so happened that we walked in on the worst time possible. Maybe if we had payed attention then we would have noticed the man with the gun and could have ran to go get help, but instead, we skipped in without a care in the world.

We didn't even notice the man at first. We just started grabbing Doritos until he coughed and we looked up to see the gun pointed at the cashier. Ray, Bob and Mikey were all gagged and tied on the ground while by the washrooms, Frank and Acacia were staring in horror as Acacia clung to Frank and her fingers interlaced in his.

Fuck! I thought he would have been turned off by all the PDA-

Concentrate Gerard! Not the time!

"Listen, man, you don't wanna do this." I said, setting the Doritos back on the rack. "There are other ways you can make money."

"Like what? Beg? Prostitution?" he snorted.

"Well those aren't the best career choices but I think you could make a decent living out of it." Okay, maybe not the smartest thing to say in a situation like this.

"Shut up!" he roared and I held up my hands in defense. Lyn-Z huddled behind me. At first, I thought it was because she was trying to make me take a bullet, but then I realized by the dialling sound that she was actually calling the cops.

To cover up the sound of the call being made, I started talking again.

"It's okay. This guy," I motioned to the cashier, "doesn't make the best living either and he's doing fine. He sells chips and gas and he can probably support a family. You don't need to rob him of all he's got. All you have to do is get a job and you're good. No criminal record needed."

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"What was that?" the man asked and I looked around for something to make an excuse out of.

"That was your conscience talking." Acacia piped up and I shot her a glare. She was going to get herself killed! "It's telling you to put down the gun and let us go."

"There's a man here who's holding us hostage. Please come quickly." Lyn-Z whispered into her phone and the man's attention shot to us.

"Did you just say something, bitch?" he screamed and we leaped back.

"No! I didn't!" Lyn-Z cried out. "I swear!"

"Then whose voice do I keep on hearing?"

I shared a fake confused glance with the other people in the room. "What do you mean? Nobody's been talking."

"Liar! I hear a voice! A woman's voice!" he yelled and from across the room, I saw Acacia's eyes light up with an idea.

"Sir, how often do you hear these voices?" Acacia asked in a professional tone. "I'm a doctor and I have reason to believe you have a mental illness."

The hand with the gun dropped down to his side. "What? No, that's impossible!"

"Sir, I need you to answer all my questions. How often do you hear these 'voices?'" Acacia asked and yanked a pen out of no where and grabbed a napkin on a counter near her and started jotting stuff down.

"Every few seconds there's a voice. But I can never make out what she's saying... it's always a girl. This has never happened to me before!"

"This could be the onset of a mental illness, brought on by increased levels of stress. Is this your first robbery?"

"Yes ma'am." the man answered as sweat dripped down his forehead. "Please, what's wrong with me, doc?"

Suddenly, the building was surrounded by flashing red and blue lights as Acacia showed him the blank napkin. "You're clinically an idiot." she smirked as the police busted in through the door and handcuffed the man.

"Hey, hey! That's not fair!" he shouted. "You tricked me, you bitch, you tricked me!"

The man was dragged out of the gas station without another word as the police officers worked on freeing Mikey, Ray, and Bob. When they were finally released, they rushed over to us. "Are you guys okay? Did he hurt you?" I asked.

"No, he just tied us up and asked for the money. We're fine. Good work on the doctor part, 'Cacia." Mikey slung his arm over Acacia as she grinned broadly.

"Thanks, I read up on some mental illnesses and I figured it was worth a shot while Lyn-Z was calling the cops." Acacia shrugged and Frank placed a kiss on her cheek, much to my dismay.

"That's my girl!" he cheered and I grumbled incoherent words under my breath.

"And good job on calling the cops, Lyn-Z. We would probably all be dead without you." Ray playfully slugged her in the arm.

"And thanks Gerard for distracting him while Lyn-Z was calling the cops. You really saved our lives." I added in a high pitched voice as everyone except Bob echoed what I said.

"Something to say, Bob?" I asked and he only narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah." Bob answered. "Why do you two have Batman Band-Aids on your noses?"