Wicked Game

The Jackass crew was exhausting. When her brother had offered to let her sit in and watch as he helped out with their stunts, Michelle thought it sounded awesome. Of course, that had been six years ago when the show was first kicking up. Seven years and a movie later, she now prided herself in being a professional finder of discrete sleeping spots. Letting the guys find you asleep was never a good idea, and it never went unpunished. This was why she practically jumped out of her skin when the front door of Alex's car opened, interrupting her nap in the back seat.

"Don't even-," she sat up and began her warning on instinct, before she realised that she didn't know the man who had just climbed in and was now awkwardly half-kneeling in the passenger seat to face her, green eyes round and blinking at her in apparent surprise.

But just because she didn't know him, didn't mean she didn't recognise him.

"I'm sorry, Alex didn't tell me there'd be anybody in here," Ville Valo looked unsure as to whether he should be amused or confused.

"First rule of sleeping around the Jackass guys - don't let them know about it," Michelle gave a shy smile "I'm Alex's sister. Michelle."

"Ville," he extended his hand and she shook it, trying to ignore how surreal the situation was "I thought the first rule of sleeping around the Jackass guys was don't."

Michelle had to be grateful that this was how they'd met, of all circumstances. If she'd been fully awake and surrounded by the Jackass guys, she knew she'd barely be able to string a sentence together in the presence of HIM's frontman.

"That's probably a smarter approach," she admitted "So...uh...Why is Ville Valo here?"

'And why am I talking about him in third person?' she thought to herself, internally cringing at her own question. His eyes were surprisingly intense as they bore into hers, although she assumed that it had something to do with English being his second language. Perhaps he gave people his full attention to make sure he understood?

"Bam invited me over, thought it'd be cool if we all hung out while they film the new movie. Maybe get me involved in a couple of pranks."

"Bam mentioned it," she nodded "But, um...I meant here. The car."

"Oh!" he seemed to have forgotten himself, before he opened the glove compartment and brandished a pack of Marlboro Lights "I ran out. Alex offered."

"How nice of him," Michelle's eyebrows rose in surprise - and how unlike him "He's a fan of you - of HIM, I mean."

"Bam mentioned," Ville echoed her earlier words, ripping the plastic from the pack and stuffing it in his pocket before opening it and offering it to her.

Michelle took one "That's worrying."

Ville gave a bark of laughter at this "Yeah, whenever Bam talks about people, he has something up his sleeve."

"He hasn't mentioned me lately, has he?" she half-joked, her words muffled by the cigarette between her lips as she dug around in her pocket for her own lighter, trying not to dwell on how comfortable she was around this practical stranger.

"As a matter of fact..." he gave her a sympathetic look, lighting his cigarette with his lighter before offering her it.

"No," she stared at him in horror and then laughed at his confusion, thinking her reaction had been directed at the lighter "What did Bam say?"

For her first few weeks amongst the guys, Michelle hadn’t needed to worry. They hadn’t known her too well, which took her firmly off of their list of victims. Having a burly, protective older brother helped, of course. But now? Well, she’d been with them through two seasons and now the second movie was afoot. Whilst she’d gone through her fair share of antiquings and having air horns blared behind her ears, she was yet to have a big-scale prank aimed at her, and whilst she hoped it stayed that way, she doubted it would. Being friends with them put her on their radar. Their radar was not a place she wanted to be, and she could only use her gender as a shield for so long. Anyhow, whenever she did pull the “I’m a girl, leave me alone!” card, Johnny took great delight in pointing out that she was also a feminist, and so she had to be treated equally. The asshole.

Accepting the lighter, she lit her cigarette and then climbed out of the car to prevent the smell from clinging to the upholstery. Ville followed her lead.

“Something about how your brother is…uh…”

“Protective?”

“Bam used the word ‘crazy’.”

“Of course he did,” she laughed quietly.

“So he’s going to do something involving you and Steve-O, I think?”

“Oh, that,” Michelle breathed a sigh of relief “I’m in on that. Steve-O isn’t anymore, though. Too scared of Alex.”

“Steve-O backing out of a stunt?” Ville’s eyebrows shot up “What were you guys gonna do?”

“It wasn’t even going to be a stunt, it was a prank!” she laughed, running her free hand through her hair “We were basically gonna trick Alex into thinking he’d just walked in on me n’ Steve-O getting up to, uh…y’know…that. Then we’d catch his reaction on camera, ‘cause there’s no doubt he’d go apeshit. I made the mistake of warning Steve-O that Alex could probably knock him clean out, and he backed out. Then Bam was gonna do it, but his girlfriend got pissed, so I dunno what’s going on with it now.”

“Life with the Jackass guys, huh?” Ville snorted, an amused smile on his lips.

Michelle was still doing her best not to freak out. Whilst HIM weren’t her favorite band (a position held firmly by Guns n’ Roses), she still liked them enough to be a star-struck. Their music was immense, even though it was a genre that she could only listen to when she was in a certain mood – usually tired or lonely. It had been a great comfort, especially when she’d made the decision to study abroad and spend most of her year, for three years, in England, away from her family in LA. This was why she’d opted to spend her first chunk of time home in three months with her brother. She hadn’t seen him in so long, and unlike their parents he wasn’t exactly a phone call kind of guy. You either spoke to him in person, or you didn’t speak to him, besides a handful of texts every now and then. Although the Jackass guys had also laid the guilt trip on thick to get her to hang with them instead of going straight home from England.

“It’s a joy,” she murmured with a smile “How long are you here?”

“Two weeks, I think. Bam’s putting me up,” he exhaled smoke from the side of his mouth so it wouldn’t get in her face.

“I’m staying there too. Along with Dunn, I think. And Alex. Probably Novak. Maybe Johnny.”

“Poor guy,” Ville snorted “May as well call it Hotel Bam.”

“I think he enjoys it,” Michelle smirked “So many people to terrorise in one place.”

“You make it sound like a hostage situation,” he teased quietly.

“Have you met Bam?” she retorted, surprised at how at ease she felt so quickly around Ville.

“Ha!” he gave another bark of laughter and she smiled “Should I leave you to your nap?”

“Nah, I’ll come back with you,” she nodded, falling in step beside him as they made their way away from where the cars were parked and towards the large patch of grass where filming was taking place.