So to Hell with Good Intentions
You drown in your true colors and just the truth remains
“I heard the conversation you and Spencer had last night.” My dad states on our drive to the set. “You have no reason to be afraid of moving in with him. I moved in with your mother after knowing her for 3 weeks. You’ve known him for 3 years before you started dating. And you’ve been dating for how long?”
“4 months.” I reply. “How did you know I was having doubts and being afraid of this?”
“I’m your dad.” He laughs. “I know how you work. Besides, I know your relationship with Trever really fucked you up and that was the last time you decided to take the leap of faith and move in with him.”
“I hate when you’re right, you know that?” I glare at him before letting out a chuckle. “I really do love Spencer and I know he’s not gonna fuck me over. And I know I’m not gonna fuck him over like I did with Trever. I knew I should have ended things sooner but couldn't, which resulted in me cheating on him.”
“The fucker had it coming.” My dad scoffs. “He treated you like shit even before you decided to cheat on him. Plus that whole clown motel bullshit he pulled after finding out about said cheating was immature and he still needs to get his ass kicked for that.”
“Oh I did something so much better.” I laugh. “I burned all of the shit I ever bought him; which was most of his shit.”
“That’s my girl.” He lets out a laugh.
“Remind me to show you pictures,” I tell him. “I took a lot of pictures. And thinking about those pictures, there is something ironic about them.”
“What’s ironic about them?”
“I burned so many Ice Nine Kills T-shirts.” I snicker. “Part of me wants to talk to him again, just so I can rub me and Spencer’s relationship in his face. OOOH he’d be so fucking pissed.”
“You’re something else, Princess.” He shakes his head, chuckling.”
**
“Look who is finally here?” Ricky announces as my dad and I walk onto set. “Tatum Riley, back from the dead!” I look down at my outfit and laugh. I didn’t even realize that I dressed up like her. I just threw on my white jersey crop top and red skinny jeans. And I honestly only did my hair in braids so I can keep my hair out of my face without having my hair up in a headache inducing bun. “Did Spencer dress you this morning?”
“Please if I dressed her this morning, she wouldn’t be wearing anything.” Spencer replies, shooting me a smirk. “Good morning, babe.” He kisses me before looking back at my dad. “Hey Dan.”
“Watch yourself, Charnas. That’s my daughter.” I can envision the smirk my dad has on his face even if he’s right behind me. I look at Spencer and he has a genuine smile on his lips. I’m so glad these two are getting along.
“Alright, Dad this is the rest of the band.” I say before introducing them one by one; pointing to them as I say their names. “I hate all of them but Patrick.”
“You bitch!” Joe pouts. “I thought what we had was special. How dare you love Patrick more than me?”
“I love you more than Ricky, if that counts for anything.” I point out, smirking over at Ricky, who is dramatically eye rolling at me. “So yea this is Ice Nine Kills. Guys this is my dad, Dan Cerulli.”
“So this is the man, myth and legend, huh?” Ricky smirks. “This is gonna be the guy that tells us anything we want to know about you.”
“You’re not about to torture my dad with questions about me.” I warn him. “Now I’m going to go talk to the directors so see if it’s gonna be time to turn this beautiful face,” I reach up and squish Spencer’s cheeks together, “into a zombie. I’ll be right back.” As I walk away, Spencer smacks my ass. I turn around and playfully glare at him. “Watch yourself Charnas.” I smirk before continuing on; making sure I swing my hips as I walk.
**
“I don’t get how you can work with these guys without getting flustered,” my assistant Julia states as we get things out to work on Spencer’s zombie makeup. “Especially in the beginning.”
“Well it helped that I wasn’t a fan of the band when I started working for them.” I laugh, causing her to look at me wide-eyed. “Their older stuff was way too scene to me. In fact I’m pretty sure at one point I made fun of how Spencer looked with an ex that was obsessed with them.”
“Such an awesome girlfriend.” She laughs. “What changed for you?”
“Musically? I just dug the idea about having a cd be inspired by horror movies. Personally? I just fell in love with the person Spencer was off stage and out of the music video.
“We would binge watch movies in person or on the phone. We can talk about stupid shit and talk about our crazy fan theories. He quickly turned into my best friend and then eventually I saw him in a different light; especially during Covid. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have lost my sanity.”
“I love hearing you talk about Spencer; it’s kinda cute.” She smiles. “I’m honestly not sure who I’m more jealous of; him or you?”
“Aw, you’re sweet.” I smile. “Come on, let’s get ready to turn Spencer into a hot zombie in tactical gear…”
**
“Alright you got to tell me October’s most embarrassing moment.” Ricky tells my dad over pizza.” And please, don’t hold back.”
“And face the wrath of my daughter?” My dad smirks, shooting me a look. “Not gonna happen.”
“There is a story I want to know more about and I’m sure you know the whole story.” Spencer states. “The clown motel story. You have to know about that.”
“That is a story you need to ask her about.” He says. “It’s her trauma to share.”
“The clown motel?” Lydia questions. “That creepy hotel in Nevada? What happened there?”
I stand up from my couch, “let me take a pickle back shot and I’ll let you guys know the whole story. You just have to promise me you won’t want to kill anyone afterwards.” I shoot Spencer a look at the last sentence. I walk over to my bar and pour myself a shot of Jameson and a shot of pickle juice. I down both before coming back to the group and mentally prepare myself for the tale.
“This all happens right after I wrap on It,” I start. “My ex Trever planned on taking me on a nice vacation once I got back home. Unbeknownst to me, he had gotten a message from someone containing a picture of me and the back of the guy I cheated on him with.”
“Someone seriously sent a picture to your boyfriend? That’s shitty but not at the same time.” Joe states.
“Instead of taking me to Vegas like he planned, he and his friends decide to come up with a plan to get back at me. So they decided on taking me to the Clown motel instead; leaving me there while they go get shit faced in Vegas. They drugged me with Benadryl so that I was dead to the world. Booked a room and left me there with all my luggage and thankfully cell phone.
“I wake up and immediately start freaking out because not only am I in a strange room but in a room that has so many pictures of clowns in it.I freak out even more as I’m searching the room for the guys. I rush outside and there was no car. I come back inside and written on the mirror in my favorite red lipstick was “You fucking whore.”
“You told me a friend did this.” Spencer notes. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your ex?”
I just shrug before continuing on, “So after a massive panic attack, I start calling all my friends and oddly most of them were on tour. But I managed to get a hold of Andy Biersack and he came running to save me with CC. They drove out and rescued me.”
“Please tell me you did something to get back at him.” Patrick begs. “You may have cheated but he fucked with you horribly. Don’t bring phobias into something like this.”
“Oh I burned all of his shit and sent him pictures and videos of it.” I give him a sinister smile. “Wanna see the pictures? I can put them on the TV.”
After of a chorus of “fuck yeas.” I break out my iPad and set it up so we can see the pictures I took of that night. I can feel their eyes on me when it got to the picture of me wearing Tever’s favorite Ice Nine Kills t-shirt while burning all of his other INK t-shirts. I just shoot them an innocent look. “You guys knew I wasn’t a fan when you met me.” I remind them. “And honestly, I think that was the last time I wore an INK t-shirt.”
“Do you have a picture of the boyfriend?” Dan asks. I skip a few pictures until I get to the last picture I took with Trever. All their jaws drop. “No fucking way.”
I shoot Lydia a look. “Do you know what’s going on?” She shakes her head ‘no’. “Okay boys, ya need to explain.”
“He’s the roadie we hung out with when we toured with Papa Roach and Hollywood Undead.” Spencer explains. “He was a huge fan of ours and seemed really cool. And he told us how his crazy ex-girlfriend cheated on him then burned all of us t-shirts specifically to fuck with him.”
“And now we know the whole story.” Joe chuckles. “I knew deep down the guy deserved it. He seemed like the type to call a girl crazy for no reason.”
“I think I still have his number.” Patrick admits. My eyes go wide as a sinister smile rips across my lips. “Toby, what's with that crazy look?”
My dad laughs. “Earlier today she was talking about wanting to speak to Trever one more time and rub it in his face that she’s dating the lead singer of his favorite band.”
“Alright that settles it!” Ricky announces. “Time for a selfie. Huddle up. Dan, would you be so kind and take the picture to help your daughter continue to exact revenge on her asshole boyfriend?”
“It’ll be my honor.” My dad laughs before taking Patrick’s phone from him. We all huddle up together, I’m on Spencer’s lap and I can feel him smiling against my cheek. Once the picture is taken, my dad hands Patrick back his phone.
“What should I send with the picture?”
“Look who I ran into.” I reply. “Add a smiley face to it as well, just because.” I laugh.
No sooner than the picture was sent; my phone starts blaring The Fastest Way To A Girl's Heart Is Through Her Ribcage by Ice Nine Kills, earning a look from the guys. “What?” I ask them. “I kept his phone number, is that a crime?”
“He still has his own ringtone?” Ricky questions.
“Yea, it’s how to avoid him. I do this with everyone.” I tell them before answering the call and putting it on speaker one. “Hello Ass Hat?”
“Since when are you an Ice Nine Kills fan?” He questions me. “I thought you hated their music.”
“The Silver Scream won me over.” I reply nonchalantly. “I’ve worked with them on their music videos as well. I’m pretty damn close to the band.”
“Which one of them are you fucking?” He spits. “It’s Spencer isn’t it? You always had a thing for lead singers. Does he know about you and Andy Biersack? Or how you cheated on me with some punk on the set of It?”
“He knows exactly who she cheated on you with.” Spencer replies. “And we’re just not fucking; we’re actually dating.” I look over at him and smile. He was so quick to defend me. It’s sweet.
“And the only thing Andy and I did was burn your shit after you fucking left me at the fucking clown motel.” I inform him. “It must suck to know your ex-girlfriend is dating the lead singer of your favorite band.”
“I think it’s so funny that you’re still so obsessed with me that you had to sleep your way into my favorite band.” He snorts. “You’re pathetic October.”
“Funny thing is, I rarely talk about you unless asked about the clown motel fiasco or if I was ever an Ice Nine Kills fan before The Silver Scream.” I laugh. “But honestly you didn’t have to call me after Patrick sent you the picture. You could have ignored it or just sent him a text back. But no, you quickly call the one girl that made you feel like an asshole. I hope you have a fantastic life, Meyer. Because I know I am.” With that I hang up, still smiling like a damn idiot.
“Feel better?” Spencer asks, chuckling at my smile.
“I think I won that break up…”
“4 months.” I reply. “How did you know I was having doubts and being afraid of this?”
“I’m your dad.” He laughs. “I know how you work. Besides, I know your relationship with Trever really fucked you up and that was the last time you decided to take the leap of faith and move in with him.”
“I hate when you’re right, you know that?” I glare at him before letting out a chuckle. “I really do love Spencer and I know he’s not gonna fuck me over. And I know I’m not gonna fuck him over like I did with Trever. I knew I should have ended things sooner but couldn't, which resulted in me cheating on him.”
“The fucker had it coming.” My dad scoffs. “He treated you like shit even before you decided to cheat on him. Plus that whole clown motel bullshit he pulled after finding out about said cheating was immature and he still needs to get his ass kicked for that.”
“Oh I did something so much better.” I laugh. “I burned all of the shit I ever bought him; which was most of his shit.”
“That’s my girl.” He lets out a laugh.
“Remind me to show you pictures,” I tell him. “I took a lot of pictures. And thinking about those pictures, there is something ironic about them.”
“What’s ironic about them?”
“I burned so many Ice Nine Kills T-shirts.” I snicker. “Part of me wants to talk to him again, just so I can rub me and Spencer’s relationship in his face. OOOH he’d be so fucking pissed.”
“You’re something else, Princess.” He shakes his head, chuckling.”
**
“Look who is finally here?” Ricky announces as my dad and I walk onto set. “Tatum Riley, back from the dead!” I look down at my outfit and laugh. I didn’t even realize that I dressed up like her. I just threw on my white jersey crop top and red skinny jeans. And I honestly only did my hair in braids so I can keep my hair out of my face without having my hair up in a headache inducing bun. “Did Spencer dress you this morning?”
“Please if I dressed her this morning, she wouldn’t be wearing anything.” Spencer replies, shooting me a smirk. “Good morning, babe.” He kisses me before looking back at my dad. “Hey Dan.”
“Watch yourself, Charnas. That’s my daughter.” I can envision the smirk my dad has on his face even if he’s right behind me. I look at Spencer and he has a genuine smile on his lips. I’m so glad these two are getting along.
“Alright, Dad this is the rest of the band.” I say before introducing them one by one; pointing to them as I say their names. “I hate all of them but Patrick.”
“You bitch!” Joe pouts. “I thought what we had was special. How dare you love Patrick more than me?”
“I love you more than Ricky, if that counts for anything.” I point out, smirking over at Ricky, who is dramatically eye rolling at me. “So yea this is Ice Nine Kills. Guys this is my dad, Dan Cerulli.”
“So this is the man, myth and legend, huh?” Ricky smirks. “This is gonna be the guy that tells us anything we want to know about you.”
“You’re not about to torture my dad with questions about me.” I warn him. “Now I’m going to go talk to the directors so see if it’s gonna be time to turn this beautiful face,” I reach up and squish Spencer’s cheeks together, “into a zombie. I’ll be right back.” As I walk away, Spencer smacks my ass. I turn around and playfully glare at him. “Watch yourself Charnas.” I smirk before continuing on; making sure I swing my hips as I walk.
**
“I don’t get how you can work with these guys without getting flustered,” my assistant Julia states as we get things out to work on Spencer’s zombie makeup. “Especially in the beginning.”
“Well it helped that I wasn’t a fan of the band when I started working for them.” I laugh, causing her to look at me wide-eyed. “Their older stuff was way too scene to me. In fact I’m pretty sure at one point I made fun of how Spencer looked with an ex that was obsessed with them.”
“Such an awesome girlfriend.” She laughs. “What changed for you?”
“Musically? I just dug the idea about having a cd be inspired by horror movies. Personally? I just fell in love with the person Spencer was off stage and out of the music video.
“We would binge watch movies in person or on the phone. We can talk about stupid shit and talk about our crazy fan theories. He quickly turned into my best friend and then eventually I saw him in a different light; especially during Covid. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have lost my sanity.”
“I love hearing you talk about Spencer; it’s kinda cute.” She smiles. “I’m honestly not sure who I’m more jealous of; him or you?”
“Aw, you’re sweet.” I smile. “Come on, let’s get ready to turn Spencer into a hot zombie in tactical gear…”
**
“Alright you got to tell me October’s most embarrassing moment.” Ricky tells my dad over pizza.” And please, don’t hold back.”
“And face the wrath of my daughter?” My dad smirks, shooting me a look. “Not gonna happen.”
“There is a story I want to know more about and I’m sure you know the whole story.” Spencer states. “The clown motel story. You have to know about that.”
“That is a story you need to ask her about.” He says. “It’s her trauma to share.”
“The clown motel?” Lydia questions. “That creepy hotel in Nevada? What happened there?”
I stand up from my couch, “let me take a pickle back shot and I’ll let you guys know the whole story. You just have to promise me you won’t want to kill anyone afterwards.” I shoot Spencer a look at the last sentence. I walk over to my bar and pour myself a shot of Jameson and a shot of pickle juice. I down both before coming back to the group and mentally prepare myself for the tale.
“This all happens right after I wrap on It,” I start. “My ex Trever planned on taking me on a nice vacation once I got back home. Unbeknownst to me, he had gotten a message from someone containing a picture of me and the back of the guy I cheated on him with.”
“Someone seriously sent a picture to your boyfriend? That’s shitty but not at the same time.” Joe states.
“Instead of taking me to Vegas like he planned, he and his friends decide to come up with a plan to get back at me. So they decided on taking me to the Clown motel instead; leaving me there while they go get shit faced in Vegas. They drugged me with Benadryl so that I was dead to the world. Booked a room and left me there with all my luggage and thankfully cell phone.
“I wake up and immediately start freaking out because not only am I in a strange room but in a room that has so many pictures of clowns in it.I freak out even more as I’m searching the room for the guys. I rush outside and there was no car. I come back inside and written on the mirror in my favorite red lipstick was “You fucking whore.”
“You told me a friend did this.” Spencer notes. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your ex?”
I just shrug before continuing on, “So after a massive panic attack, I start calling all my friends and oddly most of them were on tour. But I managed to get a hold of Andy Biersack and he came running to save me with CC. They drove out and rescued me.”
“Please tell me you did something to get back at him.” Patrick begs. “You may have cheated but he fucked with you horribly. Don’t bring phobias into something like this.”
“Oh I burned all of his shit and sent him pictures and videos of it.” I give him a sinister smile. “Wanna see the pictures? I can put them on the TV.”
After of a chorus of “fuck yeas.” I break out my iPad and set it up so we can see the pictures I took of that night. I can feel their eyes on me when it got to the picture of me wearing Tever’s favorite Ice Nine Kills t-shirt while burning all of his other INK t-shirts. I just shoot them an innocent look. “You guys knew I wasn’t a fan when you met me.” I remind them. “And honestly, I think that was the last time I wore an INK t-shirt.”
“Do you have a picture of the boyfriend?” Dan asks. I skip a few pictures until I get to the last picture I took with Trever. All their jaws drop. “No fucking way.”
I shoot Lydia a look. “Do you know what’s going on?” She shakes her head ‘no’. “Okay boys, ya need to explain.”
“He’s the roadie we hung out with when we toured with Papa Roach and Hollywood Undead.” Spencer explains. “He was a huge fan of ours and seemed really cool. And he told us how his crazy ex-girlfriend cheated on him then burned all of us t-shirts specifically to fuck with him.”
“And now we know the whole story.” Joe chuckles. “I knew deep down the guy deserved it. He seemed like the type to call a girl crazy for no reason.”
“I think I still have his number.” Patrick admits. My eyes go wide as a sinister smile rips across my lips. “Toby, what's with that crazy look?”
My dad laughs. “Earlier today she was talking about wanting to speak to Trever one more time and rub it in his face that she’s dating the lead singer of his favorite band.”
“Alright that settles it!” Ricky announces. “Time for a selfie. Huddle up. Dan, would you be so kind and take the picture to help your daughter continue to exact revenge on her asshole boyfriend?”
“It’ll be my honor.” My dad laughs before taking Patrick’s phone from him. We all huddle up together, I’m on Spencer’s lap and I can feel him smiling against my cheek. Once the picture is taken, my dad hands Patrick back his phone.
“What should I send with the picture?”
“Look who I ran into.” I reply. “Add a smiley face to it as well, just because.” I laugh.
No sooner than the picture was sent; my phone starts blaring The Fastest Way To A Girl's Heart Is Through Her Ribcage by Ice Nine Kills, earning a look from the guys. “What?” I ask them. “I kept his phone number, is that a crime?”
“He still has his own ringtone?” Ricky questions.
“Yea, it’s how to avoid him. I do this with everyone.” I tell them before answering the call and putting it on speaker one. “Hello Ass Hat?”
“Since when are you an Ice Nine Kills fan?” He questions me. “I thought you hated their music.”
“The Silver Scream won me over.” I reply nonchalantly. “I’ve worked with them on their music videos as well. I’m pretty damn close to the band.”
“Which one of them are you fucking?” He spits. “It’s Spencer isn’t it? You always had a thing for lead singers. Does he know about you and Andy Biersack? Or how you cheated on me with some punk on the set of It?”
“He knows exactly who she cheated on you with.” Spencer replies. “And we’re just not fucking; we’re actually dating.” I look over at him and smile. He was so quick to defend me. It’s sweet.
“And the only thing Andy and I did was burn your shit after you fucking left me at the fucking clown motel.” I inform him. “It must suck to know your ex-girlfriend is dating the lead singer of your favorite band.”
“I think it’s so funny that you’re still so obsessed with me that you had to sleep your way into my favorite band.” He snorts. “You’re pathetic October.”
“Funny thing is, I rarely talk about you unless asked about the clown motel fiasco or if I was ever an Ice Nine Kills fan before The Silver Scream.” I laugh. “But honestly you didn’t have to call me after Patrick sent you the picture. You could have ignored it or just sent him a text back. But no, you quickly call the one girl that made you feel like an asshole. I hope you have a fantastic life, Meyer. Because I know I am.” With that I hang up, still smiling like a damn idiot.
“Feel better?” Spencer asks, chuckling at my smile.
“I think I won that break up…”