Don't Let the Dead Bite

“Finally girl time!” Eva exclaims over my song The Rapture (but it’s Pink) as I enter her backyard. Both her and Sabrina, George’s girlfriend, are already by her pool. I take off my Mest t-shirt and shed my short jean shorts before joining them poolside. “We won’t have much girl time during the tour so I plan on hanging out with you bitches as much as I can before then.”

“I can’t believe Georgie boy finally talked you into coming on tour with them.” I shoot Sabrina a smirk. “How the hell did he manage that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Sabrina smirks, causing Eva to groan.

“Dudes, that’s my brother. Don’t need to hear that shit. How would you like me to talk about Danny like that?”

“I’ve learned to ignore that shit.” I shrug. “Oh and I can’t stay long tonight. I sorta, kinda have a date.” I inform the girls, causing them to oooo and awwww. “It’s just dinner and nothing special.”

“Are you gonna tell us who it is?” Sabrina asks. “Gotta give us a name, girlfriend.

“Please tell me it’s Spencer?” Eva all but squeals.

A groan escapes my lips. “Yes, it’s Spencer. Don’t get too excited, Eva. It’s just dinner. Nothing else.”

“You guys are gonna sit and talk and realize how perfect you are for each other.” She gushes. “He’s really a great guy, Avalon. You’ll see. I mean he’s met your brother and his bandmates and he hasn’t taken off yet.”

“He can’t. He’s friends with your boyfriend.” I laugh. “And he’s touring with said brother and bandmates. Poor dude won’t be able to run.”

“So are you excited for this date?” Sabrina asks me. “It’s been awhile since you’ve been on a real date.”

“Honestly? I’m extremely excited.” I admit with a smile. “It’s gonna be fun. Even if I don’t get a potential boyfriend from this, I’ll definitely be getting a new friend.”

“Trust me, you and Spencer are made to be more than just friends.” Eva smirks. “Just wait.” I roll my eyes, knowing the plan Spencer and I are putting into place for this tour. And that plan starts tonight.

**

“Sorry, I’m late!” I rush to the front of my apartment building. Spencer is leaning up against the building, smoking a cigarette. “Eva and Sabrina kept me longer than originally planned.”

“Patrick said something about Eva wanting as much girl time as possible before touring.” Spencer chuckles before putting out the rest of his cigarette in the ashtray by the entrance. “Nice shirt, by the way.” He points to my Mest t-shirt. “Are you actually a fan or just wearing the shirt because Tony has been known to hang out with Hollywood Undead.”

“Was a Mest fan way before Tony started hanging out with Hollywood Undead.” I reply. “You should have seen my reaction when I first met Tony. Full blown fangirl moment.”

“I definitely know the feeling.” Spencer smiles. He really does have a nice smile. “I saw Mest and Goldfinger in concert and I was inspired that night to start a band.”

“And Ice Nine Kills was born, huh?” I smile. “I remember hearing that Ice Nine Kills was originally a pop-punk/ska band. That’s definitely a difference compared to today.”

“Is that a bad thing?” He questions me.

“Naw, I think your voice is more suited for heavier music.” I reply. “It would have been funny hearing songs about horror movies with pop punk stylings.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He laughs.

“Come on, let’s get inside so we can start laying down ground rules for the tour.” I gesture to the door before both of us enter the building and make our journey up to my apartment.

**

“How much PDA are you okay with?” Spencer asks before taking a sip of wine.

“I’m fine with PDA as long as it feels authentic.” I tell him. “It can’t be too much or Eva would pick up on it being forced. But it can’t be too little or Eva would also know something is up.”

“Find a happy medium, got it.”

“She’s also gonna ask about sex.” I tell him. “What are we gonna do about that?”

“Lie about it?” He shrugs. “Or we can say we aren’t there yet?”

“Saying we aren’t there yet sadly won’t work.” I tell him. “She sadly knows how my sex life goes when I start dating someone. So lying might be our best bet.”

“Sharing a room? Are you okay with that?”

“Oddly yes.” I take a sip of my own wine. “I oddly enough trust you not to take advantage of me. Even if you do give off Ted Bundy vibes.” He laughs at that. “Do we need to lay down any other ground rules?”

“Why do I have a feeling we need a safe word?” He chuckles. “Like what if one of us starts to get feelings? What do we say? And don’t say pineapple. That’s overused as a safe word.”

I can’t help but to laugh. “Are you planning on one of us falling for each other?”

“It could happen.” He shrugs. “Anything is possible.”

I sit back in my chair, thinking hard. Thinking about everything we talked about tonight and thinking about the one band we have in common. “Last Kiss.”

“Why that?”

“One of my favorite Mest songs.” I shrug. “Do you object?”

“Last Kiss it is.” He smiles. “Are you sure we’re not going to get in too deep with this?”

“I’m not sure but a lot of things.” I start to tell him. “And I love living life like that. Life is better when you’re living life one moment at a time. Don’t you agree?”

“You are definitely not what I expected.” He leans back. “And I mean that in a good way.”

“You’re not what I was expecting too.” I smile. “This is gonna be fun, I just know it. I wasn’t looking forward to this tour. But now? Now I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“You and me both, Murillo.