Lips Made of Yarn

I cleaned up the place for closing, broom in hand. There weren’t many people coming in and not much else to do anyway. Brendon had been bitter the rest of the day, even more so than usual. When I had been instructed to clean up, and common curtsey would be for him to help, he stalked off into the backroom.

I really don’t understand why he was so upset by this, it’s not like they really talked. It’s probably just his oversized ego.

I put the broom back in its rightful place and pushed open the door to the backroom. Brendon jumped and looked up, scowling immediately. I rolled my eyes and shrugged out of my uniform, not bothering to hang it up as usual and instead just throwing it on the floor.
A vibrating noise followed by the chorus of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears pierced the silence. I lunged for my phone, embarrassed at the ringtone my sister had set for herself. Brendon quirked an eyebrow and his bottom lip trembled from laughter being held in.

"Hello?" I said, slouching and talking quietly so Brendon wouldn’t hear, just in case she brought him up.
"Hey Mel," Ashley said happily.

I glanced at Brendon and he scowled when we made eye contact, spinning on his heel and leaving. I sighed and bit my lip.
"Everything okay?" Ashley asked when I failed to keep the conversation going.
"Yeah, sure, I guess," I mumbled.
"You at work?"
"Just about to leave. Why?"

"So I'm going to assume," Ashley continued pompously. "That this bad mood is because of that co-worker of yours?"
"Shut up!" I hissed, craning my neck around to double check he wasn’t in the room.
"I'm just saying, if you’re so worried about this guy-"
"I'm not worried, okay? Can we please just drop this subject?"

"Fine. I was actually calling to see if you wanted to spend the weekend at my house?"
"Oh," I said, completely forgetting that we had planned to see each other soon. "I don’t think I'll be able to get off work, though."

"Cant your lover boy cover for you?"
I smacked my head against my hand. "Seriously, can we just drop it? I don’t get why you have such a fixation with him."

There was silence on the other line followed by mumbles, before Ashley started talking again, her voice enthusiastic to the point where I could practically hear her smile.

"I have an idea. I'll came and stay with you, and that way i get to meet Brendon and you don’t have to miss work."
"Ashley, no," I said sternly. "Seriously, I can get off work if it’s that important to you. Besides, what would you do here when I'm working?"
"Hang around with you two, duh. But don’t worry, if you two need any alone time just give me the signal and I'm gone."

I paused. "Ashley, you seriously do not think that-"
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early!"

The connection went dead. I sighed and half groaned, slipping my phone back into my pocket. Great, three days with my sister. Normally, I would be ecstatic to get to spend so much time with her. But I have a horrible, horrible feeling about her meeting Brendon. She was just...always one of those girls that didn’t need to care what guys thought of her and would always just blurt out her feelings. Me, I was the kind to not act any differently in fear they wouldn’t feel the same way about me. This always led to Ashley trying to play Cupid for me.
Needless to say, it never really worked to my advantage.

I gathered my belongings and locked up. Shivering slightly, I started walking down the street, observing the surrounding builds serenely.
I just about reached the corner when I noticed the slumped figure against the lamppost.

"Hey, Brendon," I said on a whim. He didn’t acknowledge my presence at all, just kept staring directly ahead.

I frowned and stepped a little closer. "Look if you’re mad about earlier today, I'm sorry okay? You’re acting like I insulted you in some way. All I did was rip that girls phone number up. You don’t deserve someone like her anyway."
I stopped myself before I said something stupid, and just in time, too.

Brendon finally glanced my way, but it was only for a second.
"How are you getting home?" I asked after a minute of silence.

Brendon stayed unmoving for a few more minutes. I was about to give up when the area around us was illuminated as a car pulled up. Brendon stepped off the curb and opened the passenger side, raising his hand in an awkward half wave before getting in. Mrs. Urie poked her head out of Brendon’s now open window and smiled.

"Hello dear. Do you have someone picking you up? Or a car, perhaps?" She greeted me kindly, smiling the whole time.
"Oh, um, I'm walking," I jerked my head in the direction I was headed and Mrs. Urie frowned.
"Don’t be silly. Hop in."

Brendon’s hands moved quickly, probably complaining to his mother that there was no way I was getting in that car. His mother waved her hand dismissively and encouraged me to get in. I took a tentative step forward, only to have Brendon lock my door in a last attempt to keep me out.

I cringed and backed up. There was no way I was riding with someone so goddamn rude. Mrs. Urie scoffed and unlocked my door, still feeding me encouraging notions to get in.
"Okay," I said finally, opening the door quickly and sitting down heavily, slouching against the backseat on impact. Brendon was sitting, arms crossed and staring out the window, face set into lines of annoyance.

"Excuse my son’s behavior," Mrs. Urie said sadly, pulling off the curb.
"Oh," Was all I could think to say. I couldn’t agree with her because Brendon would only think I was taking sides against him.

I gave her my address, the car filling with silence immediately. It was ridiculously awkward, with Brendon practically shouting his dislike for me with every small movement he made.

"So," Mrs. Urie said after a awhile. She put her hand on Brendon’s knee and tapped lightly. "Brendon has been telling me all about you."
I didn’t care if it was rude or made me seem crazy, but I let my mouth drop open fully and eyebrows shoot up. I must have heard very wrong, because there is absolutely no way she just said that.

"Excuse me?" I gaped. Brendon smacked his forehead and started vigorously signing to his mother, who wasn’t paying any attention at all.
“Oh yes, he always tell me about you. Are you two becoming friends?”
“Er, well, uh…” I trailed off at a complete loss. Never in my life had I been this confused. Isn’t this the part when the ‘Twilight Zone’ music is supposed to play?

Brendon smacked his mother on the arm and she jumped, finally paying attention to his signing. After he was done, she rolled her eyes and ignored him. I seemed to be the only one out of the loop.

“This your street, dear?” Mrs. Urie said eventually, skepticism lacing her tone.
“Yeah,” I mumbled and got out, a little embarrassed that they had to see I lived in the less fortunate part of town. It defiantly wasn’t the best thing to look at, with rundown buildings, horns honking, and several sketchy people roaming the streets at night. But it was home, and the only thing affordable. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime dear,” Mrs. Urie waved as she drove off.