I Would Follow You Anywhere

I led my new friends up the stairs and to my bedroom.

Angela sat on my bed quietly while Dana studied the room thoughtfully.

“You like the Smashing Pumpkins?” she asked curiously. She was looking through a pile of old things stashed in the corner of my room. The pile consisted of cds, posters, and photographs that I was planning to put in a box in the attic. It hurt to look at them, even though I hadn’t seen Adam in little over a year now. I wanted to get rid of the reminders.

“Not anymore,” I replied.

“Who’s this?” she asked suddenly, examining the numerous photos containing me and Adam.

“No one!” I exclaimed. They both glanced at me in surprise at my outburst. Great. Now I looked weird in front of my new friends. “I mean…it’s no one…” I trailed off.

Dana put them back down, noticing a touchy subject.

“Why don’t we watch a movie or something?” Angela suggested, from her spot on my bed.
***********************************************

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groaned to myself.

I had just stepped outside my summer job at a Starbucks to see none other than Adam T. Siska waiting out front. He was leaning against a parked convertible, which I guessed was his. He grinned when he saw me.

I wondered how long it would take him to take the hint.

I veered off in the opposite direction, even though the train station was in Adam’s direction. I figured I could circle around the block without him catching on.

“Hey! Lily!” I walked faster. “Wait up!” He caught up to me and grabbed my arm.

“What do you want, Adam?” I asked flatly. He let go, now unsure what to say.

“You can call me Sisky,” he said suddenly.

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Sisky,” he repeated. “My friends call me Sisky now. You work at Starbucks?” he asked, hastily changing the subject yet again.

“Well Adam, some people don’t have the leisure to drive around aimlessly all day.”

“It wasn’t aimless. I was waiting for you.” I scoffed.

“Stalking me, more like.” He didn’t disagree to that. “How did you even know-”

“Well, I went to your apartment first, and your friend, um…Dana? She told me to come here.” I stared stonily, making a mental note to kill that girl when I got home. “How about we go get some lunch? We can go talk, or-”

“I already ate,” I lied.

“Oh.” He paused to think. I took the opportunity to start walking away, in the right direction this time. “Lily!” I paused to turn and glare. “At least let me give you a ride home,” he said. Well, it would save me a few dollars wasted on public transportation.

“Fine,” I said grudgingly. He smiled again, unlocking his car doors and opening the passenger seat for me. He put his keys in the ignition and started the car. The Smashing Pumpkin’s “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” immediately started blasting. I jumped.

“You still like the ‘Pumpkins?” he asked, noticing my sudden movement.

“I haven’t listened to them since I was thirteen,” I replied coldly. He backed off the subject; it clearly implied that I had taken no notice of my latest birthday present.

“Um…so what have you been up to?” he asked cautiously, lowering the volume.

“School,” I said shortly, even though I’d been out of school for two or three weeks by now. “What about you?” I asked, regretting the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. I had accidentally started a conversation.

“Well…I’ve been touring a lot with my band,” he said, looking pleased at the conversation starter. He kept talking about his band for a few minutes. I thought about purposely ignoring him, but my curiosity was aroused and I listened. “So we leave for Warped Tour in a couple weeks…” I vaguely remembered how we had begged Jason to take us to Warped Tour the summer we were twelve. “You ever been?” he asked.

“No.” I was back to my short answers. He pulled up to my apartment.

“I’ll see you around,” he said, as I got out of the car.

I said nothing besides a mumbled ‘thanks’ and headed inside.

I didn’t want to say anything that he might take as an invitation to stalk me some more.