The Cabin

Brendon’s POV

“This is it?” I sighed, dropping my bags on the floor.

“Wentz said it wasn’t very big,” Spencer explained.

Ryan flicked on the light and I looked around. Old wallpaper-not the cool Victorian-looking shit, I mean like fifties bright green peeling off the walls to show yet a few other layers of putrid colors. Dirty shag rugs littered the cold cement floor.

“And they haven’t used it in awhile,” Jon added, sitting down on the old bright magenta couch. As soon as he did a cloud of dust collected for years caused a mini explosion.

“Fun,” I muttered sarcastically and Ryan sneezed.

There were four rooms-that front room that also had a mini kitchen in it which was not big enough for my standards, then there were two bedrooms each with a small bathroom. Believe me, those were disgusting. They hadn’t been cleaned in ages, I swear. Again with the same putrid green color as well.

The last room was this big studio that actually hadn’t been remodeled too long ago. It certainly didn’t look like it was from the fifties. The walls were white and there were a few cool leather couches with a few gnarly scratches but they were only about five years old at most. There would be a lot of room to work then.

Spence brought in all the equipment and set it up while the rest of us went into the bedrooms.

“So um…” Ryan said awkwardly as the three of us stood in the hallway. “I guess we’re gonna have to room.”

“I’ll stay with Spencer then, and you guys can room,” was it me or did Jon answer that almost too fast?

Ryan shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

I followed him into the room on the left and sighed as I looked around.

It was kind of pretty actually, in that creepy way, but it needed some work. Old, old wallpaper, I’d say it was probably seventy years old. It was and off-white color but it was peeling everywhere. Cob webs in the corner and old mouse traps with some really fucking old cheese. There were old lamps with dark red lamp shades, I tried to turn one on and the outlet exploded.

“Well, that doesn’t work,” I rolled my eyes.

There was a window with some old curtains that were half moth-eaten. But it was a pretty view of the mountains and the valleys below. I could think of the sunsets and frowned as I turned away from the window.

There were two beds, queen-sized. They were just mattresses, and they looked pretty old too. There was probably lice…and bed bugs. Ew.

Well, we’d brought our own sheets. If I felt uncomfortable sleeping there then I’d just sleep on those couches in the studio. There was a TV in there too by the way. Yeah, that would be a better room even though it would be covered in all our shit.

Ryan was busy making his bed.

I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair. It was true, I wasn’t feeling myself. I hadn’t been feeling myself for a long while now.

My problem: Audrey Kitching.

Sure, she was a lying and cheating bitch, but I’d loved her, and truth was, I still did.

My problem was I trusted her, even when the whole band told me that she was no good. She had been so cool in the beginning, and mega sexy. You could say we were sex addicts together. And we loved to party, we loved to drink, all things illegal really. I was still a teen. Yeah, she was older than me. Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t even have gone out with an older girl in the first place.

It was after Ryan and Jac broke up that she really changed. She started lying to me, telling me she was going places and then days later I’d learn she was somewhere completely different. She was a drama queen-too over-dramatic and she could really be a bitch. I would have broken up with her, but hell, I loved her. I let myself get hurt again and again.

One day she told me I gave her an STD. I told her that was bullshit, that I was totally clean and she fucking knew we used protection all the time. She dresses in skimpier outfits, too much of a ‘scene queen,’ and flirted with other guys right in front of me.

We’d been going out for more than year and then I got word she cheated on me, slept with some guy from this band that I don’t even remember. I told her to leave and never talk to me again and well, I hadn’t seen her or talked to her since then.

I was so hurt, but I was stupid. I still loved her…

“Brendon?” Ryan’s voice, so quiet, brought me back to the real world. I needed to forget about her, I needed to focus on the music.

I looked up at Ryan, who had already made his bed and laid out his clothes. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and got up off the bed, ready to dump my suitcases and organize my stuff.

“You sure?” Ryan was right behind me, I knew what he smelled like, I could feel the warmth from his body. I almost shivered.

“You know I’m not myself, okay? Don’t ask me if I’m okay. Asking never helps a thing.”

“Well what can I do to help you then?” he asked.

“Write some lyrics, something good, but something important. Make it different, okay.”

He rolled his eyes. “Alright Brenny, for you.” He put an arm around my shoulder.

“Do we have anything to...” I just realized something. “Oh my God.”

“What?” he let go of me.

“Holy fuck I forgot the Red Bull!” I whined like a little two year old.

Yeah there was a little store close by, but it was small and would only supply is with junkie food to live off of for our two months here. Basically, the label [aka Pete] didn’t want us to have much connection with the outside world.

Shit. Here I was in a cabin with my three best friends, a broken heart, and wondering where our music was going.

The worst part of it all-I had no Red Bull.