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Smooth Criminal

twenty-eight.

November had quickly begun to turn into December and everyone was stressing out over the demo the guys needed to put together for Hopeless Records. Band practices had gone from goofy hang outs filled with inappropriate jokes (courtesy of Jack and Amanda) and eating pizza until we popped to strictly playing and perfecting the five songs the four members had strategically picked out for the memo and practicing said songs until someone (usually Jack, or even sometimes Rian) complained about being tired and/or hungry, forcing a purpose-driven Alex to set down his guitar and call for a thirty minute dinner break. I had never seen the group so high strung in my entire life. While the guys practiced Circles, Hit the Lights (Tribute to a Night I’ll Never Forget), Last Flight Home, Memories Fade Like Photographs, and The Next Best Thing, Amanda, Kara, and I all sat along the couch down in Rian’s basement, busing ourselves with whatever we could to pass the time. I usually brought along my camera and snapped candid pictures of the guys, hard at work and dripping with sweat, or even Kara and Amanda, doing whatever.
The favorite photograph I’d taken was over Amanda. One afternoon, when I had told my parents I was in the library studying for a Trig test with Amanda, Alex was in a particular grouchy mood, so us girls kept to ourselves, only daring to utter a single word when we were asked for an opinion. Amanda had found one of Rian’s mom’s old floor puzzles and was slaving away at the coffee table, her brow knitted together in concentration and her bottom lip jutting out as she searched for a particular corner piece that had appeared to go AWOL. Jack was staring at her while Zack was in the process of nailing a particularly hard bass line in The Next Best Thing, and the look on Jack’s face as he peered down at my best friend made my heart smile. I grabbed my camera out of my bag and just as I went to snap the photo, Amanda found the missing piece and stared at the puzzle excitedly, her eyes gleaming with joy and accomplishment, Jack’s expression not too far off. I clicked the shutter and the camera produced a small popping noise, shaking with anticipation to produce the picture. I smiled happily to myself as I went back to reflect my work and realized that I had gotten both Jack and Amanda in the picture. It was perfect.
“What’s up?” Kara whispered to me, sitting herself comfortably beside me on the floor. I happily showed her the photograph and she smiled widely, placing her hands over her heart. “S’cute,” she cooed. I smiled up at her and nodded my head.
“I’m gonna frame this one,” I told her silently, looking up at Amanda, still furiously working on her puzzle, completely oblivious to everything.
“Lemme see it.” Kara motioned for the camera and I handed it over to her with caution. She held the camera up at arm’s length, angled right above our heads and instructed me to smile. I wrapped my arms around my friend’s neck and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to laugh loudly as she clicked the shutter. “Frame that one, too. It’s cute as fuck.”
“I wanna take pictures.”
Our heads whipped up from the camera and I noticed Amanda was now staring at us with puppy dog eyes; her signature expression of feeling left out. I motioned for her to come sit next to me and she happily obliged, sitting herself contently in my lap. Us girls entertained ourselves for the rest of practice, taking pictures of ourselves, of each other, and the guys. We were so wrapped up in our own little world that we hadn’t even noticed when the guys had stopped playing, declaring practice over. We went to take another picture of us girls, Amanda angling the camera up to make sure all three of us were in the shot. It was when we saw the finished product of the picture that we noticed the four guys standing behind us with ridiculous poses that we realized that practice was over.
“What the fuck,” Amanda giggled loudly, still staring at the picture, as Kara and I spun around to see the guys.
“It’s about damn time,” Rian said with a dramatic eyeroll. Kara hopped up from the floor and flicked his ear right before wrapping her long, tan arms around her boyfriend’s torso.
“Can we go get food?” Jack asked as Amanda and I helped each other off the floor.
“We ate pizza, like, two hours ago, Jack,” Zack deadpanned.
“I could go for some food, too,” Amanda chimed in. The rest of the group collected their belongings while I took a look at the clock perched on the wall by the stairwell.
“It’s almost nine o’clock,” I finally said as I put my camera back into my bag. “The library is closing soon and my parents are going to be expecting me home.” A series of groans was met at the end of my statement, my friends protesting with strange noises and grotesque hand gestures. I let out a small laugh, giving them a displeased frown of my own. “I know, I know. I suck. But I’m almost ninety percent sure I will be seeing all of you tomorrow. So…” My words trailed off as I turned around to grab my bag.
“I have to drive her home, so I’ll meet y’all wherever. Just have Jack text me where to go,” Amanda smiled as she hooked her arm with mine and bounded towards the stairs.
“I love you!?” Alex shouted to me as I was being whisked away by my friend. I turned my head around and blew him a kiss.
“Love you, more!”
The car ride to my house was silent for the most part, Jimmy Eat World being the only thing filling the space around us as Amanda and I hummed along. The feeling of the winter night breeze blowing my blonde hair against my red, chapped face felt amazing as I smiled at the reflection of my best friend and I in the side mirror. In that moment, I felt as if I could do anything. I told myself that I’d do anything to keep that feeling alive for as long as I could. What I didn’t know was that I’d have to put up one hell of a fight.
“Lucille,” my father’s voice pounded through my eardrums as soon as I opened the front door. I glanced at the clock above the couches. It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. I was early, so I really had no idea what the issue could be. I reluctantly made my way to the dinner table, where my father sat, reading the evening paper. I hoisted my bag up high on my shoulder and stared at him, awaiting to be let in on whatever it was that I had done wrong.
“Have a seat.” The tone in his voice sent a shiver down my spine and my eyes immediately darted downwards. “Where were you tonight?”
I raised my eyebrow at my dad, not sure where he was going with this. “I was at the library. Like I said I would be. Studying with Amanda for the Trig test tomorrow. Like I said I would be.”
“Funny thing, uh, is that Rory said she didn’t see you there.”
My heart began to race as I struggled to remain calm. “Rory?”
“Your sister went to the library to get a book she needed for one of her classes,” Dad began, tipping the newspaper down so that I could see the fire in his eyes. “She said you were nowhere to be seen.”
“She was probably there when we left to go get food,” I countered, thinking quickly on my feet, refusing to go down without a fight. “We took a break to grab some pizza.”
The look on my father’s face was unreadable as his eyes wandered up and down my firm standing figure. He was looking for any sign of the lies that were seeping through my pores but I’ll be damned if he ever found one. My lips were pressed in a firm, thin line as my narrowed eyes refused to allow anyone to see the panic that was flowing through my veins. If my dad found out that I was hanging out with a bunch of teenagers playing in a garage band singing about sex and booze all afternoon, I would never live to see the light of day ever again. So instead of arguing my side of the story like any other guilty human being would, I excused myself to go upstairs and get ready for bed.
“Something’s off with you, girl,” my dad shouted after me as I walked away. I rolled my eyes, keeping my back straight and my posture poised.
“What was that all about?” Rory popped up in my room as I changed out of the dirty black v-neck that clung to my skin in exchange for a clean, oversized Misfits tee. I turned around for a moment to stare at my sister as she weaseled her way into the bedroom, clicking the door shut behind her. “We haven’t had sister time in a while.” She shrugged when she saw my disbelieving glare.
“Get out,” I ordered her, jumping out of my jeans. “Now.”
Rory stared at me with hurt filling her eyes, but I honestly didn’t care. I couldn’t believe this two-faced monster and I shared the same blood.
“Do not,” I snapped finally. “Do not look at me like you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. You honestly have no goddamn right to sit there and tattle on me for not being at the library to Dad. We went to get food. Just because I wasn’t there when you wanted me to be doesn’t mean I was off doing drugs or whatever it is you used to lie and sneak away to do. Just because you were a horrible daughter doesn’t give you any fucking right to try and depict me as such, as well.”
My sister’s mouth open and closed a few times as she processed the word vomit that just exploded from my angry vocal chords that had seem to grow a mind of their own lately.
“What the hell has gotten into you lately?” My sister stared at me with widened eyes. “For the last month or two, you’ve totally changed. I don’t like whoever this person is. I want my fucking sister back.”
“You didn’t know your sister too well either, Aurora,” I spat venomously. “You’re never here. You totally just abandoned Parker and me and now that you’re back, you just want everything to be exactly right where you left it before Tom died. But that’s not how this works, okay? I moved on from the past and I grew up. Maybe you should do the same, huh?”
A lonesome tear slipped down Rory’s cheek as she stared at me once again, her eyes clouded with too many emotions for her brain to register. My eyes softened as I walked over to my older sister and reached for her hand that had fallen limply at her side. Rory’s four-inches-taller-than-me frame seemed like nothing as I reached up and brushed the tear from her face.
“I love you, Rory. You’re my sister. But seriously, stay out of my business and stop trying to get me in trouble with Dad. Stop trying to force your high school experience on to me and just let me do my thing. I can handle it on my own. And if I can’t, you know damn well that you’re the first person I’ll come to when I can’t take the heat anymore.”
“I love you, too, Stells.” Rory wrapped her arms tightly around my tiny frame, crushing my shoulder blades together in the embrace. I nuzzled my head into the crook of her shoulder and neck and let out a long sigh. “So are you gonna tell me about the boy now?”
I threw my head back slightly to stare at my sister in confusion.
“I’m not that stupid, babe,” she chuckled. “I know that look anywhere. There’s a guy in your life and you like him. Maybe even, dare I say it, love him?”
I chewed on my lip, debating on if I should share the love story I was currently living with her former flame’s younger brother. But the excited look gleaming in her eyes convinced me that spilling everything about Alex was a necessity right now. My sister and I needed to rebuild our relationship and maybe this was where it was supposed to begin.
“Okay, so there’s this boy…” I began eagerly, my serious expression morphing into a full-blown grin with a giggle as Rory pulled me over and sat us down on my bed like we had done so many years ago on those nights when Rory would share about her adventures with Tom. It felt different to be on the opposite end of the situation, but sometimes different wasn’t always such a bad thing.

Notes

Holy mother of fuck. My life is literally so crazy right now.
I got back from Arizona (which was fan-fucking-tastic, by the way) about a week ago, but then I had to work tax-free weekend and I think I died somewhere between then and now. Back to school is literally worse than Christmas, I swear to God. Word from the wise? Never work retail. Ever. Not even worth it. I'm seriously contemplating death.

Soooo... Last in the note of my last chapter, I informed y'all that I would be bowling with Set It Off and all that jazz... And it was... Incredible. Lemme just tell ya. Those boys are the most down to earth people I have ever met in my entire life. And Sydney, Danny's girlfriend, is just... Ugh. We became, like, instant BFFs and it was gr8. In case anyone ever needs a hug, Cody Carson is the man to go to for that. Literally every time I turned around, I was being engulfed in a surprise attack of Cody hugs and I wasn't too sure what to do with myself. Also, Cody and I got ourselves in trouble by running away and playing Pokemon GO! for about 20 minutes after we had promised everyone we wouldn't... It was cool. I could go on for days about that experience, but I'll spare you the details. But now I'm back to my shitty life in shitty Texas, not knowing what to do with myself because I. Am. Shit. Sorry... I may or may not be balls deep in the feels right now. It's been a long week.

Anyways, I love y'all. You're amazing and I will update as soon as I possibly can. Stay classy, babes.
-Kate.

((picture of SIO, Caitlin (my friend), and I (the one with the annoy bitch face and ridiculously over-sized thigh piece).))

Comments

This was one of my absolute favorite stories. I am very curious to know if you are going to continue with this? Because I have to know what happens next.

BreaClift. BreaClift.
6/14/21

I want to know if there is going to be sequel to this story?

BreaClift. BreaClift.
3/26/19

I don't remember anything. I need to restart this. Damn, all I remember is loving this. Only more reason to read it all again.

Haha, keepin' it real. :) No worries, the only one that was kind of concerning was the Blink-180 because I think that's the first time I've ever seen that. XD But I figured it was a typo.
:)

Nanook Nanook
1/4/19

@Daydreamers her big reveal will be in the last chapter ;) hang tight.

katybear18 katybear18
1/4/19