Shiny Demon

Walk Away From Me, That's My Best Advice

When Stevie was a kid, on warm summer nights, not so different from this one, she would lay on the rough splintered wood of her front porch and watch the moths fly around the bug zapper. At first the moth would flutter around just as pretty and carefree as can be, rolling about in the dark warm blanket of the summer air, minding its own business. Then, inevitably, it'd be drawn to the beautiful, ethereal glow of the zapper, believing it had found something truly special. Irresistible even. The light would fill its whole brain until it couldn't help itself and gently floated over to learn more. To get closer.

Then ZAP. Electricity would rage through its body in the blink of an eye, every atom scorching with pain. As far as the moth was concerned, the light was gone. All was black.

Such an unduly cruel punishment for the crime of getting close.

But Stevie wasn't lying lifeless on a Virginia porch. She was fine. Better than fine. She was in a fancy villa. Sure, she was packing her bags after just being voted out of said villa. But she didn't disintegrate when she saw Genevieve run her fingers through Seb's hair minutes after Stevie had been passionately winding her fingers through it. It hurt like hell, sure. But she couldn't even say it was shocking. When she saw Seb smiling down at Viv and her amazing tits that breathed life into the room, she recognized that look. She'd earned her clarity the hard way.

It was the same look her ex, Peter, had given Kate, their drummer and the only close friend Stevie had had in her adult life. She didn't know any better then, so she brushed that expression off many times. She'd known Peter was a notorious flirt. And she couldn't risk blowing her life up over a little jealousy. She had no siblings or other friends. Her mom was dead. Her dad never called. So all she had was Peter and Kate. Surely an occasional glance didn't mean anything.

She started to suspect it did mean something when she heard their skin slapping together late one night down the hallway of a poorly ventilated air bnb. They'd been keeping odd hours since they'd been on tour. She had been asleep. They thought she still was.

Whack. Whack. Whack.

Whackwhackwhackwhackwhack.

That sound still rattled in her skull. Kate had always had impeccable rhythm.

"Knock knock!" A cheerful voice startled her out of her mental rabbit hole. Rafi was leaning against the door jamb, his shine not diminished one iota for having just been voted off the show with her. She gave him a genuine smile. She couldn't help but be fond of the guy. He'd been a good friend. He didn't make her feel guilty when she burst into tears after he tried to kiss her at the 90s party. He listened to her tangle of emotions about Seb. Encouraged her to talk to Seb about her feelings the next morning. And he didn't tell anyone else about it as far as she knew. He'd even chosen her in the next recoupling even though all he was getting in return were chaste nights in bed with an uncharismatic partner.

"Need help packing?" he asked.

She closed the lid on her suitcase and zipped it up. "Just finished, actually."

"Good!" He clapped his hands together decisively. "Because I could use your help."

She smiled and grabbed a handful of his things out of the wardrobe while he grabbed his luggage. She hooked her finger through a skimpy looking pair of zebra print undies and dangled them over his suitcase. "Were you saving this for the final?"

He sighed dramatically. "The world will never know how horny they could have felt." They laughed as she dropped them in his bag. He nudged her with his shoulder. "Good to see you smiling," he said softly. "Have you decided what's next for you?"