LIVE WIRE | NIKKI SIXX

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NIKKI

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I'M IN A GARBAGE can, covered in my own vomit, I try to sit up but my torso is in pain, I touch my stomach and realize I'm all bruised up.

I latch onto the garbage can so I can pull myself up, I lift my leg over and roll out. I walk back inside, Max and his friends freak out.

I point my finger toward the ground, "what the fuck happened?" My lips tighten.

"You passed out, we hit you with bats, you didn't wake up so we dumped you in the alley," These fucking assholes.

"So I overdose, and the first thing you thought of is hitting me with bats and dumping me in a fucking garbage can?" I flip them off, "fuck all of you!"

I walk out of the house and make my way back to the hotel, which I soon realized was a bad idea since a ton of people tried to stop me. "Nikki good luck at the show tomorrow," I hear some guy yell.

"Thanks dude," I say then finally get back to the hotel, but before going back in I knock on the bus that Bella was in. She opens the door and takes a second to process what's going on.

"What the fuck happened to you?" She's still in pajamas, messy hair, puffy eyes.

"Do you wanna hang out?" I ask even though it's pretty early still.

"Yeah sure, when do you wanna hang out?" She asks.

"Like now?" Leather jackets really do nothing when your cold and covered in puke so I'm a bit chilly.

"Oh now?" She turns to grab the door then stops herself, "can I get ready in your room?"

"Sure," she turns around.

"Wanna come in?" She asks, "I know it's freezing"

"Oh, thank you," they have a lot more people in this bus than ours so it's a bit cramped, everyone was asleep still, she grabbed her stuff then left.

We were making our way to the hotel and I look down, she had no socks or shoes on, "why are you barefoot?"

"It's not a long walk, so there's no reason to," she has a point. We get up to my room and she starts getting ready in the bathroom but leaves the door open, "where'd you go last night,? I was a bit worried."

"To visit an old friend, I'm actually from seattle," I say then take my shirt off, as much as I don't want her to see the bruises, I can't make her suffer this long.

"In the middle of the nigh- oh my god Nikki, you poor thing," she gets closer to me, "what happened?" I look down at her as she takes my hand, she notices all the places I shot up, "oh."

Her head goes down at them knowing they were all recent, "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, this is a normal part of becoming sober," she nods her head, "it's normal to have slip ups."

BELLA

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NIKKI IS ALL bruised up and is covered in puke, "The vomit, did you?"

"Overdose? Yeah I did," we're sitting on the edge of the bed, "they thought hitting me with bats would bring me back to life, then I woke up in a garbage can in an alley."

"Holy shit," my hand covers my mouth, "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, I got myself into this." He stands up, "We're almost done with all of this and maybe it'll be easier." I smile at the thought of him being sober, "thanks for not telling anyone."

"Anytime Sixx."

I was doing my makeup and plugging in my hair straightener to warm up. "Why do you always straighten your hair?" Nikki stands behind me and makes eye contact through the mirror, "I'm only asking because last time I did you were drunk."

"It's easier to handle," he just stands there.

"Can't be the only reason," he raises his eyebrows.

"Well when I was 15 for some reason they let me work in a laugh factory, I did sound, then I straightened my hair one time and someone told me I should do it more often because it looks way better, and after that it just became a habit," I explain then go back to putting eyeshadow on.

He grabs my shoulders, "can I give you some advice?"

"Go ahead," I grab my lipstick.

"Stop doing things just because other people want you to," I stop what I'm doing, "all those guys you see on stage every night, you think they got there because they did what everyone else wanted? Mötley and I, we wear six inch heels, make-up, look where it got us."

He looks at me through the mirror, "I'm not saying to not keep straightening it but if it's for other people fuck that."

I look up at him, "yeah, fuck that," and I unplug the hair straightener, "thank you."

"No problem," He sits down on the bed, "Isabella Hanako Mejia, that's definitely a name."

I don't think much of it, then question how the fuck he knew my full name, I turn my head and he has my wallet in his hand.

"What are you doing!" I jog and grab my ID.

"I was just curious," he sits back, "that's a cool middle name."

"Thanks, it means flower in Japanese," I tuck my ID back into my wallet.

"You have a Japanese middle name?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm half Japanese, speak Japanese and everything," I say realizing I probably never told him.

I'm mixed, but my Salvadoran side kind of took over when it came to how I look, and when I tell people I'm half Asian, people usually assume I'm Filipino.

"Interesting," he said, there's an awkward silence.

"So, do you plan on visiting any family?" I start to put my stuff together so it's not all just a mess.

"No, why would I do that?" He looks at me confused.

"You said you're from here, so I was just asking," I sit down next to him.

"Nah, my mom and I don't have a good relationship, she had a lot of boyfriends , was an alcoholic, never paid attention to me, I got her arrested then moved in with my grandparents, in Idaho. Also my dad left me," His expression is bland.

"Oh," this is probably one of the most awkward things I've had to respond to.

"And you?" He turns his head to me.

"What about me?" I question.

"You have a good relationship with your parents?" His hands are behind his head.

"No, they both got deported when I was younger, they haven't sent any letters to me or anything. They were teen parents so I think they were a bit relieved when they had us off their shoulders, I was raised by my aunt, who really didn't pay attention to anything either," I bite my lip.

This is probably the only conversation where we've talked about our past, it's a bit soothing, well not in that way, but it feels nice to be open with one another.
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i have two chapter tests and finals coming soon and am so scared please help!