I (Accidentally) Kissed My Best Friend's Girlfriend » l.h.

Chapter 5: Threats and Passports

Chapter 5: Threats and Passports

I was kind of hoping that this would all blow over in a week or two, but I had no such luck.

No one would speak to me. Leslie called management to tattle on me since I refused to go back onstage, and I was chewed out for a couple hours. Ashton and Calum would glare and give me disapproving looks, and Michael and Reese started to pretend that I didn't exist. Arzaylea didn't answer my calls or texts, but that was normal. This time, however, I felt more isolated than usual.

Rehearsals, soundcheck, and concerts felt like chores, since we were all forced to act like everything was great. None of the fans knew about Reese, and they couldn't know about her. So Michael acted like my best friend in public, but behind closed doors, he went back to hating my guts.

I was convinced that the others hated me because of what Michael said. The fact that nobody wanted to hang out with me or even talk to me kind of gave that away, but I decided to listen in on one of their conversations just in case. The walls in this cheap hotel were paper thin, so I pressed my ear against one and eavesdropped.

"I really think that you should just get over what happened, Michael," Calum said. "You've already forgiven Reese, and Luke's apologized a million times."

"You don't understand," my now ex-friend said. "Reese means the world to me, she's my everything. I can't trust him around her if he's going to take her away from me."

Ashton sighed. "He's not. Reese has always sworn her love for you, and Luke... well, he was just being Luke. Sometimes he doesn't always think things through."

They had always seen me as an idiot, but it still hurt. What happened wasn't my fault,  but they didn't want to hear what I had to say. So what if I had the tiniest crush on Reese and kissed her? If we were in kindergarten, everybody would be over it by now.

"Yeah," Calum added loudly. "Don't you think kicking him out of the band over a girl is a little excessive?"

Wait, what? My stomach dropped to the floor. They were talking about WHAT?

"No," Michael answered immediately, and that was like a punch to the chest. "You guys don't understand. I love Reese, more than anything in the world. She's my inspiration for songs, my only reason. I gave her a promise ring!"

"Ooh," the other two chorused.

"Yeah, that's serious," Ashton said.

"Pretty serious," Calum agreed. "But where would we find a new lead singer? Luke is pretty crucial to the band, you know...."

"I've always liked Dalton Rapattoni," Michael suggested.

"I LOVE him!" Ashton suddenly shrilled. "He's so punk rock!"

"He deserved to win American Idol," Calum grumbled. "America is stupid."

"Should I call him tomorrow?" Michael asked.

"How did you get his number?" Ashton cried. "Can I have it?"

"Dude, you better not act like a crazy fangirl when we meet him."

I moved away from the wall so I couldn't hear anymore. How had that been settled so fast? Was I really that replaceable? We had been friends for five years, HOW could they give me up so easily? Was Reese really that important to them? More important than ME?

I hated everything. I hated Reese, I hated Arzaylea, I hated Michael, I hated Calum and Ashton, I hated Dalton Rapattoni. But I was just blaming them for my own mistake. I hated myself most of all.

*~*~*~*

I wondered what was going to happen to me. Would they kick me out in the middle of the tour, or would they wait? If that happened, where would I go? Michael and I shared an apartment in LA, but that obviously wasn't going to continue. I was probably going to have to go back to Australia and give out handjobs for five dollars. I shuddered at the thought.

I was so distracted that I didn't notice that we had stopped walking. I stepped on Reese's heels, and she pushed me off.

"Don't touch me," she told me sharply.

I didn't respond, just nodded and looked down. I took Michael's orders to heart, and I tried to stay away from them as much as possible.

"Does everyone have their passports and tickets and stuff?" Ashton asked.

We all checked and nodded.

There was no back entrance for Reese this time. There were always more fans at the LA airport than any other, so she was bound to get seen. She disguised herself as our stylist by putting on a large, floppy hat; wrapping a thick, striped scarf around her neck; and smearing red lipstick across her face. We steeled ourselves and headed inside the bustling airport.

As soon as we stepped into the terminal, I lost my friends immediately as fans overtook us. I didn't have time to autograph or take photos, so I had to wade my way through. I hated seeing disappointed or angry looks on the fans' faces when I brushed past, but I didn't have a choice.

Someone shoved into me hard, and I dropped my things onto the airport floor. I made a mad dive for them, because if I lost either my passport or my ticket, the entire tour would be held up. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I did not want a repeat of what happened last year.

I managed to find my friends again near the seating area, and our flight was called soon after. We got in line for our passports to be checked, and then it was my turn. But we had a little problem.

"Where's my passport?" I asked as I slapped my empty pockets.

"How are we supposed to know?" Calum retorted.

"You had it, like, two seconds ago," Ashton reminded me.

"Yeah, well, I don't have it now!" I shot back. "Someone bumped into me a little while ago, and I dropped my things... I think I lost it back there."

"Then it's gone for good," Reese sighed. "Your fans have probably torn it to pieces by now trying to get it."

"Nice going, Luke!" Arzaylea snapped. Oh yeah, my lovely girlfriend was there, too. "Now our entire flight is going to be held up!"

"Can you please shut up for once in your life?" Michael groaned.

"Enough!" Reese yelled over us. "Your flight isn't going to be held up. You guys should get on the plane; I'll stay with Luke till he gets another passport."

"Bad idea!" everyone seemed to shout at once.

"I am NOT leaving you with him!" Michael said, shooting me a death glare.

"Shouldn't Arzaylea stay with him?" Calum said hopefully. "I mean, she is his girlfriend after all."

"I need to stay," Reese insisted. "Fans will tear him apart without some kind of protection, and I may have taught you guys some moves, but you're not black belts. Also, I'm not that important to the band, so I won't be holding anything up. You guys go ahead, and we'll catch up."

"No," Michael snapped. "You're coming with us."

"She's making sense, Mikey," Ashton said thoughtfully. "Besides, if we don't make up our minds soon, we're all going to miss our flight and hold up the tour."

"Do you have a different plan?" Reese demanded of everyone. Before she could get a reply, she continued, "I didn't think so. Now get going."

Calum, Ashton, and Arzaylea all boarded the plane without asking if I was okay with this. I was, but I still would've liked someone to ask me. Didn't I matter at all?

Reese and Michael shared a good, long, disgusting kiss, and I rolled my eyes. They finally separated, said their "never say goodbye" thing, and then Michael finally boarded. We left the terminal before we could see them take off. Little did we know that was the last time we would see them for a long while.