The Desired Effect ~ Cameron Liddell

Chapter 6. "Vitamin D"

One Year Later

"I don't want you to go." I whined from the couch in our apartment. I moved into Cameron's apartment with him after tour ended last September, and got a job as a waitress at a nearby restaurant to help pay for food and rent. I didn't have to since the band had taken off so quickly, but I needed something to do with my day and felt weird at the idea of Cameron paying for everything. I didn't graduate so I wasn't much qualified to do anything else.

"Then come with us." He shrugged. He was packing his bags for tour to start on July 16th, for an entire month. Every time they went away on tour or went to another city to play a show I missed him so much, but it would be worse knowing they were getting more famous by the day and more and more girls wanted to be the new me. It was going to be the biggest tour ever, certainly that Asking Alexandria had done by then, but there were so many big amazing bands on the lineup. My plan was to at least go to their show in LA halfway through so I at least got to see Cameron once, and got to see the show. The longer we were together the cooler our lives got.

"What about rent? And my job?"

"Tell your wanker manager to eat one, we pay rent for both months before we leave, and come see America with me again."

"It would be so crowded again, and I think I have PTSD from the smell of that RV."I

"Yeah, it was fucking disgusting. Now less people, more space. We have a bus now, and the other girls aren't coming. Girl Sam refuses to go anywhere on wheels after that tour and Brandi is in school." I was glad I never had to go back in it ever again. Watching the thing get crushed in a junk yard when everyone got their new houses and apartments was extremely satisfying. "What's the worst that could happen?" So I quit my job that day and spent the next few packing, properly that time. We were so naïve.

"Hey," Ben smiled from the door of the bus. "God, since when are you coming?" He rolled his eyes playfully but still grabbed my suitcase to bring it on.

"Last minute decision. When do I ever plan to be anywhere?" When he nodded the mess of hair on his head shook like a loose helmet.

"That's a good point." Since the end of tour I had grown quite close with Ben and Sam. Myca and Danny were on even less than speaking terms - I didn't want to acknowledge that I had any part in his gaze wandering. We tried to keep up but it was hard to have much attention for anyone that was outside of our immediate circle, especially if they weren't welcome in that circle. I hugged Ben and Sam quickly.

"Hey daughter."

"Hello father." I laughed.

"Where's Danny?" Cam asked as he shoved our bags into the top bunk. In the front was the door and drivers seat, and then a long bench across from a booth, and then two sides of counter space, and then 12 bunks, and then the back lounge. I decided to remember it like that, clean and nice and full of that new car smell, before we inevitably trashed it.

"Right here!" Danny burst through the back door like the Kool-Aid man. Cameron turned around and pushed him back instantly, closing the door. Danny's hands were blue. Since the first tour things calmed down with Danny and however he felt about me, so everyone was friends again. Still the odd creepy or downright hateful comment here and there, but it was manageable when we didn't have to be stuck in a camper all day with each other.

"Not around her- oh my god what the fuck."

"W- you brought Naomi? Cameronnnn." he whined. Ouch.

"Clean this up, now." I heard Cameron talking but couldn't make out anything but my name.

"No!"

"Danny."

"Fine. What she does or doesn't do doesn't fucking matter to me. I'm over it. I've basically forgotten about her. Naomi who." Cameron walked out.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly. What does he have? And why can't I see? I forgot Danny would be here.

"I fucking told him he's- never mind."

"He's got pounds and pounds of it back there." Ben laughed loudly. "You can't blame him for not knowing Naomi would be here. He's not spiderman. Although I bet he does get a funny little tingle when she's around." He made a cheeky face and cracked open a can. Cam sighed angrily.

"Pounds of what?" It was hard to make any assumptions about what Danny would be doing next. It was hard to be really worried about any of them in particular when I knew the second I turned my back they were all high on god knows what and drunk off whatever they could find. With more money came more ways to become intoxicated.

"twitch." What the fuck is twitch?

"Come on. Let's just go get James and get on the road." Cam and I sat at the booth in the front. We picked up James from his apartment, and hit the road. Stop #1 on the Thrash And Burn tour was Louisville KY. Which was a 30 hour drive from L.A.

"This shit is going to be fucking massive, mate. All these amazing bands. It's gonna be sick." Ben said, and everyone nodded. Maybe we can find a new hotter Naomi for Danny, so I have someone to talk to. But the idea of making a new friend, and dealing with Danny more, was nauseating, so I just decided that I could call Brandi or Sam or Myca if I needed to talk.

"Maybe you'll get a tan."

"I think I'm allergic."

"I think you just never go outside. You're white as fuck, Naomi." Sam said.

"I'm no more pale than any of you fucks. At least I leave the house sometimes."

"Yeah, to go to your night job." Ben quoted it dramatically. "If that restaurant does even exist."

"You've been there before. I served you pancakes." Defending myself against Ben's wit was useless because he always came up with something new and stupid to say, and it was always too funny to get mad about.

"Oh yeah, I bet that's not all you're serving up." He nudged Sam who just rolled his eyes and took the beer from his hands.

"She was pale when we met." Cameron said quickly. "You've always been pale right?" He seemed worried about it. Like he was a bad influence or something. I think he worried about that a lot - whether or not he was good for me and helping me make good decisions, or if he was slowly but surely ruining my life. I didn't really mind either way.

"Yes, she was in fact a ghost when you met." Danny came out of the bathroom and sat down beside Ben at the bench. His hands weren't blue anymore. "But now you look down right sick. Are you eating enough? Going out? You should get some more sun. You're probably vitamin D deficient."

"I can't even believe you know the name of a vitamin." I just looked at him. "Or is that just your pickup line. Some vitamin D." His hand twitched, and his eyes went wide.

"Sorry, malfunction. Stay inside as long as you want and fuck vitamins."

"There's the Danny I know." Cameron rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, this tour is gonna be mental." James changed the subject. "Sick ass bands. It's gonna be sick." Everyone agreed. When conversation died down Ben went to go try and sleep through most of the drive until there was something to look at. Danny and James started playing Call Of Duty on the small TV in the back room. When I went back there, nothing was amiss. Danny had cleaned up whatever the fuck he had back there. I grabbed my laptop and sat at the booth.

"Why not?" I heard Danny and Cam talking from where I lied inside our bunk. My noise cancelling headphones actually seemed to amplify any outside noise so I could hear my music worse than if I was playing it out loud from a mile away.

"Because, I don't want to. What about Naomi? I can't put her in that position."

"Well she could too-"

"We already have enough coke to kill a building, mate. Relax." Ben added. "You'll be onto something else in a few months anyways."

"Doesn't that just prove that I'll be fine? No big deal?" A long pause. So twitch is a drug. And he wants us to do it? What could be so bad about it? Maybe that's why Danny's hands were blue. What kind of drug is blue? Danny scares me when we're all high together anyways. Is twitch a pill? Or do you inject it? Do you smoke it? I tried to look it up but came up even less than short. Not a single thing on any site or forum. I groaned and rolled over. Why do they have to talk so loud? I don't want to know anymore. I put on my headphones and put on music loud enough to drown out the sound of all conversation, and took a nap.