As Bottles Call My Name

Chapter 6

:D

(Megan's POV)

I awoke to my Christmas mug spilling tea on my lap, Mery singing Dream Theater while scrambling eggs, Maddie and Katie giggling at something on the laptop, and Charlotte staring out the window with earphones in.

I glanced around the room for my phone, which was on the counter. I slowly got up and brought the half-filled-with-cold-tea mug with me.

"Hey!" Mery stopped singing and called from the kitchen. "Meg, whatcha wanna do  today? We've been trying to think of something to do... I don't know. What do you think?" She said cheerfully.

"I don't care, I'm not picky."

"Let's go to the beach!" Maggie shouted and jumped up from her seat. Katie stood up alongside her and stated, ''But we have to really really practice for Battle of the Bands. We've gotta kick ass or else we don't get to meet the metal gods called Avenged Sevenfold."

"I don't think it matters." Charlotte quietly said. Our heads all rotated so we were facing her. "What do you mean? Of course it matters!" Katie said. She was clearly the focused one.

Charlotte replied softly, almost so that we couldn't hear her. "I miss Vicki."

I nodded and proceeded to my phone on the counter while the others "discussed" things.

We all missed Vicki. She was our other best friend, that hung out with us wherever we went, and watched us practice and stuff, kind of like Jason or Matt Berry with Avenged Sevenfold.

Charlotte and Vicki were like best friends before they met us, and stayed that way ever since. But Vicki moved to England, and Charlotte has harsh feelings toward Vicki ever since. And Charlotte probably misses Vicki now more than ever, because of her Alex issues.

I stopped my thoughts and listened to what the girls were saying.

The subject changed back to what to do today. "Awww, I wanna do something fun and relaxing. It is summer!" Maddie whined.

It was silent for a moment; everyone was thinking. "Let's just wander around the city and just do what we pass," Mery suggested. The others seemed okay with that, so we all just shuffled out the door and into the car, now making small talk.

We climbed into the van and smushed into the rows of seats. Mery driving, Katie in the passenger seat, Maddie and Charlotte in the middle, and me in the back.

Katie turned on the radio which was set to our favorite station, which happened to be playing "Cemetary Gates" by Pantera. We were all shouting and singing awfully, "Well I guess you took my youth, and gave it all awayy!" We screamed. All of us except for Charlotte.

Maddie pushed her arm and said, "Hey, Charles, c'mon. Lighten up. It's just us girls, having a good time this summer. No drama. Nothing. We promise."

Charlotte looked up at Maddie's reassuring smile, and smiled a small smile back. She turned around and looked at me awkwardly, so I just gave her a goofy grin. She chuckled and rolled her eyes, then said as quiet as possible over all the noise, "We have to win this competition. We just absolutely have to."

"Since when the sudden competitiveness?" I replied. She smirked and said, "Your dad, Alex, Vicki, Avenged Sevenfold, and our band's band and friendship."

"I can't get my hopes up that we'll win, Charles." I said.

She shrugged then turned back around, right as "Vicarious" by Tool was coming on.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, turned on the screen, and looked at the date. It said, June15. The competition was coming up at July 26, and it seemed to be coming faster now that it was summer.

We are trying to decide between our song "Few and Far Between," or "Euphoria." I'm fine with either one, they're both pretty good, it's just the practicing that screws us.

Suddenly the music stopped, and so did the van. "We're heeerrrreee!" Mery sang from the driver's seat.

I looked out the window and saw the familiar Kensington beach that my mom used to take me to, before I realized that she was insane and I'm not really all that fond of her.

Everyone but me and Charlotte hopped out of the car and marveled at the place's awesomeness. I stayed in the car and thought about when my mom would take me here. I would say, "Mom? Mooom??? Mum? Mommy?? Can I pleeeeaaaassseee get an ice cream cone?" And she would be all like, "Of course, sweetie," or some other totally false shit like that.

Katie stuck her head in the window of the van from outside. "You guys coming or what?"

"In a minute." I said, then smiled. She raised her eyebrows then mouthed "okay" then left. It was then that I realized that Charlotte was still in the car too.

I continued looking out the window at Kensington Park. It was a beach, outdoor waterpark, and of course had regular parks and woods and stuff.

A group of guys that seemed to be about our age walked by, they all had some kind of piercing on their face and had black band merch shirts on. I seemed to be particularly attracted to one, who was lingering in the back of the group, had on a System of a Down t-shirt and a lip piercing. He had black hair that was in his face but not "emo."

"Oh, no." Charlotte whispered.

"What?"

"I-it's Alex. Look."

I looked back out the window at the same group of guys who were now sitting at a table. Right in the middle, I noticed, was a tall guy and of course, he was Alex. "Alright, Charles. Let's go to the waterpark."

I looked at the waterslide which, at the top, stood a very excited Maddie.

"Come on." I said.

We got out of the van on the side so that the guys wouldn't see us. I noticed Charlotte had her head down and was doing her best to keep from being seen, although we weren't the best at blending in with our black skinny jeans, converse and band t-shirts.

We found the table that our friends put their stuff and began to undress. I was very self-consious because I had on a bikini, and I don't really like the way I look, but all of us are that way, so we just deal with it and have a good time.

Charlotte had on a bikini too, so on our way to the waterslide, we both had our arms covering our stomachs.

Katie, Mery, and Maddie soon joined us in line.

"So," Katie said. "Even when we go places like this, we have to focus this summer on Battle of the Bands. So let's talk about it while we're waiting."

We nodded and Mery continued. "Personally, I think Euphoria would be better. It would probably speak to a crowd of fucking weirdos and metalheads better than Few and Far Betwee, don't you think?"

The lady behind us covered her son's ears.

"Fuck that, I say Few and Far Between. Who's with me?" Maddie said, raising her hand. When no one raised their hand, she said, "Okay, Euphoria it is then."

The lady behind us covered her ears.

"You know, I don't think we have a really good chance at winning, but chances are, about 90% of the bands will be total shit." I said.

"Hey, you stupid teenagers! Do you kiss your mothers with those mouths?" The lady behind us said, still covering her son's ears.

"Do you kiss your son with that face? I bet he gets nightmares." Charlotte said.

The lady gasped and left the line for the waterslide. "Nice," Maddie said to Charlotte.

She shrugged and said, "It was the best I could come up with on the spot."

We just laughed.