You Light Up the Sky Like Lightning

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I stared at him. Surely I was mistaking.  There was no way they were going to drag me along with them, right? This just has to be a big joke that Bieber got Scooter to pull on me just so he could have his laugh. That had to be it. I was sure of it.

But the longer I stared at my uncle, the more I began to panic. For someone who was supposedly messing with me, he looked awfully serious. The lines on his face never flinched, and his eyes were trained on me, focusing on how I was taking this new information.

“Excuse me?!” I yelled when I realized they were beings serious about taking me along for the ride.

"Landry," Scooter said calmly. "We were going to tell you sooner, but-"

"Psh, no you weren't," Justin said. 

“Justin,” Scooter growled in a warding tone.

“What? It’s true! You didn’t want to tell her until the day before we left-”

“Enough, Justin!” Scooter snapped. That made Justin shut up pretty fast, so I had to imagine that Scooter's expression he was giving Justin was murderous. 

“You weren’t going to tell me?!” I hissed. “You were just going to drag me on a plane randomly one day and say ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going on tour?’”

"Landry, we knew you were coming here, but that was after scheduled Justin’s world tour," Scooter said, ignoring my question.

I glared at him. “And not even telling me that you were going to throw my world even more upside down is helping me how?”

“Landry, please,” Scooter sighed. “I’m really sorry, but this is the way it is.”

"So, how long do I have to put up with . . . him?" I asked, pointing to Bieber as if he were a pile of shit on the sidewalk. 

"Well," Scooter shifted nervously. "The tour is all summer, so that long, if not longer."

My face and heart fell. Great. Just great. 

"When do we leave?" I sighed, accepting my fate. There was no point in avoiding it, so I gave up.

"Less than a week."

Okay. I have about a week to myself. That's good . . .

Oh, who am I kidding? This summer was going to be hell. 

"And, you're sure that there's no way-"

"Landry, you're coming whether you like it or not. I'm sorry. I know you and Justin have . . . a temporary hate relationship, but I'm sure that you will be able to ignore him."

Justin snorted. "Yeah, and that's if I decide to leave her alon-"

"Justin, shut up, or leave the room!" Scooter shouted. 

Justin snapped his mouth shut. Sucker. 

"I’m warning both of you," Scooter continued, his voice still dead serious. "You better not do any of the fighting you're doing now, or you'll regret it. It ends now."

With that, Scooter stood up and walked out of the room. 

I sighed. I was not looking forward to this summer at all. 

"Well," Justin said happily. "You took that better than I thought you would. I thought you were going to turn into the devil and blow fire out of your ass. And kill everyone you saw."

I stared at him. 

"Okay," I said. "First of all, that made no sense. Second of all, you just ruined my entire summer even more so than it already was. Third, if you do anything else to me- and I mean anything!- I will kill you."

His smile faltered. Point for me. 

“This is your fault,” I snapped.

“What is my fault?” he asked, sounding offended.

“It’s your fault my summer just got worse.”

“You know, when most people are told that they will be traveling the world with the most famous teenager on the planet, they would be happy.”

“My summer was already off to a bad start,” I snapped. “I don’t need this on top of all the other shit in my life. The las thing I want to do is spend my time on tour with a dick like you who thinks he’s so much better than everyone else.”

“God, why do you hate me so much?” he asked, fully curious now.

“Because you’re a stuck up, good for nothing-”

“I feel like we should start over,” he interrupted me, his face flat.

“Excuse me?”

He stuck out his hand and smiled at me. 

"I'm Justin," he said. 

I glared at his hand like it was infected. “That is not going to work. You can’t fix everything with a handshake.”

“No, but Scooter is right when he said this will be a long summer if we keep fighting. Temporary truce?”

Studying him to see if he was screwing with me, I frowned when I couldn’t find anything suspicious. 

“I’m Justin,” he repeated.

“You’re not going to let me go without shaking your hand, are you?” I asked.

“Nope.”

Groaning, I shoved my hand into his just to get it over with. "I'm Landry," I mumbled. “And it’s not a pleasure to meet you.” 

He squeezed my hand, but when he pulled away, I felt something sticky on my own. I looked at it hesitantly, and sure enough, a piece of gum was in the palm of my hand. A piece that had already been chewed. 

"Oh my god, you’re disgusting!" I screamed. I flung my hand around, and the gum flew off. I didn't see where it landed until I heard Bieber shriek. I looked at him, and laughed when I saw the gum stuck- literally- in his precious hair. 

He got up and ran to the bathroom. 

"Karma’s a bitch!" I shouted as he ran off. 

You know, if I can keep making him run off like that, maybe this summer won't be so bad after all.