Radioactive Love

Chapter Three

Three Days Later...

"I'm going home?"

"Yes, Artemis, both you and Kloey are going home."

When Artemis went to school the next day, she was overjoyed to find Kloey waiting for her at the front of the building. Artemis's friends walked over to her. Maryl, the blonde haired blue eyed girl, greeted her. "Welcome back, Artemis. Who's your new friend?"

"Uh, this is Kloey, and she's actually my girlfriend."

"Whoa!" Mandy, her brunette friend, widened her blue eyes. "Where'd you guys meet?"

"At the hospital."

"Oh. That's nice."

A bunch of popular boys strode up to them. "Hey, Artemis." Aden Caspen spoke in a flirty voice. "You're lookin' nice today." He leaned in close to her ear. "Could you put in a word to your new friend for Gordon?"

"Hell no."

"You aren't gonna let love take its path?"

"Not gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"Maybe because she's my girlfriend?" Artemis snapped, whipping around and walking into the school with Kloey.

When they got to their homerooms, everyone was surprised to see Artemis. She had been gone for about a week. Many of them greeted her, and she tried to avoid being the center of attention. Grabbing her iPhone, she shot a text to Kloey. Kloey, people won't stop bothering me. Help!

The response came immediately. I understand. Meet me in the bathroom?

Artemis got up and talked to the teacher, who let her leave early. On my way.

She met Kloey in the girl's bathroom that was closest to both of their homerooms. Kloey was in there already, waiting for her at the far wall. Artemis strode over to her, taking her hands and kissing her. "Ew." The two girls jumped to see Vandy Bringer making a face at them. "You guys are lesbians? That's disgusting!"

"Whoa, hold on a second," Artemis glared at Vandy. "We're not lesbians, we're pansexuals."

"It's still gross!"

"Haven't you ever seen a boy kiss another boy?"

"Duh."

"Yeah, it's the same thing."

"No, it's not."

"Wow, talk about double standards."

Kloey rested her head on Artemis's shoulder as soon as Vandy left. "We'll be okay, Artemis."

"I hope you're right. I don't want to deal with that kind of BS all of the time."

Kloey chuckled, then pulled Artemis in for a hug. When it was finally time for lunch, they were surprised to find that Pierce the Veil and Black Veil Brides were there! Andy Biersack, lead singer of Black Veil Brides, handed a slip of paper to Artemis. "Audition for our band! You seem different from all these other kids."

Well, Artemis did in fact audition, singing Black Veil Brides' song "Youth and Whisky" and she waited patiently during her lunch mod the next day to hear who got the role in the band. Andy held a microphone in his left hand and a paper in his right. "After much thought, we have chosen the perfect person for the role in our band. And that person is... Artemis Smith!" Artemis froze. Hearing her name, her friends cheered and clapped. Artemis made her way over to the band. My band. She corrected in her mind. Andy handed her the microphone. "Give your speech, kiddo." He gave her a warm smile and hug.

"I'd like to thank my friends for getting me this far, especially my girlfriend, Kloey Rockson. I've gone a long time thinking that I couldn't do anything, but now I've discovered my talent of music, and I'm so honored to be the new member of my favorite band, Black Veil Brides. Thank you so much for choosing me, guys."

There was only clapping from fans, friends, and acquaintances. Artemis shrugged her shoulders and went home at the end of the day in a van with Black Veil Brides. She raced them to her front door, then bounced excitedly after ringing the doorbell. When her mother, Layne, and father, Georgie, came to the door, their mouths dropped open at the sight of five hardcore men covered in tattoos dressed in black and leather standing behind her daughter. As Andy began explaining that Artemis was who they chose after she auditioned and that they would be honored to have her and her friends on tour with them, Layne looked like she was going to explode with excitement. "Of course she can go, my little girl is all grown up!"

Artemis ran inside and started packing her bags. "Andy, when are we leaving?"

"Saturday."

"That's tomorrow!"

"Is that okay with you?" Andy popped his head into her bedroom, then laughed at the sight of all of her band posters.

"Yeah, that's fantastic!" The next day, they were all ready.

They set off for Tennessee, where they would be performing in the lively town of Pigeon Forge. Before going onstage, Artemis gave Kloey a hug and a kiss. When she ran out with the boys to greet the audience, she wasn't at all surprised to see hundreds, maybe thousands, of people waiting. Andy greeted them. "As you may know, we chose a random high school to be the place where we hosted auditions for our band. The wonderful person standing next to me is Artemis Smith, our newest band member." There were cheers. "Let's do this!" They started off with Youth and Whisky, in honor of Artemis's audition. After several songs they were done, and Artemis was exhausted.