Situations Are Irrelevant Now

Eviction

Chapter 14: Eviction 

What were the chances that of all places in Vegas, Lizzie would show up at this particular Dairy Queen? I felt Megan tense up as waves of anger began radiating toward me. She probably thinks I planned for this to happen, but in all honesty this was just an unfortunate coincidence.

I brought Megan here to convince her to help me with the ransom, but now she’ll probably never agree.

It didn’t take Lizzie long to recognize me. She screamed my name from across the parking lot and bolted toward us. Wasting no time, she leaned in through the window and kissed me. I couldn’t resist…and actually forgot that Megan was there for a moment. Needless to say, I was confused to see the seat next to me empty when I was finally able to tear away from Lizzie.

Megan is beyond pissed at me, but I’m willing to bet she’ll be even angrier with Lizzie. I smirked to myself, realizing that maybe her sudden appearance will be exactly what I needed to get Megan on my side. 

+ Normal POV +

Blinded with rage and an odd sensation of heartache, I stormed straight to my room and collapsed on the bed. Evidently, I was more stressed than I thought, because I fell asleep almost instantly. I would’ve been completely fine with staying in bed the rest of the day, but of course Max had a different plan.

He burst into the room banging a frying pan and hopped on the bed. “Megan!” he shouted. “Wake up, we’re having a band meeting."

I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head. “Go away, Max. Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?”

“You can sleep when you’re dead,” he replied, tugging at the pillow. Somehow he managed to take the pillow and blankets away, which resulted in me glaring at him as I sat up.

“I despise you,” I muttered, following him down to the basement.

He scoffed. “We both know that’s not true.”

Once we were in the basement, I noticed that the guys were sitting around the table, playing what appeared to be a rather competitive round of Go Fish. Ronnie came down shortly after us and made his arrival known by declaring, “Attention everyone, the band meeting is now in session.”

“So what’s all of this about?” Max asked, leaning up against a stack of amps. “We already know about the record deal.”

“It’s not about the record deal,” Ronnie said slowly, taking the time to figure out how to phrase the next sentence. I could tell that this was when he was going to share his insane idea with the guys. I mentally smirked – this was going to be hilarious.

“Spit it out, dude,” Robert said. “We don’t have all night.”

Ronnie shot him an annoyed look before sighing. “I’m not exactly sure how to go about this…I don’t want you guys to freak out, but–.”

Ding-dong.

The shrill sound of the doorbell cut him off and caused everyone to glance upward. “I’ll get it,” Omar offered, sprinting up the stairs.

Any interest in who could’ve been at the door was deterred when Ronnie spat out his idea. “Guys, I know some of you were surprised to hear that I’m dating Lizzie. Well…I’m dating her because her family is rich and…I’m going to hold her hostage for a ransom…”

There was a brief moment of utter silence before everyone erupted with laughter. Ronnie, however, did not share in their merriment. He grabbed a glass off the table and chucked it at the wall, effectively causing the glass to explode into several shards. That successfully returned the room to silence.

“I’m serious about this,” he said lowly. “I can’t do it without you. Megan’s basically agreed to help, and I’ve already got a plan.”

Everyone cast confused and judgmental stares in my direction, which caused a heated blush to creep across my entire face. Now, they probably think I’m just as insane as he is.

“It’s way too crazy, dude,” Bryan said. “If her family is loaded, they’ll probably have a whole bunch of security…”

“Not to mention that the band would be over when you get caught, since you’ll probably end up in jail," Max added. 

“It won’t ruin the band,” Ronnie said defiantly. “If anything, it will make it better.”

Before anyone could continue to shoot down Ronnie’s idea, a string of curses came from upstairs. I’m guessing whoever was at the door wasn’t a favorable guest.

+ Omar’s POV +

I couldn’t wait to see who was at the door – anything was better than sitting in that lame meeting. Ronnie was probably just spewing BS anyway. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if the person at the door was his new girlfriend.

When I opened the door, there was no one standing there. Frowning, I stepped outside and glanced around, but didn’t see a single person. Maybe some punk kids were playing a game of Ding Dong Ditch?

I shrugged and turned to go back inside, but stopped once I saw an envelope taped to the door. There was an URGENT sticker slapped on the front of it. Curious, I ripped it open, only to discover an eviction notice.

A string of curse words slipped out, perhaps a little louder than intended. The paper said that if we didn’t have $10,000 in two days, we’d be kicked out of the house. How could we really be that behind on payments?

I sprinted down the stairs and was completely out of breath by the time I reached the guys. Apparently the meeting had taken a weird turn because everyone already looked startled before even seeing me.

“Guys,” I breathed. “We just got an eviction notice. If we don’t get ten thousand dollars by Friday, we’re screwed!”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Megan said, frowning. “I’ve mailed every payment. Unless the rent went up exponentially, I don’t see how we could owe that much money.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Ronnie replied, smiling creepily. “This is perfect!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Max leaned over and said, “While you were gone, Ronnie suggested we hold his girlfriend for ransom…”

“Don’t you see?” Ronnie asked. “This ransom will give us more than enough money to pay for the house. Hell, we could buy a new house!”

Everyone glanced at the floor in silence until Max finally spoke up. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Ronnie might be right. There’s no other way we could get all the money on time.”

Although everyone reluctantly agreed, none of us were particularly happy about it – expect for Ronnie, who still wore that creepy grin.

+ Ronnie’s POV +

I know I shouldn’t be happy to receive an eviction notice, but the timing couldn’t be more perfect. It was exactly what I needed to get everyone else on board.

Riddled with excitement, I didn’t bother trying to sleep just yet. I spent a few more hours in the basement, playing random songs on the guitar before going up to the room. Megan was already in there, doing something on her computer. She didn’t even glance up at me when I walked in.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe.

She shot me a nasty look before returning her attention to the computer screen. “I’ve kept a record of all the payments we’ve made for rent and utilities on here…I’m just trying to figure out where we messed up.”

I rolled my eyes. Doesn’t she understand that all of that is going to be meaningless once we have a million dollars? I strolled over to the bed and slammed her computer screen shut. “What the hell?” she snapped.

“Let’s not worry about such petty details,” I said. “By Friday, all of our problems will be non-existent. And don’t forget, once Lizzie’s out of the picture, we can be together.”

Much to my surprise, she scooted away from me. “Maybe I don’t want to be with you anymore,” she murmured.