Shining Star - Bars And Melody Fanfiction

Chapter 6 - Joey

"Actually, I am."

I bit my lip. I look in the mirror, to see Leo doing the same. He stopped and grinned, so I poked my tongue out at him. Leo stuck out his bottom lip and made puppy dog eyes. I could feel Charlie staring at us, so I looked at Leo to tell him to stop. The rest of the journey was spent in silence, the only sound drowning the awkwardness was the quiet buzz of the radio as the signal faded in and out. Within five minutes, we had pulled up outside Starbucks. We sat at a table and waited for Ryan, Ollie, Jordi and Andy, the four other members of Overload. "Shall I go get some drinks or wait for the boys?" Leo asked. Joey checked his phone for the time. It was two'o'clock.

"They'll be here soon. I'll help you with the drinks. You two want your usual?" We both nodded.

"What's up?" I asked Charlie, shuffling closer to him.

"You and Leo."

"I'm sorry, but it's inevitable, really. Me and Leo have so much in common, and we really like each other, and when girl meets boy then this kind of thing is bound to happen." I explained, rather badly.

"So we have nothing in common? You don't really like me?!" Charlie argued.

"I do, but as a friend! You need to

get over yourself Charlie, jealously doesn't suit you."

"Well, being a bitch doesn't suit you either." Charlie barked. I stared open mouthed at him.

"How dare you say that! I wouldn't have said that, especially not a selfharmer." Tears started to fall. I got out my seat.

"It's not like your about to kill yourself, you haven't cut for weeks!" Charlie retaliated.

"Explain why I have this cut on my wrist then!" I clawed at my bracelets and pulled them out the way, and showed him the fresh cut I had done earlier.

"When did you do that?" He softened his voice a bit.

"Monday, if you must know." I snapped, then walked away; I couldn't take much more of his idiocy.

"Leo, I'm going to the bathroom." I told him.

"Okay, I'll..." He stopped mid-sentence.

"You've been crying."

"No! I just smudged my mascara, that's all. I need to go clear it up." I lied, smiling. It was a stupid excuse, but Leo seemed to believe it; a smile can cover anything.

I went to the bathroom. There were three stalls, and the one on the far right was taken, so I went in the middle one then locked the door. At first, I refused to cry, but then I had to. I sobbed into my hands, trying to be quiet, but failing.

After I had been in there for about five minutes, I heard a door open outside the stall, so I tried to muffle my crying.

"Del?" Someone knocked on the door. I recognised the accent as Leo's.

"Go away Leo."

"Del, it's Joey." I was surprised. "Please open the door."

I got up and slid the lock to the right, then sat back down in the toilet lid. Joey stood outside, arms folded over his chest, a nervous look in his eyes.

"I know this is more than the problem with Leo and Charlie." He said. "What's really happening?"

I pulled my bracelets up. Joey's eyes widened, then closed, like he was trying to erase the image from his head.

"It's bullying, isn't it?" He guessed right first time.

"It was stupid of me to do it." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"It wasn't stupid, you were just struggling. I understand. I know someone who did that too." He held my hands, but I still felt nervous to talk to him.

"Where are they now?" I whispered.

"They aren't anywhere. They're gone. One cut was all it took, one cut to end it all." Joey used his sleeve to dry his eyes. The tears kept pouring from my eyes, causing my body to shake. I didn't know whether my uncontrollable crying was because I didn't want to end up like that, or because I did.

"Leo's really worried about you. He told me about your cuts. He told me not to tell anyone. Don't be angry, but I told someone."

"Who?" Although I didn't really care, I still asked anyway.

"Jordi. You get on with him the best out of the Overload boys, so I wanted him to speak to you. Even if you don't want to talk to Jordi, I'm telling you that it has to stop. If you're suffering, Leo's suffering. Anything that happens to you, happens to Leo. And if you don't stop, Leo might just start."

I covered my mouth. I felt sick. "He can't. I won't let him. I don't want him to."

"He doesn't want you to cut either. But the only difference is you have some influence on whether he does or not. And that depends on you stopping." Joey got up from where he was kneeling on the floor. "I hope that's enough to persuade you. Anyway, I need to get out of the girls bathroom."

He ran out of the bathroom. I came out of the stall, and tried to clear all the makeup from my cheek in the mirror; I looked like a mess. The far right stall opened behind me; but before I got a chance to see who it was, I was blinded by the flash of a camera, taking a picture of me with my scars showing and makeup down my face.