[AustinCarlile] Live Forever

[AustinCarlile] Live Forever [ChapterTwentySeven]

“You’re the stupidest person I've ever met.” Shaking my head, I knit my eyebrows together, running a hand through my hair as everyone around me laughs at my comment except for Anthony, who sneers, crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t think before he talks and then he wonders why people get mad at him, it’s because of that, because he has no filter and he just says things that he knows he shouldn’t say, but he can’t stop himself from saying them. Austin must have told him something, because the two of them have gotten close, and I like it that way, them being close, it’s nice, nothing is forced.

We’re all free, it’s strange, today is a fast paced day, interviews and photo shoots, signings and longer sets, everything is crazy, and I don’t know how all of us had time to hang out together, how the two bands were free at the same time for two hours out of the day, but it’s amazing, because we’re all friends, it’s nice, I like this. It’s not often that we all hang out during the day, there are days when I’ll hang out with Phil and Tino, but I won’t see Austin until after eight thirty.

Austin must have told Anthony about Phil’s crush on Asia, and the only reason I can think of for him doing that is because Anthony most likely had his eyes on her, she’s gorgeous, now that I know that Austin doesn’t like her and she doesn’t like Austin, because it’s pretty obvious that she likes Phil, her eyes light up whenever he’s around. He wouldn’t ever go after a girl that one of his friends like, Anthony that is, because that’s just how he is, he lives by the unwritten “bro code” and that’s how he ranks his friends, by who follows those rules the way they treat their friends.

I told Austin not to get involved, that this is something that Phil and Asia need to do for themselves, because it means so much more when they confess it to each other due to courage and not someone constantly pressuring them to. Phil looks at her like she’s the stars in the sky, it’s the love that I hope is in Austin’s eyes with he looks at me, Phil loves her with all his heart, and he’ll say that it isn’t love, that it can’t be love, but they’ve been best friends for years, it can be love, I strongly believe that it is love, they’d be wonderful together.

“Don’t say things like that.” Scolding him like he was a child, I roll my eyes, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my feet on the edge of the booth, my skins against the contour of the table and my hands on my thighs. “No one was laughing. That’s not a funny joke. Don’t talk about genitalia. High school is over.” I hated high school, I hated middle school, I hated elementary school, I hated all of it, every single year, and each year I would hear that the next year would be better, but that never happened, nothing ever improved.

Shoving my shoulder gently, Austin shakes his head, laughing, and I frown, shoving him back, knowing that he knows why I'm upset, he shouldn’t have said anything, this isn’t his relationship to start. Leaning forward, lowering his head, he presses his lips to mine for a quick kiss, and I feel the butterflies erupt in my stomach, a blush covers my cheeks as Asia makes a gagging noise as a joke, and I roll my eyes, picking up my cell phone and skimming through my contacts list until I find Phil’s number.

To: Philly Cheesesteak

If you don’t tell her soon, one of these morons will. I can only keep them quiet for so long.

Pressing his chest against my shoulder, Austin cranes his neck to see who I'm texting, what I'm texting, knowing that I'm texting Phil, but wanting to know what I'm saying, he wouldn’t pry if he didn’t know beforehand. “Asia, did you know that Devon has Phil in her phone as Philly Cheesesteak. What do you have Phil in your phone as?” She has his name with the less than three sign and a three, the makeshift heart, the old style heart now that most phones will allow for the heart, and he’s pressing her buttons until she breaks, it’s not how I would go about this, and that’s why I didn’t want him involving himself.

Her eyes grow wide and a red tint paints her cheeks, and I punch Austin’s leg under the table, where no one can see, to which he winces, slouching forward and rubbing his hand on the sore spot. “This is what I was talking about, Austin. This isn’t your place. You’re going to lose a friend this way.” Whispering, I tilt my head to the side, trying to get him to see what he’s doing, because now she’s embarrassed, she has nothing to say, in front of all of us, and it’s more extreme this way, because we’re all here, we all can see it, and she doesn’t want that, it took her until yesterday to come out and tell me how she feels about Phil.

“I'm sorry, Phil, but your name is just that, Phil. But, Austin’s name in my contact list is Shit Bag, in case you were all wondering.” She took off for the day, asking one of the sound techs to fill in for her at the booth, and everyone was hesitant to let her do that, not because they don’t want her to have the day off, but simply because having a sound tech running a merchandise booth and not instruments isn’t always the smartest. If anyone deserves a day off, it’s Asia, she works her ass off, she’s sweet to everyone, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her get angry with a fan, but then again I've only been to the booth once.

I knew that Warped was going to be hectic, crazy, bad, and good, I knew that, I knew I was going to gain friends and lose friends, but I didn’t expect this, this new addition to my family, Austin, any of it, and it’s nice, it makes this worthwhile.

“We’re in New Jersey right now, guys.” Nate says, and his eyes are tired, they're not excited, but there’s a false happiness in his voice, it’s forced, I hate this, he’s trying to change the subject, this is where everything happened, not here, but in this state, where we all left our past lives. “And that means that nothing bad can happen, because this is where it all started.” I didn’t expect him to bring this up in front of everyone, just with us, our family, not with Austin’s family, but there’s no harm behind his voice, I have no problem with it, because he’s Adam’s best friend, I'm happy that he cares.

There’s a knock on the door, quieting all the suggestions for a big party, there’s no small talks going on between the guys, Austin loosening his grip on my hand in his, Phil and Asia stop their discussion, which seemed to be getting somewhere, in the right direction, because he was trying to grab her phone from her pocket to look at what he is stored as in her phone and she was laughing, they were both smiling at each other.

Biting down on my lower lip, I sigh, running a hand through my hair as I watch as Asia turn her head to look at the door, how Alan stops talking to TJ about their guitar picks, we’re all silent, not used to the knocking at the door. It’s been a while since there was a knock on a door of a tour bus, everyone has each other’s number, and we all try to stay outdoors as much as possible, in the shade of course, because that’s where everyone else is.

The door clicks open, meaning that the someone who was knocking knows the code and was just knocking to let the people inside know that he’s coming inside, and there are more than one person’s footsteps on the stairs, the numerous steps cause all of us to look at each other, all knowing who is here today, all fearing a confrontation with her. It doesn’t make any sense to me, why she would even care to see him, there’s no reason to cause drama, especially now, now that we’re together, I don’t want that drama, all I want is a healthy relationship.

“Look who is here.” The voice of their tour manager is one with a mixture of boredom and anger, like he doesn’t want to bring whoever it is here, but he did, and I don’t understand that, he knows how to say no, and there’s no reason why he should feel the need to say okay with someone who everyone clearly hates. “It’s Gielle.”

My head snaps up, all the color in my face draining, and I bring my hand up to my mouth, all the blood rushing to my head, I can’t think straight, I don’t feel well, this can’t be happening, it’s a sick joke. I can see her blonde hair, that’s all I can see as she’s walking behind him, and I feel like I'm going to vomit, I can’t breathe, this isn’t happening, this can’t be happening, not here, not now, this isn’t fair. Austin looks at me, his eyes wide with anger, and I shake my head, resting my elbows down on the table, my head in my hands, the panic rushing through my veins, I feel so hot. “I'm going to puke.”