The Orion Star

It's Hard To Trust Yourself

I don't mean to be volcanic 

Woke up feeling long-winded

Do you ever get that?

Stand up straight, broaden your shoulders

C'mon, you got this, you got this

And one day

You'll know

That I know

What do we know?

--From the song One Day [This Will Evade Us]

Lyrics By: Orion Bauwens/Benjamin Hill

"So what's your deal?" I ask, grabbing one of Tristan's fries, dipping it in my vanilla milkshake and eating it.

Tristan makes a disgusted face at me.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it."

With a look of disbelief he takes a fry, dips it into his chocolate shake, and hesitantly pops it into his mouth. His face slowly changes and he grins. "Not bad."

"See? Doesn't the sweet and salty pair wonderfully together?"

Ben makes a face at us from across the table. "You two are perfect for each other. That's disgusting."

"Have you guys tried it?"

Jake and Ben make the same disgusted face. 

"Yeah," Jake says, "Orion has insisted we try. It's disgusting."

"How can you not like this?!"

"Like I said," Ben says. "Perfect."

"Speaking of perfect," I say to Tristan. "I know like, nothing about you."

Tristan looks uncomfortable.

"Why did you want to come on tour with us?"

Tristan somehow manages to look even more uncomfortable. "Well, I didn't know it was with you guys, specifically...I just answered the ad, went through the screening process, and was assigned to you guys."

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Nope."

"What made you want to?"

"Well, I needed a job, and..." he mumbles something.

"What was that?"

He mumbles again.

Jake laughs. "Care to speak in a way we can understand you buddy?"

Tristan glares. "I said I wanted to run away from home, okay?"

We're all stunned. We fall into silence.

"I wanted to leave, but I needed a job to do that, and this was a job and way to leave all at once!"

I feel sick to my stomach. I push my half-eaten burger away from me and stare at Tristan. "Did you--did you just say run away from home?"

Tristan looks down. "Uh, maybe?"

Jake and Ben look at me in a panic.

"Tristan...how old are you, exactly?"

"Twenty."

I look at him.

"Nineteen."

I cross my arms.