Scream

I woke up with an idea. Brian was much more likely to say yes to a phone if the guys were around. I made my way down to the kitchen, but Matt was the only one I saw.

"Hey," I said. "Where is everyone?"

"Still asleep," he said groggily, pouring a cup of fresh coffee. He sat on the couch with his mug and I waited. He watched me, confused. "What?"

"Since when do you drink black coffee?"

He looked down and realized what he did. "Motherfucker."

I smiled as I walked over and took the mug from his hand. I brought it back into the kitchen and poured creamer in it.

"You're the best," he said tiredly.

"Oh, I know," I said, pouring sugar in and stirring it. I didn't even know if this was still how he liked it. I brought it back over and he tried it.

"Perfect," he smiled. I took a seat next to him and he put his arm behind me.

"Do you think Brian would let me get a phone?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't see why not. Why do you want one?"

"Everyone has one."

He laughed and said, "And everyone in this house is hungover as shit, doesn't mean you should be."

"You aren't helping, Matt."

"I know, I'm sorry. But I don't see why he would say no. He's gotten a lot better, I can see it."

Are you going to lie to him, too?

"When do you think they'll all be up?" I asked, ignoring both comments.

"Who knows. Do you wanna put something on the TV while we wait?"

I grabbed the remote and flipped through channels before settling on Spongebob Squarepants. I doubted this was what Matt had in mind, but he was probably too tired to care. Two episodes went by before we heard groaning coming up the stairs.

"Courtney, turn that shit off!" Zacky yelled. "His laughing hurts my head."

I turned it off and watched the remaining three guys make their way up. Zack and Johnny grabbed their keys and quietly said their goodbyes.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," Brian muttered, trudging up the stairs.

"Be careful," I said. He gave me a thumbs up and it was only about ten minutes before he came back downstairs. I'd turned the weather channel on and Matt was on his phone.

"Hey Bri," Matt said, getting his attention.

"What?" He was much more awake now.

"Why don't we go to the mall and get Court a phone?"

I had to hold myself back from shooting Matt a death glare. That was not at all what I intended.

"She doesn't need one." He poured himself a cup of coffee even though it was the same pot Matt made. He never minded old coffee, anyway, as long as it was hot. I was the same way.

"She's 15, she should have one."

He looked at both of us as he sipped it. "I'm not made of money, but I suppose." The biggest smile spread itself across my face and I ran over and hugged him.

"You are made of money, you jackass," Matt said. "I'm gonna take a shower then." He made his way to the bathroom as I took a sip from Brian's mug.

"Were you guys talking about that?" he asked quietly, making sure Matt was out of earshot.

"No," I lied perfectly, looking at the light brown swirl in the cup, "but it makes sense."

"I guess," he said. "Are you okay? After last night?"

I nodded, and he tilted my head up by my chin with his finger.

"Are you sure?"

I swear, that is how he always got me to run back to him. Showing that he cared was all I ever needed or wanted. I don't know why or how, but it did. I don't even know if he ever realized it.

"I'm sure," I said quietly, stepping back and setting his mug down. "I'm going to get dressed." He didn't say anything as I turned around and trotted up the stairs to my room.

Do you just lie to everyone all the time?

"Can you shut the fuck up?" I muttered, pulling out a pair of light blue jeans and a black MCR T-shirt and throwing them on. I sat down on my bed and waited for the bathroom door to open before I started putting my sneakers on. I didn't feel like dealing with another awkward moment with Brian.

"Ready," I said, walking downstairs and cutting short whatever conversation Matt and Brian were having. Brian locked the house up and we piled into the car. The two of them sat in the front while I sat in the back. It wasn't a long ride there, so I didn't really mind. Once we got there, Matt strayed off to the food court while Brian took me to the T-Mobile store.

"You want an iPhone, right?" he said.

"Absolutely not," I said, walking straight to the Samsung Galaxy. It was just released, but I'd heard stuff about it in the hospital and I knew it was the one I wanted.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" a worker asked us.

"I guess we'll take that one," Brian said, turning to me and asking, "you sure?"

"Yep!"

"Fantastic," the worker said, taking Brian over to a computer to set everything up. I looked around out the door while they did that, realizing I hadn't been here in over a year. I haven't really been outside at all, actually. Everything was so different; fashion, looks, trends. I was so lost, I had been so disconnected to the world.

And whose fault is that?

Goddammit, not now! But really, who was to blame for that?

Then something caught my eye.

Valary. Matt. Valary and Matt. Together.

"So that's a thing," Brian said, standing next to me with a bag in his hand.

"How long?" I asked, keeping my voice down. I doubted they could hear us from over here, but I couldn't be too careful.

"A few months. I don't think it's serious right now." Brian started walking the opposite way so I walked next to him. He pulled out his phone and put it to his ear.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Calling him to meet us at the car so he thinks we didn't see him."

"Are we not supposed to know?"

He nodded as he said, "Matt, we're done if you wanna meet us outside... Okay." He put it back in his pocket and handed me the bag. "And this is yours."

"Thanks again, Brian," I said, looking inside excitedly.

"No problem, sweetie." We got in the car and just as Brian started it, we saw Matt walking toward us. Neither of us said anything as he got in and we drove home. I managed to get the phone out of the box and turned it on when we pulled into the driveway. I went straight to the stairs once we got in.

"Hey, where you running off to?" Matt asked.

"I'm gonna go play with it!" I said. He laughed.

"Don't forget about us now that you have that."

"Never!" I ran up to my room and shut the door. I turned the computer on and it was still on my messages with Tyler. I saved his number in the phone and texted it.

Hey, it's Courtney. This is my new phone number.

It only took a minute to get a reply.

Good. :)

Notes

Chapter title credit: Green Day "American Eulogy (Mass Hysteria/Modern World)"
It would mean the world to me if more of you guys could comment with opinions and just anything, really. I used to get so many more comments per chapter and it makes me sad. Pretty please?
The last couple chapters feel like fillers, but I have so much planned for when the tour starts so hang in there.
In other news, the new Green Day song came out today and I've listened to it at least 50 times by now. Maybe closer to 100. I'm not exaggerating. It's just so good.
Thanks for reading.