I'm with the Band

Chapter 25: Sierra vs. Leighton

Sierra shifted her weight on the plastic seat of the hospital chair, nervously biting her lip as the silence stretched between us. 

This wasn't supposed to be how our reunion went. We were supposed to meet up at Kill Klubs' final show on their home stage, in their home town. I was supposed to tackle her in a big hug and tell her how much a missed her and how much I loved Leighton; how perfect my life was on tour. Instead, we sat in the silence of the hospital. Thinking. Scared. 

I had taken the last hour or so of the early morning, recounting everything that had happened on tour. It had felt like yesterday that we had arrived in the bright and colourful city of L.A. I told her about the music video shoot, about Leighton and my fight, about our reconciliation, about his scars. I told her about Kevin and the drugs and Frankie. I talked and talked until there was nothing else to say and the silence reached out between us, trying to pull words from one of us to fill the space. Sierra had been silent through it all, listening. 

"This doesn't make sense," Sierra finally said. "Why Kevin? Why him of all people? We barely know the guy. I just don't understand what he would gain from any of this?" 

I nodded my head in agreement, staring off into the distant hallways of the emergency wing. 

"What about you?" I had been waiting to ask the question that I knew would sting us both. "What have you seen of the others back on campus? Danny and Sasha seem to have it out for me. Ashleigh is probably up to no good and who knows what kind of rumours have spread thanks to her. For all I know, I could be on the hit-list of every single girl on campus for merely existing." 

Sierra sighed again and it took every ounce of my strength to not reach out and hug her. Here she was, finally in front of me, but the distance between us was evident. Had we really grown apart in the little time that I had gone on tour? Sierra just seemed so distant. Or was this my overactive brain being pushed to its limit from the activities of the night. I was also tired and verging on irritable, maybe I should cut our reunion some slack and consider the circumstances. 

"I think I already told you everything I know about what was happening back on campus. Danny and Sasha are well, gross, one can say, but I would have been generally near them when you got some of those phone calls. If it was them don't you think it would be one of them consistently? They were together when it happened." 

"What about Ashleigh and her stupid pink blouses?" 

That garnered a small smile from Sierra. 

"Believe it or not, Ashleigh has now become one of the least of your worries. Now that Leighton is taken, she has declared her undying love for Damian Thatcher." 

Before I could stop it, my head instinctively snapped back and a laugh broke the barriers of my sadness.

"DAMIAN THATCHER!" I said his name a little too loud and could feel the vibrations of my voice bounce back from the plain, grey walls. "You're kidding! The ghost hunter? Mr. 'I'll have you know ghosts are real, and they are here to dampen your spirits'. Like huh? What does that even mean? He literally just wanted to use the word spirit in his tagline and took the first reddit joke he found." 

My laughter returned and soon enough, Sierra was right there with me. A single tear had started to manifest in her eyes unable to control herself from the ridiculous of the situation. 

"And the time when he heard footsteps in the old antique store, turned to the camera and said 'he must be a bargain haunter'." 

I started wheezing from laughing so hard I couldn't contain my emotions, I was over tired and all I could think about was Damian Thatchers dramatic, darkness mixed with prissy little Ashleigh's rainbow and sunshine aesthetic. The two of them would not be more perfect together in the worst of ways.