My Little Decoy

♪ You're Alive to Feel ♪ {27}

My life was changing rapidly, and I didn't know what to make of it. I knew that it was changing for the good, but that's what I was worried about. When things are just right, something unfortunate was bound to happen and knock me down.

In all honesty, I'm worried. I'm worried about Carter. I'm worried about being found out. I'm worried about not making it. I'm worried about Marco since I can't avoid him forever. But tomorrow, Chasing Avenues would be entering Round Two. If we move on, it would be a miracle. But it's a miracle I'm wishing for.

Glancing upwards at the clock, it told me that only a minute was left in the period, so I grabbed the apple I packed earlier out of one of the pockets in my bag and took a bite, standing up and heading for the door. As the bell above blared into my ears, I pushed past the door and into reality.

After failing a test in US History and avoiding another confrontation with Carter, the day finally came to an end. As usual, I grabbed the necessary items out of my locker and stuffed them into my backpack before yanking out Rev and heading towards the parking lot. It became habitual meet up at the old Chevy car parked in slot #148 after Zac explained how he always gave Drake and Gabe rides, so why not Xander and I too. But I always made him drop me off at least a block away from where I actually lived.

"Hey, Lacey!" Xander grinned, giving me a wave as I approached the car. Already there were Xander, Zac, and Gabriel. Drake still seemed to be no where in sight. I gave them a half-wave back, lugging myself over before popping the trunk and throwing my backpack carelessly into the vehicle, piling it on top of the others.

"Where's Drake?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning casually against the side of his car.

"Flirting it up with a freshie." Zac wrinkled his nose, laughing. "Anyway, Vanessa just called and asked if we wanted to grab some coffee with them. You guys in?"

"Sure." Gabriel agreed with a nod, as Xander and I gave our silent affirmations too.

"Check it, guys." Drake's voice entered the conversation as the dark-haired boy stalked towards our direction with a triumphant grin on his face. In his raised fist was a piece of paper with scrawled numbers written upon it. "I got her number."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go." Gabriel rolled his eyes with an amused smirk before claiming shotgun and taking his seat. Xander opened the door for me, giving me a playful wink. "Ladies first."

Snorting, I gave a small twitch of my lips and shoved him into the seat. "My pleasure, miss." I slid into the spot beside him as he whacked the side of my head teasingly. Barely flinching, I pretended as if the movement was nothing and flicked him inbetween the eyes. Lately, I've been practicing not flinching or having a mental breakdown whenever someone made physical contact with me. It came in handy since the guys were a physical bunch. But even though, each touch feels like a burning sensation that no matter how much I stray away from the thoughts, it always seems to hit me like a bullet. Self-consciously, I pulled the sleeves down on my black sweater.

"Make way." Drake made a shooing motion in our direction. I pushed Xander over and scooted down to make room for Drake, realizing my mistake all too soon. Now I was sandwiched in the middle of four, obnoxious boys. "Turn up the radio." Drake added, reaching over my lap and pushing Gabriel to the side in order to reach the knobs in the front. Zac was already seated in the driver's seat as he swatted at Drake's hand.

"Yo, my car, my music." He declared, frowning at Drake through the rear-view mirror. Childishly, Drake pouted and and retracted himself, leaning against the window sullenly.

Zac pressed a button, and suddenly the car was alive with the sound of Arctic Monkeys. Turning down the volume a little, he smirked and said, "That's better." Turning on the ignition, Zac veered out of the parking lot and onto the road.