My Little Decoy

♪ No One Is As Lucky As Us ♪ {36}

Chasing Avenues became more than my friends, they were my family and my home. We grew closer than I imagined; I learned things about them that I didn't know. Like, how Drake, despite his rich background, volunteered his free time to helping out in soup kitchens for the less fortunate. He joined the band because he wanted to be different, to change his destiny about living up to the task of being heir to his mother's law firm.

Or, how Zac could only journey back to the Philippines to meet his relatives every two years because of the expenses. He joined Chasing Avenues as an escape from bullying in middle school because he couldn't speak fluent English. Drake and Gabriel were the only people who didn't care and taught him his second language.

Gabriel was ever the mystery; after his admittance about the death of his mother, we had this unspoken rule of trust. I couldn't find out much about him directly, though to say I was shocked when Drake told me he had a past with Carter was an understatement. I didn't push the issue about it, but I soon began to notice the subtle shifts in mood when the topic of Within These Cages came up, or the tension when we pass by Carter and her band during stage set-ups. Gabriel told us that he formed that band as a way to cope. Music was his escape, like mine was, and he wanted to make the best of it.

Xander was a whole other story. He, like Gabriel, was very secretive about his past. Though he loved talking about his family and his background - like the days when he used to be an Abercrombie wearing jock - I never once heard about his sister, whose image of her bedroom door still wracked my curiosity.

More so, I was just like the two of them in a way. I finally confided about how my mother passed away, and how guilt-ridden I felt -as if her suicide was my fault entirely. It seemed to bring them all a little bit of ease, finally uncovering a part of me that they had been trying to figure out since the first meeting.

But I couldn't find myself to telling them about Marco. Not yet.

"Lacey?" Xander's voice came from behind me. I turned around to face him, a little tired from the latest tour stop in San Francisco which had ended a little more than two hours ago. We were on our way to the last stop of the round: Los Angeles.

He was equally as tired, though he still seemed to have some energy left over. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat beside me. I nodded, setting my head back upon the glass.

"California is so pretty." he mused, crossing his arms on the windowsill and leaning his head on them.

"Definitely." I agreed, casting him a look. "Why aren't you asleep yet? It's past two in the morning."

"Same as you," Xander yawned, defeating the purpose of my accusation. "I can't sleep."

Shaking my head at his contradictions, I watched the tour bus take a turn off the highway, heading towards another street. It was following the other four buses ahead of us, while five others trailed behind. During the round, ten bands were eliminated and the remaining were ordered according to their rank. We were in fifth.

"One last stop and we're in round four," I noted with a half-smile. "Who would've thought?"

"That's the round where we all get pinned against each other right? Like a duel?"

"This isn't Dungeons and Dragons, you moron." I scoffed.

Xander stuck his tongue out at me, reclining back into his position at the window. "I wonder who we'll be up against first."

I thought about that too - quite a lot actually. Staring at the buses in front of us, I saw Within These Cages' tour bus in the third slot, the same as their ranking in the competition. Eventually we'd have to go against them, wouldn't we? If we still made it in the competition.