My New Obsession [BxB]

Chapter Seventeen [Part Two] - Every Hour On The Hour They Drew Blood

 “You hungry, pal? I think I am too. C’mon then.”

 He followed me down the stairs and I put some food into his bowl and refilled the water one too. I browsed through the cupboards and saw that we had absolutely nothing to eat. I could hear raised voices in the living room and really, really didn’t want to go in there…

 Shopping. Sounds fun.

 I snuck past the living room door and down the hall, grabbing my skateboard and was just about to open the front door when I heard a light knock. I paused and opened it.

 “Oh. It’s you.”

 “Hello, James. Nice to see you too. Is Matt in?” Maisy asked. I looked back into the hallway to check no-one was there before stepping through the door, shutting it behind me and sighing as I did so.

 “Now’s not a good time, Maisy. Maybe you should go home.”

 “Please, James, just… please. Listen to me.” she said. I shook my head and turned to walk away. “Does he miss me?”

 I paused and turned round to face her.

 “No.” I spat coldly. Her face fell. I sighed again. “Of course he fucking misses you. He’s been a manic depressive ever since you broke up with him, I hope you realise that.”

 “I thought it would help.” she whispered.

 “Yeah, well, it didn’t. And now he’s all messed up.” I said. I saw her lip tremble and rolled my eyes- I didn’t want to make her cry.

 “Can’t I just-”

 “Maisy, I meant what I said. Now is really not a good time. Could you come back tomorrow? Before eleven, if possible, we’ve got an interview.” I told her.

 “Sure.” she said. She wiped her eyes. The voices from indoors got louder and I think she believed me now. “I’ve been following the band’s progress, by the way. You’re doing amazingly. Everyone at school is talking about you guys.”

 “Thanks. Anyways, I have to get out of this house for a while. Can I… skateboard you anywhere?”

 She smiled weakly. “No, thanks, I’m good. See you tomorrow.”

 I watched her walk away before opening the front door again and whistling. Scamp came running with his lead in his mouth.

 I half skated, half let Scamp pull me down the street whilst I held onto his lead, and soon we were right in the centre of town. We skated/ran down the aisles of the large supermarket and I got various bits of food and a couple of pots of coffee. We went down the alcohol aisles and I got rather a lot- I had to stock up for the tour. We skated/ran around some more before heading over to the tills.

 “Hey! Excuse me, sir! No skateboards in this shop, please! Or dogs!” said a shop attendant as he came running over.

 “Oh, leave him alone, Charlie,” said the girl behind the till. “he’s nearly famous.”

 I raised my eyebrows at her. “I’m sorry?”

 “You are James King, right? I’ve been to your gigs. And your band has been in the local newspaper a lot. I’m a big fan. I’m coming to see you on your tour, actually.”

 “Yes, well, I’m not nearly famous.” I said, sticking my tongue out at her. I started packing the shopping into a rucksack I had grabbed before I left the house. “Oh, and three packs of Marlboro Reds, please.”

 She grabbed the cigarettes and allowed me to buy the alcohol willingly though I could see the Charlie guy frowning at her. She smiled as she scanned everything through the till and as she told me the cost I grabbed my wallet and realised I was about a fiver short.

 “I’ll cover the cost. You can pay me back by giving a shout out at your gig. Deal?” she chuckled. I smiled.

 “Say… Kristen,” I said as I read her nametag. “why don’t you come and hang out with me and the band after the gig?”

 “Can my friend come too?”

 “Sure.”

 “Awesome. I love you.”

 “Love you too. Have a nice day.”

 I skated out of the shop with Scamp running just behind me. I was surprised. Not even famous yet and I was being treated like royalty in the local supermarket. What the hell is up with that?

 Scamp was out of breath by the time we got home but I couldn’t hear raised voices so I decided that everyone was asleep, out, or calm. Or drunk. Or high. Whatever. I opened the front door and was greeted by Rich in the hallway. He was just about to walk back into the living room with a bottle of beer. I let Scamp go and followed Rich into the living room. No-one was talking. The TV was off and no music was playing. Everyone had been crying. Everyone.

 “Party atmosphere in here, then…” I said.

 “Shut up, James.” they all muttered. I rolled my eyes.

 “I’m going to bed.” George sighed, and he stood up. He held his hand out to me and I took it. We started to leave the room.

 “You better not be-”

 “We’re not going to fuck in your bed, Jake, we’re just commandeering it.” George called to Jake.

 I followed him up the stairs. I knew we weren’t going to have sex- unfortunately. We were going to talk everything through.

 And it was going to be a long night.