My Little Decoy

♪ Prologue ♪

Hi again, stranger.

Let me tell you something about freedom. It's one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. I feel as if I'm a butterfly hatching out of its cocoon or- or a beautiful dove escaping its golden cage and flying into the Great Perhaps. I feel alive. And it's more than I had ever hoped for. But that's beside the point. There was a reason why I recorded this tape and why you're getting this. Something that's been nagging at the back of my mind since I left home.

Let me tell you a story about a girl who thought she could take on the world. Her heart, along with other internal organs and physical body parts, haha, were beaten and bruised to the extent where she thought, "Why bother to survive when I'm already dead?" Her only escape was music, but music came with a risk. A deadly cost. It made her realize that there were more things in life than her selfish needs. Music taught her how to fight. How to live. How to love.

Sound familiar by any chance?

"It seems so frightening.
Time passes by like lightning.
Before you know you're struck down."

Do you recognize that quote? Hell, I hope so. Freakin' Green Day, man. But if even you didn't, did you feel that? That shudder of honesty when you realized just how the words seem to blend exactly into the contrasts of your life? That's basically what happened to me.

Over these past few months on tour in London, I've grown, and I've matured. Two very different things. Yet, not really. If you see me now, you'd probably think, "Is that really you, Lace?" And I wouldn't be fazed by your surprise. And hey, my life still isn't perfect, nor do I expect it to be. But something has changed. Something significant, and you along with the guys, were the ones who changed my life specifically. And in a good way, mind you. Times are changing. I just hope this time, it's for the better.

And you were- and still are, the most important person to have ever existed in my mind. I was wrong to have played with your heart, and I was wrong to have messed with the guys that are now my closest friends. I'm sorry. Words can't even express how sorry I am. But if you're listening to this... You were never a decoy to me.

And thank you.

PS: Keep the bench warm for me, Harnage.

--

The sound of static fill my ears as my voice on the cassette trails off, leaving me sitting in front of the stereo with my ripped jeans and black camisole as the sound of raspy, scratching noises fill the silence. The sound of cicadas chirping outside my hotel window releases a calming sensation over me as I relish the sound of peace. I sit there for a while, ignoring the stereo's desperate pleas to turn the tape over.

I slowly reach forward, retracting the tape from its compartment. Snatching a Sharpie off the counter, I quickly scrawl illegible letters onto the top and stand up, feeling the creak in my back as I stretched. With my words etched onto something permanent, it wasn't something I could erase. But I had made my decision. In the morning I would send it to a familiar, run-down apartment with no regrets.

Without another word, I clutch the tape in one hand and walk over to the dresser, setting it gently on the top, right beside my drum sticks, and a picture of me and the guys. I read the words scribbled onto the black surface.

My Little Decoy

A small, reminiscing smile leaves my lips.

---

Hey guys, so I uploaded a new story. This is based off a song called Decoy, written by Paramore.

This prologue is dedicated to cuppereya because she's an awesome friend. c;

Stay lovely,
Isabelle