Leaving Bones Exposed

3.

I went to lunch, hoping that nothing would happen to happen to me.

Boy, was I wrong.

I went straight to the cafeteria with my lunch. As I tried to sit down, someone pulled my chair out from under me, causing me to fall on my ass. They all laughed, too. "HA HA, very funny, Chris." I said sarcastically, pulling myself up off of the floor. Chris and his friends stopped laughing and and stood up.

"Piss off, Chris. I'm not in the fucking mood today." I snapped. "And what right do you have to tell me to 'piss off', Caryn? You're weak. Kill yourself already." he snapped back at me.

"And what right do you have to tell my baby sister to kill herself and bully her, Ingle?" my brother pitched in. "Carlile," Christofer whispered under his breath.

Did I mention my brother was Austin Carlile? Yes, THE Austin Carlile. I'm glad he was here, but I thought he was on tour with his band? "Austin!" I called out, ran up to him and hugged him. He smiled and hugged me back. "Hey, it's nice to see you too, Caryn" he said. "I thought you were on tour?"

"There's a show in Anaheim tonight, thought I'd come down here and ask if you wanted to come?"

"Of course I do!"

Just then, Chris came over and pulled me out of my brother's embrace, and punched me in the face. "Hey!" Austin shouted. "You do NOT punch my baby sister in the face. You do not lay a fucking hand on her. Do you understand me?"

"And why the fuck should I listen to you?"

"I'll kick your ass, kid. Stay the fuck away from her."

Austin bent down and tried comforting me. A tear ran down my cheek and he wiped his thumb over it and kissed my forehead; following by Chris punching him square in the face. "Chris! What the hell?!" I shouted out while shoving myself towards my unconscious brother.

"Austin, please, please, PLEASE wake up!" I lightly shouted to my older brother. He woke up and sat up, rubbing his head. "What happened?" he asked. I smiled and hugged my brother. "Austin," I said. "You're okay!" he hugged me back and chuckled a bit. "Caryn, whatever do you mean?" he asked. I pouted a little. "You don't remember?" I asked. I was disappointed that he didn't remember, but I was also glad he didn't at the same time.

"No, what happened?" he asked with curiosity. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're okay," I said. "Do you think you can do the show tonight?" Austin smiled and stood up, then helped me up shortly after. "Of course, Carebear," he said. "I'm fine. Thanks for the concern. I'll see you at our house after school, okay?" I nodded as he gave me a hug and kissed my temple. He waved 'goodbye' and I felt myself dying inside. I hated him leaving me. I really did. But at least Ryan was taking care of me while he was on tour, right?

--

I should probably let you know who Ryan is. Ryan as in Ryan Sheckler -- the famous skateboarder. Sweet, right? No. Ryan's an awesome guy, but I don't like hanging out with him because of his fame. He was my brother's friend, and he trusted Ryan to take great care of me, and that's exactly what Ryan did. At first, I wasn't too keen on living with Ryan by myself for god knows how long, but I came around eventually. I realized it would've been better than living alone or with my dad until Austin got home; plus, Ryan was always nice to me, and we got along well. I decided that living with Ryan until Austin got back from tour was the best choice and I couldn't have picked a better choice.

But I constantly wished Austin wouldn't leave. I missed him way too much. He always knew what to say, and he always knew how to make me smile. He was practically the older and taller version of Vic and Mike.

--

I guessed that Austin figured I was sad and scared, because I got a text from him shortly after he left.

Austieee: I checked you out of school for the rest of the day. Come outside, sweetheart. ❤

I smiled at the thought that he practically knew I was sad and wanted to spend time with him. I quickly replied, 'Be right there, Austieee. Thank you so much for pulling me out for the rest of the day.', grabbed my things and tried to leave, but was stopped by some dumb jock.

--

But it wasn't just any dumb jock -- it was Alex Gaskarth. My eyes widened and I looked down; he didn't need to see me. That wouldn't be fair to him. I'm horrifying to look at. He lifted my head up and smiled, letting me know that I had nothing to be afraid of. I nodded at him and shot him back a small smile. "Caryn, right?" he asked. I nodded. He took this opportunity to apologize for Chris. "I'm sorry about Chris," he said. "He's such a dick. I don't even know why we all hang out with him, we fucking hate him; but could you tell your brother that I'm sorry for Chris' behavior? I'm usually taking responsibility for his actions anyway."

I shouldn't have done this, but I did; I fucking hugged him. I HUGGED HIM. IN SCHOOL. Oh God, he's going to hate me. Everyone is going to notice and they're going to make fun of him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I just ruined his reputation.

Unexpectedly, he hugged me back. Moments later, he pulled away, breaking the embrace. "And... I see what happens to you in media all the time. I'm sorry for the way everyone treats you. It's not right, and I know I'm not helping by being a bystander, but I just freeze. I don't know what to do." he said. "It's okay, Alex. And of course I'll let Austin know. Thank you for apologizing, showing that you actually give a shit about the shit that happens to me," I said. "I-I gotta go, Alex. I'll see you in class tomorrow." I said, walking off, nervous as fuck. "Caryn, wait," Alex said, grabbing my attention. I turned around and looked at him with confusion. "You're going to the show tonight, right?" he asked. I smiled. "Of course," I replied. "I go to all of my brother's local shows. Are you going?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, will I see you there?" he asked. "Mhm," I said. "Go to the right side of the stage on the floor and I'll meet you there, if that's what you were wondering." He looked up at me and smiled. "Great, see you at the right side of the stage tonight." he said, walking away. But before he did, he kissed my cheek. I felt my face burning up as I bit my lip and smiled. Did Alex Gaskarth just ask me out?

Whatever it was, I was still taking him backstage. I never watched Austin's sets from the floor, I was never comfortable with all those people around me. Sometimes I felt like I was missing out when I was backstage, but I loved being back there. It was awesome sitting there with the bands he was touring with and getting to know them. Especially Bring Me -- Oli, Matt K., Matt N., Jordan and Lee were such awesome guys. I couldn't wait to hang with them tonight!

--

I finally got outside to see Austin worried, which made me frown. "What took you so long? Did something happen?" he asked, bombarding me with questions. "Austin, I'm fine. I just had an encounter with Alex Gaskarth, that's all." I said, smiling as I climbed into the passenger's seat. Austin walked over to me and knelt down, raising an eyebrow. "Gaskarth? You mean the quarterback of the football team and the guy you've had an insane crush on for years?" he interrogated. I looked at him with my, 'how the fuck did you know that?' expression. "Vic told me." he said.

I laughed. "I'll kill that asshole." I said. "Why would you kill me? Now that's just rude!" I heard someone playfully say as he walked up to us. I chuckled as I saw a short Mexican walking towards Austin and I. "Because you told him about my crush on Alex, asshole." I said with a playful tone. Austin laughed and stood up, "You coming, Fuentes?" he asked. Vic nodded and hopped into the backseat of Austin's car. "So Caryyyyyn," Vic said. "I heard you've got a date with Alex tonight." I turned and looked at Vic, holding my finger to my lips, which shut him right up. Unfortunately, Austin heard. "I thought you were coming to the show tonight?" he asked. "Thanks, Vic" I muttered to myself.

"I am, Austie," I reassured him. "My date with Alex is sort of... at the show."