Vic's POV
We were at the mall, and some blonde girl ran up to Mallory and they squealed together. I stood there, feeling awkward. I looked the blonde girl up and down. She had red throughout her hair, she was about 5'9", the same height as Mallory, she was wearing a black tank top and a jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off, neon pink skinny jeans, pitch black Converse, and she had a sleeve on her right arm. Her nails were painted a dark purple, and she had a lip ring. Once Mallory and her had done freaking out, she introduced me.
"Vic, this is my best friend, Amber. Amber, this is Vic, my second best friend." She smiled, lightly putting her fingers on my arm. I tensed, shocked at the chill that ran up my spine. Amber smiled at me. Her hazel eyes lit up.
"Aww, I'm not your first bestie?" I playfully pouted, and Mallory giggled. I looked at her. The way her eyes lit up, how her nose crinkled a little...snap out of it, Vic. You're back with Cara, and she'll flip if she caught you looking at Mallory like that. She doesn't like you back, so stop wasting your time.
"Aren't you the lead singer for Pierce The Veil?" She asked, putting her arm around Mallory's shoulders.
"She's just playing. She knows damn well who you are." Mallory smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. We looked into each others' eyes for a few seconds, until Amber coughed.
"So, are you two, like, official?" She asked, curious. Mallory looked crestfallen.
"No, he's got a girlfriend." She said. Could I hear, hurt in her voice? I shook my head. She didn't like me like that.
"Yeah. They've been on and off, and I swear Vic, you need to break it off with her. She's just hurt you more than made you happy." Mallory said, and I saw a glimpse of hope flare up in her eyes. It stayed there until I shrugged. The hope was like a flame, it was bright for a minute and then burned right back out.
"Hey, let's not ruin the mood! Let's go get you some things for tomorrow night." Amber winked and they ran off, leaving me alone. Mallory skidded to a halt and turned back.
"Are you coming, or are you going to stand there like a lost puppy?" She smiled. I ran up to them and we walked into Tilly's.
*
We returned back to the bus with bags and bags filled with shoes, clothes, hats, all that jazz. Amber said she was going to get back to her car, go find a hotel.
"You should stay with us! If that's fine with Vic, of course." Mallory said, looking at me.
"It's fine with me. We don't have any more bunks, but--" I was cut off by Mallory.
"You could sleep on the couch with me!" She squealed. Mike appeared from behind the bus, a dirty smirk on his face. Mallory turned around and turned red.
"I, um, I...shit this is awkward." Mallory said, burying her face into her hands. We all cracked up.
"So, where is everyone?" I said, sitting on the couch.
"Tony and Jaime went somewhere, and I was at the bar. I'm a little scared, because I didn't drink more than a shot." Mike said, shivering. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, looking at the caller ID. Cara.
"I'll be back." I said, and went into the back. I slid the answer arrow over and put my phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Vic! Can I come up? I have to talk to you." She asked, her voice taking on a tone of urgency.
"Yeah, I have some free time left before the show." I said, and she hung up. I shrugged and went back to the couch and sat next to Mallory. Our arms touched and I shivered again. I shook my head. Everytime I brushed against her, a chill ran up my spine. This felt familiar in some way, and then it hit me:
I felt the same thing when I first met Cara.
I remember the first time I saw her. She had gotten meet and greet tickets to our show back in 2009, and I had just gotten over my last breakup. I kept telling myself I would stay away from the lies, the pain. And then I saw Cara. She was 2 years younger than me, so I invited her on the bus. We partied for a while, and then somehow, we had a makeout session in the back lounge. That had made us 'official' and I've broken up and gotten back together with her. She lied to me, she caused me pain, and I didn't want to go back down that road, but I had. She had cheated on me more than once, and I kept taking her back, giving her my forgiveness. I don't know why I kept taking her back. I really wanted to be with Mallory, but I knew deep down she didn't feel the same way. But in my heart, I had the teeniest bit of hope. I was snapped back to Amber chanting Mallory's name. Mike had joined in.
"Fiiiiiine, fine, fine. I'll do it." She said, blushing.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Sing Fame >Demise." She said, scrolling through her phone and she went over to the audio jack and plugged it in. The acoustic version of Fame >Demise started to play, and Mallory sang along to Tyler's voice. My heart started fluttering as she hit all the notes, and got all the lyrics right. Her eyes closed, and she let her voice escape her body and into our ears. The song ended, and I smiled. Everyone clapped, and I joined in by whistling.
"Mallory Marie Perry, you're amazing!" Amber said, hugging Mallory.
"Amberlin Rose Williams, you're even more amazing!" Mallory smiled.
"You're name is Amberlin?" I asked Amber. She turned to me, and smiled.
"Yeah. It was originally spelled A-m-b-e-r-l-y-n-n, but then I found the band Anberlin, with an N, and I liked how that was spelled, so I legally got my name changed to Amberlin, A-m-b-e-r-l-i-n. They sound pretty alike too." She said, smiling. I nodded. Anberlin, Amberlin. Nice.
