Page 2 of The Masks We Wear

We call Ivory, “Satan’s Baby.” We call her that because she may be one of Satan’s Angels, but she is also his right-hand. Don’t let her obsession with the color pink fool you, the girl’s heart is black and I love it! Satan’s Baby quickly became a stage name and now it’s her Instagram username. Everyone knows Ivory Aslan as Satan’s Baby.

“Are you listening to me? Hello? Brody!” Selene snaps, losing her patience.

I focus my attention back on her. “What?”

Selene grunts. “Did you not hear a word I said?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I heard you.”

She raises a brow, “And what do you have to say about it?”

I glance back at Ivory and then to my right at Aria, who’s watching to see what I’m going to say. She wears a baby blue leather jacket and a cropped white tank underneath. She wears matching leather pants and has her thick black sunglasses pushed onto the crown of her head, sweeping amber strands of hair away from her face. I notice that Aria has a few strands of baby blue poking out of her mid-length hair and I love the way it looks. Aria occasionally will throw the strands in to spice things up and she prefers to keep everyone on their toes. Her eyes are a similar shade to Ivory’s but a little lighter and more caramel colored.

Everyone knows Aria as R6. We called her R as a nickname and she demanded we add the six since there are six strings on her guitar. We obliged and the nickname got popular.

I turn back to Selene and shrug, “I plead the fifth.” I keep my tone serious and unconcerned, hoping it will lighten the mood. Aria and Ivory snort laughs and cough to cover them up.

Selene growls, “This is not funny, Moron! Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

I look around Selene’s office, taking in the colorless walls and furniture. She likes to keep things minimal, and I respect it, though if this were my office, there’d probably be a Satan’s Angels poster on the wall in big, angry red letters. Almost as red as Selene’s face is right now because I still haven’t given her a response.Shit, come up with something, Brody!“I can explain.” I give her the most generic sentence anyone could ever come up with. Aria chuckles and Ivory covers her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

Selene rights her posture, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her heeled foot on the floor. “Please, I’d love to hear what you have to say.” She says sarcastically.

I uncross my arms and place my hands neatly on my black, ripped jean clad thighs, feigning innocence. The cropped wife-beater style top I have on definitely isn’t making me look innocent. Nor are the layered chain necklaces around my neck and all eight of my mini hoop earrings. I quickly push a strand of my sunshine-colored hair behind my shoulder, the black strands catching my eye for a split second. I’m a natural blond, but I dyed a bunch of strands black and often put chains in my hair to decorate it. “The aggravated assault accusation is crazy! That fan was rabid and kept touching Ivory while she was on stage. She told him to stop and he didn’t listen. Therefore, he deserved to get smacked across the face with her guitar and he deserved it when she leapt off the stage and beat his ass, and when we jumped off the stage to help.

“It totally isn’t my fault that Aria dared me to streak in the hotel. She dared me and I don’t turn down dares. Therefore, we are both innocent. Also, it’s totally not my fault that that old lady was offended by my nudity. Old people are supposed to be asleep at that time anyway. So, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s hers! I look hot naked! Calling that public indecency is just bullshit.” I continue. Selene does not look pleased with my explanation.

I sit up straighter in my seat, hoping the good posture makes me look confident as I add, “We can’t control what we do when we drink! Totally not our fault the hotel rooms were trashed and that the hotels are suing us. Calling that property damage is extreme.” I defend.

Selene nods, “Right, so was it property damage when you stopped your car in the middle of oncoming traffic to destroy a paparazzi’s car with a crowbar? Just want to be sure because he’s suing you for destroying his property. A shattered windshield, shattered windows, and ripped off, side view mirrors. Oh! And slashed tires, how could I forget?” She continues in her sarcastic tone.

Ivory comes to my defense, “That pap was harassing her! He was getting in her face and was following her home.”

Selene looks at me, “And why exactly do you have a crowbar in your car?”

I shrug, “I plead the fifth.”

Aria snorts and I fight the smile from forming on my lips. “I consider that to be self-defense. That man harassed me. You know what? Sue him. If he wants to sue me for ‘destruction of property,’ I’ll sue his ass right back for harassment.”

Selene gives me an irritated look, “You think any court is going to listen to you after what you did to his car? You would’ve beaten him with the crowbar if the cops hadn’t arrested you! And you owe me for that bail, by the way.” She adds that last part in solely for the principal because we pay Selene an insane amount of money to manage us. That’s why she’s put up with us for so long. “Oh, and while we’re on the topic of destruction, anything to say about your vandalism? Hm?”

Aria speaks up this time, stretching her long legs in the process. Selene’s chairs are uncomfortable as hell. “We didn’t put those condoms all over that guy’s car and we certainly didn’t spray paint it and put raw hot dogs on it.”

Selene takes a deep breath before speaking, “Are youidiotsforgetting that you spray paintedSatan’s Angelson the car? And that you took aselfiewith the car after you vandalized it and posted it on social media?”

Okay, she may have gotten us there. “Again, totally not our fault. We were drunk.” I defend, holding my hands up in surrender.

“Oh, so let me guess, you were also drunk and not at fault when you committed indecent exposure?” Selene asks, again with the sarcastic tone.

Ivory gives her a confused look, “Remind me exactly what we’re being accused of.”

Aria answers for Selene, incriminating us without even realizing it, “She’s talking about that hotel we were at on tour. The one with the glass elevator and all those old people in the lobby. Remember we put our ass cheeks against the glass to fuck with them?”

Ivory remembers, laughing, “Oh yeah! That was dope!”

Selene fakes a laugh, “Yes, so dope guys. It was also dope when you were disturbing the peace with loud noises, screaming, fighting, and unruly behavior.”

I speak up, “See? Totally not on us. All of those were misunderstandings.”

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