Page 40 of Paint the Town, Dove
“Shut up, Spindly.” Dean shook hishead, blonde hair falling over his eyes.
Scarlett glared at Derek, who glared right back. They never got along, those two. Said he wasn’t a good influence on me, and Derek said the same.
“She’s controlling, man.” Derek.
“He’s a total junkie, Ry. An enabler.”Scarlett.
Hate to accept it, but sometimes two people just don’t vibe. I got the message loud and clear a couple years back at the Rio festival.
We all had a camper vans set up by the stage, headlining with our first big album. It was kind of mess, but it was a Jaw & Lion mess and it worked out. But Derek fumbled our last set, took a bunch of pills and destroyed the first van he saw.
It was Scarlett’s.
Puked all over her clothes, makeup, tore apart sheet music and files. He was on one, but the night before he got dumped by his long-time girlfriend Karina.
I knew what it was like to deal with heartbreak. It didn’t excuse his behaviour, but when she found out Derek had stepped on the guitar pick I’d gotten her when we were kids, broke it clean in half, she never forgave him.
I told her I could have another one made, something out of metal maybe or brass but Scarlett was sentimental about objects.
Probably because she didn’t have much growing up.
Listen, it was a fuckup, I got that. But Derek’s had my six since we formed the band, and Scarlett’s been my foreverforforever.
They had to get along. For my sake.Call me selfish.
As someone who lived a life of constant change, I needed one thing to be stable – to keep me sane.
My band. My people.
My purpose.
“Look, Ryden’s been drunk before,” Derek said, “but Scarlett…” he glanced at her, “that was new.”
Everyone in the room knew what he was talking about. If I wasn’t so fucked out of my head, I would’ve addressed it first.
I don’t remember how I got to Scarlett, just that I did. I think I was on a beanbag? Someone was on top of me? Could’ve just been the weight of my fucking heart cracking a bunch because of Yasmine’s arrowed comment.
There was commotion, of the sort, somewhere, I heard it. Even before I heard Scarlett’s voice, I could sense something was wrong. Like, she hadn’t found me yet – when was she going to? Unless… unless she was occupied.
And that’s when the yelling started, people running into a general direction with their phones out hurling insults and cheers.
“Yasmine Ryvetts and Scarlett Blake are beefing!”
I shoved a bunch of people, correcting her name as I went along, “Emory-Blake, Emory-Blake,”until I found her.
Them.
Scar and Yas.
Yas and Scar.
What a fucking sentence.
“Yeah, what happened there?” Dean asked. “I didn’t see it goin’ down but, I’m sure the paps did.”
She shrugged, examining her nails. “What of it?”
“You embarrassed her,” Derek said.
