Chapter Nineteen

Indie

 

 

The more space I put between Eric Drinkswine and myself, the better. I didn’t know what that asshole’s problem was, but I didn’t want to be around him or his problem. My time would be better spent doing what I do best. Taking pictures.

But damn Eric for interrupting what I thought for sure would’ve been Cross’ and my first kiss. Asshole.

Eric wasn’t just that annoying asshole who treated girls like they were disposable. Something about him made me uneasy… unsafe. I’d never felt anything like it before and was going to do my best to avoid being alone with him or even be in a group with him. Just be with him in any way.

Instead, I stopped in at my bus, grabbed my camera, and headed out to discover a new city.

“Where are you running off to?” Eric said as he slid in front of me as soon as I stepped back off the bus. I had to stop short to keep from slamming into him.

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” He stepped closer so I had to look up to see him.

The guy was huge. Bigger than the rest of the band members. And he knew how to use his size to intimidate.

“Well, I’m going to go then.”

He didn’t let me get one step away before he grabbed my arm. “Hang on,” he said as he squeezed harder.

That was going to bruise.

“Let go of me.” I glared at him and hoped he wouldn’t hear the erratic way my heart thumped against my chest.

“Why were you taking pictures of my bus this morning?”

“I wasn’t.” I pulled against his crushing grip. Shit. I couldn’t get loose.

He raised an eyebrow and closed his fist around my arm even more. “I saw you.”

I frantically searched the area to see if anyone else was around to help if I needed it or even witness what was happening. Unfortunately, there was no one. We were alone. No one could come to my rescue.

“What you saw was me testing my camera,” I said through clenched teeth. Then I gave my arm as hard a pull as I could, putting my body weight behind it. He was caught off-guard and my arms slipped through his fingers. “As I’ve said before, I have no interest in taking pictures of you or talking to you or being near you. Just leave me alone.”

“I find most of that hard to believe.”

“You would.”

Eric smirked at me, then snatched my camera, jerking me forward with it because the strap was around my neck. I pushed against him to get away but couldn’t catch my footing. He was bigger, stronger, and meaner.

“Let me go!” I struggled against him, then dropped my weight toward the ground to slip out from underneath the strap. I was free. “Give me back my camera.”

“In a minute.” Eric pushed farther into my space. I stumbled away from him until my back hit the bus. “I’m telling you for the last time, mind your own fucking business and make sure every last picture you have of me is gone. If you don’t… ” He didn’t finish his sentence but tipped his hand so that my camera slid off and shattered to the ground.

Then he just walked away.

I stood there with my hand pressed against my chest, my hands vibrating with the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Anger, fear, and revenge trembled through me. Wanting to punch Eric in the throat wasn’t going to do me much good if I kept standing there out in the open. I’d have to get a ladder just to reach his throat anyway.

So I pulled myself together and picked up the main pieces of my camera and took it back onto the bus. At the same time, my phone started ringing. But I was trying to hold back tears and didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. Tears of anger and of sadness threatened to fall. How dare he break my camera? My dad would probably just replace it, but that wasn’t the point. Then again when my dad found out about this, I really wouldn’t have wanted to be Eric Drinkswine, but that asshole deserved anything he got.

My phone rang again.

“Ugh, what?” I answered without looking at the ID.

“Wow. Life on the road tougher than I thought?” Bellamy’s voice rang out in my ear.

“Sorry,” I said as I paced off my anger.

“Maybe you should take a break and come stay with me.”

“I haven’t even been gone very long.”

“Does it matter?” Silence was the answer to that offer. “Well, what or who has your panties tied in knots?”

“Just one of the idiots in Courting Chaos.”

“Oh, which one? Let me grab some popcorn.”

I laughed at my best friend, one of the few people who could make me laugh when I was utterly pissed off. It actually made me feel better almost immediately. Still angry but not so agitated.

“So what’s up?” I asked to get them away from the topic of Eric Drinkswine.

“I was just calling with a Maggie update. Turns out her mom has to send her a bunch of documents, but then she should get to come home.”

“But she doesn’t want to, right?”

Bellamy was quiet for a minute, then said, “I don’t think she wants to leave certain things behind. But she wants to see her grandma.”

“You mean certain people.” We giggled like we were back in the dorm. “I really want to meet this hot Irishman who’s so quickly caught our girl’s heart.”

“Same.”

We only chatted a couple of extra minutes, then she had to go to work. It was hard staying up with your friends when you were on tour. Especially with time changes and crazy schedules.

Now I needed to go find my dad and tell him I needed a new camera.