The Mortician's Daughter

“Hey!” Sabrina ran to catch up with me in the hall. I quickly stuffed my phone in my pocket; God forbid she find out I was texting the love of her life Ashley Purdy. Ash and I quickly became best friends; he was one of the most hilarious, albeit perverted, people on the planet, and he was constantly making me laugh. “I haven't seen you at all lately,” she said on a pant. “Where have you been?”

“Around,” I mumbled. “I've just, you know, been spending time with some of my friends that don't...live in this area lately.”

“Oh,” was all she said, dejectedly, and that was the end of that. I felt bad, I really did. But Andy had made it pretty clear that Sabrina was not allowed around any of BVB—I know he thought she was just a fame whore—therefore I couldn't tell her I was more or less friends with them now.

“Hey, I have to go talk to Peter in The Office. I'll catch up with you later.”

I walked into The Office of The Lion's Den. It was my free period. Coincidentally, it was also Peter's free period, so normally we spent it together in here. No one besides Peter was in here at the moment, so I walked over and sat on his desk, careful not to sit on anything or knock anything over.

“Hey,” I said.

He smiled at me, then spun around once in his spinny chair. I raised my eyebrows.

“What's up?” he asked.

“You tell me,” I said. “Any good stories?”

“Actually...”

“Actually what?” I asked. He had that look on his face, that evil smirkish look...

He leaned closer to me. “I was shocked at how well your feature went over. No offense,” he added when he saw the look on my face. He picked up a copy of the latest school newspaper.

I shrugged. “What can I say? I know what the student body wants to hear.”

“Hmmm.” Peter just sat quietly for a moment before he threw the paper on the desk right in front of him so that Andy's face was looking up at both of us. Oh my gosh, he knows! I panicked in my head. Then I backtracked. Chill. There's nothing for him to know. He wouldn't have a problem with you being friends with Andy. Or even you slightly liking Andy, because that will go away because you still love Peter...

When he continued to not say anything, though, I continued to mentally freak even more.

“You can move from the advice column to features full time, if you want,” he said with a big smile, and I let out my breath when I realized telling me this was why he was being so secretive.

I smiled back feebly. “I'll think about it.”

“I've missed you,” he whispered suddenly, leaning close to me. “Where have you been?”

“Around,” I said, fishing in my mind for some legitimate excuse. I couldn't lie and say busy, because Peter knew me better than anyone, and he knew I had virtually no life outside of him and school. Until now anyway... “I've missed you, too.” Normally it was Peter who never had time for me, not the other way around.

“Where have you been?” he repeated softly.

“LA,” I said absentmindedly. I caught myself; in his mind that was sin city. “I mean, what I mean is, my dad has been sending me to LA every weekend—well, not every weekend, but quite a bit—to do, ya know, mortician-y stuff. You know?”

“No,” Peter said. “I don't know.” His eyes were rapidly growing darker.

“I'm here now,” I whispered, ducking my head and looking up at him through my lashes. He said nothing. I sighed. “Fine! Okay! I'm sorry! It's not my fault though!” I didn't dare say that it actually was of my own accord that I was partying in LA every weekend; I had never partied before and living the rockstar life style with rockstars but without actually being one was so fantastic to me. I would not lose Peter over something so petty; he would freak if he knew.

I stood up and walked around the desk. “I'm free every week night. You know that.”

Peter spun the spinny chair around once. When he stopped he sighed. “But I'm not.”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “That's the problem with us,” I mumbled.

“What?” Peter said. I knew he'd heard me.

I sighed. “Nothing.” I ruffled his hair a little. “I gotta go.” My phone buzzed in my pocket as soon as I said that, throwing me off a little. “Uh, meet some friends.” He had to have seen me hanging out constantly with Kelly ever since that first party. “Let's make plans this week, okay? Love ya.”

Before he could say a word I skedaddled out of The Den. As soon as I was in the hallway I pulled out my phone.

New Text Message
From: Andy 6

Hey we're getting together this weekend as a going away thing before our tour. It's not a blowout I swear.

I snorted.

Ur welcome to come.

Andy

Right as I finished reading it, someone said, “Ayyy girl,” from behind me. I turned around and smiled at Kelly Anne. Just who I was about to look for.

“Hey.” I showed her my phone. “You gonna be there?”

“Of course!” she said. “Come on, before I get caught!” As always she was skipping class. We ducked into the bathroom.

“Should've known you'd be with Sandra every waking minute.” The night of my first party with rockstars, ostensibly Kelly and Sandra had hooked up. From what I'd heard through the grapevine (Andy) that was not the first time. It was, however, the first time that made them decide they couldn't live without each other and were going to go official. I was really happy for them.

“Oh, what, like you and Andy,” she joked back.

“Ha. Ha,” I said dryly.

“Seriously though, Rae. He's got the hots for you. Why do you think he always wants to talk to you?”

I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks. Although I hadn't seen him in person since that first party where I met Scout, it was true that we were constantly texting or talking, getting to know each other like any good friends would. “Because he's one of my best friends,” I said in a duh tone. “Besides, he loves Scout,” I changed to defensive, “and I'm with Peter. There's no way Andy Biersack likes me.” (I was so over calling him Andy Six, unlike the rest of the world. Because to me, he wasn't just the unattainable figure Andy Six anymore. He was my friend Andrew Biersack.)

She ignored the last part, instead picking up on something else. “You said with Peter. Not that you love Peter. I knew it! You like Andy!”

Andy was the most gorgeous, hypnotizing, amazing, outgoing person I'd ever met. He was hilarious, mature beyond his years yet childish when he wanted to be, sweet, perfect. But he wasn't for me. Yeah, he was my type, but no matter what I felt about him, it didn't matter. I wouldn't lose our amazing blossoming friendship over that. And I wouldn't lose my long-term relationship with Peter (I was not about letting go of commitments) over a guy who also had attachments to another girl. I would have to step up my game, talk to him less, play hard to get, if everyone thought that by being good friends with him I liked him and wanted him.

“I like Andy as a friend,” I said. “I love Peter. Okay?”

“Okay, that doesn't mean you can't have feelings for Andy too...”

“I don't, okay?” I turned on a faucet and splashed her.

“Sure. Sucks for Andy then. You know he asks about you all the time?”

“Really?” That came out way too over-eager.

“Mmhmm.” A satisfied smirk appeared on her pierced face as she pulled out a cigarette.

I punched her shoulder as she stuck the cig in her mouth. “Liar. I've witnessed him making googly eyes at Scout. He's like putty in her hands. He doesn't even look at any other girl.”

“Andy and Scout is...complicated. They breakup, get back together, she allegedly cheats, they breakup again, he finds someone else which makes Scout jealous, they breakup because he and Scout start 'talking' again...it's a big mess. Yeah, they love each other, but when they hit one rough patch they decide to call it quits, only to get back together the next month. I love Scout to death, and they're amazing together, but they're no good for each other; they're bad for each other's health. Kind of like you and Peter,” she hinted, saying that we were great together but we were no good for each other. “He needs to realize this time it's time to move on for good. Maybe you can help him.” Kelly Anne winked at me.

“Yeah, right. Why me though? I can't compare to her.”

“Raven, you're beautiful. No homo.”Guess she had to add that since she really was homo and was afraid I'd take it the wrong way. “Actually, you kind of remind me of her. Not in looks in any way, but as far as personality, you're both tomboys, you love macabre and goth stuff... Maybe that's what Andy sees. Plus, you both have the whole mortician's daughter thing. Andy's a sucker for mortician's daughters.

I thought about that for a second. For the first time in my life I wanted my dad to have a normal job, because I didn't want to be anything like Scout Taylor-Compton. And I really wasn't in actuality. Because I knew I had the main difference that mattered: if I ever had Andrew Biersack's heart so totally and completely like she did, I would never, ever break it. Aside from his lifestyle, Andy was basically perfect. What more could she want? Why would she ever cheat on him (if that was true)? But what was it that she did or had that made him so in love?

“You're wrong,” I finally said out loud to Kelly. “I'm not like her. I'm no heartbreaker.”