She's Just Echo

Tour passed rather quickly. I got my tattoo as promised the next day. I was basically a tramp stamp, being honest with you. It was on my back right above where my shorts stopped. This time, Andy held my hand.

Before I knew it Andy and I were on a plane back to our apartment in California. The same apartment we shared with Matt. Matt Good. Yeah. Days and the apartment were crazy because we really didn’t do anything other than stuff that we shouldn’t. Now, because she’s going to be mentioned soon, I feel I should tell you about my childhood. More specifically, my mother.

I was born a normal child in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jonah and Deborah Forests. They were both traveling business people, and even though they wanted children, they didn’t like the diapers, the crying, basically the first part of my life. So they hired nannies and babysitters for me. When I was five my parents went out and left me with a teenager. Her name was Sophia and she was the one that introduced me to Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, all of those old, but cool bands.

After I’d taken to wearing all black when I was seven my Mom finally figured out what was going on and fired her right away, saying that I didn’t need to be influenced by devil music. Little did she know that Sophia had changed my life for the better. As I got older I started listening to more rock. The Dropkick Murphy’s, Blink 182, bands like that.

She didn’t want anything to do with me then. In my teenage years she bought me a shit ton of makeup and clothing I didn’t ever want to wear, but sometimes I’d stick it out for her sanity’s sake. Dad didn’t give a shit if I was even breathing, let alone what I was wearing. As far as he was concerned I was a disgrace to the Forests and that I’d be better off dead.
And that’s what almost happened.

I was in my third year of high school and I sat on the dock sobbing to myself because my Dad had chased me out of the house, screaming bullshit at me. I was thinking of ways to end everything when Andy found me. He and I knew of each other, but he and I never really talked, despite being at the same school for as long as I could remember. He sat down next to me and we just talked. Well he talked. He talked me out of suicide and made me promise not to ever cut myself, which I never did and still haven’t done.

That was it basically. My parents were assholes but Chris and Amy made me go to their Christmas Eve party when we came home to visit. The party sucked every year. It was just a bunch of rich people who hung around and talked. It was basically a ‘Who’s Dick's Bigger’ contest but instead of genitals it was success.

That was my family for you.

Ashley and I were texting and calling each other since we parted ways and I started to realize he wasn’t half bad. He really wasn’t bad at all. On Halloween all of us got back together and we went to Halloween parties and everything. So here I am, morning of the Halloween party, middle of Party City, looking for a costume with Ashley. Great.

Leave it to Society to make even paratrooper costumes look sexy. And it wasn’t helping that everything Ash pulled off the rack and showed me was something that I would be showing a lot of. I might have also left out one part. Ash and I were trying to find matching costumes because we were going together. So I shouldn’t have brought Andy.

“I could be a Elvis and you could be a sexy Elvis?” Ash suggests. I shoot him a glare and he shrugged, putting the costume back on the rack.

“Oh my God. Ash, look.” I moved everything that was there out of the way and showed him the costume set that was still hanging up. I looked up at him, smiling and he grinned down at me.

“Let’s get it.”

Ash and I were in my room getting ready. I slipped into the bathroom to put my dress on, but then I had to come out because I couldn’t zip it up. The dress was kind of limiting, so he had to put my heels on for me. I fixed his tie one last time before he held his arm and for me and I stuck my through his.

Andy and Juliet were Batman and Batgirl (Obviously, Andy’s Batman every year). Jake was a Thunderbird and Ella was a 50’s girl.CC was Iron Man. Jinxx was Captain America and Sammi was the Black Widow. “Oh my God.” Juliet gasped when she saw Ashley and I making or way towards them. “You’re Morticia and Gomez Addams!” I smiled a little at them and Sammi launched off into this speech about how I should really give Ashley a chance and all of that stuff.

“I am giving him a chance. That’s why he’s my date.” I laughed.

“Alright, well let’s go.” Andy said.

I was starting to like Ash more than I really should. He was always sexy, I knew that, but somehow his attitude towards me had changed. Maybe he wasn’t who I thought he was. Maybe he was more than that. Maybe he was – that son of a bitch!

I stopped dead in my tracks, looking at the scene in front of me. Right in front of my eyes was Ashley Purdy with some sort of sexy Minnie Mouse sitting on his lap, her tongue down is throat. I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes but I ignored it, setting my beer down on an empty table and going to find Andy and Juliet.

The two of them were dancing together on the floor and were pretty easy to spot. I hurried over to them. “I’m going home.” I called over the noise.

“What? Why?” Juliet asked me.

“I’m just really tired.” Was my response. I called for a cab and sat down on the sidewalk to wait for it. That son of a bitch.

“Echo?” I turned around to see Iron Man coming towards me. I smiled weakly at him.

“Hey CC.”

“What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for my cab.”

“What did Ashley do?” He asked, sitting down next to me.

“He was kissing Minnie Mouse.” I looked at him and we both cracked up at the same time. “He left me for Minnie Mouse.”

“Ah, come on, knowing Ash this chick barely had any clothes on.”

“True.”

“And she was probably a blonde. Dyed of course.”

“Her roots were brown.”

“She probably had a pair of double D’s, fake ones, of course.”

“I couldn’t see, Ash had his hands all over them, but you’re probably right.”

“Even better. Here’s the difference, you respect yourself. She obviously doesn’t.”

I smiled at him, leaning over to rest my head on his shoulder. “Thanks, CC.”

“Anytime, Echo.” His arm went around my shoulders.

“Want to stay over tonight?” I asked him.

“I can do that.”

Once we were back to the apartment we ended up playing video games and watching movies. No matter what happened, CC could always make everything better. It was really early in the morning when everyone burst in, half of them drunk. The door slammed shut, Ash being the one to close it. I stood up and heading straight for my room, shutting the door behind me and crawling into bed. “Echo? Where the hell did you go tonight?” I stayed silent. “Babe, come on, what’s the matter?” Nothing. “I know you aren’t asleep and I’m not sure why you’re ignoring me, but let me know when you’re over it.”

I sighed heavily, pulling a pillow over my face. This is the reason why I don’t do relationships. This is the exact reason why I don’t do relationships. Oh my god.

The next morning CC burst into my room. He was very bright and cheerful this morning (It was actually two in the afternoon) because everyone but him and I had hangovers. We were defiantly taking advantage of that. “Good morning, Echo!” He practically yelled.

“Shut up!” Juliet groaned from Andy’s room and what looked like a shoe flew past his head and into my room. He jumped to the side, a little startled.

“No need to be violent, Ashley.” CC reprimanded Ashley, who I guess threw the shoe at him. I giggled and sat up, rubbing my eyes as I did. “What do you want to do today?” CC asks, coming into my room and shutting the door, sitting on the edge of my bed. I shrugged.

“I know one thing’s for sure, I need Starbucks.”

“I can make Starbucks happen.”

“Yeah. And I want to go to Hot Topic, too.”

“We can do that.”

“And I want to go to FYE to pick up the new One Direction CD.” CC looked at my cross-eyed and I giggled. “I’m kidding, they aren’t half bad though.”

“You’ll listen to anything with a beat. It doesn’t mean it’s good though.” I smiled at him, pushing his shoulder. “You want to go out tonight?” I looked at him. “Not like that, I mean like, out into the real world. To a club or a bar or something. Just you and me.”
“So you are asking me out.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything. I’d prefer if we didn’t label it because then Ashley will have my ass on a silver platter.”

“Well in that case I would love to do nothing with you.”

Notes

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