My phone rings, so I look at it. In my attempt to forget Orion, I had even changed my ringtone; it had been a Saturn Mutants song, something I had set even before I became a roadie for them. I can't help but smile at the memory of the first time Orion had heard it. 

We had been on the tour bus. We weren't an official item yet, just a couple days before he made the first move and kissed me. At the time we had been playing a video game--well, Orion was playing a video game, I was just getting my ass handed to me.

Orion stopped playing when my phone unexpectedly went off. Two things happened immediately; Orion grinned, and I could feel myself turn a red.

"There's A Reason Why Dreams Are Numbered?" Orion had beamed at me.

I could feel myself blush deeper. Of course he would know his own song within seconds. I'm about to reply, but he cuts me off, still smiling.

"That's so cool--that's a lesser known song. It doesn't really get any airplay."

As the melody shuts off, I can feel the blood starting to recede from my face. "Cool?"

"Yeah," he had told me, and--at the time I thought it was just my imagination--but he had given me a soft look of admiration. "You really are a fan, huh?"

"I could change it," I blurt out.

Orion had furrowed his brow. "Why?"

I pull out my phone, determined to change it on the spot. "Because that's a little creepy?"

But Orion had smiled, a very specific smile I would get to know. It was the same look he gave me whenever he told me he loved me. He didn't love me back then--or, at least I don't think so--but it was an innocent look; a rare glimpse at the man who was hidden away beneath all the muck. 

Regardless of what the look had meant at the time, he had put his hand on top of mine that held the phone. I swear the world stopped spinning in that moment. I remember turning into a rock, so confused about where our relationship was going. I was still at a point where I assumed he was straight; all I ever heard in the media was what a lady-killer he was. Yet he had started getting very handsy, and while I wasn't complaining, it definitely  threw me for a loop.

"'Flattering' , Tristan. I think the word you mean is 'flattering'."

And like that, Orion had removed his hand, and I checked who had called, and then we had gone back to life as though nothing had happened, like he hadn't just made my reality come crashing down around me by touching my hand. 

As that memory flutters across my mind, I'm happy I had changed the ring tone to Losing My Religion by R.E.M. Shaking myself out of the memory, I focus on the name on my screen: David.

"Hey you," I greet, still smiling.

"Hey! So, I had a crazy idea that might be fun."

"Shoot."

"I didn't sign up for the fall semester this year, and my last class is next week."

"Alright," I reply.

"Do you like theme parks?"

"Y'sir."

"I was thinking we could go to Six Flags Fiesta Texas?"

I pause. "That's a good seven n' a half hour drive."

"So? Do you got anything better to do?"

"Well, no--"

"So then what's the problem?" David asks, and I can hear him smile through the phone. "I thought it'd be a good way to get to know each other. Unless you don't wanna, of course."

"Naw, that sounds like a wonderful idea, David." I grin. "And of course I'd love to get to know you better."

~

"So, tell me about yourself."

I laugh. We had just hit the open road. It was just me, David, and our belongings. The plan was to make it to Arlington, get a hotel, and go to the park early in the day to try and get as much in as possible.

I look at David and grin." Had I known I was going to be interviewed, I would've dressed up."

David playfully hits my arm, shooting me a look. So I deflect. "What about you?"

"I asked you first, sir."

I grin. "Alright, fine. It's just me, ma, and my dad. My dad owns Fix It Up, over on Cherry Street."

"No shit?" David asks me excitedly. "That's the shop we go to anytime we need a repair. Your old man does good work over there."

That makes me smile. "I'll tell him that."

"He's reasonable, too."

I shrug. "He ain't looking to gouge people. He likes helping people." Before he can ask me about siblings, I smile disarmingly. "What about you?"

"Parents are divorced," he says. "I have a brother and a sister."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. I'd rather them split than listening to them hollering all the damn time like they did."

Feeling like I might've hit a nerve, I decide that subject could be broached some other day. "Two other siblings, huh?"

"Yup."

"Older, younger?"

"Both younger."

That makes me grin. "Ah, so you were the lab rat."

David tilts his head to me for a second, looking confused.

"It just seems like first born always have it the hardest," I chuckle. "Like the parents are still tryin' to figure out how to parent, so they're super strict. Then with the second one they're a lot more lax, and any other kids after that are spoiled devils."

That makes David laugh. "Yup, it is like that, honestly. I just didn't understand what you were getting at with 'lab rat'." He turns his head and smiles impishly at me. "I do now, though. I like it."

"Have any pets?"

David shrugs. "Eh, growing up we had a golden retriever. Sweetest thing. She's been gone for years though. I'd love to get another at some point. What about you?"

"I'm allergic."

David laughs, resting the back of his head against the headrest. "Of course you are."

I'm genuinely confused, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. He's smiling faintly, staring up, shaking his head.

"What?" I ask with a chuckle.

David looks at me, flashing his smile that makes me feel weak in the knees. "Nothing, Tristan."

So I drop it.