Page 13 of Aftershock

“Well, fuck. You didn't have to get all mushy.” I cracked a smile. “And you said you were a bad friend?” She laughed shakily.

“I hope I didn’t overstep at all. I just want you to see yourself the same way your fans see you.”

“Not insane?”

“Well…” I dragged out slowly while avoiding eye contact.

“Hey!” She hit my foot with her own.

“Don’t worry! Still not as insane as Jeffrey Dahmer.”

“Oh, shut up,” she rolled her eyes.

“Kidding!” I laughed. “I was just kidding!”

A small smile made its way across her face. Glancing at me through hooded eyes, she spoke, “You’re a good person, Autumn.”

“Yeah, maybe I am,” I sighed while playing with my fingernails. “And you’re a good person, too.”

“Maybe I am,” she shrugged. Clapping her hands, she spoke again, “Okay, next question.”

Tip of The Iceberg

“When was I born?”

“June 24th, 1997. You're going to have to dig deeper than that if you want to win.”

“Win? I thought we were just having fun,” she teased. “So, when were you born?”

“November 12th, 2002,” I admitted. For some reason, when I told people my birthday, they’d freak out, assuming I was thirteen. Most people knew I wasn’t actually a teenager, but everyone couldn't help but feel like 2002 was just yesterday and that there was no way someone born in 2002 could be twenty-one turning twenty-two.

“Aw, you're just a baby.”

“Oh, fuck you!” I laughed. “As you once said in an interview, I’m about a thousand times older than I look.”

When Lexi was younger, she did an interview on the red carpet while at the Kids Choice Awards. Someone had asked her where she got the inspiration to create all the deep and meaningful songs that she had written. She answered that she drew from real-life experiences, to which the interviewer laughed and countered that she couldn’t have possibly been through that much while still being so young. That’s when I learned you should never relate age to life experience. Some ten-year-olds had been through more than others who were twice their age.

“You know about that interview?” She asked genuinely. “Okay, maybe you do win this game.”

I snapped my fingers as I ignored her comment, “Next question, please. I’m on a roll.”

Lexi pondered for a while before asking, “What job did I say I wanted when I was a kid before I became a singer?”

“A tattoo artist, even though you have no tattoos,” I chuckled.

“Maybe in the future,” she smirked. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a nurse.”

“Oh wow, can you look at this spot on my butt?” Lexi poked fun while flashing her award-winning smile.

“Fuck off!” I let out a boisterous laugh. Smirking at her, I added, “Actually, you know what? I will have a look.”

Lexi belted out a loud “HA!” clearly not expecting my previous comment. “You're too funny,” she said sarcastically while shooting daggers at me with her eyes. “Why a nurse?”

“Medicine is something that has always interested me, and I loved the idea of helping people.”

“Loved in the past tense?”

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