Title: Pedal to the Floor
Disclaimer: We (Life's Crash Test Dummy & Creatively Licensed B) own nothing at all. At all. Well, actually, we do own Jody, that pretty mess, and hopefully this will give everyone a better sense of who she is exactly.
Spoiler: Up to chapter 19 of Life, Love and Denim (the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants MIOBI-style story). If you haven't read it, you might want to check that out for this to make sense.
Note: The flow of the piece might seem a little weird and disjointed, but only because it's not a whole piece. It's a bunch of standalones pertaining to different chapters that we strung together for convenience's sake. With that in mind, enjoy.
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Additional Cast:
Jody Bishop: Sara Paxton
Henley Sheppard: Troian Avery Bellisario
Batman "Bats" the drummer: Dustin Milligan
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…
Pedal to the Floor
…
Damon Young and Jody Bishop have known each other longer than anyone cares to know.
They weren't childhood friends who played in an inflatable pool out in the driveway right between her father's Bentley and her mother's Lexus. They never pretended they were exploring imaginary caves, searching for made-up treasure beneath the dinner tables at galas and auctions that their parents were forced to attend. They ran in the same circles, but they were no Dawson and Joey and clearly no Lucas and Haley. They were just Damon Young and Jody Bishop. In the beginning, they weren't even friends.
All their lives they were so lovely to look at, products of the elite assembly line. He has that blue-eyed gaze, so dominant and powerful without even meaning to be. Damon could say so much more with a single gaze than he ever could articulate in words. With her cherry drop lips and hair the color of the sun, Jody embodied everything Barbie was meant to, aspiring to try on every occupation and Alexander McQueen gown in existence. She's slim and perfectly proportioned, having features so delicate and seemingly fragile.
But they were more than show pieces, made to be on display and admired but never touched. They were more than ceramic dolls, made in the ideal image of the perfect human specimens. They were more because they both had the ability to fall in love and that they did. It might be the only thing they have in common other than a boy named Razor and a taste for Marlboro reds.
…
Being the quiet type makes it easier to be observant.
Damon, even at a young age, always knew there was something a little different about Jody Bishop. In elementary school, they ended up in the same class year after year. Damon, in his quiet observation, noticed the way Jody would get a distant look in her eyes, constantly lost in daydreams, letting the contents of her head become even more real than the outside world. She had no organizational skills. She didn't seem to care what other people said or told her, not even teachers and that's what initially attracted people to her.
Then there was the way she'd always fidget and do a sort of strange motion with her hand during class. She spent most of the school day mentally drifting and schoolwork was only done with a teacher hovering over her. She was never disruptive, but she certainly wasn't agreeable either. She gave all the teachers hell whether they deserved it or not.
Everything Jody ever did was fast, which was pretty impressive for someone of such a young age. The way she walked and talked and completed every task that could keep her attention for longer than five seconds (which wasn't much). It was as if she had some sort of electric current running through her, giving her such abundant energy. Jody Bishop was a speeding car with no breaks. She never knew when to stop. Almost as if she couldn't.
Jody always had zero sense of how to relate to others. Things would fly out of her mouth that only few were brave enough to even think – the second thing that made her popular. Some kids say mean things because they're scared or defensive or they want to be respected or they wanted to be feared. Jody spat words like throwing sand in people's faces. It always came so easy to her, being carelessly honest and she always did look genuinely confused when getting sent to the principal's office.
The first day of middle school, Jody Bishop came back from summer vacation a changed person. There were rumors that she went on a spirituality mission in India or China and she learned self-preservation from monks in an ancient temple. Damon knew that was a load of bull, but it was evident that Jody had somehow learned the art of control. It showed in every one of her mannerisms. No more spacing. No more fidgeting. No more uncalled for commentary.
Then, in the last quarter of being a seventh grader, there had been a pipe burst and Damon was relocated to a new locker. Coincidentally, his new locker was right next to Jody's.
One day, Damon had been idly standing in front of his locker, next to Jody who stood in front of hers. Something fell and hit the ground between them. The small, slim orange bottle rolled until it bumped into Damon's black and white Converse. He looked down and saw that it had been a prescription pill bottle. On instinct, Damon bent down to pick it up and saw the black letters neatly printed on the label.
Adderall.
Damon had no other choice, but to follow though and so he took it between his thumb and index finger, standing straight. The pills jumped within the bottle and made a jingling sound as he held it out to her. He didn't look at her questioningly or even demandingly, but challengingly. He challenged her to explain herself and he didn't even have to say a word.
It was no surprise when Jody didn't back down. She didn't shy away or bitch him out in an automatic defense mechanism. Instead, her green met his blue and the eye contact lasted a good ten seconds before Jody finally reached forward and reclaimed the slim bottle.
In the calmest voice he's ever heard, Jody told him, "Now I know a gas pedal exists. I'm learning to keep my foot on it at all times."
Jody said it like she knew he collected all these little details about her over time. He knew she was more than just a pretty face who acted up because she could get away with it. She knew that he wasn't a middle school mute, the kid who doesn't talk to anyone except his best friend and ghosts through life. If there was one moment to pinpoint the birth of the mutual understanding between them, it was that one.
From that day on, Damon knew Jody Bishop wouldn't just be a girl he knew of anymore. Jody Bishop became his muse. That's why he didn't have much of a problem two months later when his best friend, Razor, became Jody Bishop's boyfriend. Damon even approved and he rarely approved of anything.
…
Jody Bishop has always been popular.
Her beauty draws them in and her biting personality keeps them in place. She never asks for people to flock to her just like she never asks for her parents to spoil her. Whatever she wants, she gets it. It may not be the best parenting style, but like a lot of things, it's out of her control.
Prior to Razor and Jody becoming a couple, Razor had just been the average, good-looking goofy guy and Damon was just an average, good-looking mysterious guy. Then when Razor and Jody did start dating, being associated with her made their popularity skyrocket. The two boys with a keen interest in music and video games didn't exactly mesh with the crowd of cheerleaders and athletes and future leaders of America that Jody hung out with. Regardless, Razor and Damon became well-known names in the hallways.
Essentially, the three of them grew up together. Razor grew out his hair and became the confident stud he is, Jody practiced self-control and found she had a taste for music herself, and Damon learned to harness his musical talent and bedroom eyes to make girls weak in the knees.
During the school year, while their usual Friday night consists of Jody pouting while the two boys play video games, their Saturdays are spent in thrift shops and music stores, going to every and any concert that allow all-ages and devising plans to sneak into ones twenty-one and up. When Razor leaves right at the start of the summer to visit his father, Jody spends a lot of her time shopping and tanning with her girls, but then there are the unexpected run-ins that end up with the two of them hanging out.
"What are you doing in my house, Damon? It's 8 am on a Sunday."
Seventeen-year-old Jody doesn't even have makeup on. Her hair is pulled up in a messy ponytail and she's wrapped up in a fluffy yellow robe. It is one of the few times Damon has ever seen her without her mask painted on and not wearing designer labels. He's standing in the kitchen of her Newport home and Jody walks right past him, going for the coffeemaker. Damon had enough sense to have a pot ready for when she woke up.
She's a girl that's constantly being judged on her looks during the day-to-day shuffle so every time she steps out the door it has to be absolute perfection. The way she doesn't shield her face in horror or tell Damon not to look at her, but instead shoves past him, is only a testament to how comfortable they are around each other. She doesn't mind him seeing her less than perfect state. It just goes to show how much she trusts him.
"Eww, you stayed the night with my slut sister, right? Shouldn't you be doing the walk of shame home by now?" Jody says. She pours herself a mug of coffee and dresses it with milk and sugar while Damon just laughs and ruffles his already mussed hair.
"Damn. You caught me. Yeah, Cecelia left early this morning. As she was getting dressed and scrambling out the door, she might have mentioned something about a flight to Paris. I don't know. I was still half asleep," Damon says, grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter. "Just be happy it's your sister I'm sleeping with and not your mom."
"Whoa, okay, that was not funny, Dae," Jody says.
"I'm not trying to be funny. I know I'm not the funny one," Damon confesses, shrugging his shoulders up and down. "That would be your boyfriend. Self-proclaimed, I might add."
Jody rolls her pretty green eyes. "Speaking of that big idiot, do tell me why I dated him in the first place? He didn't have that fabulous hair back in middle school. I think he was even shorter than me and so obnoxious."
Damon takes a bite from his apple and asks with his mouthful, "What happened now?"
"Does he not understand I have boys, tan and muscular water polo boys, tripping over themselves to date me?" Jody asks. "I know that sounds conceited and it is, but it's true too. I have had other options and they would probably treat me a hell of a lot better than Raymond does."
"And the jerky thing he did this time?"
Jody looks guilty for only a moment, much like she always does when her and Razor get into one of their little tiffs. Damon knows it well because Razor does the exact same thing. Damon takes another bite out of his apple, crunching loudly. He almost misses it when Jody explains, "He caught me smoking in my car."
His teeth sink halfway into the apple, but then he stops and cringes. Not a topic he wants to touch.
"Dae, you know how I get when my sister is in town. It makes me anxious and stressed and so I light up a cigarette from time to time," Jody says. Damon continues to chew his mouthful of apple pieces and nods his head. He knows it well. "Apparently, Raymond doesn't understand that. All he does it complain about the aftertaste of kissing me. And I'm the conceited one?"
Damon sighs and rubs the front of his hand down his face. Dryly, he says, "You're both conceited. You're a conceited couple. If you ask me that's part of why you've been together so long and you'll probably be together for long after this stupid little fight. Jody, breathe."
"Damon!" Jody shouts just to get him to shut up. She then stares down into dark liquid in her mug. She seems so self-conscious as she says, "He…broke up with me."
Her voice is filled with sadness and she looks like she very may well cry, but Damon can't bring himself to sympathize with her. It would only be a waste because he knows for a fact that they are going to get back together anyways. It's what they do. Razor and Jody are one of those couples. Damon has learned a long time ago that attempts to comfort either of them is just a misuse of energy and time on his part.
"How long do you think it's going to last this time?" Damon says it like he knows it won't be long till they get back together. "I'd say an hour or maybe even less."
"Maybe for good," Jody says. Her voice is heavy like lead in her throat and it does draw Damon's attention as he finishes off that apple. "I mean, he's halfway to Montana by now. Can you believe that? He broke up with me and just skip town."
"Oh yeah, almost forgot about his trip," Damon says, further messing with his hair.
Jody rolls her eyes. "Some best friend you are."
"Sorry," Damon says. He walks over to garbage can, steps on the little foot pedal and tosses the apple core into the trash. Damon sighs, then going over to wash his hands at the sink. "Let me guess. You want me to talk to him?"
"Please?"
"Fine. Fine." Damon shuts off the sink and dries his hands on the nearest towel. He then peers into Jody's designer purse that's left open on the counter. He fishes through it until he pulls out a familiar little bottle of pills. "But I'm going to take one of these."
"Hold it," Jody says. "You might want to save it for Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes."
Damon twists of the lid of the bottle, but then his gaze flies over to a weakly smiling Jody.
"No way. That is downright impossible. That show's been sold out for a month now," Damon says. "How did you manage to get tickets?"
"Let's see," Jody says. She leans against the smooth marble counter and holds up three of her slim fingers. "I'm pretty. I'm rich. And my last name is Bishop. Need I say more?"
"Point. Match. Set," he says smoothly. Damon then jingles the bottle of pills, dipping his fingers into it, looking like a child stealing cookies from the cookie jar. "I'm going to take a couple of these, okay? Man, your sister—"
"I don't want to hear it. Ick. You know, Dae, you have so much sweet boy potential. If you quit whoring with the groupies and my sister and you let me help you find the right girl, I think you'd make a great boyfriend," Jody says, sounding so sincere. Damon just scoffs, popping one of the pills into his mouth like it's candy. "Aww, Damon, remember when you wrote Erin Silver that love poem?"
"Remember Silver posting it on her blog because I never called her back?" Damon reminds her. He takes a gulp of his coffee before murmuring, "Damn West Bev kids."
"I don't know. Their lacrosse team captain is insanely hot."
"And saying things like that doesn't make me any more eager to hook you back up with my best friend," Damon says. It always annoys him when Razor and Jody don't hesitate to check out other people (sometimes even in front of each other) even though they know it's just going to start another little argument that will eventually turn into a fight. It's beyond annoying.
"Okay. I'll stop," Jody says. "Now, doors open at seven. I want to get there early. I can't wait! The band has such a great energy. I heard they did a show in New York and had a free-for-all, inviting everyone onto the stage and Alex even went down to the floor for a sit in style song. It's going to be amazing!"
Damon nods in full agreement. "Sure thing."
"You can see yourself out, right?" she asks.
"Yeah," Damon says. He's distractedly looking into her purse again. "Can I snag a cigarette?"
"Go ahead," Jody insists. "And if you're going to smoke do it outside. My mom bitches out the maid every time the house smells like smoke when it's usually you, Cecelia or me. I'm starting to feel bad for her."
"Gotcha."
That's another thing that's so great about this friendship. Damon and Jody don't try to change each other and they don't feel compelled to change for each other. He smokes and steals her Adderall and any other girl would probably be nagging and reprimanding him, but not Jody. She trusts him to know his limits and Damon does. Plus, they have no sexual chemistry whatsoever and it isn't just because he's banging her sister. Simply, it's because they're Damon and Jody.
Tonight is the night where the alleged "flashing" went down. It doesn't help that Damon had been pretty blitzed the entire time. All he remembers is racing lights in a crowded, dim room, being enchanted by the messiah-esque Alex Ebert and Jody being at his side one second and riding the crowd the next. She may have been even just as gone and lifted her shirt just enough to show the ensemble band her boobs. Also Damon may have stood by and let it happen without so much as a fleeting guilty thought.
They may be friends now, but he's still no one's savior, least of all hers.
…
The next morning, Jody Bishop is on a mission.
Apparently, some jealous girl from school had been at the Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes concert and obtained a few incriminated photos that they have dubbed "Rich Girl Gone Wild" and sent to Razor. Now she's on a mission to sneak into the Sheppard house (well, not really, the maid just let her in) and take care of this before Razor has a chance to see. It's fairly easy. The only thing she has going against her is time.
Jody manages to get upstairs and into Razor's room without anyone noticing, minus Gloria, the maid, who answered the door. Jody finds Razor's laptop sitting on his desk and she grins, glad she convinced him to leave his laptop since he was already bringing his guitar and didn't want to travel bulk. All of this happened prior to the "break up" of course. Regardless of whether they're together or not, Jody has to make sure those pictures don't get to him. It'll just make the inevitable getting back together that much more difficult.
Accessing his laptop and then his e-mail is a synch since he consistently uses the same password (cookiesaretasty) and she both deletes the messages and blocks the e-mail account it was sent from.
Mission accomplished.
As Jody makes her way down the back stairwell, there's more of a spring of triumph to her step. She ends up in the Sheppard kitchen where she sees a withering young brunette sitting at the counter. Henley looks horrible with bloodshot eyes, bags beneath those bloodshot eyes and worst of all, her hair doesn't even look like it's met a brush in days.
"Henley, are you hungover?" Jody asks. Her voice is patronizing, but she's too amused to care.
Keeping her face pressed to the cold counter and her arms protectively wound as if to create a nest to hide her face, Henley replies in a croaking voice, "Go screw yourself, Jody."
"Oh, I already did. This morning. Well, what else do you expect me to do with your brother out of town?" Jody jokes. She even laughs at her own joke. Seeing Henley continue to be unresponsive, Jody walks over and slides into the seat next to her. "If you are hungover, I know the perfect hangover recipe."
"I'm not." Henley groans and finally lifts her head from the table, looking miserable. "I was up all night studying for this huge exam. I have, oh, less than two hour, and already I feel so burnt out. Don't forget that I made the executive decision to not take out my contacts because I knew the second I did I'd start to drift off, which isn't acceptable. Not one of my best."
"Do you do this often?"
"No," Henley says. "Just for Pre-Cal."
"I have the perfect little pick-me-up," Jody says. She reaches for her purse, but then stops and has a look around the spotless, professional kitchen. "Are your parents home?"
"No," Henley says, growing more and more suspicious. "Just you, me and the maid."
"Sweet."
Jody reaches into her purse and pulls out her bottle of pills. Henley's eyes widen.
"I'm going to give you one of these," Jody says, fishing one of the pills out of the bottle. "Don't freak out. I'm not going to make you snort it. That would be a train wreck. Just think of it as radio. You adjust the dial and get better signal. That's what Adderall does. It'll up your ability to focus."
"But I don't have ADD," Henley protests.
"Exactly," Jody says. "I take it to reach that level of normal, but for you, it'll heighten your concentration. Damon says it makes him feel like Superman, but he takes them like pez, which you won't be doing. Kids do this all the time. They're known as 'study buddies' on campus."
Jody stands from the chair and walks into the kitchen, going straight for the knife drawer. She grabs the cleaver (always the dramatic one) and carefully slices a single pill into two. Dropping the two pieces into Henley's palm, Jody sits back and flips her blonde hair over her shoulder like nothing.
"Take half. That's all you'll need in one sitting," Jody says. "Make sure to drink water constantly throughout the day and it's going to suppress your appetite, but do eat something. Then if it help you, whenever you're in a jam like this you have the other half."
"Thanks Jody," Henley says. She grabs a bottle of water from the refrigerator and downs the half of the pill, tilting her head back and swallowing.
"No biggie. Just don't turn into an addict and you'll remember this little moment when you're a big shot and if I ever end up in your courthouse," Jody says, giving the younger girl a wink.
Henley nods and even smiles a little. "Definitely."
It had been a seemingly innocent moment, but nothing is ever innocent when drugs are involved. A time-to-time thing turned into Henley texting Jody at all hours of the night, needing Adderall. The first few times, Jody even gave in. She did try to stop her, tried to put her foot down and even thought to bring Damon into it. After all, if there were one person who could snap some sense into Henley and keep it under the radar, it'd be Damon.
But Henley is just as smart as she appears to be.
"Jody, please. Just for the rest of the summer…"
"Oh, like you aren't going to pull something like this the next time I try to cut you off. I may be blonde, but I'm not a complete idiot," Jody says. "Look, Henley, it was supposed to be a one time thing. Using it long-term is not okay."
"Jody, I don't want to do this, but if you don't then I'll tell Razor and my parents you gave it to me," Henley says. She knows exactly where to strike and she strikes hard. Looking innocent, Henley continues, "Mom and dad, all I ever wanted was to make you proud and do well in school. Jody said she could help me and now…now I don't even know what I'm doing…"
"Wow, very impressive," Jody says. "Are you sure you don't want to be an actress?"
"Acting is for girls who rely solely on their looks. Haven't you heard, Jo? Pretty girls go to jail for stupid things like cocaine possession and tax evasion. Smart girls put them there," Henley says. "Just give me the Adderall. Say you lost it and get your prescription filled. I'll have my little study buddies and you and Razor will get back together and be happily miserable like you always are. Everyone can win here."
And though every fiber of her being is telling her that this is wrong, Jody hands it over.
"You're going to regret this, Henley," Jody says.
"Is that a threat?" Henley asks sharply.
"No," Jody says. "Just a prediction."
…
Love at first sight isn't something Damon has ever believed in. If he saw a girl he found attractive and she seemed just as interested in him then it was a done deal. He's always been a casual dater. He looked for fun and excitement rather than long-term commitment. He wouldn't exactly call himself a 'womanizer' or a 'man-whore,' but he has dated his fair share of California girls.
He has never been one to pursue a girl, to go out of his way to impress one for the sole sake of liking her and wanting to be with her. The closest thing to intimacy he's ever gotten was with Jody's older sister and honestly it hadn't been that intimate at all. You don't need intimacy or feelings to have sex and that's all that ever was. Sex when she was in town.
That's why it comes as such a surprise when he spots Emily Kmetko among a sea of faces, standing on the balcony with Jody. He had seen Emily and of course he thought she was attractive, but so were a handful of other girls in the club. However, none of them kept his attention quite like she did.
Damon picked Emily Kmetko's face out of a packed venue. He doesn't know what it was about her. She wasn't dressed over-the-top or acting rowdy like majority of the people there. Before she starts adjusting and feeling the music, she looks so uncomfortable and out of place. She was neither appalled by what she saw nor swinging from the banisters. She was a happy medium and that intrigued him even from across a crowded room. That had to have meant something.
As always, music works to his advantage. He sees Jody drag her down to the floor and into the mosh. The two girls disappear into the crowd that gets excited once the main attraction steps out onto the stage and that's when Damon swoops in. He can see how overwhelmed and unprepared she is and so he saves her from the mosh. Usually he stands by and waits for the girl to come to him, but not this time. It's that moment when he knew this would be different from anything he's ever experienced in his life.
"Honestly, Dae, don't tell me Raymond's stepsister gave it up to you day one on the rooftop."
His sees Jody and takes in the way her hair is a mess and the gloss on her lips nearly smeared off. She has a self-satisfied expression on her face, that smug hint that she got her way as usual. That's how she always looks when her and Razor go off somewhere, fighting, but then come back in love again. It's just how they are. Nothing to alert the bloggers about.
"No, she didn't and I didn't even make much of a move," Damon says. He rests his forearms on the building ledge and looks out at the city. Jody saunters by and stands right at his side. "She's not like that."
"Well then, she isn't your type at all," Jody teases.
Damon hears the shuffle of cardboard and watches Jody pull out a box of Marlboro reds. She balances a cigarette between her lips as she pats down the pockets of her jeans. Already reading her mind, Damon digs through his own pocket and pulls out a silver Zippo lighter. It's all he has left of his father.
"You know, it still bugs Razor when you smoke," Damon feels compelled to point out. It isn't a warning. He isn't saying it like he's going to use it against her or rat her out no matter how much he likes to shake Jody and Razor's relationship just because it's fun. He just says it like he's stating fact, which he is.
"You know, I don't have to share," Jody says.
Damon flicks his thumb against the wheel and produces a steady flame. Jody leans forward till the end of her cigarette reaches the fire. Once lit, she takes a drag and offers box to Damon, who takes one without question. They share cigarettes like they do Razor – with surprising civility.
"I'm just saying. You know I wouldn't damn you for doing exactly what I do all the time. That would be hypocritical and it isn't one of those nights," Damon says. He lights his own cigarette and breathes it in. Slowly letting the smoke spill from his lips, Damon holds up his cigarette and inspects it. "We are young. Therefore we live young."
"And probably die young too," Jody giggles. "But at least we can say we weren't ever afraid. To live. To love. To die. And they think we should fear smoking? If anything, we should fear never stepping out of line."
Damon smiles at that. Over and over Jody reminds him why he even keeps her around, why he doesn't complain to Razor that his sometimes girlfriend is annoying and just like all the other girls living in their beloved state. Jody Bishop is his friend, but even deeper than that, she's his muse. Jody is the only person he knows that can make a conversation, a simple exchange of words, sound like they're writing a song or even inspire him to write songs. Words always amaze him in that way and Jody even more so.
They stay a while and smoke their cigarettes, looking out at the city. They appreciate the warm summer night and how they can be alone without really being alone with each other. There's no one to impress (like Emily), no one to expect things (like Razor). They just take it all in, flick the cigarette buds to the ground and light up new ones.
"You like her, don't you?" Jody says. "I can tell."
Damon inwardly groans. This wouldn't be the first time Jody has tried to set him up. She doesn't hesitate to tell him over and over again that she does not approve of whatever it is he thinks he's doing with her older sister. That's why when any girl so much as looks at him, Jody is ready to pimp him out, reduce him to a commodity and give him up to the first girl who looks interested and descent enough.
"Maybe I do," he says. Damon leans forward, thinking about the night's event and how content he was just to sit and talk with Emily Kmetko. He didn't lose interest once and that's rare when it comes to him. "There's something so innocent about her, but not. I don't know what it is…"
"I know, right?" Jody says. There's such excitement in her voice and a light to her emerald eyes. Whether it's interest in exploring that innocence or corrupting it, it's never clear with Jody. "It's so obvious she isn't from around here."
"That's kind of what I like, though," Damon says. "It's refreshing."
"Uh-huh. Because we all know you've had more than a taste of what's around here," Jody says. She playfully nudges him with her elbow and Damon smiles because he knows she's right.
"When Razor looks at you, it's like he's looking into the sun, but not me," Damon says. "I noticed what you were doing earlier, trying to push me and her together. Are you doubting my game?"
"Your game? Oh God." Jody laughs. "Everyone knows you can make a grilled cheese, but there's a huge difference between a sandwich and Thanksgiving dinner. And girls like Emily Kmetko deserve the turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all. Are you ready for that, Dae?"
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Jo," he says, "But we'll see, won't we?"
"I think you should go for it. This could be good for you if you could ever learn to commit," Jody says. It sounds like doubt in her voice, but he knows it's her honest opinion. "By now you should know that I know what's best for you, doll. Aww, Damon, this girl is going to change everything and even you can feel it."
As Damon flicks away another cigarette bud, he thinks to himself, damn, maybe this time Jody's actually right.
…
Damon doesn't know how she does it, but Emily makes him want to be better.
There's just something so inherently good about her and throughout their little date he feels the need to prove to her that he can be good too. However, he doesn't completely abandon who his is for a girl and that shows in the Evenings in Elevators. Singing in the elevator at his stepfather's office is something he likes to do to piss off the stepdad and it didn't hurt that he could show off his vocal chords.
The day before, Razor and Jody had helped him plan their first "date-like" outing. Damon doesn't go on dates in the traditional sense. His usual dates, aside from the double dates planned by Jody and Razor anyways, consist of him playing music for a girl and then going straight to making out. With Emily, Damon knows to take it slow and for some reason he can't explain, he doesn't mind going at whatever pace she needs.
Damon really does feel horrible about getting her into trouble with her dad. The Sheppards always were strict about curfews, which is probably why Damon and Jody wind up spending so much time together once Razor has to get home for the night. The night he takes her to Hollywood Forever Cemetery, they lose track of time and it ends with her grounded with little chance of meeting up.
And then, out of the blue, he gets word that she up and left town. Just like that.
To Damon, it feels like his entire world turns upside down.
Even when she is back in Colorado, thousands of miles away, Damon can't stop thinking about her. Emily Kmetko creeps into his brain and shows up in his songs and, shit, he's got it bad for this girl. It's the biggest sign of all when, the next time Cecelia Bishop is in town, Damon ignores her call and even goes as far as to delete her number.
Jody Bishop must be psychic because Emily Kmetko did change everything. Most of all, she made everything better and without her, nothing feels right.
…
With Emily out of town, Damon has to do something to fill his time and then he remembers that there are other people in his life, namely Razor and Jody. Somehow, much to Damon's immense annoyance, he attempts to reunite Razor and Jody. When he hears about the breakup, Damon expects them to get back together just as easily within the next few days and so he doesn't do anything about it as usual.
When a week passes and they're still in a standstill, Damon goes to investigate.
Naturally, he goes to Razor first. He somehow gets Razor and even his little dog out of the house. Razor puts on a strong front like everything really is okay and he's ready to move on from Jody, but Damon knows better. He's just never been good at the intervention thing. It doesn't really help any because Damon tells him the little message Emily left for him and it makes him crave nicotine bad.
"Emily just wanted you to know that she really did, does, like you, but she said…sometimes that isn't enough."
To Damon, it sounds like you weren't enough. Something his stepdad tells him constantly.
After quality time with Razor and Dexter at the beach, Damon goes to the corner gas station to pick up a pack of cigarettes. All he wants to do is lie in bed, smoke and write music, but somehow he ends up going to Jody's house just to come face-to-face with her sister, Cecelia.
Damon knows he will always have a weak spot for the beautiful, vivacious Cecelia Bishop. She's stunning, older and the definition of temptation. She is everything that Emily Kmetko isn't and won't ever be. Cecelia got her fangs deep into him, siring him, being the one responsible for the creation of what he would be after her. Ever since Cecelia, Damon always told himself that he was tainted, that he was this dark and broody musician guy who dated girls and broke hearts just so he'd have something to write songs about. Emily Kmetko showed him differently.
"Hey," Damon says, standing in the doorway. "Your sister around?"
"Nope," Cecelia says. "But since you're here…"
She does this sexy thing where she bites her lip and opens the front door wide enough for him to go inside. Damon looks at her, this gorgeous woman in her twenties, literally throwing herself at him and he takes a step back. She gets the picture pretty quick.
"Um, you know where I can find Jody?"
"The beach house. She spends a lot of time down there these days," Cecelia says, easily brushing off the rejection. After all, feelings can't get hurt if they aren't there to begin with. Damon murmurs an incoherent goodbye and turns right around. "She must be really special for you to pass me up."
It must run in the family, being condescending and clairvoyant.
"It's not my little sister, is it?"
Giving her a look from over his shoulder, Damon replies, "It's not Jody. And yeah, she's amazing."
Up until now, Damon didn't know if he'd be able to do that, turning down Cecelia Bishop, even when he had a real chance with someone like Emily. He didn't think he'd be able to change, to fully give up that little dark hole he's taken comfort in ever since he was a misunderstood, mute child. Damon never knew closing doors could feel so good.
Damon drives down to the Bishop's Malibu beach house where Jody held a legendary party her seventeenth birthday. He knows the route all too well and also where she hides the key under flowerpot that looks like something that should be on display in a museum. Damon lets himself in and finds her lounging on the couch.
Seeing her now, wearing an old, faded UCLA sweater, her blonde hair tucked back and the hood pulled up over her head, she hardly even looks like the camera-ready Jody Bishop that has become a staple in his life. She stares out the large glass wall and at the ocean. It's high tide and the waves are practically crashing against the backdoor. Damon treats the situation like he's just entered a wild, currently dormant, animal's den. He slowly sits down beside her.
"Hey Jo…"
"Hey Dae," she says. "Is he…?"
As much as it pains him to, Damon shakes his head and replies, "No. Just me."
He has to sit there and watch as she pulls the nearest throw pillow right up against her body and wraps her arms around it. It nearly kills him to see someone he cares about so unhappy, but it isn't like he can really do anything to help. Damon's sure her bitchy country club friends probably jumped for joy when they heard that Jody and Razor broke up and offered her little comfort. He doesn't know how to do that himself.
Tentatively, Damon speaks, "If there was one thing, no matter how ridiculous or illegal, that you want to do, that can make you feel even a little better, what is it?"
Jody looks right at him and says, "I want to get high and ride the teacups at Disneyland."
It might be the strangest request he's ever heard and will ever hear. It makes him smile and nod his head in encouragement. "Let's go."
Jody doesn't fuss with her hair and doesn't seem too hung up on what she's wearing. She just puts on some sneakers and goes along with Damon. It's late in the evening, but it isn't like they're going to be conquering the entire park with Razor and his ridiculous gameplan. Money is never an obstacle. They know what they want so they get it.
He makes one phone call and they meet up with Batman or "Bats", the Sheltered Pups' drummer, in Anaheim and he has a batch of pot brownies for them. They aren't the best, grade-A shit Bats is known for serving up because of the short notice, but it will get them effectively stoned. Jody laughs when she sees how Bats had bagged the brownies twice and then put them in a smell-proof bag with a post-it on it that says "from grandma." She actually laughs at that and then Damon knows she'll be okay.
It's almost too easy to sneak it in, bagged and hidden beneath all the other crap Jody keeps in her purse. Once devouring every bit, the two go to stand in line to ride the teacups. It takes a bit to kick in, but then comes the bloodshot and bleary eyes, racing hearts and minds. They stand beneath the green trees and the colorful lanterns, in line and listening to the same tune over and over again. They're two of the tallest people in line, but they don't really give a shit.
When they finally get out on the floor, Jody chooses a teacup that's a creamy orange with darker orange and white lines decorating the rim. She explains her methodology behind choosing which teacup would be their teacup – "Ugly bastards need love too, Damon" and he can't argue or judge.
When the ride begins, they're all laughs and giggles. Damon turns the wheel with all his might and they start to rotate so fast that it makes everything even blurrier than they already are. Grinning like a fool, Damon looks across from him at Jody who is hysterical with a broken smile and swollen eyes. His smile dissolves into laughs and the lights are dancing all around. They spin and spin and spin and spin.
Once the ride is over, the two go right to the back of the line and ride it over and over. They're both laughing at jokes that aren't spoken aloud and the ride attendants look suspicious, but they have nothing to call them out on. Damon and Jody listen to that stupid song and get into that ugly orange teacup and the world starts literally spinning around. It's the one thing that can help them forget without breaking them even more.
Finally, when Damon chickens out and thinks he might literally barf, Jody pulls out a carton of cigarettes and they go to find one of the designated smoking areas. In Frontierland, near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Damon lights her cigarette for her and they sit, watching the people go by.
"I would so live here!" Jody shouts, still buzzing off the high. "How cool would that be?"
"The coolest thing ever," Damon says. He stares at the cigarette in his hands. He feels himself falling back into his old ways, but he feels so relaxed that he can't bring himself to care much.
"Hmm, I wonder. Does Emily know that you're so fucked up?" Jody asks randomly. "A junkie and kinda slutty?"
"I'm not a junkie. This was your idea and I'm not slutty…anymore," Damon says. He sits on a bench and looks up at the sky that's growing darker and darker by the minute. "I try to keep all the dirty little secrets hidden until at least the third date."
Jody snorts. "So there's going to be a third date?"
"I hope," Damon says. "I really like that girl, Jo. Fuck. You know what I caught myself doing? Looking up quotes, like, cheesy and supposedly inspirational quotes on the Internet. Jody, I quoted Andrew Harvey. Andrew friggin' Harvey."
"How spiritual of you, Dae," Jody says, exhaling smoke. "It's funny, don't you think? That we thought she was so different, just because she's from Colorado and so nice, but in the end, she's just like everyone else. She leaves people behind just like everyone else does."
He can feel the self-pity coming and it is such a mood killer.
"You and Razor will get back together, Jody," Damon says with such certainty.
"We're talking about you and Emily here, not me and him," she says. "But since you brought it up, I want you to know that I don't really blame him. I can't. Henley could have got seriously hurt and all I cared about was Ray dumping me or not, which he does weekly anyways. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want anything to do with me ever again."
Frowning, Damon gently lifts her elbow, bringing the cigarette back to her mouth. She breathes it in deep and he takes a hit of his own, watching it burn down fast.
"I think this is my last cigarette," Damon says.
Jody laughs. "Last ever?"
"Ever," he confirms. "If I could give up your sister then I can give up smoking and then I won't have any dark little addictions to tell her about on the third date. Stories of triumph instead of shame. I figure, where better to have your last smoke than the happiest place on earth?"
"You're crazy," she says.
Damon tilts his head. "I think I'm in love, but 'crazy' and 'in love' are sort of the same thing, right?"
"You're talking to the girl who you helped sneak into a gated community so she could sit outside her ex's house like a psycho stalker," Jody says. "I think that goes without question."
"The thing about people is that they're fickle. They run away, but they also come back," Damon says, grinding his last cigarette bud into the ashtray atop the trashcan.
"Emily Kmetko so turned you into such a sap," Jody says.
Damon smirks. "I prefer being called a romantic."
…
Jody hates getting mixed signals. She hates it.
That's why she shows up at the wedding. She called him pathetic and a son of a bitch and he told her it was over too many times to count, but how do you just walk away? They've been together since the seventh grade, when they were thirteen-years-old and they've come so far since then. How do you give up on something you tried so hard to fight for?
Simple. You can't.
She's wearing a Emilio Pucci tea-length dress that looks more like a piece of modern art than anything. Her ears are adorned with amethyst stones and a string of matching beads hang around her neck. Her blonde hair is in gentle waves and she clings to a black clutch as she struts to the door like a bullet through the night.
It breaks her heart to see him on the dance floor with that short, random blonde who's too tan for her own good. It makes her blood boil to think that she's been hiding away at her family's beach house, crying over Cecily von Ziegesar books and smoking so much that she can actually feel the effects of it all, weighing down her heart, her soul and now her body.
"Jody, what did I tell you?"
She feels someone grip her arm and drag her away from the door to the ballroom.
"Aww, calm down, Pete Wentz," Jody says, trying to pave over the pain with light mainstream sellout humor. It only seems appropriate. "So what? I can't come and support you at your gig? Before you know it, you're going to try to make me pay to see you perform."
"We both know that's not the reason you're here," Damon says.
"I think it's worth mentioning that someone certainly looks pretty," she says, ignoring everything he just said. Jody gives him a quick look over, seeing the way he's cleaned up, hair styled just right, wearing a suit jacket and slacks. "I bet Emily is thrilled to see you and in such pretty packaging."
"I do enjoy the sweet talk, but, I need to be back on stage and I kinda wanted to hang out with Emily before then," Damon says, pointing back to the ballroom. He takes her arm and starts to lead her down the hall of the hotel. "Get it out now and the truth would be nice, Jody."
"Okay, so I want my boyfriend back," she says. "Is that so wrong?"
"Jody, there's a place and time for everything and this is definite not it. It's his parents' wedding for God's sake," Damon says harshly when people from all around start to stare. "Now, would you please go back to the beach house and wait? And no more placing orders to Bats on 'Damon's tab.' What is with that anyways? Ugh, I'll be there as soon as I can, alright?"
"So he's really with that blonde chick, huh?" Jody asks, completely ignoring everything Damon just said to her for a second time. "Well, who is she? Are they together?"
"I don't know," Damon says. "I've been on stage the entire time."
"Well, from the stage, they look pretty good together didn't they?" Jody asks. At this point, she isn't even fighting him as Damon ushers her towards the main lobby of the hotel. She looks down for a moment, so much like a child, playing dress-up in her mother's closet. "He looks happy…"
"Jody…"
"Fine. I'm leaving," she says suddenly, tugging her arm free from Damon's hold. She goes right up to the glass door and with her hand against the handle, gives Damon an irritated look. "You can go back to the party now, Damon. I can tell when I'm not wanted."
Damon moves towards her and hold the door open. "Not till I see you drive off."
Jody laughs. "Don't you trust me?"
"Not that I don't trust you." Damon smirks. "I just know you too well."
Jody looks pissed, her cheeks puffing out and her light brows narrowing. Damon just continues to smile and motions towards the door. Tossing her curls dramatically over one shoulder, Jody walks out of the hotel and Damon follows right behind her.
"By the way, wearing that dress, you look almost as pretty as me!"
"Go kiss your girlfriend," she snaps
"Oh I plan to!" Damon shouts.
He makes sure Jody is completely gone before he goes back inside.
…
"They aren't dating."
After spending an afternoon with Emily, walking along the pier with Dexter romping at their feet, instead of going home, Damon takes a detour. It isn't like he wants to go home to embrace his mother's silence and his stepfather's blatant disappointment. Their reaction to the news that he dropped out of high school had been nowhere near that of Emily's. Damon still has his stepfather shouting 'what's wrong with you?' and his mother's cries of 'why?' echoing in his ears.
Instead of going home, Damon retreats to the beach house. It's such a pain driving the PCH through Malibu and there's always people out there, thinking they'll see something special only to be disappointed. To the south it's nothing but beach houses, all lined up close and marked with 'do not enter, private beach property' signs. It isn't high tide so the water is calm and there aren't a whole lot of surfers out.
Jody, looking like the teenage dream she is, sits in a reclining chair out on the balcony that overlooks the ocean. Her eyes are shut and her body sprawled out, seeking an even tan. Damon takes his rightful spot in the chair beside her and he reaches for the carton of cigarettes on the small glass table between them. Then he catches himself and sets it back down.
"You look good, Jo."
"Heh. You look like you need a nicotine patch," Jody says. Her voice is lazy and drawling. She doesn't look at him, doesn't even open her eyes as she talks. Damon wants to call her out on not even seeing him, but then Jody says, "So, tell me, Dae, if they aren't dating then what? I haven't seen her around before. Who is she?"
"Name's Lauren Tanner. She's a friend of Emily's, came with her from Colorado," Damon says. "Which means she isn't a permanent fixture. It won't be long until she leaves."
"Interesting," Jody says. "And you sure they aren't going to do the long distance thing?"
"A girl like that? Nah," Damon assures her. "I bet she does fine on her own back in Boulder."
"So are you and Emily going to do the long distance thing?" she asks casually.
Damon's lips curve into a smile just at the idea. "Yeah, I think so."
"That's good for you, Dae, and I really do mean that," Jody says. "Wow, you used to be such a whore."
"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about that to Emily."
She peaks an eye open at him. "Not until that third date, right?"
"Or whenever I decide to tell her, yeah," Damon says. "You won't beat me to it, right?"
"My lips are sealed." Jody closes her eyes again, going back to sunbathing. Damon allows himself to relax, tucking his hands behind his head and breathing out a sigh.
Maybe that's another part of why they stick so close without even meaning to. He has never ratted on her to Razor even when he has tons of dirt on her. He would never even think blackmail and she knows that. In return, Damon knows Jody wouldn't tell Emily or anyone else about his past or his recreational interests beyond music and video games. It's a silent agreement, but an agreement nonetheless.
"It's funny, don't you think? You were so on edge about Emily just up and leaving you one day and I was so convinced that Ray would come back to me no matter what, that we were one of those merry-go-round couples. Then come to find that Emily came back to you and Raymond has always been here, but not with me."
"Maybe it's a good thing…"
"How so?"
"You were in a four year relationship. Granted, you broke up a dozen times in between, but maybe that was the first warning sign," Damon says. "I don't know. Explain it however you want to explain it, but it'll be new for you. Slow shit down for once. Take it day-by-day on your own and do your own thing. Like, the reverse of what I did, minus the slutty…or maybe the slutty if you want. I'm not one to judge."
"You, like, really suck at this," Jody says bluntly, "But you're male and kinda my best friend at this point so I can't exactly complain."
"Wow, I appreciate your acceptance of me," Damon laughs. "So you're coming out to O'Malley's tomorrow night for the show, right? Emily is going to be there. She said she wanted to try and hang out before she leaves."
"Wouldn't miss it," she says. "I can't wait. There's something I want to show her."
"You do understand that Razor is going to be there, right?" Damon asks carefully. Looking at her face, he sees the sour look she makes and already expects the worst. "Don't tell me that you're going to do something stupid."
Jody hums for a moment and opens both her eyes. She leans to the side, closer towards him. "I don't know. If you've forgotten, I have that tendency to freak out. If I do, you'll be there to pull me off the bitch, right?"
"Jo, she's Emily's friend—"
"I meant Ray," Jody interrupts.
Damon chuckles. "Yeah, you can count on me."
"Like one, two, three," Jody says lightly, going to fish a cigarette out of the box.
Damon blinks, almost refusing to believe his eyes. "Wow, you're scary calm. Hmm. You don't look stoned."
"Shut up. I'm medicated just like the doctor insists," Jody says. "And you're right. If Raymond is doing his own thing then I should probably get back out there too. There's a party at Bradford's tonight. I can't promise they won't try to make you sing something, but Bats and the dealers are going to be there and I don't trust myself alone with all that. You down?"
Without a second thought, Damon answers, "Yeah, sure. Can I crash here after?"
"You've been sleeping here so much there's practically an indent of your body in the couch," Jody jokes, reclining back into her original position, letting the sun caress her soft skin. "So are you still too scared to go home, Sellout Boy?"
Damon scoffs. "More like no home to go back to."
"Well, Dae, if it makes you feel any better, you can call this place home."
Looking at her from the side, Damon suddenly reaches out and gives her hand a comforting squeeze. Without even a second of hesitation, she squeezes back.
Home sweet home.
…
Author's note: If there's one thing about LL&D that we aren't too fond of how the point-of-view is restricted to the Four. Hope you got a little more insight into the characters and relationships we don't always get to see with the main story. See, they aren't just floating in space when they aren't featured in a chapter of LL&D. They're just off smoking and whatnot. Haha.
Reviews are loved as always. Hope everyone liked it.