3. Hot Water & Cold Chicken

So, Quinn Allman is this friend of mine…of ours, I guess, of mine, and Mikey and Frank and…Gerard. But he lives in Bloomfield, so we didn't get to see him every day or anything. But I love him to death, and I know if I can find him, he can help me out of this wreck.

If I can find him. I feel slightly better now that I've eaten something, so I went out and started wandering the city, hoping I would randomly come across his street as I walked.

No. No I did not. I passed by several different residential sections in town, but none of them were like his, so I kept walking. I walked basically all that day, and did not find him or his house or anything else that might have been even remotely helpful. I wandered into this park some time before sundown…at least that's what time I assume it was, since the sky had remained overcast and I hate watches. I walked up to a random park bench that I really meant to just sit down on, but that I ended up practically falling onto instead. I lay curled up on the hard metal. It was cold and my clothes still weren't dry. All I wanted was to be warm again…

And then I was waking up. Waking up on a park bench is actually really uncomfortable. Every part of me ached, and I was so cold I thought I was going to die. My throat felt raw and I could not feel my nose. I decided to get up, and walk, because I would probably be warmer if I was walking.

I was shivering and my teeth were actually chattering – which has never happened to me before – and then I walked by this one street and...and I don't know, but I was pretty sure this was his street. It looked like his street. The houses were all trashy and small and exactly the same. There was loud music blaring from one of the houses near me. There were crappy cars and a few random people on the sidewalks. There was this one guy pushing a mini-bike into his house so no one would steal it while he's gone. Yeah, I think this is his street.

I'm not really sure about it because the few times I've been here, Gee was the one driving, and I don't pay attention to where we're going when he's driving. I'd rather pay attention to him.

I wasn't even really sure what side of the street Quinn's house was on. I remembered it had white vinyl siding though. Kind of like that house up there. Actually…no, I think that actually is his house. It doesn't have all the random junk outside like these other houses do. The black shutters look like his. Yeah, I think this is it.

I skipped up the porch steps in a state of mounting ecstasy. I was going to hang out with Quinn, I would get to see Quinn, and talk with Quinn, and just generally be with Quinn, and it was going to be awesome! Best day ever. I reached out my hand and rang the door bell. I had to push the button twice to get it to work. And then I waited impatiently for my friend to answer the door.

Finally the door swung open.

"Can I help you?" asked this skeptical-looking middle-aged woman.

Oh crap.

"Um…is Quinn Allman home?" I asked, even though I knew this wasn't his mom. Even if it was, Quinn had moved out a few months ago, so this couldn't be his house.

"I have no idea who you're talking about," she said, closing the door.

Ew. That didn't work.

I moved down the street, knocking on the door of every house with white plastic siding I could find. Some people asked me if they could help, some opened the door and slammed it closed again. I must have looked pretty bad, haha. Then finally, this one door opened…I was not expecting anything good, since the last person had opened their door just long enough to catch sight of me and had closed it immediately, muttering disgustedly, "Get off my porch, you fucking moron." So I wasn't expecting good things.

And what I got was Quinn.

I was so surprised to see him that I didn't even speak.

"Bert?" he said, looking like he thought I was somehow someone else.

"Yeah," I said. That was literally all I could say.

"Dude, what…what happened to you, you look like you slept in a ditch."

"Yeah," I said again, nodding.

"Okay, come in. And explain."

I stepped over the threshold and Quinn grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back into his room, demanding an explanation for my sorry state. My clothes were still damp, and my hair was still damp, and I was probably really filthy from lying in that ditch.

I told him about all the things I had done and all the things my mom had done and how I had run away, while letting him drag me back into his room where he found me a t-shirt that wasn't crumpled and dirty or lying on the floor. He handed it to me and I immediately pulled off my filthy hoodie and my damp t-shirt, pulling his over my head. It smelled nice.

"Okay," said Quinn. "Dude. I think you're sick in the head. But you were always sick in the head."

"Thanks, Quinn," I answered, grinning in a state of bleary, hungry, sleep-deprived, just-found-my-best-friend ecstasy.

"So where are you going?"

"I don't know." "You don't know?"

"No idea. Just going." Quinn paused for a moment, looking at the wall, and then turned back to me. "What if you just stayed?"

"Why would I want to stay? Quinn, how could I stay with her, she's a monster, and…"

"No, not with her. I mean with me. Would you want to just stay with me?"

My brain stopped working for a moment. I had not been planning on staying with him at all, even for a night, I just thought, because he lives here, and I was here, I need to go and find him. I hadn't been planning on staying with anyone at all. I don't know what I was planning.

"With you?" I asked numbly.

"Yeah." He kicked his foot against the floor, not really looking at me, like he thought I didn't want to and I was going to say no. "I was kind of thinking I needed someone else to help with the rent and stuff and I mean, you…"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, man, of course I will."

Quinn looked up, his eyes excited. "Awesome! Okay, but you will need to help me pay the rent and everything, I can't just let you freeload…"

"No, I'll work, I'll find something." "Awesome. Come on, are you hungry, when was the last time you ate?"

"Um…" I wasn't really sure. Was that yesterday? "Like…yesterday morning…or something." I really had no idea what time it was when I walked into that diner.

"Dude," Quinn said, stopping and turning to give me a serious look. I was rubbing my arms and trying not to let my teeth chatter anymore. Quinn's look got more serious but slightly more caring. "You're freezing aren't you?"

"I'm dying."

"Okay. Go, bathroom's over there, take a shower and get cleaned up. I'll find you something dry to wear, okay?"

I nodded, still clutching at my arms. I didn't realize I wasn't moving until Quinn walked around me and began pushing me down the hall towards the bathroom. "Bert, you're ice-cold," he informed me, still pushing against my shoulder blades. "I think you're lucky to be alive, man."

"Dumb luck," I responded, stepping into the bathroom. The first thing I saw was my face in Quinn's bathroom mirror. I looked kind of blue, I thought. And my hair looked worse than normal. I thought my face looked really pale, and my eyes had deep, dark circles around them that had nothing to do with liner.

I was snapped out of my contemplation as Quinn turned on the water in the shower. I turned automatically toward the sound. Water did not look nice at all, but the steam drifting from it looked fantastic.

"I'll be back," said Quinn, clapping me on the shoulder on his way out.

I followed him with my eyes until he had stepped around the door and was out of sight. The door was open half-way, and I didn't bother closing it as I stripped out of my old clothes plus Quinn's t-shirt. I stepped into the water and it was so fucking hot I actually screamed. I heard Quinn's voice faintly from somewhere outside, saying something like, "Hey, Bert, be careful, I bet the water's hot."

"Whatever!" I shouted back, forcing myself to step under the water again and stay there, even though it felt like the water was burning my skin off.

I heard Quinn's footsteps in the bathroom and this sound which I associated with clothes being thrown on the floor. "Brought you something to wear. Hope it fits. I'm gonna see what there is to eat, okay? Don't drown yourself while I'm gone." For some reason, all of that struck me as really sweet of him. I felt slightly teary, which wasn't really that surprising…I cry all the time, I just do. "Thanks, Quinn," I murmured, but I think he was already gone.

I finished showering and turned off the water. I groaned, but not really from any sort of pain. I didn't feel cold anymore; it felt like I'd been cold forever. I felt clean, and nice, and…really, really hungry. I stepped out to see what clothes Quinn had left for me. A black Nirvana t-shirt…I liked that…and dark wash skinny jeans. I have never worn skinny jeans in my life. I like baggy shorts, I think they look better. Unless you're talking about Gerard, in which case, he looks awesome in skinny jeans. He used to buy these women's skinnies, 'cause he could never find any for guys, and they were so loose around the hips that a lot of times they would just fall down without warning. It was hilarious. I think I'm smiling just from thinking about it as I examined the ones Quinn had left for me. They were dark blue, not black like Gerard's, and I couldn't imagine I would look as good in them as he always does in his. But whatever.

Dressed, my hair still dripping, I left the bathroom to look for Quinn.

I found him in the kitchen, which was small and dirty; several beer bottles and unwashed plates littered the counter. He looked around when I came in. "Yeah, sorry about the mess," he said, gesturing to the counter. "The band was over at my house the other day."

"How is the band?" I asked him. Quinn played guitar in this three-piece band called Dumb Luck. I heard they've written music but they don't really have a vocalist.

"Okay, it's kind of awkward right now, though, 'cause…"

I don't really know what he said after that, because he had opened the fridge and was standing half-inside it while he searched for something to eat. I probably would have asked, but he emerged from the fridge for just a moment, setting a white take-out box on the counter and saying, "I probably should throw this out, it's been in here for like a week or something…" before returning to the fridge. My eyes had fixed on the box though. I practically ran to the counter and jumped up to sit on it, taking the box and opening it. It was old Chinese food, like some kind of chicken something. I honestly did not care how old it was, or that it was cold; I opened a drawer with my foot and found a slightly bent fork, and ravenously began to eat. I haven't eaten meat in several months, just to annoy my parents, so it was kind of weird to break my fast on cold Chinese food. Oh em gee, it tasted like life.

Quinn glanced back over his shoulder at me. "…Or you could eat it, that would be cool too." He closed the refrigerator door and came to sit beside me, taking one of the crab rangoons from the take-out box.

"So," he said. "There's basically nothing in my refrigerator. Need to go shopping. Have no money, so can't go shopping, but whatever. I'll get paid tomorrow and we can go somewhere. But tonight, I've got nothing."

"You know anyone that's having a party?" I asked, looking up at him. That was basically my solution to everything. Need something, crash a party.

"I know a friend who's going to some guy's random party," he answered. "I mean, I know this guy who's sort of my friend. I don't like him that much," he mused. "But we could crash."

"I wanna crash."

"You think we should crash?"

"We should definitely crash."

"It's done then, we're gonna crash."

I gazed into Quinn's icy blue eyes and giggled. I couldn't help it. And he laughed at my giggling, and then we were both laughing, and then the whole situation was just so absurd that we couldn't stop. I mean, we were sitting on the counter in Quinn's house, when neither of us had expected to see each other today at all, and I was wearing Quinn's clothes, not to mention I was wearing skinny jeans, which is absurd in itself, and we were eating cold Chinese food and planning to crash this guy's party 'cause we have no money and no food except the cold Chinese food we're already eating. This. Is so. Absurd.

And now I want cold chinese food...

Xoxo,

Rebel Rose