(Kid Rock)
Livin' my life in a slow hellDifferent girl every night at the hotel
I ain't seen the sunshine in three damn days
Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whisky
Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her
Twister arrived home from Madtown to an empty house later that evening. His parents were out running errands and Lars hadn't come home yet. He plopped down on the couch and thought about the day. He'd had a good time skating with Autumn, David and Chris. They were really impressed with his moves. He hung out with them until they said that they had to go. Upon leaving, Autumn gave him her number and asked if he wanted to get together tomorrow. He accepted her offer.
Otto and Sam left Madtown hours before him to go surf and they weren't back yet. He wished that he had someone to talk to because now that he was all alone again, thoughts of Reggie started to creep back into his mind. He liked Autumn a lot. She was pretty and seemed sweet, but he knew that she could never be a replacement for the bond that he and Reggie had shared since childhood.
Sighing, he glanced out the large front window and noticed two figures blading up the street. The forms were fuzzy, but he could still recognize them as Reggie and Lars. They were holding hands. He got up from the couch and watched as Lars escorted her to her front door where they paused to talk for a few minutes. Before Lars turned to leave, he kissed her.
Twister's stomach churned in revulsion. He turned away cursing and angrily kicked over a chair. He looked out the window again and saw Lars heading toward their house. To avoid questions from his parents, he quickly propped the chair back up then hurried up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. He didn't want to see his brother's face right now.
He sat on
his bed and put his head in his hands.
It was beginning to pound from an oncoming headache. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the
picture of the four of them at the beach in front of their surfboards. It had been there all along; usually he
never even took the time to glance at it.
As if seeing it for the first time, he picked it up and studied it. They all looked so happy. He wondered why things couldn't be like that
again. Fat drops of liquid splattered
on the glass frame as the tears fell from his eyes. He missed her so much. If
only she missed him, maybe everything would work out. It seemed like that thought was hopeless though because it
appeared that she and Lars were hitting it off just fine.
He opened his nightstand drawer and carefully placed the picture in it, face
down. He couldn't bring himself to look
at her anymore. It was time to get on
with his life.
He fumbled in his pocked for the piece of paper that Autumn had written her number on. He pulled it out and stared at it, trying to build up his nerve. Finally, he took a deep breath and picked up the phone. She answered on the second ring.
"Hello."
"Hi…um…is Autumn home?" Twister asked nervously. He asked the question even though he recognized her voice because he didn't know what else to say.
"This is Autumn." She said.
"Oh, Hi, This is Twister."
"Hey Twister. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. What's up?"
"I…uh…I know we aren't supposed to hang out until tomorrow, but everyone bailed on me. I can't stand sitting her by myself so I was wondering if you want to do something tonight." He sputtered quickly.
"Sure." She replied.
"It's not but a few miles. I can blade there in about fifteen minutes. Where do you want to meet?" He asked.
"Just meet us down on the beach at 3rd street. There's an abandoned fishing pier there. That's where we usually hang out."
"Okay, I'll see you there in half an hour."
"Great! I can't wait." She said.
He hung up the phone with mixed emotions. Part of him was excited about seeing Autumn again, but he also felt that doing this made it final that it was really over between he and Reggie.
Reluctantly, Twister drug himself out of his room to go downstairs where he knew that he would have to face Lars. He found him in the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat.
Lars turned around when he heard Twister approach. "What's up bro? I didn't know you were here."
"I was in my room. I'm getting ready to leave though."
"Where you heading?" Lars asked casually, trying to act like everything was normal between them.
Twister's eyes darkened with anger. He didn't know how Lars could stand there and act like everything was okay after being off with Reggie all day. He had to know that Twister still cared about her. Twister wanted nothing more than to whomp him until he begged for mercy, but he tried to stay cool. "Just off with some friends."
"What other friend do you have besides Rocketdork and Squid", Lars asked.
"I met some people at Madtown today. This girl Autumn, her brother and his friend."
"Oh." Lars was surprised. "I'm glad you're not letting this thing with Reggie get you down."
That was it—Twister couldn't take it anymore. "Like you care Lars! You totally made it so I didn't even have a chance!" He yelled.
"What the hell are you talking about man?" Lars looked confused.
"You know what I'm talking about! I saw you kiss her!."
"SO? You said you didn't care. You were cool with it this morning."
"I was still bent. You should have known that! You didn't have to ask her out t he very next day after we broke up!"
"Look Dork, I asked you and you said it was cool. Don't get aggro on me with this bullshit just because you feel bad now" Lars said angrily.
"But…" Twister started, but Lars cut him off.
"But nothing dork! You said it and it's too damn late to take it back. Now get out of my face before I whomp you!"
Twister glared at him hatefully then stomped out the door. Deep down, he knew that Lars was right and it really wasn't his fault, but he felt that Lars was wrong for moving so fast. Sighing, he put on his blades and headed toward Sunset Beach.
*****
Sunset Beach was a town a lot like Ocean Shores, only not as crowded. It didn't have all the tourist attractions that brought shoobies from miles around to Ocean Shores. When Twister arrived at the 3rd Street beach, it was nearly deserted. On a typical mid-summer evening in Ocean Shores, the beach would still be packed with people swimming, walking or just hanging out.
He looked around and saw three people sitting on the edge of the small, broken-down pier. He recognized them as Autumn, David and Chris. She waved at him and motioned for him to come over.
They exchanged greetings as he approached. He immediately noticed that the bottles in their hands were not sodas.
"We were just talking about what a blast we had today." Autumn said.
"Yeah, you have some killer moves, bro. Did Rocket teach them to you?" David asked.
"Some of them. Actually we teach each other." Twister said, slightly annoyed. He hated how everyone always thought that the only reason he was good was directly related to Otto being his friend.
"Sweet." David said.
"Well don't just stand there—sit down, relax, have a beer." Autumn patted the ground beside her in a gesture for him to sit there.
"How'd you get that?" Twister asked nervously as he sat and took off his blades.
"My brother gets it for us. He's twenty-two." Chris said.
"So are you up for one, or what bro?" David asked. He took a cold bottle from the cooler beside him and offered it to Twister.