MJ was woken up at 4am with the sound of his Jack Russell – Homer - barking. He'd spent several hours searching for the perfect dog with AJ. It had been at the local pound that he'd found the perfect companion, a one-year-old Jack Russell formerly named Rover. He'd had the dog for three weeks now.
He growled and went downstairs, finding the dog in the conservatory. The next-door neighbour's cat was sat on top of the glass roof, staring down at poor Homer.
"Oh Whisky, you're such a mean cat," He said as he grabbed a broom and tapped gently on the roof. It was enough to get the cat to move. Once she was gone, he led his dog into the utility room, and locked the conservatory. "Stay in here, Homer," he ordered in the tone he used to use when speaking to his troops. That did the trick. "Night," he said, patting him on the head and then closing the door behind him. "Well...morning, I guess," he added from the lounge, after glancing over at the clock.
When he got upstairs, he headed down the hall straight to his room, and dove in to his extremely comfortable double bed. "Mmmm."
He woke up again 3 hours later, and immediately stretched and then got up. He took a shower and then returned to his room, searching through his wardrobe for a decent outfit. He settled on a pair of black jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt. He grinned - AJ loved this shirt. Well, she did kind of like all his tour shirts, but she especially liked this one.
He fed Homer, and then had his breakfast, quickly scanned through the mail, and then cleaned his teeth and brushed his hair. He was ready for 7:30 am exactly. He grabbed his bag and his jacket, locked up the house and then headed to the bus stop, where he found AJ waiting for him, as usual.
"Hey Johnny," She smiled. "Don't you just hate Mondays?"
"Nope," Johnny replied, "I look forward to them."
"Freak," she laughed.
"I look forward to seeing you," he winked. "I wore Sabbath just for you. Anyway, I was, uh, thinking...would you..." He was stuttering now. He had been an Air Force Colonel, and Second In Command of the most important facility in the world, and he couldn't pluck up the courage to ask Abby-Joanne Everett-Roper out. Weird.
"Like to go to the prom?" She finished his sentence. He nodded. "I'd love to." Johnny sighed with relief, and then took hold of her hand. "You've been here for like a month and we've only been on one date, MJ! I was waiting for you to ask again."
"Well, we'll fix that on Friday won't we?" He growled as the bus pulled up. He let go of her hand as they boarded. "So when is CTD's next practise?" He asked as they sat down near the back.
"Tomorrow at your place?" She said, hoping that was okay. She had already told the other CTD band members. CTD stood for Circling the Drain – Abby's rock band.
"That's cool with me," he nodded, putting his arm around her. They were very close friends after only a month. The same was true with he and Gracie, and the rest of The Cliffhangers. But he sure as hell didn't like Luke the same way as he liked AJ. "Hows 5?"
"5 is good," Abby replied. She rolled her eyes as they reached the next stop, and Cassandra Frasier climbed on. She sat in the middle of the bus with the cheerleaders, but looked back at Johnny and smiled.
"Hi, Johnny."
"Hey Cassy," Johnny nodded casually. He then turned his attention back to Abby. "What? She's just being friendly is all."
"Sure."
"O'NEILL. O'NEILL. O'NEILL," Johnny snapped out of his day dream to find Miss Girardi, the English teacher, staring at him. "Mr O'Neill, glad you could join us. Could you read the next page please?"
He knew he was turning red as he turned the page in his book and began to read.
Once he had finished, Cassandra looked back at him and rolled her eyes at Girardi. The bell rang, and he left the classroom, Cassandra in tow. He turned around and smiled. "Hi, Cassy. What's up?"
"MJ...I was just wondering if you had a date for the dance yet?" She asked hopefully. She could get anyone in the school, but she wanted him. Kinda flattering, but really sick in his mind. He had known her since she was like...11, without her knowing it.
"Actually, I do," He replied uncomfortably, scratching his head. "Maybe next time, right? I asked Abby Roper this morning."
"Oh," Cass nodded, putting on an uber fake smile. "Well, yeh, maybe next time. I think Joe might actually be asking me."
"That's cool, Joe is very nice," he nodded. He felt bad as he walked away, but knew she'd find someone else very easily. He looked miserable as he caught up with Abby. She gave him a 'tell me what happened' look, and he did. "I ran in to Cassy, she wanted me to ask her to the prom."
"She'll find someone by next lesson, I bet you," Abby laughed. "She'll be fine, don't worry. So, are you coming to Chemistry, or what?"
That night, Johnny's house was invaded by Cliffhangers. By four o'clock, they had all arrived and were sat in his living room.
He and Abby were sat on one couch, with Gracie sprawled over the other. Luke and Whit were on the floor, playing on the PS2, and Alex was in the chair. Johnny's new CD was playing in the background.
"And then I said..."
"Hang on," Johnny told AJ, standing up. "I need another drink. You want anything?" He had stocked up on real lemonade knowing she loved it.
"Uh, maybe a water?" She requested, grinning as Homer padded up to her. "Hey Homey!"
"What, no pink lemonade?" He grinned. She was addicted to that stuff!
"No, if I'm going to the prom I need to get in to a dress," she smiled. "I'll have water...preferably bottled?"
"Yep," He nodded, "It's been in the fridge." He shrugged, and went in to the kitchen. "Oh!" He shouted, "Does anyone else want anything?"
There was a pause, and a discussion, and then Abby replied, "Chips for Luke if you have some."
He was glad he had been to the store the day before. "Coming up," he called, taking a bag of Doritoes from the cupboard. He peered around the lounge door and tossed the bag to Abby. He returned a minute later with a lemonade for himself and a water for Abby. "There we go."
"Thanks." The chips were passed around, and he took a few.
"Ab?" He offered.
"Excuse me a second," AJ said as she stood up. "Which bathroom?"
"Uh, upstairs, main one," he suggested. "My aunt hasn't finished decorating the one down here."
Abby nodded and jogged up the stairs, leaving him to stuff his face with chips. "Oh no, Luke, you're losing," he announced, watching the game. "I can beat Whit in my sleep and he's beating you!"
Pretty soon, the game was over and Luke sighed. "I can't believe you beat me! Re-match!" Abby returned from upstairs and reclaimed her place next to MJ. "Hey Johnny, we decided it's time."
"Time?" Johnny frowned. "Time for what?"
"For you to become an Official Cliffhanger," Gracie exclaimed, almost giggling with excitement. "Cool huh?"
"I thought I was already."
"Not fully," Gracie replied. "So on Saturday, you have to live up to the name and go Cliffhanging."
"Huh?" He was confused. He'd been hanging with this group for a month already.
"We're taking you rock climbing, duh," Abby explained, punching him playfully in the arm.
"Oh, cooly," he nodded, tickling her. "Oh, you're ticklish are you? Good to know. So...why rock climbing? I mean, I love it, but..."
"To celebrate, and just because it's fun," Luke shrugged. "Not afraid of heights, or anything, are you?"
Johnny tried not to snort at that question. He had been to other worlds, and he'd been on spaceships, and battled with the galaxy's scariest. Heights were not a problem for him. Well, he remembered doing all those things. The clone version, namely, him, hadn't done all of those things. Though he had been on a spaceship. But, still, heights – easy.
"Nope."
"Good. Then we'll meet here Saturday at 10," Luke decided. "Whit, prepare to lose. I am going to kick your ass this time."
Whit laughed, "Yeah right." They started playing again, and Gracie got up and searched through the shelf of CDs above the stereo, picking out a modern band. "I haven't heard this yet."
"You can borrow it if you want," Johnny offered. He wasn't that keen on it himself. "So, Gray, who are you going to the dance with?"
"Cooly, thanks. Nobody yet. But rumour is Scott might ask," she shrugged. "I have the perfect dress. It's pink." She grabbed the bag of chips from the arm of the couch and then sat down. "Oh these are addictive."
"Aren't they?" He agreed. "Oh, I think Homer wants his dinner. Back in a sec."
Johnny and the guys managed to get lifts to the 'Snow Center' where they usually went to rock climb.
He put the rest of The Cliffhangers to shame, when he reached the top of the wall and then abseiled down faster than even Luke.
After the climbing, they went to see a movie, had a coffee in Starbucks and finally finished off the day at the Indoor Ski Slope.
Then, on the drive home, Abby and Johnny started to get nervous. It was their first gig with Johnny, the next day, and he wasn't certain he was ready.
Jonathan 'MJ' O'Neill arrived at the venue – a very trendy local hang out called Pasdar's – to find quite a crowd gathering. There was a Circling the Drain poster on the door. He nodded to Gracie, who was on the door, handling admission, and she lead him backstage to Abby, leaving Piper Everett-Roper to take over.
"Hey, are you nervous?" Gracie asked, as they walked. She stopped and opened the door. "Okay, here we are. Backstage. You know they have really good professional bands on here, so it's uber cool that you guys are here."
"Yes, quite nervous," he admitted. He ventured inside the room, and Gracie smiled and headed back to her post. Inside the room he found Abby and Kodie applying their make-up. "Hey."
"Hey!" Abby grinned, running over to him and giving him a big hug. "Don't worry! You're going to do fine!"
"I wish I could be that sure," he smiled. "Hi Kodie."
"Johnny," The blue haired girl nodded. Well, actually, her hair was kind of black and blue. Mostly blue. "Bridge and Shannon will be here soon. Are you ready?"
"Actually, I'm gonna change my shirt," He replied. "Where is the bathroom?"
"Change in here," Abby laughed. "It's only your shirt."
"Okay, well you wanna take yours off in here, too?" He grinned. Abby shook her head, grinning, and he took his shirt off and pulled the Flyboy one from his bag. "Okay. So, I am now ready. When do we go on?"
"Fifteen minutes," Kodie said as she put on her choker. "There. Perfect. Anyone want drinks?"
"Sure, can I get a water please?" Abby asked, as she brushed her hair.
Johnny shook his head, and then nodded, "Changed my mind. Lemonade please. Actually, I will grab a sandwich. AJ and I can split it. Cheese and Tomato toastie, right?" He recalled. She nodded.
"...proud to present a local band who have played here three times already. This time they are back with a new drummer, Mr. MJ O'Neill. Please give a warm welcome to Circling The Drain!" The Manager announced. The band came on stage and he returned to man the counter.
"Hey there," Abby said, with a huge smile. "How you doin? I'd just like to thank you guys for bugging them to get us back again, and I'd like to welcome MJ. This is his first gig, so don't screw up, O'Neill." she winked. "Okay, this is the first song we ever wrote. This is Troubled."