Let there be a record of your gorgeous voice
The turn of phrase that filled my days with joy
Something like Bing singing soft and low
As you turn to go
-The 6ths, As You Turn To Go
Chapter Twenty-Two: Back to Reality
"Soooo..." Jessica slid down onto a fold up chair and glanced around her. She gave Mush a strange look. "I didn't know Ryan had a boyfriend."
"We've only been together like... a month." He shrugged. "So you're the girl that Spot--" Spot kicked him, hard, and he winced.
Jessica sighed a little. "Yeah; well, the whole hitting on the gay guy thing didn't work out so well."
"It worked for me." Mush grinned.
"You have the advantage of being male." She gave him a look, and said to no one in particular, "I like him."
"He's my husband," Sophia answered.
There was a pause, and they strained to hear what was going on inside. It sounded like just people talking.
"So, uh... Dutchy," Jessica mumbled.
"Is a freak," Jack supplied, and David shoved him. "Well, he is. In a good way, I mean, I love him."
"Not like you love David," Spot answered immediately, and Jack leaned over and hit him. "Bitch," Spot added. "Like I ain't beat up enough already."
"I though you were fine?" Jack snapped back.
"Fucker." Spot flipped him off.
Sophia sighed. "Ignore them."
And Mush added, "Dutchy is..." He couldn't really think of an adjective, and shrugged. But luckily, he didn't have to finish anyway, because the sound of the opening drum-and-bass section of the cover song filtered in from the audition room.
No one said anything, and Blink started singing, his voice literally reeking of sex as he echoed Damon Albarn's original vocals.
The guitar came in.
Jessica's eyes widened a little, and she smiled.
The mix was off, so it was hard to make out the actual words of the song; but even without words, the vocals were overwhelming, as though they were simply another instrument. And when they heard Blink go into the chorus, hitting the high note, everyone turned to Mush.
Mush, clearly, was in his happy place.
"Aah, he's so hot," Mush smiled. "I wanna have sex right now."
"Get away from me," Jack shuddered. "Anyway, Dutchy likes Tony. So, about me, Jess--"
"Would you stop being a fucker?" Sophia snapped. Jack gave her a simpery smile and she rolled her eyes. "Dutchy doesn't like Tony--"
"Does too," David, Jack and Mush all said. Spot was glowering.
"Fucking doesn't matter," he snapped, and looked at Jessica. "Jess, just go fuck Dutch and do us all a favor."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't just have sex with people, you know. You were a special case."
"Why?"
"Why do you think?"
Spot sighed and averted his eyes, ending the conversation. Mush broke in quickly to avoid an awkward silence. "You wanna date Dutchy?"
Jessica laughed. "If he knows how to talk."
Mush made a slightly confused place. "Uh... does he? 'Cause really I've only known him since the drug thing and..."
David kind of shrugged. "He's a pretty quiet guy."
Jack finally decided to contribute something worthwhile to the conversation and put in, "So... You actually interested in him or just rebounding? 'Cause... Yeah, he's not really in a place where he could deal too well with it if you fuck with his head or anything."
Jessica looked a little taken aback, then shrugged. "I don't know. I'd like to get to know him a little more. But he seems pretty... Cool."
"He is," Jack agreed.
"And he's pretty hot. In a skinny blond kind of way..."
Spot smirked a little. "He so owes me."
The song wound down, and the group was quiet again, waiting for the next one.
The music started, and everyone listened for a few seconds.
"Good thing they're playing this," David said. "They've been playing it forever."
"Sounds better with Tony," Jack said. Spot glanced at him and grinned a little. Jack shrugged, and they didn't say anything else.
"...Dutchy's good," Jessica noted. "Is he a bit fast?"
"Just a little," David answered. "But wait...no, he's good, he caught himself."
"Spot," Sophia said quietly, so no one would hear but him. "Spot, do you think Steve's gonna jump you and Tony again?"
Spot glanced at her, and sighed. "I dunno...Tony should be fine."
"I'm worried about you too, you know."
"Don't. We'll both be fine."
Sophia nodded, and hung her head. "Is he happy at your house?"
"We're doing what we can."
"Okay."
"You miss him?"
"Yeah."
"Tell him that."
"I will."
Sophia pulled her knees up to her chest. "Dad is insane," she mumbled. "I can't believe he..." She trailed off. "He's got some business meeting in Chicago this weekend, so if Mom goes out, Tony can come over and get anything else he needs... Izzy's coming home as soon as she can, hopefully she'll be able to... Yeah."
"You think she'll be able to help?" David asked.
"Not... Not really. I've never seen Dad this pissed before. But... It can't hurt..." She sighed a little. "He'll calm down. He has to."
"Sure," Spot muttered. "He'll calm down, but he's still a fucking bigot."
Sophia swallowed hard, and nodded, then leant back against the wall and tried to just listen to the music. She and David had told Mush everything that had happened at school earlier that day; Jessica didn't really know, but suspected she had a pretty good idea of what they were talking about.
The music stopped again, and this time, the silence that followed seemed kind of serious. Sophia looked sad. The mood started to spiral down.
Though Spot didn't say anything to her, he gave her arm a little pat, and that was all he did. Sophia appreciated it.
"Make sure he eats alright," Sophia said to Spot, then backtracked. "Or...more than you."
"He's Godzilla," Jack told her. "Yeah, box of two dozen donuts? Gone in an hour."
"He's like that."
The music started again, and they all listened for a moment, and slowly turned to Sophia, grinning.
She was beet red.
Jessica seemed really impressed by the ballad as they heard Itey begin singing the first verse. She sighed. "That's... god, that's the sweetest thing ever. Steve never said anything like that about me."
"Steve is a dick," Spot pointed out, then, "Screw Dutchy and you'll probably end up with a song, too."
"I'm not gonna sleep with him just to--" She broke off, listening to the lyrics. "...I might."
Sophia was still grinning, and Mush ruffled her hair fondly. It was funny, how her hair could be ruffled without getting messed up at all.
"He's so great," she murmured.
"Yeah, yeah," Jack muttered.
"Jack..." Jessica sighed. "You have a girlfriend. Her name is Sarah."
"But Sophia's hotter."
Which led to an awkward silence, because it was a compliment, and yet so skeevy. Finally, David settled on kicking him, and Sophia shushed them all, declaring the song was at her favorite part.
"Your boy's not so great at the keyboard," Spot mused to Blink, when Sophia's sigh indicated her favorite section was over.
"He hasn't had lessons since he was six!" Mush answered.
"Yeah, well, Itey and Dutch have never had lessons and THEY can play fine," Spot shrugged.
"Leave Blinkee alone..." Mush pouted.
"He's my best friend, I can do what I want to him."
"Can't!"
"Can."
"Ssshhh!" Sophia hit them both on the head. "He's singing about me, idiots, I wanna hear."
"'I wanna heaarrr'," Spot mimicked. She threatened him again by raising her hand, and he stuck his tongue out.
Finally the song was done, and Jessica pouted at Sophia. "You're so lucky."
"I so am." She sighed happily.
"My boyfriend is hotter," Mush commented.
"Ha," Spot laughed. "My boy is hot and can cook."
"Mine gives better head." Mush grinned.
"OKAY this is that whole 'I don't want to know' territory again!" Sophia snapped, and the door from the band opened. Itey stepped out, looking totally dejected.
"We, uh... Have to pack up, they need the room for the next group." He didn't look too happy.
"You were amazing."
"We SUCKED!" Blink yelled from inside the room. "I totally FUCKED UP the whole fucking keyboard--"
"CHILL!" Race interrupted, and there was a sort of crashing nose, and then, "FUCK, Mush would you CALM HIM DOWN?"
Mush grinned and pushed past everyone into the room.
Itey was leaning dejectedly against the wall, and Sophia sighed and walked over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders and pressing against him.
"Gabe, you were fine." She smiled. "Okay?"
Itey blushed, and grinned. "Heard the song, much?"
She smirked, and gave him a very close hug, and really, Itey's mood was getting better and better, despite what they claimed was a 'horrible' audition.
Blink was whining and sulking to Mush, who was walking him outside, and finally, Jack and David and Jessica went inside to help get their instruments off the stage. Itey and Sophia were preoccupied with gazing stupidly at each other.
Spot walked by Race, carrying part of the drum set.
"It sounded good," he said.
Race snorted.
"Really."
"Whatever."
"Would I refrain from telling you that you suck?"
Race paused. "Good point."
"Thank you. Don't get all Blink on me."
"I really want there to be a dirty comment in that, but I can't quite figure out how to make it." Race sighed. "Great, so I can't drum or insult you. I suck."
"Yeah; you can suck me off later. Shut up, Midgito, you were good."
Which was the closest thing Spot came to being sympathetic or empathetic, and Race knew it, but couldn't bring himself to smile. He knew they weren't totally awful; there was a chance they'd be offered the gig as the opener or something, but they had missed the spark. They hadn't had it more than once or twice in rehearsals, days when they were particularly on, but because Race knew they had the potential to be amazing and didn't manage to hit it, he couldn't be happy. And he knew the others agreed with him, which was why their audition, which had been, objectively, fine, felt so lousy.
He kicked vaguely at the wall before picking up the remaining pieces of his drum set and stalking back out to the van.
The ride back to Blink's was a lot more subdued than the ride to the club had been.
"Life sucks," Sophia said, settling onto the old, worn porch swing outside of Itey's house. She knew she had to get going, but didn't want to leave. She didn't want to go back to the house and see her father acting hostile, or any of the rest of the Family--who kept dropping in and disappearing into her father's office. She could hear them all yelling but was careful to not listen to what they were saying. She just heard Tony's name over and over.
"Yeah," Itey agreed.
"Your audition was fine."
"It was just fine," he countered. "It should have been great."
"It was great."
"You said it was fine."
"Gabriel..." she muttered, and he put an arm around her, glad that the spring weather had swung back around to warm.
"I... know how hard it must be at home for you..." Itey answered quietly. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." She snuggled against him. "Even if Dad says it is."
"He... does?"
"Yeah, he... He blames all of you. Like there was some conspiracy to make Tony gay."
"I'm sorry--"
"It isn't your fault, Gabe. It's no one's fault. I know that, I just..." She trailed off. "I hate this. I want it to be back to normal." She groaned a little. "I never thought I'd miss the days when Dad was only pissed about the drugs..."
Itey hugged her tightly for a minute. "Sophie, Rosetta..." He was sort of proud that she let him use the family nickname for her. "Tony is strong, okay? He... He's really okay; Denise is taking care of him and she knows what she's doing. I mean, she can handle Spot..."
"Yeah, but--"
"And when Jack first moved in he was no prize, either. He was, like... ten or eleven and..." He trailed off. "Kind of messed up, but he turned out pretty cool. So really, if he stays with Denise I think he'll be happy."
"Maria and Izzy and I won't be." She pulled away from him for a second. "I know it's totally selfish but he's my brother and I want him to... To be my brother."
"It's not selfish, Rosetta. It's okay, because you love him." He caught her hand, leaned in and kissed her cheek. "And it'll all be fine, just give it time."
She sighed, and he squeezed her hand. "I wish I could believe that."
"Me too," he said. "...I wish we hadn't messed up the audition."
"That was fine. They said they'd call you tomorrow. You'll see."
"You'll see, too. Maybe not tomorrow but... It'll work out." He kissed her again, gently. "You'll see."
"For the last time, it was FINE!" Spot snapped, as he pulled off his shirt and settled into his bed. "Stop moping around, for fuck's sake, do you know how annoying that is?"
"I don't care!" Race yelped. "Do you know how much potential we have?"
Spot sighed, grabbed his book from the bedside table, and simply began to read while Race started ranting at a fantastic rate about 'combining' and 'getting the magic back' and it was really, really stupid.
"SPOT!" Race jumped next to him on the mattress. "Would you listen? Stop reading!"
"No," Spot said. "You're repeating yourself and it's fucking annoying. Don't read over my should-DON'T." Spot whapped Race's head with his book. "You were fine, okay? All right, so maybe you weren't sweeping the nation, but it's not like they were expecting The Beatles!"
"What are you saying?!" Race sat up on his knees. "That we suck?!"
"I didn't fucking say that!"
"Then what did you say?"
"For fuck's sake, Tony, my head hurts, and my face hurts, and you really have to shut the fuck up!"
Pause. Then Race slid into bed next to him. "You said you were fine."
"I am."
"But--"
"Just don't talk. In fact, unless you're gonna suck me off or something, don't open your mouth at all." Spot went back to his book, and when Race started to say something else, Spot whapped him on the head again with his book.
Race glared and rubbed his head, then rolled over in bed (he'd managed to claim the side next to the wall, which Spot had complained about at great length) and faced the wall. "Cazzo," he mumbled. "What are you reading, anyway?"
"I'm not reading because you won't shut up."
"Bitch."
"Tony." Spot glared over at his boyfriend. "I am tired. My ankle is swollen. My face hurts. My ribs hurt. I just want to sleep. I can't really sleep until I calm down; I calm down by reading. So shut the fuck up and let me read, okay?"
There was a silence just long enough for Spot to turn back to his book, and Race said, "You never mentioned your ankle. I'm going to go get you another ice back."
"Oh for the love of CHRIST!" Spot snapped, as Race climbed over him. "We are never, ever fucking going to live together if every night is like this."
"Every night wouldn't be like this if you weren't such a bitch. Back in a minute." Race walked out of the room.
Spot glared after him for a moment, and went back to his book.
Race hurried down the hall and into the kitchen, where Jack was sitting on the counter, eating a bowl of cheerios. He glanced up, and Race half expected him to...well, do what he always did. Which was act like an ass.
But no. He waved with his spoon.
"...Hey." Race nodded his head, and opened the freezer, searching around for a lunch cooler pack.
"You punched Steve real good today," Jack said, his mouth full.
"Yeah..." Race pulled out the pack and then turned to look at Jack. "So?"
"So, you did it for Sean."
He wasn't calling him Spot, which meant the conversation was kind of serious.
"I know."
"So. That's good."
Race gave him a kind of odd look, then shrugged. "Spot really... Defended himself, I was just pissed..."
"Yeah. Still, though. Nice punch."
"Thanks. I guess. I'm just glad Denise didn't flip out or anything..."
Jack gave him a guilty look, then, "I, uh. Mom... Mom's cool about things like that. But she didn't want to say it to you two 'cause you're both so... Stressed now, or whatever, but she's really pissed. Since she's trying to adopt Sean it'll fuck things up if he's getting in fights and they could take him away and..."
"Shit," Race muttered.
"Yeah."
"Fuck, I didn't even realize--"
"You wouldn't. Sean should have." Jack shrugged. "But yeah, I'm thinking it doesn't really get reported, because Olsen's not the type to admit that a gay guy half his weight beat the crap out of him."
"Let's hope so."
Jack shrugged. "Oh, and the chicken you made for dinner? Rocked."
"It's my only talent. Since I apparently can't drum."
Jack smiled a little. "Whatever. 'Night, Tony. Tell Spot..."
"Yeah?"
"Eh. Tell Spot good night too. Don't have loud sex or anything, I'm going to bed in a few minutes."
Race laughed. "'Night, Jack."
When Race went back inside Spot's room, he was taken aback to see that Spot had fallen asleep, his book lying on his chest. Despite his bruised face and cut bottom lip, he looked beautiful and kind of peaceful, really.
Race sighed, and carefully took the book from his grasp and set it on the table. Luckily, Spot's right leg was peeking out of the covers, and Race carefully set the ice on top, noticing just how swollen the ankle really was.
Spot kept sleeping, and Race had to marvel his talent at...Well, sleeping like a rock.
He didn't usually, Race remembered. Spot was a light sleeper.
That only proved how injured and exhausted he was.
Still, Race stayed awake for a little while. Just to make sure the swelling would go down.
It was right as Race himself was falling asleep that Spot woke up and mumbled, "My ankle's cold."
"Go back to sleep."
Spot reached over, put an arm around Race, and sleepily looked him in the eyes. "You guys rocked."
"Thanks."
"...Loveyou." And Spot pretended to fall back asleep as soon as the words left his mouth, so he could pretend it didn't wreck the macho image he'd been working to uphold all afternoon.
Denise woke them both up early; she'd apparently gotten off the phone with someone at Race's school and had been told he ought to continue to attend classes, at least until the school could contact his parents.
Race was less than thrilled at the thought of facing the school. He remembered the ways everyone had stared at him and whispered about him when he'd first gotten back from rehab; he remembered how incredibly hard it had been for Mush to come out, and he'd done it by choice. Race had been outed.
It was definitely not going to be a good day.
Spot looked a bit better now that he'd showered and washed his hair and really, now the bruise and cut lip looked kind of sexy. Or maybe Spot looked sexy no matter what happened to him.
Jack was calling David, who was going to come and pick up Race and take the bus to school with him. Race realized he'd be using public transit for some time now, something he wasn't looking forward to.
He fished around in his bag for his uniform, and finally found the remains of it, in the corner of the bag. He sighed and pulled off his shirt.
Just then, he felt a hand press into the small of his back, and he gasped a little, and turned around.
Spot was grinning, his hair all wet from the shower.
"Jumpy."
"Can you blame me?" Race asked.
"Paranoia is a sign of cocaine use..." Spot mused, lying down on the bed, still naked from the waste up, with only a towel wrapped around his lower half.
Race suspected he might be drooling. "I have to go to schoooool," he whined.
"Did I say you shouldn't?"
"No, but you're lying there all wet and naked and I want to jump you and you're so doing it on purpose!"
"Would I do that?" Spot asked innocently, making no move to get dressed.
"Yes," Race sulked.
"Your bus isn't for another fifteen minutes..."
Race glanced around, again like he was paranoid, then walked to the door and locked it firmly. "This so has to be fast," he mumbled.
"I have to wash my eyes!"
"Well, that's what you get!"
"Oh god, why!? WHY?!"
"Because Spot's lock doesn't work? I dunno, you should have knocked."
David just shook his head and whimpered in his seat on the bus. The poor young man had made the mistake of barging into Spot's room when Race and Spot had been... Finishing up.
He wasn't taking it very well.
"Well, imagine how WE feel," Race said.
"Not half as bad as me!"
"It's true..." Race checked his watch. "Five minutes away. I'm ready for hell. Does the school hate me more?"
"Tracy does. Her brunette friend, for some reason, thinks you can be cured," David sighed. "God, I want to shoot myself."
"I want Spot," Race pouted. "Davey, will you buy me lunch today?"
"Where's your money?"
Race leaned back in his seat. "I have to save up. I don't live at home now. Duh, idiot."
"You're so full of shit."
Race smiled. "I know."
"...But you're kind of right. God, that's gotta be culture shock for you. First public transit--"
"--'cause it's cheaper than gas for my sexy but now not so much in use car--"
"--and now saving lunch money."
"I was gonna brown bag it with leftovers, but Spot kind of... Distracted me."
"For the love of god, do NOT remind me!"
Race grinned, and realized it would probably be the last time he'd smile that day. At least, until he got back to Spot's after school.
The bus stop was a block from the school, and Race spent the walk trying to build himself up. He forced himself to keep his head held high, to keep his face emotionless, and his stride even. It was actually pretty convincing.
David only knew it was an act because David was sort of his mother, and knew him too well.
They met Mush getting out of his car (looking kind of guilty because both of his best friends had taken the bus), and Race noted that David and Mush were walking carefully on either side of him, kind of protectively.
He was a little startled to realize how much he really loved the two of them, especially once they stepped into the building. It seemed like within a second, the whole place fell silent.
Race glanced around, tried to look bored, then continued to his locker wordlessly. It wasn't until he was done entering the combination that he mumbled, "I hate everything."
"Settle." David gave his back a pat. "No one's saying anything."
"Yeah, they're just staring."
"Don't let 'em know you're hurting."
"Tony," Mush mumbled, talking in his ear. "Just keep up the tough boy, bitch rich boy thing, and people will most likely leave you alone. Okay?"
Race glanced up at him, and had to grin. "Okay. I'll be fine."
"And, you can see Maria and Sophie during lunch," David added. Race shot him a look. "What?"
"Since when did you get permission to call her Sophie?"
"I've known her forever!"
"Shush," Mush scolded.
"I'm just saying," Race sulked. "I have to deal with Itey dating her and Jack hitting on her, and now you--"
"Are friends with her, Jesus." David rolled his eyes. "You're not all mad at Mush, he's her freaking husband."
"Yeah, but he's never gonna try and make a move on her."
Mush rolled his eyes. "I dunno, Tony, as girls go she's not... You know, bad..."
"That was the least convincing thing ever," David laughed. "You're just... Hopelessly gay."
"It's true." Mush smiled. "So it's a good thing Sophie loves me for my fashion sense and not my body."
"So. Phi. A."
Mush and David exchanged looks behind Race, as he began to sort through his locker, realizing he hadn't done any homework since Thursday. So he missed the silent exchange which basically meant that for the day, Mush and David's new favorite game was 'distract Tony so he doesn't lose it.'
"Today is gonna suck," Race muttered, as the bell rang. He started to slam his locker shut, then paused and dug around in his bag. He smiled a little and found a picture Denise had given him the day before; it was a shot she'd managed to take of Spot when he wasn't looking. Spot hated having his picture taken.
He pulled down one of his other pictures and put that up.
Having Spot to look at between periods might make his day a little better.
But it was still gonna suck.
Lunch time was...well, a lot better than Race had expected it to be.
He'd just been stepping out of the school to go and see Maria down at the girls' school, and instead she came tearing up the stairway and into his arms, babbling on and on about how she missed him and everything sucked and when was he going to make up with his father.
Sophia was close behind her, smirking, and she went to sit on the steps with Mush and David, who both had bag lunches.
"She hasn't stopped talking about him," Sophia said, taking a carrot stick from Mush.
"He hasn't stopped thinking about her," David replied. "Did you bring a lunch?"
"Forgot one."
"Don't turn into Spot."
"No, I actually did." Sophia sighed. "This morning was...Really weird. Dad rushed out of the house, yelling about business and how bad it was getting and something about no one keeping their word. It was a hectic morning, so I didn't get a chance to make lunch."
"Tony didn't, either, I hear," Mush mused.
David hit him. Hard. Significantly harder than he'd hit Scott the day before.
"What was that about?" Sophia asked.
"That's one of those questions you really don't want me to answer," David told her, and shuddered.
"Ew, that's more of an answer than I needed."
"I tried," he said.
She sighed. "He's... Kinda going overboard, isn't he? I mean, I know he and Spot like each other and are horny teenage boys or whatever, but really, I think they're just doing... things... so often because he kind of wants to prove something to my dad, or... Something."
David nodded a little. "That's about what I figured. Hopefully they'll calm down."
"Shhh," Mush hissed, and waved as Racetrack walked up. "Where's the baby?"
"I, uh..." He shrugged and sat down. "I convinced her to go eat with her friends like usual, 'cause... Yeah, I don't want the rumors and shit to start affecting her, and if spends too much time with me..." He kicked the stair with his heel. "It fucking sucks but I don't want her to get totally screwed over by this."
"It'll blow over," David told him.
"Sure, whatever."
"It will. The cocaine thing did." He sighed, and shoved half of his sandwich Race. "Eat, you'll feel better."
"Thanks, Mom."
Mush glanced ruefully at his own lunch, then handed it to Sophia.
The siblings exchanged looks. "Didn't you used to have other friends?" Race asked Sophia.
"Yours are more fun. Thanks, Mushee."
Race grinned and Mush opened his mouth in surprise. "But you were the queen bee! Well," he gave her head a pat, "you're sexy and beautiful, of course you were, but you left them for us?"
She smiled. "I don't like being the queen bee."
"Yeah, that's Mush," David said, biting in to his sandwich. Race snorted into his milk, and gave David a high five.
Sophia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I've been getting bugged by some girls. They all hate me."
"Because you're beautiful," Mush supplied.
"No, it's...never mind, I just don't like them." Sophia ate at her carrot stick. "Davey? Would you talk to Jack?"
"What about?"
"Being a perverted dick?"
David laughed, which didn't help Race stop laughing, because David's laugh was purely ridiculous. "Yeah, I'll..." David snickered. "Jack's never gonna stop being perverted. It's what he does."
"Could he not do it to me?" she whined.
"You want me to talk to him, Rosetta?" Race asked.
She rolled her eyes. "No; you have to live with him, and you're stupid anyway. Just, you know... If he'd freaking leave Gabe alone..."
"He's just joking, he knows you and Itey are happy," David assured her. "And you can always kick him in the groin if he's being too much of an ass."
"Wow, you're violent the last few days," Mush laughed. "Between that comment and Scott yesterday--"
"Speak of the devil." David nodded down the hallway, where Scott Blake was standing at his locker, glaring at them.
"Ugh," Sophia wrinkled her nose. "Mush, Davey, I'm so proud of you two. Even if you punch like a girl." She gave David a pat on the back.
Race wasn't laughing any more. He was glowering at Scott, a serious frown on his face. Mush and David joined in on the looks, but Sophia just looked worried.
"Tony, please don't fight," she said. "Okay? I hate it when you fight."
"Shut up, Rosetta," Race snapped. "He's coming over."
"DON'T tell me to shut up--"
"SSH."
"Hey!" Mush broke in. "We don't have to act like we're scared of him!"
Race snorted. "I'm NOT."
They fell silent as Scott kept walking towards them, and paused a few feet away. He smirked and just muttered, "Faggots," and started walking again, trying to head up the stairs.
No one moved to let him through.
He looked down at them, vaguely disgusted.
"How's your nose, Scotty?" Racetrack asked flatly.
Scott glared at him, then shoved past the group, up the stairs, around the corner and out of sight.
Everyone let out a visible breath, and David muttered, "Fuckhead," under his breath.
"You didn't hit him," Sophia said approvingly.
"He knows I'd win. Again." Race leant against the wall and let out a deep breath. "Jesus, that's... Shit, that's the first time anyone but... Well, Dad... has ever..." He trailed off, not really sure how to articulate what he felt.
Mush put a hand on his shoulder. "It's just a word, Tony. And he's just an asshole. Don't let it bother you."
Race nodded. "I know." He kicked the stair again. "How the hell do you put up with..." He gestured in the direction Scott had left. "That?"
"Grin and bare it." Mush shrugged a little. "I'm better than they are. So are you."
"I sure fucking am."
Mush patted his shoulder a little, and David gave him an approving look, and Sophia managed a tiny smile.
"Fuck," Race ran his hands through his hair. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to go to class."
"Okay," Mush nodded. David shook his head, and Race gave him an understanding shrug.
"Tony!" Sophia hit his arm. "You can't do that! You have to--"
"I love you," Race smacked her arm. "Leave it alone. Come on, Mushee."
Mush sighed, and looked at Sophia. "He did this awhile during the cocaine thing, you know. He'll stop."
Sophia bit her lip. "Can I come?"
Race stared. "You have to go to school!"
"So do you!"
"That's different!"
"Is not!" She stamped her foot. "I only have study hall and band this afternoon anyway."
"Yes, but how are you going to explain to Dad that you skipped classes to hang out with your gay, cokehead, no-longer-acknowledged-by-the-family, fuck up older brother?" Race demanded.
"Tony, you're not--"
"I am, actually, everything I just said. It's okay." He smirked a little. "You're the pretty one, Izzy's the smart one, Maria's the popular one, and I'm the fuck up."
She snorted. "You so are."
"So I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Sophie?"
"Whatever." She gave him an annoyed look, then shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Don't fail out."
"I'll probably get kicked out anyway. I'm only welcome here until Dad remembers to tell them I'm not." He stood up. "No one's gonna care if I go, anyway."
David sighed. "I'll bring your homework by tonight."
"Thanks, Davey."
"Yeah, you owe me. Don't bother Blink and Spot in school, their grades are bad enough..."
Race shot Mush a look. "Of course we won't, David, why on Earth would we go do that?" Mush asked innocently.
"Oh, just get out of here," David laughed. Racetrack picked up his bag, Mush dug his car keys out of his pocket, and they headed off.
"I can't concentrate, Blink," Dutchy said, strumming cords on his guitar. "I can't. I have to know if we got the gig or not."
"You didn't. You suck."
"Shut up, Spot," Race snapped. "Dutch, don't worry. What happens, happens. There'll be other gigs."
Dutchy grinned at him. "You're so confident."
"'You're so confident'."
"Shut up, Spot." Race smacked his boyfriend's head with one of his drumsticks. "Anyway, Itey? No calls or anything before you got here?"
Itey shook his head. "My amp is all messed up..."
"What?!" Blink exclaimed. "How messed up? Buy a new one messed up!?"
"No..." Itey ignored his flamboyance. "José is good with this kinda stuff. I can ask him to take a look at it. GYAH!" A rush of feedback came from the amp and Itey jumped back. "Fuck!"
"Itey said fuck!" Jack pointed. He and Spot laughed and clanked their beer bottles to the other. "Cheers."
"Would you to stop being so distracting?" Dutchy snapped.
"Distracting from what? You aren't playing," Jack answered.
"Well, maybe we would if you would be quiet," Blink snapped. "Itey, can we make do with the amp for now?"
Itey turned the amp on again, and there was more feedback and he shot Blink a look. Blink winced, and Itey shut it off again. "Uh, no."
"Damn it!" Blink collapsed onto the couch next to Mush. "We suck. I know garage bands always suck at first be we are just so sucky that we--"
Mush kissed him to shut him up, and for a change, no one made any comments when they started making out.
"So how was school?" Dutchy asked Race.
"Sucked."
"Like us," Dutchy groaned. "Are they gonna at least call to say we didn't get it?"
"Probably not," Itey said. "No one ever does that phone call."
"Go check your messages again?" Race pleaded.
"I just checked ten minutes ago--"
"GABRIEL!"
Everyone's heads snapped around to see Itey's younger brother, José, running towards the garage. José looked less like a brother and more like a younger clone; the people who'd known Itey in seventh grade found it downright creepy.
"José, what's--"
"You got a call!"
"WHAT?!"
José stopped running in the garage and panted for a second, then shoved a piece of paper at his brother. There was a phone number written on it.
"They--they said it was the club and you guys placed and--" He sucked in a deep breath. "And you should call them back as soon as you--"
Itey was already starting for the door, and only paused to yell over his shoulder, "José, fix my amp!" before taking off into Blink's house.
JosÂŽ looked down at the amp. "What's the prob-GAK!"
He was bombarded by Dutchy, Race and Blink, who all hugged him tightly, picking the little guy clear off the ground.
"Lemme go! Gross!" He punched and squirmed but they didn't budge.
"You are the best little Spanish dude EVER!" Blink exclaimed. "I'm breaking up with Mush for you!"
"I ONLY BROUGHTTHE NEWS I DIDN'T MAKE IT LEMME GOOO!"
"God, let him go," Spot said. "He's just a child. Don't fuck children."
"Don't fuck me!" José agreed.
"Don't swear," Mush scolded, pulling away from Blink's lips momentarily.
"And fix his amp," Blink added.
"Don't tell me what to do." José stuck out his tongue.
"He'll hug you again," Mush warned.
José winced and walked over to the amp, flipped it on and then off at the noise, and frowned. Everyone watched in fascination as he began to fiddle with it. He turned around and gave them strange looks. "You can talk, you know."
"Wouldn't want to mess up your concentration," Dutchy mused.
José rolled his eyes. Dutchy had been practically living with them for awhile, and he was more than used to putting up with his brother's strange friend by now. "It doesn't take concentration." He frowned a little, then kicked the amp. When he flipped it on again, there was no feedback, just the slight static noise it always made.
"How did you...?" Race asked.
José just grinned.
"Genius!" Dutchy and Blink exclaimed, and hugged him again.
"Oh god no!" José wormed his way out of their grasp and ran over to sit in between Spot and Jack. "At least these two are cool."
"Hah!" Jack grinned, and he and Spot clanked beer bottles again. "Cheers again."
"Wanna beer?" Spot asked José.
"Yeah!"
Mush smacked Spot's head, and yanked the box of beer away from him before he could intoxicate a middle schooler. Race and Blink hurried over to the door and inside of Blink's house to listen in on Itey's conversation on the phone. Dutchy, too afraid, tuned his guitar. Even though it didn't need it.
"Hey, José," Jack leaned close to him. "So, give me the inside deal. What do you think of Sophia?"
"Gabe's obsessed." He sounded vaguely disgusted. "She's okay. But he's just..." He trailed off. "I sit in the living room when they're watching movies just to irritate him. It's fun."
"You're awesome," Race declared. "Can you dump popcorn on him or something too?"
"Sure thing. Or I could spill soda on her dress and blame him. I'm really good at that." He grinned. "Last Thanksgiving I kept smacking my own leg under the table and yelling 'ow!' and Gabe was grounded for a week for beating me up."
"You're evil," Mush said.
"I get bored." He shrugged.
The door slammed back open and Itey walked in, looking kind of dazed.
"We..." He trailed off.
"What?!" Blink yelped.
"We got it." Itey broke into a grin. "We got it! We got in! We're playing!"
"Oh..." Blink stared. "Holy shit! Oh my god!"
Blink attacked Mush, and kissed him so hard they were all pretty sure Mush was about to die, but then Race grabbed Itey and Dutchy, and slung his arms around their necks. Spot yanked Race away and gave him a long kiss on the mouth while everyone else cheered and José closed his eyes at the public gayness.
"Told you," Spot grinned. "Idiot."
Race smiled back and kissed him again. In the background, Itey yelped "My amp! You fixed it! Genius!"
"AAAHH, don't hug me, you idiot!"
"AAAAH, you're the best brother ever!"
"Get off me!"
"You rule!"
"Get off me!
Dutchy managed to pull Itey away from his brother, who let out a sigh of relief, only to have Dutchy hug him just as hard, though not for as long; then Dutchy turned around and threw his arms around Itey, then around Mush and Blink (who were still not done kissing), and started to hug Race, but sort of awkwardly stopped. Spot rolled his eyes a little, which Race didn't notice, and Race hugged Dutchy, who looked far too pleased. At least, until Race went back to kissing Spot.
José gave them all weird looks.
Jack pouted. "Sure, no one hugs me."
"Because you suck," Spot said, as Dutchy and Itey both threw themselves at Jack jubilantly. Jack had to shove them back off him.
"You guys are weird," José noted.
"Oh oh OH!" Itey gasped. "And we're second to last in the lineup!"
There was another pause.
Then there was more screaming, and hugging, and making out, and José fled the garage for the safety of his house before Itey could hug him again.
F: I am tired and I have exams and I will die.
B: I have to get an internship because otherwise I can't graduate.
F: WHAT? Who are you going to?
B: I don't know. Isn't that fabulous? There are no internships to be had because I missed the deadline and have no qualifications! So I'm certainly not stressed at all right now.
F: I love you and everything will be okay.You can be MY intern.
B: Can you convince my advisor I'm getting on the job newsperson training?
F: I can do anything.
B: Anyway. So if you don't hear from us for awhile, it's because we're off having nervous breakdowns.
F: If we die, this fic is so strong, it may live on by itself.
B: Aaaand guess what? We're less than a hundred pages from the end! And you never, ever, ever guess the giant twist in the next chapter.... if we ever post it. Mwahahahaha.
F: Actually, we're going to keep it to ourselves.
B: You don't really want to know anyway. Pooooor Racetrack.
F: Too bad Spot dies.
B: Quite sad, really. See you next time!
F: Bye!
This chapter celebrated with Oreos.