Disclaimer: The idea for this story was my sisters, the characters in this story are Disney's, and the lyrics in this story are from a band called Every Avenue. Nothing is mine, lol, ever, except the rainbow handkerchief. I am the proud owner of that, as well as Spot's flamboyant-ness, jk.
Author's Note: This story is dragging itself on for much longer than I had anticipated. But I hope you're enjoying it lol, it is attracting a different reader base than I usually get, since most of my other stories tend to be sappy an/or depressing. So that's good I guess. I already have chapter four planned, so hopefully I'll be getting that up shortly, and then probably only one more chapter after that, but we'll see. Again, thanks for reading, and hopefully you'll leave me some nice reviews lol.
From the moment we left the car, I knew I was in for one hell of a night. Tibby's was exactly as David had described it: run-down, dirty, and altogether rather sleazy looking. The door was propped open, loud music blared from inside, and the windows were so caked in grime that you could hardly see through them. I held my breath and followed Jack and David inside.
There was a long counter along one wall where a few young people in aprons were getting customers their coffees and sandwiches. In a corner a small stage was set up, and currently a local band was strumming guitars and screaming into microphones. The rest of the room was dotted with couches and high tables with three legged stools where a wide variety of teenagers sat half-heartedly sipping their drinks, puffing on their cigarettes, and tapping their toes to the music. David told us he was going to get a cappuccino, so I followed Jack to find the rest of the boys.
They were sitting at a corner table, the furthest away from the music, smiling and exchanging stories. "Oh, by the way," Jack told me suddenly, "I should tell you that none of the boys use the names David gave you." Oh great. "We've all got kind of nicknames, ya know? David refuses to use them – he thinks it's juvenile."
I smiled at the idea nonetheless – I'd never had a nickname before. "What do they call you?" I asked shyly.
Jack grinned at me, but one of the boys answered before he could.
"Cowboy!" he yelled, catching sight of us, "You didn't tell us you were bringin' a date!" The boy who called to us had bleach blond hair and shocking blue eyes. He stood up to give me his chair. "Here ya go, babe – you shouldn't be messin' around with Jack ya know, he doesn't know how to treat a lady."
I could feel the blush creep into my cheeks and took his seat willingly. Whoever said chivalry was dead?
Jack shook his head at the boy. "She ain't my date; she's a friend of Dave's. Her name's Taylor."
Just then Tony from the library looked up from his large mug of coffee and beamed. "So you decided to come after all, huh? I promise we'll make it worth your while." And he winked at me.
Jack laughed and began introductions. "This is Blink," he motioned first to the boy who had given up his chair for me. Blink gave me a very conspicuous once-over in response.
"That's Mush," Jack said, motioning to a dark-skinned boy with wiry black hair. The boy smiled at me politely and gave a little wave. I waved back – he seemed like the most normal of the bunch.
"You've already met Race I guess," Jack informed me of Tony's nickname.
Race smiled and nodded, "I already met the Sheila, yeah."
Jack laughed and continued, "And that's Spot," he said, motioning across the room to where a slim boy in a tight fitting black shirt and dark jeans with a rainbow handkerchief was straddling another boy on one of the couches. Again I felt my face heat up and forced myself to look away.
Finally David showed up with his cappuccino. He pulled a chair over for himself and sat in between myself and Mush. The boys all acknowledged his presence with a friendly nod, except for Race, who said, "Ah, the sucker of fun is back."
I laughed when a voice near my ear startled me. "And a whole lotta other things besides just dat."
The boys all laughed while I looked up to see who had spoken. It was Spot, apparently back from his rendezvous with the boy from the couch.
David looked extremely cross, and Spot took it for all it was worth. He leaned down and took a quick little nibble of David's earlobe. David swatted him away, "Leave me alone, Shawn!" he yelled. "I haven't done anything to you."
Spot rolled his eyes, taking a seat beside Race. "C'mon, Mouth, lighten up."
I raised my eyebrows at Jack, who amended quickly. "Dave's nickname is Mouth, cause he can never seem to stop running his."
Spot rolled his eyes, "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "Dat's it …"
The other boys continued snickering, Race especially, who seemed to thrive on Spot's torments of David. David raised his voice, ready to protest, when Spot looked directly at me, "Don't let da baby face fool ya, dis kid's got a mouth like a Hoover."
I laughed out loud despite myself, covering my mouth with my hands in surprise of Spot's boldness. I didn't want to offend David, but I couldn't help it. Spot had an accent much stronger than Jack's that he didn't seem to care enough to hide, and this gave him a certain edge that I wasn't able to place.
He smiled back at me when I laughed, "Who's da goil, Cowboy?" he asked.
"Taylor," he said, "She's new in school." I noticed that Jack had taken over introducing me to his friends, and he didn't call me "David's friend" anymore. That made me smile. I was one step closer to the wedding…
My thoughts on the colors of bridesmaid's dresses were interrupted, however, with Spot smiling. "Well, she's cool by me."
Jack nodded. Apparently, Spot's opinion was the one that mattered most.
We settled into a comfortable sort of talking and joking. I came to notice quickly that my earlier impression was correct – Spot seemed to be the leader of the group, along with Jack. The two of them commanded the conversation while Race made sarcastic side comments that made everyone chuckle. Blink and Mush followed their lead – both were sweet boys – and David tended to just look annoyed.
"So who was that boy, Spot?" Race was just asking.
Spot shrugged, "Dunno," he said casually, grabbing a mozzarella stick from the basket in the middle of the table and eating it a very sexual manner.
Jack laughed, "Do you even know his name this time?"
Spot grinned impishly. "Nah," he said, "Do I ever?"
"Yeah, who needs names?" Race smiled. "It only complicates things. Sex is sex, with or without names," he laughed sarcastically.
Spot chuckled, "Finally someone understands me."
David rolled his eyes.
"Hey," Race said suddenly. "If my memory serves me correctly, you owe me a story, do you not?" he asked me.
I suddenly became withdrawn and shook my head, "No," I said, "I don't think so."
"What kinda story?" Blink asked, excited. The smallest things seemed to make him happy.
"Why she's at Pulitzer midway through senior year," Race explained. "Which, if I may be so bold, really bites."
I smiled, "My parents split up," I said. "My dad had to move here for his job. He didn't tell me he was moving till after he had already gotten full custody."
Mush's eyes got wide. "That's horrible," he said, "Oh man."
I shrugged, "Could be worse."
"Like how?" Jack laughed ironically.
Spot chuckled, "Like ya coulda not brought her tah Tibby's an' she'd a' been stuck with Mouth all year."
Jack chuckled.
Just then the singer of the band stepped up to the mic. "Alright," he said, "This is it for us. Remember we've got CD's for five bucks in the back. Please buy one - we're poor. And I'm sick a' sleepin' in the trailer, waking up to Jason tryin' tah fondle me, got it? Thanks again."
He stepped back and cued up the band. It was the last band of the night, and soon everybody would be kicked out. I had kinda hoped the night would last forever. Looking around at my newfound friends, I smiled to myself. Mush with his congenial smile, Blink with his forceful charm, David and his pouting, Race and everything about him that was just slightly off, Spot and his suave coolness, and of course Jack and his amazing smile …
Let's turn this up a little bit louder, yeah yeah,
Keep singin' along as the night gets longer.
Let's keep it movin',
Keep our feet up off the ground,
We hate to leave but we'll be back around.
These are the days that we will always remember,
Chasing the nights to make our days better,
Sun sets and we're setting sail,
To another town.
Got all the windows down,
And the radio up.
Let's do it again, keep the rhythm with our hearts
This is why we wake up,
What it's all about …
Let's turn this up a little bit louder, yeah yeah,
Keep singing along as the night gets longer
These are the days that we will always remember,
Chasing the nights to make our days better
Let's turn this up a little bit louder,
Let's turn this up a little bit louder,
Let's turn this up a little bit louder,
Keep singin' along as the night gets longer…
The band waved one last time and began packing up their things. I stood up and slung my purse over my shoulder, ready to head out, but Spot grabbed my elbow. "Where do ya think ya goin'?" he asked.
"I thought, since the bands were done-"
Race laughed to the other boys, "She doesn't know how things are done here," and gave an apologetic smile. Then he came up next to my ear and hissed, "What're you doin'? You're embarrassing me …"
Knowing he was teasing, I smiled and raised my eyebrows at him in a friendly way..
Jack smiled, "Yeah, it's only, what, eleven?"
Blink grinned, "I got my truck, c'mon, let's go."
It was the second time that evening I'd heard the phrase "Let's go," and I was beginning the fear my night would never end.
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