"You smashed your Fender into my drums! That could've killed me, man!" Steven laughs as he and Matt are leaving St. Jude's. They've been practicing late and the sky has already become the appealing color of a peach's orange, clouds like surfboards dance through the sky and rumble with the noises of thunder.
They'd be performing soon and the jam-session was much needed for them. Matt spent his time learning new Sonic Youth tracks and singing wrong lyrics. He hasn't been himself since Steven brought his personal issues to light. Never has he liked talking about his father. For all he cares, the old man could go stick it.
They've never really had a relationship anyway.
His answer is delayed. Mostly because his mind isn't where it should be. "I wanted to do a Cobain-stunt. Remember when he threw his guitar into Dave's drums on SNL? I got inspired off that."
Steven jokingly punches his arm. "Yeah, you couldn't fill me in first? I just managed to avoid a cymbal to the face."
"Sorry," he apologizes with little sincerity. His gaze skims the length of the courtyard for something strange. He'd become used to seeing the unusual. "I'll buy lunch this time. How about Tacos Matamoros? I've been craving guacamole for hours."
"If you're buying I'm so ordering my lifetime in enchiladas and nachos." They share the first real laugh all day. "Who knew a million black-eyes would pay off? I might just go into shock."
Matt smiles and it's easy to notice how it doesn't match his face. "Do your best not to. My phone's dying and I doubt it'll be able to save you."
"What's it supposed to do? Revive me?" Steven's smile is bright like a candlelit awning. "We're both dying so it'll be no use."
"That's such a dumbass answer," Matt's smile is a slight more real and he searches his jacket for a cigarette and his Zippo. "that's like what came first. The chicken or the egg?"
"Definitely the chicken, though. How else can an egg be produced?"
"The chicken had to hatch from something. What makes you think the chicken got there first?"
"For all you know, the chicken could've came in a UFO and been like: 'Yo, it's better here than on Mars.' and he coulda just chilled and lay some eggs that eventually just came to be food for the dinosaurs and cavemen."
More laughs break from Matt's mouth and he discovers a cigarette in his back pocket, grasping it in his fingers. "You're lucky we're friends because if you told anyone else that they'd – oh … shit."
Steven stops laughing at the horror on Matt's face and follows his eyes. Straight ahead is who they've been trying to avoid for years. He can recognize Matt in him and hoped to not have to see him for a long time since that horrible recital back in 2008 before he knew who this bastard was.
Perfect blonde hair, perfect blue eyes, perfect everything.
It was always how Matt described him.
And, he can fully see it now. He's too perfect.
He leans into Matt's shoulders as a friend is supposed to do. "Wanna run on the count of three?"
The cigarette is clenched in Matt's fist and he can only shake his head mindlessly. "No … no, it's fine. Just wait for me at the gate and we'll run if he bothers me."
Steven reluctantly leaves with looks to his best friend and his father. He doesn't even look at him. No one ever really does.
Matt's face is unfriendly when he comes to Nick. "What the hell do you want?"
"I really needed to talk to you." He ignores the swearword in his son's sentence for this moment. "You've been ignoring my calls for months now. This isn't normal for you."
"I never thought I'd really needed to check in with you," he sneers, his expression is threatening like a wildcat. "seeing as you never decided to do this until now. What is it you want?"
Nick takes a good step to Matt. "I just want to talk with you. Just listen –"
"Because that's exactly what you've done for me all these years? Save it." He roughly smashes a shoulder into Nick's and makes him stumble back. "I've got much better things to do."
He grabs Matt's arm and it hurts to realize he isn't even looking at him. "Just hear me out, Matthew. I don't want us to be nothing. Please just for this once."
Matt jerks his arm from him. "How long did it take you to figure this out? We've been nothing for years. I doubt one talk could change things." He backs away and closer to the gates and his friend. "What you've said to me hasn't ever mattered. And now that I'm here, I've grownup. It's surprising but I have and since I did, I want you to stay away from me forever."
Nothing could leave him. Not even Nick had anything else to say.
Just like that, it was 2000 again and he was meeting Lorena in his workplace and she was announcing their divorce. There's nothing that can fix us. Divorces are forever.
He blinks and his jaw loosens in shock. "Forever is a long time."
Matt hurries for an exit. "You bet it is …"
Snippets of Nick's past enter him when he watches his son leave him. Remembers what it felt like to be alone and wishes he could've been intelligent enough to stop it before his life succumbed to this. Succumbed to what he's always tried to fight and never could.
Steven follows Matt's pace and eventually matches it. "How about I buy this time?" Matt's eyes are distant and cloudy, he isn't speaking or even nodding. "I think I may just
"Okay," Matt agrees in a little voice and he doesn't say anything else until they're in Brooklyn.
x
Harper glares at the toaster with eyes blurry with sleep. He could see his wheat toast cooking and was cursing at how long it was taking. This was 2012. Couldn't there be like a digital toaster that fries food in a span of seconds? Where was Bill Gates when you needed that?
He sighs and peers inside the toaster. The ticking of the timer was giving him a headache. Maybe Bryn knew what to do. She was better at using the microwave oven than him.
His eyes fall on the buttons and knobs. Did one speed the process? It had to, right?
Harper hesitantly glares at reheat. Maybe that would. He clicks it and waits, drumming his fingers on the countertop and humming something he's heard Bryn sing once.
"I wouldn't have done that." He jumps at seeing Tinsley enter his kitchen. She's wearing one of his old soccer jerseys and long argyle socks, her hair is all tousled and it makes him lust for her. "Your toast will be burnt now."
"No?" Two charred slices of toast appear. "Dammit. I've been burning bread more than eating it. This is why Bryn and I order-out. Seriously, this is getting depressing."
Tinsley breaks the distance between them and removes the slices from the toaster, plopping them on the counter. "You can always just scrape the burnt stuff off." she suggests and notices how even the crusts were overcooked. A little laugh escapes her and she shakes her head to cease Harper's disappointment. She goes for the fridge and opens it to investigate. Not much was in there except for a pizza box and a half-empty quart of milk. "Relax. Will I have to teach you guys to cook? This is getting sad."
"You can teach me," he compromises and swings his arms around her, bringing her in and raising an eyebrow. "I think I could learn much more from you."
She reaches for the buttons on his shirt. "I'm really good in the kitchen."
"I bet you are." And his mouth meets hers. She snatches a strawberry and gives it to him, kissing him again and tasting the sweetness of his tongue and the berry. He tastes whipped cream and returns for her to interact. Their exchanges continue for long with all sorts of delicacies. Caramel, chocolate sauce, more strawberries, and more kisses.
Ten minutes later, they're lying on the tiles and back in their clothes. Tinsley sighs dreamily and meets his eyes, careful to not impact with his bad knee. "This is the best breakfast I've had in a long time."
"It's not really breakfast, though." He checks the clock on the microwave. "It's more … brunch."
She laughs and leans into him. "Even better."
"Christ, Kenny! Right there! Right there! Woo, yeah!"
She can feel Harper cringe at the pounding of the bedframe and his sister's screaming. It makes her glad Tyler isn't old enough to know anything.
"I didn't even know Kenny was here," he mumbles and doesn't move as the sexual screams continue. "Do you mind going to check? I don't really trust my virgin eyes to seeing what's going on … upstairs."
"Yes, Kenny! Yes. Oh, don't stop! Just don't stop at all! Goddamn yes!"
Tinsley stands and leaves for the stairs, she can see Harper shake his head and mumble, "I really hope she doesn't break anything."
While she ascends the stairs cautiously, the moans and the thumps on the bedframe increase. She hesitates to go back down but reaches Bryn's room first, her hand meets the doorknob and she enters nervously. Having shut her eyes as Bryn's screams are suddenly paused like they'd never existed.
She sees a fully-dressed Bryn on her bed and Kenny on the windowsill with his Treo. Not even disarranged or anything but just doing little things: she, reading Love, Lust & Faking It, he, just typing hastily. Kenny meets her confused eyes before Bryn and smiles cordially.
"Hello, Tinsley," he greets and his smile becomes teasing. "I'm sure you fared well downstairs."
Her face engulfs in fire and she sheepishly looks away as Bryn and Kenny share laughter. It was more embarrassing someone heard their mischief than anything. Especially someone she barely knew.
"If anything, you two shouldn't be talking," she retorts to receive a disoriented look from Kenny and a smirk from Bryn.
Kenny blinks and broadens her uncertainty. "I don't follow."
Bryn laughs to her own humor and Kenny raises an eyebrow, withdrawing his phone from his sight. "Uh, Tins … he wasn't exactly here to witness the blunt of my actions until now."
This time Tinsley is blinking. She wasn't that unaware. "How did you get up here, then?"
He points outside Bryn's window and just shrugs like it's a casual thing. She can see why she and Kenny are dating in this circumstance. "I went to the front but you and Harper appeared to be quite busy. I didn't want to interrupt –" He laughs gently and raises his voice over Bryn's giggles. "or see anything I shouldn't have. I merely climbed in from outside, it's not like I broke anything."
"You almost broke your leg." Bryn clarifies and folds the page of her book before closing it. "Don't think I saw that slip-up, Ciccone. It scared the shit out of me."
"Forgive me for attempting something from Twilight," He fakes a pout and narrows his eyes affectedly. "I only wanted to make my girl smile."
Bryn rolls her eyes but Tinsley instantly buys into his compliment. "Aw, that's so cute!"
Kenny smiles appreciatively and gestures Tinsley to Bryn. "See? Why can't you be more like her?"
"I can procure so many answers to that," she says modestly and Tinsley laughs from her distance in the door. "I'll just stick with silence for today."
"Bryn Blackwell being silent? It must be my lucky day." They match one another's bitter smirks and she raises an eyebrow to him suggestively. "I'm sure you won't be silent for much longer."
Tinsley returns to the door. She'd rather not have to witness a second round of moaning. "And, that's my cue to leave."
"G'day, Tinsley,"
"Later."
Bryn goes over to him and when Tinsley's already gone, she looks him over and strokes his cheek. "You're damn good at scaring my friends away, aren't you? No wonder I've kept you this long."
"Ah, yes. Your morbid British boyfriend has become an arse, I'm sure that makes you happy." He tugs her nearer and sighs with a little too much exaggeration, leaving his phone beside his thigh. "If only it did for anyone else."
She laughs. "Just shut up and kiss me."
He does. It lasts for so long and she settles into his lap while it does. Moments later, she feels a vibration and she sees his Treo blinking with a new text message. Before she could see further, he grabs his phone and hides it from her eyes. The grip she had around his neck was suddenly limp as he reads the message.
"Bloody hell," he swears and ushers her off furiously, chary to make sure her feet are firmly planted on the floor. "Something's come up, Bryn. I'm so sorry." It was bad they couldn't even be together at the big performance but now they couldn't even kiss? "Can we finish this another day?"
And she thought she had commitment problems.
Her blank mind can only allow her an okay. He opens the window and something mature twists inside her. It was the first for something she hasn't had in years.
"The door, Kenny. Please just take the door."
x
"Look at them," Claire's favorite minion, Sarah, points out Baby and the other candidates sipping their vanilla lattes innocently. "They're losers in desperate need of mud facials. Maybe it'd be able to rid those awful acne scars on Natasha's face."
Another one of her minions, Jacqueline, acknowledges them in disgust. "Please. Did you see Zoë's so-called beauty mark? It looked like a monster just ate her face!"
"Oh, please! It was undoubtedly a mole or a blemish from a botched facial reconstruction." Sarah claims with the bluntness in her smile thickening. "I'm sure even that Jesus chick could do better."
Claire's eyes narrow at the thought of Winnie. The religion-obsessed girl was at the last of her thoughts. She'd much rather have to beg for Dean's forgiveness than interact with her again.
Since neither were liable options, she jotted down the names of the final three in her notebook and handed it to Jacqueline. She had to make the brainless idiot useful.
"Go announce it now." Claire instructs and has to refrain from nibbling her lip, which was always her strange nervous quirk. She shouldn't be flustered if she's to be their queen and a proper ruler.
More like dictator.
Jacqueline leaves the steps without further questioning. She'd come to learn when Claire had her occasional foul spells. No one would risk talking back to her … unless, they preferred to be socially exiled from their world of UES events and lengthy schooldays.
Claire watches her deliver the news. Some of the girls sniffle and flee the premises with hunched shoulders, others burst into tears and run off. It would come to be a bonus to Steven later on.
Baby clasps Natasha in a gleeful hug, jumping around like a hyperactive child. It reminded her of what she once was and she has to turn away.
Sarah's eyes are like hers when she meets them. "You chose Natasha? You're probably feeling awfully generous, Clarissa."
"I believe no one asked for your opinion," Claire snarls and turns back to watch Baby. It was better than dealing with the minion's incompetence. "And, if I were you, I'd watch it. Your space can easily be filled by someone else."
This quiets her but only temporarily. She'd definitely have more to deal with later.
No one would get their jobs done if she didn't exist.
She smiles and snatches Jacqueline's latte from her fingers, glaring when she asks for it back.
It was pretty fun being a dictator.
x
Spotted: Rocker B flying solo to her favorite vintage shop for a party dress of her own style. Remember, Rocker B, they may look but they can never touch.
"You're late again." Elle clarifies when Javier enters her apartment after viewing a gossip blast of Bryn entering a vintage boutique. Not that he cared for her whereabouts. The gossip blasts were always revolving off her or Kenny these days and considering them the 'modern-day Gwen & Gavin.'
It was pretty lame if you ask him. He was glad they didn't do anything to say how he was with Elle.
"I've been more than busy in the recent weeks." he explains to her angered dismay. "School, endless college applications, my life in general. Not everyone has an easy life like you."
Elle's mouth twists in contempt. It's one of the faces she makes at him often. Other than the intense relationship they portray, she hasn't really become too close to him.
He was beginning to wonder if Kenny and Bryn had a better relationship than him.
"My life is not the slightest easy," she snaps and raps her sensible heels on the carpet. "I have no reason to be explaining anything to you. Be ready next time because I won't always be around like my brother's so-called girlfriend."
He knows she's talking about Bryn and something in him bursts into flames of rage. "It seems like they have more of a relationship than we do."
"I'd say so," She nods and her smile is the mirroring of her appearance. "I doubt it's exactly anything. Kenneth doesn't really open up to anyone but you may think whatever you like."
Javier tucks a hand in his pocket and scowls. "He'll have to open up to Bryn eventually. They're obviously dating and there's nothing even you can do to stop it."
Elle takes her coat and slides it on. She doesn't bother to fasten her belt or fix the mismatched pearl buttons as she saunters for the door. "Disagree if you must. My bets definitely believe that they won't last longer than March." She takes her keys with a certain force of authority that says the truth. "Why don't you make your own? I'm pretty sure yours may be able to outmatch mine."
He's about to say something but he remembers Bryn's sobbing over Kenny, the proclamations of betrayal she spoke of, how relieved she was when he apologized to her. It makes him not want to hurt her and not do anything to ruin her relationship.
No matter how much he hates it.
"Ending my friend's relationship isn't exactly on my schedule." He cocks an eyebrow to her and mildly enjoys the shock that crosses her face. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Enjoy your party."
And when she's down on the street and further from Javier, she retrieves her phone and presses #3 on her speed-dial. She's sent to voicemail and smiles when she hears the familiarity of a special someone.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Lombardi," she speaks with a rare cheeriness. "I have quite the case for you. I'd like you to investigate Bryn Blackwell, the businessman's daughter. There's a lot about her I don't know and I'd earnestly prefer to find out."
Her eyes are dark and glassy when she comes to finish. "Do not limit yourself. It'd be better to have all her information."
x
"You have a lot of games my sister and I have." Harper instructs to Tyler as he observes his shelf of Xbox games. He pulls one of the cases from the shelf and reads it. "You have Halo: Reach? Aren't you too young for this game?" He only knows because when Halo 3 came out, he was banned by his dad from getting it because of its rating.
Tyler laughs a little. "Tinsley never said anything."
Harper returns it to the shelf and smiles covertly. "Tinsley never said anything or Tinsley doesn't know?"
He shrugs and it reminds him a lot of Bryn when he asks if she's the culprit of her so-called trouble. "I think both," Tyler skims the games and snatches the case of a familiar game from it. "Do you have this one?"
Harper reads the title and grins. "Red Dead Redemption? Yes. And it's yet another game you're not allowed to play." He squints and rechecks the shelves. "Is there an actual teen-friendly game that you do have?"
Tyler points to another case. "Call of Duty: Black Ops?"
Harper gets it and returns Red Dead Redemption. "Okay, I have this. This is probably one of the only games that lets you turn down the blood." Not that he wanted to be a buzzkill, he'd rather Tyler be safe and normal when Tinsley got back from her internship. He doubted she'd be happy if her little brother had become a male clone of Bryn.
His responding pout is more comical than anything. "Ugh. You're no fun."
"Go put the game in," Harper commands and hands him the disc. "and, if you're nice, I'll let you play Halo: Reach after."
Tyler leaves without further complaint. Harper waits by the window and looks out. His phone chimes the bars of 'Circus' – the ringtone Bryn personalized for Claire. He knew the Britney Spears playlist he watched in the Hamptons would return to haunt him.
"What's up, Claire?" he answers to hear a ruckus of hammering and loud people. "Where are you?"
My god, Harper! You have to get here now! It's an emergency!
He slowly leans against the wall. "Why? What's happened?" He was well-overused to Claire's theatrics.
There's a psycho killer outside our favorite club, Rodney's! I'm really freaking out and OMG, Bryn just went out to go meet him! Is she trying to seduce him? He has a knife, AHH –
The line fades and he exhales deeply. "Tyler, change of plans!"
These are the few days he wished he was an only child.
x
"Rum and coke."
Bryn sat on a stool, waiting for Matt's performance. She crossed her fishnet-clad legs as she played with her straw. Her cell phone laid on the bar top, her screensaver of Floria, Matt, Steven, and her hanging out in Central Park for one of those free rock concerts. She was just waiting for that "ONE NEW MESSAGE" to pop up on her screen.
"Drinking alone, are we?"
She turned her head to see Javier taking a seat next to her. The blonde raised his hand, letting the bartender know he wanted his regular. Even at Rodney's, Javier still had power over the rebellious people that flooded the floor, they wouldn't admit it but they knew who he was. They wished that it was them he was pining over, but that position belonged to a certain brunette with a taste of classic rock.
"You know it's pretty fucking creepy how you just show up out of nowhere." Bryn grinned, sipping her drink. "What do you have like a GPS pin on me or something?"
"Gossip Girl's already beat me to it." Javier flashed his phone where a map of Manhattan sat. On it, small pictures of them were hovering over the block of Rodney's.
"It's funny how I've seen more of you in the past two days than my boyfriend in the past week." Bryn confessed, staring at him. He chuckled, his eyes resembling emeralds in the dark lighting of the bar.
"What's going on between you two?" Javier asked, his hands strumming against the countertop. "If you don't mind my asking."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Her dark red lips curled up in a smirk. "You'll probably use it in some sick scheme to dethrone Claire as queen bee or something."
"What? After everything we've been through?" Javier smiled. "I'd think we could have a decent conversation. And don't worry I probably have something on Tinsley I can use to dethrone her."
Bryn rolled her eyes, feeling flutters in her stomach. Why was he acting so differently now that they were over? Did them breaking up have something to do with it? Was she the one bringing him down?
Bryn sighed. "It's just that after the whole thing with her-" Her referring to his girlfriend. "things just haven't been the same. I don't know it's like he's still hiding things. I just want him to be honest with me. It's not like I'm some prissy bitch that is gonna run away and breakup with him once things get tough. I know how to deal with fucked-up shit, have you seen my family? My father died after overdosing on coke and my mother is a ditz that's married to someone five years older than me."
She couldn't believe that she had just spilt her guts like that, to Javier of all people. She just downed her drink, wanting to run away. She didn't want to be in this situation, she should be saying this to Kenny, not him.
"Actually I have to go." Bryn picked up her red trench coat from the counter and started stomping away as fast as her knee-high boots could carry her. But, she felt a warm hand around hers.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed about those things." Bryn turned around to see Javier, his eyes deep with concern. "I actually think those things are what make you great. The fact that you don't pretend to be someone you aren't. You're just Bryn Blackwell and you don't give a shit what people think. And if Kenny can't appreciate that, you shouldn't be with him."
Bryn stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you. I don't know what it is but you're a different guy now. A better guy."
Javier just stared as she disappeared into the sea of bodies on the dance floor. His cheek tingling from the kiss she planted on his cheek.
x
"Your final challenge will be to give me your best gossip," Claire instructs the trainees. Her minions have gone to mingle in Rodney's and the girls are dressed to their perfection. Bad rock music blasts through the speakers and she can see Matthew delivering his equipment backstage. "Nothing cheesy or weak like Hilary Duff had her baby or there's another Kardashian sex-tape out. Real gossip." She looks around the girls. "Any questions?"
Natasha raises her hand nervously and Claire glares at her rudely. "That was a trick. You never ask your leader questions." Claire directs them into the crowds. "Go now!"
They all scurry in different directions and she can't help but notice how Baby lingers. The tiny crystals on her neck glitter in the lights. "I promise I'll do my best, Claire!" she vows with a grin. "I won't disappoint you!"
Again, the girl reminds her of herself. She doesn't say anything and just watches her vanish in the ocean of people. She goes to the bar and orders herself a martini, draining it quickly. She sees Harper enter with Tinsley's little brother and she yells his name, somehow he notices her and comes over.
"What happened? I thought you said there was actual trouble!" Harper shouts idiotically over the music.
"There is!" she defends and directs her hands out to the club and everyone partying inside it. "If you'd only seen the ruckus they've been making! You would think that the outsiders put Valium in their drinks! They're so wild and rude."
Harper shrugs and looks out, Tyler following him. "I'm sure they are," he murmurs and is unheard by both of them. "We're just gonna leave. I don't feel like partying … especially with a minor with me."
"Why don't you just stay for one drink?" she suggests and points out her own glass. "I never really see you out anymore and I bet you could use the relaxation from Tinsley."
"I don't know," Harper holds his knuckles awkwardly. "I'm not much of a drinker."
Claire smiles drily. It's come to be her signature. "I doubt one drink will do you harm."
Tyler glares at her. Despite him being little, he reminds her of a mini Harper. She could only imagine him becoming a lacrosse boy and asking the girls at The Met out.
Harper was always good to breakdown. If you coaxed him enough, he would stay for the entire night and it's exactly what she'd like to see. A drunk-and-disorderly Harper.
She sees him ask Tyler something and he nods casually. Harper's face is less than pleasant.
"Maybe just one drink won't be so bad." Harper concedes and she more than happily orders him a Kamikaze shot.
x
It was so long ago but all so terrifying for a six-year old him.
He didn't know much at the time. Just that he wasn't allowed to see his mother. People he didn't know gave him the oh, you poor thing gaze and his father would always say she was out of town when the question was escalated. They'd always smile through their tears and use a nice voice with his name and say he'd see his mom someday.
His father stopped coming around. He never wondered why but he liked living with grandma. She made him cookies every Friday and brought him a plastic guitar that he immediately came to adore when he realized what he could do with it. He always tried to mimic what he saw on VH1 Classic but never could outmatch Slash. Mother and Father were still gone. He still didn't ask.
One day in November, Grandma and Father were arguing. They were using bad words and Grandma was crying, she said his mother was dead. She said there's no use of lying to her innocent grandson about her whereabouts. Something deep and powerful stabbed his heart and made him forget about everything and everyone.
He blasted Green Day and cried for hours in the comfort of his room. Grandma made him cookies but he eventually gave them away to the homeless girls on his block when school came around.
Less than two weeks later, Grandma came to him. "Would you like to see your mother, honey?"
He didn't even think to answer.
His mother didn't look the same when they met with her in Central Park. Her face was tired and gaunt, her eyes weirdly empty, and strangest of all, her hands were concealed in tourniquets.
When she hugged him, it wasn't as filling as it once was and her grip was weaker.
"Don't cry, baby. I'm fine." Her throat was hoarse and he sobbed openly in his mother's arms. It had been so long since he's seen her and despite like this, he was glad to know she was alive. "I'm never gonna leave you again."
He'd never found out what happened. His mother returned to work after her break and his father just quit calling altogether. After his mother's accident and the tourniquets were off, he began noticing what the setback had done to her. Her arms were frailer than they'd ever been, she couldn't hear much in her left ear, and she's not able to make entire fists.
When he was fourteen, his mother had been back at work for some time and had gained a variety of tattoos on her hands. After coming home from guitar practice, he noticed a scarring along her hands and asked her what it was. Teenage worry affected him before, still does now.
"It was from long ago. It's okay now." she'd said with a smile.
Somehow, he knew it wasn't.
It still isn't.
A tap on the shoulder comes to alarm him. Floria. "Hey, you okay?"
Matt nods and clumsily grabs his guitar. "Yeah, just daydreaming," The audience from backstage is roaring with their names and peppy teenage energy. "Where's Steven?"
"Preparing his drums, he's gonna count us off soon." Floria's smile is toothy and nice like one of your closest friends. She pretty much was. "Wanna get a drink before we go on? You look real tense, dude."
"I think the energy onstage will be fine for me," They approach the curtains and the volume of adrenaline in the audience increases. "Good luck out there."
Floria nods to him and her grin is larger. "You too," She kisses his cheek and heads into the noise.
x
Matt finishes off his first three songs with a bang of authority. He's already sweaty and exhausted and his guitar is dangling from his neck like a precious ornament. They stop for a few minutes to take a breather and he sees them all laugh like the best of friends.
Javier watches them for a few minutes before looking away. Bryn should be luckier for what she has. Friends, shoulders to cry on, people to drink with. He'd never had this until now. Bryn's friends talk to him and he barely knows them. Insanity isn't the word.
Since she'd kissed him, he hasn't seen her. Maybe she's partying with her other friends. Even without Kenny, she still rules this circle of punk-rockers.
He can only marvel how she was before. She's a solo ruler of the allegiance of Rodney's.
It was amazing and he'd never realized but she was someone to astonish. Maybe even something more than what he thinks.
This all makes him feel like a cheater.
"Quiet down already," Matt initiates with an adrenaline-infused smirk. "My friend's gonna perform with us tonight and she's gonna rock the stages like she slays Manhattan!" He stops to listen to the catcalls and wolf-whistles of their stage-names. "Where the hell are you, Bryn? You better not be drunk yet! That's Steven's job!"
Floria goes to the end of the stage and helps Bryn up. She's grinning already and stealing Matt's mike. "You're such an ass! I can never relax without you coming to peer-pressure me over here!" The crowd laughs like an animated audience. "I don't really wanna perform, anyway,"
The crowd boos her and Javier can't help to laugh. She also comes to laugh and wipes her forehead. "Peer-pressuring audience, too? That should be illegal."
Steven leans over his drums. "It's not illegal if you like it!"
More laughs. Bryn readjusts her microphone and points Matt off. "Just start 'Lithium.'"
They do.
She's so ecstatic when she's onstage. Unlike any other as she's jumping around, wailing the lyrics of some heavy rock song, and carrying herself as light as a renowned artist. Sweat already glistens on her face and she runs to Matt, singing into his mike as she trades theirs. Her knuckles clamped over his as they meet each other's eyes before she dances away.
Bryn twirls again and laughs past Floria. Knocking their shoulders, she resets her mike in a stand and breathes the lyrics slower.
I'm so lonely, that's okay
I shaved my head
And I'm not sad
And just maybe
I'm to blame for all I've heard
I'm not sure
I'm so excited
I can't wait to meet you there
And I don't care
I'm so horny, that's okay
My will is good
Matt and Floria chorus backup with loud 'yeahs.' Bryn screams to their endings and stops to breathe while they're still going at it. She nods to their riffs and Steven's drumming, returning to her microphone with a speed that could kill.
Then she's staring at him again. At him like she did in that first-ever concert he saw her in.
I like it I'm not gonna crack
I miss you I'm not gonna crack
I love you I'm not gonna crack
I killed you I'm not gonna crack
He notices how she leaves his eyes around the 'I love you.' It's not like he could say anything with her up there.
The song ends soon after with more yeahs and a finishing scream. They thank the crowd but even before they can get offstage, everyone's phones beep simultaneously. They all huddle over to Matt as he yanks his phone out to read what's happened.
He grabs his because of curiosity.
Queen C just can't leave the gossip to the experts, can she? I'd keep my mouth if I were you because I have more on you than you realize. For now, I'll fire a warning shot from one of Claire's super-duper favorite minion. No names included. It's not nice to spoil the good surprises.
Remember D, everyone? He went into seclusion soon after he and our queen separated. The answer to why that's happened is because Queen C had a pregnancy scare from Brooklyn blood. Rocker B is a better friend than we think because she took the bullet and much less of a shame than A's sex-life.
Send pics if you find Queen C. I'd love to see the embarrassment on her face.
And before Javier can even see Claire, he realizes she's already gone.
x
Harper returns home before it even comes to puzzle his thoughts. He's heavily intoxicated and the carpet of his stairs spirals in an ocean of reds and purples. He demands for it to stop tilting the world but it doesn't and so, he yells rude words and kicks it.
How many steps are there? They're so long and swirly. They shouldn't be. Maybe he'd have an elevator built-in to speed everything up. Stupid stairs/steps/whatever-the-hell-they-were-supposed-to-be.
He trips and his arm impacts with the banister. He curses it, also, but uses it as a firepole as he drags himself onto the next floor carefully.
After he meets another carpet and notices the pretty patterns, he follows the trail of diamonds to Bryn's door and glares at a poster of some blonde chick with sunglasses. She was pretty hot – wait, that was a dude. Dudes shouldn't have long hair. It should be illegal. Stupid dudes.
Hysterics burst from his mouth as he enters her room and notices her blanketed bed, angry punk posters, a sex book on her desk. It was so weird but he wanted more. Something erratic to vein his energy and multiply it like a storm of rabbits. Something thrilling, something he knew Bryn had.
He searches her bedside drawers and finds a lighter. He holds it in shaky fists and also comes to discover a palette of tiny white sticks. They looked like candy cigarettes.
He bites one and gags. Nope. Not candy cigarettes.
Something tells him to light it and he does. A spark of sweetness fills the room and he puts it to his mouth, exhaling and inhaling the magic of it. Sweet and sticky like real candy.
Good. Adrenaline. It's like what the guys do.
He collapses in her bed and continues smoking, he chokes a little but eventually catches the hang of the gesture as he stares into the ceiling and hopes it doesn't tilt the world.
Sweetness. Relaxation. Empathy.
He was free.
x
I hope everyone liked this chapter! I'm gonna try to do a coverage of fashion soon and thanks to GossipQueen101 for the Bryn/Javier scene at the bar. Big thanks for doing them justice.
Prepare for more insanity next!