SONG: Dance With The Devil ARTIST: Breaking Benjamin
..."...Close your eyes, so many days go by...Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right..."...
I spend a fitful night attempting to get some sleep but between taking a long nap yesterday and Faith making her way into my dreams; I only manage to get a couple of decent hours before my alarm goes off at nine. I get dressed in a pair of grey sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt and make my way into the kitchen to get some cereal. I find Jake and my dad already eating when I enter the kitchen.
"Morning bud." Dad says with a small smile and I just nod at him as I make my way to the counter to pour myself some cereal. Putting the milk back into the fridge I turn to see Jake standing at the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"You get your cereal and I got your coffee."
"Thanks Jake."
I take my seat at the counter just as my dad gets up to carry his plate to the sink. He looks good in his button down shirt and khakis.
"Off to church then dad?"
"Sure am; I need to get there a little early today. I told Pastor Sue I would set up the tables for the after service lunch. You boys should make yourselves presentable and go with me."
I steal a quick glance at Jake and see the grimace on his face that I imagine matches my own and fight the urge to laugh.
"Um...thanks for the offer dad but Jake and I are going to the gym today."
"Yeah I figured that's why this pain in the ass showed up here at eight-thirty this morning."
"I said I was sorry Mr. Styles and I cleaned up the coffee grounds you spilled all over the floor." I shoot Jake a confused look as my dad chuckles from across the room. Jake just shrugs his shoulders at me and shoves a bite of his peanut butter toast into his mouth to hide his grin. I turn back to my dad to see him smiling at the two of us.
"Jake Anderson; how many times have I told you to call me Henry? You make me feel old when you call me Mr. Styles. I have known you since you were eight years old so I think the formality is pointless don't you think son?"
"Son huh? Can I start calling you dad now?" Jake asks in amusement.
"Don't push it kid; you're not too big to have the hose turned on you."
The three of us end up laughing loudly as we remember the time my dad did in fact chase Jake out of the yard with the hose. My dad's sister; my aunt; was here for a visit when we were eleven years old and my cousin Tricia had just turned thirteen. Tricia was out back trying to get a tan in her skimpy bathing suit and my dad caught Jake hiding behind the trash cans with his hand down his shorts as he watched her. At the time dad was pissed and Jake was embarrassed but it's funny now.
"I can run faster now Henry so get your hose old man."
"Yeah, yeah...I'll get you when you least expect it. You boys stay out of trouble and I'll see you later Landon."
"Wait! I want to know why Jake had to clean up coffee grounds off the floor."
"Jake can fill you in on that; I got to get going or I'll be late."
I watch my dad leave the house and turn to Jake who has a shy smile on his face; this should be good.
"Alright Jake spill it."
"I didn't even mean to sneak up on him but when I heard him singing and saw him dancing I just couldn't resist."
"What do you mean you couldn't resist?"
"I snuck up behind your dad and grab ahold of him and started singing and dancing with him. He jumped so bad that he spilled half a can of coffee all over the floor. I'm surprised his shouting didn't wake you up; he was pissed."
"I'll bet but at least you cleaned up the mess."
"I didn't have much choice. He said either I clean it up or I had to get the hell out."
"He wouldn't have made you leave; I know dads a little tough on you but he loves you."
"Yeah I know...I can't wait to start calling him by his new nick name but I better wait a few days to let him cool off before I do."
"Nick name?"
"Oh! That's the best fucking part! You will never guess in a million years what song he was singing."
"It's hard to tell with dad. One minute he's jamming to Elvis Presley's gospel album and the next he's blaring AC/DC. I guess that's where I get my strange music taste from."
"Your dad was making an ass out of himself; he was singing 'Shake it Off' by Taylor Swift; fucking hilarious."
"Dear god, no!"
"I swear! Ask him yourself; I can't wait to start calling him Swifty from here on out."
"Swifty huh? That's actually pretty funny; I might even join in on that."
"You done eating yet? I hear the gym calling our names."
"Yep, all done; just let me wash my dishes and I'll be ready."
Thirty minutes later Jake and I are at the gym and as I use the machine to work my upper body; he jogs at a steady pace on the treadmill that is right in front of me. It's a little hard for me to watch him jog right in front of me; makes me a little jealous that I can't do that anymore. Jake's playful chatter from this morning seems to have disappeared because he has his earbuds in and I can see his lips moving as he mouths the words to whatever he is listening to. Instead of focusing on his light jogging; I decide to watch his mouth to see if I can pick out the songs he is singing as I continue my sets on the machine.
After almost an hour goes by I find myself covered in sweat and completely captivated in the little game I have created; when I see my name come out of Jakes mouth I shake my head and look up at him as I pull my own earbuds out of my ears.
"What did you say Jake?"
"I said stop staring at my lips Landon. I know how much you want to make out with me but how many times do I have to tell you that I don't want sex to get in the way of our friendship."
"Oh aren't you just hilarious today Jake. That's not what I was doing."
"You were staring at my mouth."
"Yeah I was but I was only trying to figure out what songs you were singing."
"Any luck with that?"
"Got a few of them figured out. 'Du Hast by Rammstein', 'Bodies by Drowning Pool', 'Hail to The King by Avenged Sevenfold' and 'Enter Sandman by Metallica'."
"Good job; all those were playing. I'm surprised you figured out that many; I tend to only sing bits and pieces."
"Yeah but those are all easy songs to figure out with the exception of Du Hast; that one took me a while to figure out because I realized that you don't actually know the lyrics to it."
"Who the fuck can actually understand what those guys are saying; I just do my best to make the words coming out of my mouth sound close enough."
"Don't look at me; I have no clue what they are saying either."
"You about done for the day or you want to stay a little longer?"
"If you got shit to do we can go."
"I don't, I was only checking. We can stay here all day if you want; just don't overdo it bud."
"I'm fine Jake."
"Really because you look like shit to me?"
"I didn't really get much sleep last night; took too long of a nap yesterday."
"Yeah...too long of a nap and a night full of wet dreams will do that to you."
"Shut up Jake." I chuckle.
"Do you still at least get to have them?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Sex dreams? I know you're broken and shit but I would hope you at least get to have interesting dreams once in a while."
I ignore his stupid comment and shuffle forward on the bench. "Can you hand me that towel so I can wipe the sweat off my hands before I try to get up?" Jake jumps off the treadmill and tosses me the towel before grabbing one of his own and sitting on the next machine over. When I glance at him I can see he has something to say to me; I cringe at what that something might be considering his previous comment.
"Why are you looking at me like that Jake?"
"What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"
"I don't have anything planned so whatever you are up for."
"You just want to hang out and watch movies or some shit?"
"Shouldn't we be outside doing something? It's too nice out to be sitting in the house."
"Alright smart ass, what do you suggest then?"
"We could go to the skate park for a couple of hours and then get something to eat."
"The skate park, really?" He groans.
"Sure why not? We haven't been there in forever. What's wrong Jake? Afraid that you lost your skills?"
"Pfft...look who your talking to Styles; I am the master of the board."
"That's the spirit! Let's swing by your house and grab your board and we can go show those little punks what a real skateboarder can do."
"We?"
"Well no, not we but I can be with you in spirit."
"I don't know if I really want to get on the board today; I kind of lost interest in it."
"Are you serious? You were the one who got me into skateboarding in the first place Jake. How come you lost interest in it?"
"I don't know; guess I just did." He shrugs his shoulders as though he is dismissing the whole idea but I noticed the sparkle in his light brown eyes when I mentioned the skate park. His indifferent tone can't hide the fact that he does in fact want to go and I can't help get a little pissed off at him.
"Don't do that Jake. It's bad enough you quit the football team because of me; don't stop skating too."
"I...I wasn't...I mean I'm not. I just thought maybe we could do something together today. If I'm on my board what are you going to do?"
"What I always did before; watch. I was never any good with my board anyhow and I just liked to watch you. You're good Jake; everyone ends up watching you. Come on what do you say?"
"Yeah...yeah okay that sounds good. You want me to take you home so you can shower first?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"You stink."
"So do you but I don't want to waste this sunny day so I can shower later."
"Yeah okay, let's get going then."
By lunch time I find myself completely relaxed while I listen to my IPod and watch Jake skate on his board. I was right, half the little punks here have stopped their own skating to watch Jake; everything that Jake has done on his board has been self-taught and no matter what he tries he ends up mastering right away; he's a natural and you can't help but watch him. Jake walks over and flops down on the grass beside me and wipes sweat off his face before stealing my bottle of water to take a much needed drink.
"You hungry?" He asks; slightly breathless.
"Yeah I could eat. Where do you want to go?"
"Let's just grab some walking Taco's from the food cart. I'm kind of on a roll today and want to get back out there."
I dig out a ten dollar bill and toss it to him. "Get me two and a bottle of water; and don't forget the hot sauce."
"You don't want to come along?"
"Little sore today; think I'll let you get it for me."
"You want to just go home?"
"No, I don't want to go home; I'm having a good time watching you."
"You sure? Did you at least take one of your pills?"
"Yeah I took one, but if I don't get some food in me soon then I'll be sick so go get me tacos." I grin widely at him as he jumps up and jogs over to the food cart to get our lunch. The smile slips from my face once his back is to me and a small pang of guilt rolls through my stomach. I shouldn't have lied to him about taking my pill; hell I don't even have any with me to take even if I wanted to. I decide to brush off my guilt because I know Jake would have made me go home if he knew I was in pain and didn't have any pills to take away my discomfort. I don't want to go home; it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the summertime and a kid my age should be outside enjoy it instead of laying in bed like a slug.
Jake and I eat our lunch and end up making fun of the little punks as they attempt to do simple tricks with their boards. I told Jake if he was a nice person then he would show them a few tricks and he laughed and said it was a shame he wasn't a nicer person and that those punks will just have to get out of his way and watch the master. After I finish my lunch I lay down in the grass and roll to my side to attempt to take some of the aching pressure off my spine as I continue to watch Jake on his board.
When I wake up to Jake calling my name; the first thing I notice is that the sun is no longer shinning bright and because of my sleepy state I think it's getting close to dark.
"I'm glad my skating skills lulled you off to sleep there Landon but if we don't get out of here you are going to get drenched."
"Drenched why?"
"Look at those clouds man; it's going to start pouring any minute now."
I glance up and sure enough the sky is full of angry dark clouds that are threatening to spill rain down on us at any given moment. I groan loudly as I roll onto my back and groan once more as I shift myself up off the ground with my crutches; I ignore Jakes outstretched hands as he silently offers to help me.
"I got it Jake."
"I know you do; I was just on standby. You okay bud? Maybe you should take another pill."
"Jake..." I groan.
"I know, I know...stop your growling already. I know you are a big boy and can take care of yourself but you are also a stubborn little fucker when you want to be. I don't get why you keep yourself in so much pain all the time. That's what the doctor gave you those pills for; so you don't have to be uncomfortable. You got the good shit too; I'd be high as fucking kite all the time if my doctor gave me those pills."
"You can have them. All they do is make me sick anyhow."
We are just pulling out of the skate park when the rain starts to hit the roof of Jakes car and his cell phone makes a small chime at the exact same time. The two of us glance at each other and end up laughing.
"That was weird huh?" Jake asks with a grin as he digs his phone out of his pocket.
"Yeah it was a little weird." I say as Jake hands me his phone to check his message for him. Ever since the accident Jake and I have an unspoken agreement about being more careful about driving and won't let something stupid like a text message cause an accident. I roll my eyes when I see the text message is from Tad.
"Who is it? What do they want?" Jake asks as he keeps his eyes on the road.
"It's Tad; he wants to know if you are going to Adams party tonight."
"Uh...tell him I haven't decided yet and that I'll text him later."
I type out the text and press send before looking a Jake. "Adam...Adam who?"
"I probably won't go to that party."
"Adam who?"
"Landy don't okay..."
"Oh...that Adam. Be sure to tell the A-team I said hello?" I grumble.
"I told you I probably wasn't going Landon, so I doubt I will be able to fulfill your request."
"If you want to go to the party then go. I know you like going to the keggers; just promise me you won't drive."
"You know better Landon; I would never drink and drive. There is no point talking about it anyhow because I'm not going."
"Don't not go because of me Jake; I get...I don't know...upset maybe when you don't do things just because of me."
"Come with me then."
"Yeah okay and you can run the camera while Adam and I run the train on Amanda."
"Fuck them! It's a huge house and there will be tons of people there; we probably won't even see them. I have been to a couple parties at Adams and I never even saw him or that little mind fucker there."
"I don't want to go. I mean maybe I would some other time but I'm sore and even though I slept at the park I'm ready to get a shower and go to bed. I'll just be a drag if you take me to the party with you. I think you should go and have a good time."
"Are you sure you don't want to go for a little bit? Faith might be there."
My head snaps to attention at the mention of the name that has been floating in my head all day. I glance over to see Jake grinning at me. I clear my throat before speaking.
"Have you talked to her yet? About you guys'...um...status and...well the whole kissing thing that happened between her and I yesterday?"
"I haven't talked to Faith since I dropped her off on Friday night."
"All the more reason for me not to go. You two need to talk and I don't want to sit there and look like a dumb ass while you do it."
"She might blow me off anyhow. She didn't give me a straight answer about going to the party when I mentioned it to her at the concert. Have you talked to her since she left yesterday?"
"No, we don't have each other's phone numbers; I guess I forgot to ask for hers before I kicked her out of my house."
"Don't sound so mopey over there Landon. I told you Faith gets off on that shit; give her time and she'll come around."
"I doubt it."
"Sure she will. She can't resist those pouty lips of yours now that she knows what they feel like."
"Do you have an umbrella in here or am I going to get drenched walking in the house?"
Jake rolls his eyes and lets out a small chuckle because I ignored yet another one of his comments before turning to look at me and saying: "Looks like you won't need a shower after all bud. Are you sure you don't want to go to the party?"
"I'm sure; you should go though."
"Do you want to watch a movie?"
"Jake...just go to the damn party."
"Okay, okay! Geez but we can still watch a movie first. It's early yet; the party probably won't even start till eight or nine and it's not even five yet."
"I don't really feel like watching a movie. I think I am just going to get a shower and grab some junk food and hide in my room for the rest of the day. Dad is having a couple of his church friend over to play cards and I don't want to be anywhere in sight when that happens."
"If you came to the party with me you would be completely out of sight."
I let out a sigh as I open the door to Jakes car as I prepare to get drenched by the heavy rain. "Maybe next time Jake; I really am pretty sore today."
"Yeah okay bud, get some rest and I'll see you on Tuesday. Mom's making me do yard work tomorrow and since I won't be getting out of bed till at least noon and will be suffering from a sure hangover I know it's going to take me the whole day to get the lawn mowed."
"See you Tuesday then and please be careful tonight Jake."
"No worries Landon."