Chivalry's Not Dead, Just Comatose

~Jamie~

I sat next to Penny on one of our breaks between scenes, sipping from a bottle of cold Berry Lemonade Jones Soda. Penny was nearly guzzling hers; it was Strawberry Lime. "Love this stuff," she explained, gently tipping the bottle so as not to spill any.

"So," I started, "do we just have a work relationship or can I see you outside of filming? I mean, I like to get to know my castmates."

"Sure," she said. "We start filming on-location in Huntington Beach in a couple of days, so I think I can get my cousin to pick you up and bring you over to our house tomorrow."

"You live with your cousin?"

"Since I was taken away from my parents a few years ago. I'm not entirely sure how they decided Zack was a good guardian, but he's taken great care of me so it doesn't matter." She finished off her soda. "California's been good to me, too. I can't imagine being back in the hell that Zack took me out of when he agreed to open his home to me."

"Oh," I said, slightly uncomfortable and unaware that there was anything else that I could say.

The following day, a black BMW showed up to bring me to Penelope's house. I got into the passenger's side (which confused me for a few seconds until I remembered I wasn't in England anymore and the steering wheel was on the left), and I could barely hear the driver as he introduced himself over the loud punk music coming from the speakers. "I'm Zack," he said. "You're Jamie, right?" I just nodded and he pressed the gas.

I got a good look at him. His arms were covered in tattoos, and his lip was pierced twice. He also had a bullring piercing in his nose. His hair was very short, like a buzz that was starting to grow out. I couldn't see his eyes, as he was wearing large sunglasses with bright green plastic rims. I couldn't help the feeling that I'd seen this particular man before. Not in person, but somehow.

We arrived at a fair-sized house. Zack didn't park the BMW in the garage, just on the driveway. He did open the garage door, though. I saw a group of four people standing or sitting around in the garage with instruments. Penelope was the only girl among them. She was playing a very sparkly pink customized Schecter guitar. It appeared that I was not dealing with a typical girl. Penny shredded a solo that kind of intimidated me. Zack cheered for her. I knew then that I really wasn't dealing with a typical girl. I'd never met any that could play like that before.

The song ended and the guy with the bass guitar shouted, "Zacky V!"

Zack waved at them all. "How ya doing, guys?"

Penny set her guitar down while her bandmates packed up their instruments. She walked over to Zack and enveloped his broad shoulders in a hug, sweetly pecking his cheek. "Hey, Zack Zack!" She hugged me. "How are you, Jamie?"

"I'm-I'm good," I stuttered. I whispered to her, "Zacky Vengeance is your cousin?"

"Yeah. He's awesome, right? He didn't scare you, did he?"

"I thought I recognized him! And no, he didn't scare me."

"I'll see you later, babe," a tall, thin boy with purple-black hair said, pecking Penny's lips briefly and carrying his sticker-covered guitar case out to a van parked in the street.

"Bye, Bobby!" she said, waving while he walked off. He wasn't even looking at her, the prick.

Zack smiled and ducked into the refridgerator in the garage, bringing out a bottle of beer. He opened the door from the garage to the inside of the house and Penelope and I followed him inside, Penny carrying her guitar by the neck while the strap dangled. It smelled like cigarettes in the house. "Come on," Penny said, "my room's smoke-free."

She led the way to the attic. "You have the whole attic to yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?"

I scanned the room. There was a bright pink sleeping bag in one corner, and I didn't see a bed, so I assumed that Penny slept on the floor. My assumption was correct, by the way. The walls were painted in black and white horizontal stripes. There were musical instruments about the room: a drum kit, an acoustic guitar, two electric guitars (including the pink one), a shiny all-black bass guitar, a full-keyed electronic keyboard, and a violin. Long strings of tiny pink and black bats and skulls hung from the exposed rafters so you had to walk through them like curtains. She had a large television with a Nintendo Wii and a DVD player. In front of the television was a mass of pink, red, black, and orange bean bag chairs. She flopped down onto them and motioned for me to join her.

"So, Zack spares no expense for his little cousin?" I said, sitting on a red bean bag. Penny winked at me. "Is Bobby your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," she replied. "He's a pretty sweet guy."

"Good."