Oh, But You're An Explosion

The dark room was a record store. A fairly new record store that had some pretty amazing music pumping through the speakers in the ceiling. It's mass was filled with rows and rows of records; the room was absolutely crowded. I felt like I had been smacked in the face by my saviour.

"Are you new to Portland?" Erin asked as she bandaged my nose, smirking at the good dent she layed into my face. I had two black eyes and a bruise on my left cheek. I did, in fact, look like a hot piece of ass. I knew it.

"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "Moved over here to live with my dad for college. My stepmom decided that I just needed a job and to be acquainted with the city. I'm not too sure if I made the right choice." I sighed, looking around the record store. A Bob Dylan post caught my eye and I smirked.

"We're actually looking to hire." Erin said, smiling. "Alright, done!" she yipped, slapping at the counter I was sitting on. "I have fixed you; you may praise me."

I laughed. "So you fix what you break, huh?"

"And I keep what I kill." she added, winking.

"Good thing you didn't hit me a little bit harder, then, huh? I would've been taxidermied and mounted on your wall by tomorrow." I laughed, hopping off the counter.

She waved me off. "Nah. I save the crappier stuff for later; you would've been done by at least 2015."

"Oh. Yay." I smirked. I liked this chick.

"Anyways. Like I was saying." she sighed, rolling her eyes playfully. "We're looking to hire. The hours are 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock."

"Do I need to know anything?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows.

"Do you know your ABC's?" she asked, placing her hand on her hip and leaning against he counter.

I shrugged. "I go a little blank sometimes."

"Well, you're hired!" she announced, smiling. "You start tomorrow. Congrats!"

"You... But... I..." I stuttered, shaking my head. I was so confused.

"That's that, really. You can hang around here until 4 if you need a ride home, since you can't get Cruella on the phone." she said, making me laugh. I definately really, really liked her.

"Okay. I'll stay 'til 4, then." I agreed, shrugging.

[--]

I had never laughed so hard in my life. Erin seriously made my day.

Apparently, she's from here; born and raised. She lives with just her dad and he stumbles into her room and does her laundry for her sometimes. Oh, the horror of finding your daughter's g-string in the wash. She acted out his face when he asked her what it was doing in her laundry and everything. She is, of course, eighteen. The fact that he expects any more out of a teenage girl with raging hormones just makes me shake all over.

"I told him it was my lesbian lover's at first. He believe me for about ten minutes until I decided to do a little switcharoo and tell him it was really my boyfriends and we were into cross-dressing. That set him off a little bit." she laughed, plucking a record out of a box and placing it under Clash, The.

I followed her around, laughing. She had closed ten minutes ago and decided to restock before she took me home. "Sounds like your dad's a little oblivious." I stated, sitting in the infamous 'fix-your-face-here' counter.

"Oh, you have no idea. He's completely clueless; the female species isn't exactly his forte. It's sad, really. He said he always wanted a boy because all he does is fish and drink beer, but I told him that, with his luck, he'd have a boy and he'd be gay.

I laughed. "I'm sure he'd have issues with that."

"Hah," she laughed. "He'd just kill the kid and buy a straight one or something. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to get rid of me yet, but I'm gone too much for him to really say or do anything. He just kind of acts like I'm not there, which I'm cool with." She dropped the empty box and grabbed her bag and keys from behind the counter. "Alright. Onward!" she yelled, pointing and marching towards the door. I laughed, sticking my hands in my hoodie pocket and following her out the door.

[--]

"This is your house?" she asked as we pulled in the driveway.

I laughed. "Yeah. For now, I guess. Why?"

"Because I can't go in there! I should feel happy licking the pavement across the street." she said, stomping out her cigarette on the driveway pavement. I mentally clapped my hands and jumped for joy. Dianne will be absolutely pissed; score!

"Oh, please. Shut up and come on!" I ordered, scoffing and dragging her to the front door. When I opened the door I looked around. "I'm home!" I shouted to anybody who was listening; I was really hoping nobody was home, but when Dianne came trotting around the corner I knew all hope was lost.

"Anna." she hissed, giving me a look that told me she hoped I was dead. And the fact that she was in her pajamas also told me that she didn't expect to come get me... the little bitch. "What are you doing back? I told you to call me when you got the job at Quiznos."

Erin looked at me and whispered, "Quiznos?"

I laughed. "I got a job somewhere else, thank you very much. Quiznos blows." I threw my arm around Erin's shoulders. "I bumped into Erin," I framed my bruised face, "and she offered me the job at the record store from 8 to 4. I said 'okay' and a deal's a deal. Get over it."

Dianne shrugged and turned around, mumbling, "whatever gets you away from me..."

I smiled at Erin and she gave me a high-five as we ran up the stairs to my room. I had a feeling I had just discovered a very, very beautiful friendship.