They Let Us Play With Markers, but I Keep Trying to Draw Infinity

The car was a lot bigger inside than it looked and could fit four people quite comfortably. Unfortunately, we were trying to squeeze six in heavy coats. After a lot of shuffling around, we finally got mine and Randy’s bags in the would-be trunk and everyone else situated, though three were seatbelt-less and two were obviously breaking the law.

I was wedged between Leo and Toby – who were deceptively small looking in the wide open space of the quad – and Randy was “aggravatingly forced” to sit on Leif’s lap while Jacob drove (apparently it was his car).

“Where to?” Jacob asked, hands poised at ten and two, ready for instruction.

“Breakfast, of course,” Leif said.

Suddenly, Randy jumped and nearly hit her head on the roof of the car.

“Watch it,” she growled to which Leif just grinned.

“We could go to Grover’s,” I suggested, ignoring Randy’s outburst.

“Grover’s?” Jacob echoed.

“Yeah, it’s the little diner/bakery thing on Pine.”

“Where’s Pine?”

“That way?” I said, quickly learning that they were not from around Camden, as I had originally assumed. Jacob, Toby, and Leo continued to stare at me expectantly. Randy was still glaring at Leif and watching him with hawk eyes while he just kept grinning “innocently” out the front window. “Where did you find these guys?”

“Out in the dumpster behind that Chinese place. Can you believe they were just going to throw them away?”

I gave Randy a doubtful look as I told Jacob how to get to Grover’s. The exceptionally short ride (since it was only two blocks over) was full of loud conversation, courtesy of Leo, Toby, and Leif. When Jacob pulled into an empty parking space directly in front of the building, Randy was out of the car before he had even put it in park, shuddering dramatically and wiping off imaginary diseases. I shared an equally amused look with Toby as he helped me out of the backseat. Leif, blatantly ignoring Randy’s faux disgust, walked right past her, whistling, and held open the door for the rest of us. He winked at me and Randy as we walked by.

The door hadn’t even clanged shut behind us when an older and very disgruntled looking woman rushed up to us, ushered us to a long table, took our drink orders, and disappeared into the kitchen. She was back with our glasses and gone again before anyone even thought to speak.

“She was delightful,” I said awkwardly, though I wasn’t sure if was from the silence or the strangeness of the girl.

“I think she likes us,” Leif said. He wiggled his eyebrows with his usual big grin plastered on his face. We each turned to see where he was looking just in time to catch the tail end of the girl’s hair disappear around the corner.

As we all turned back to the table, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that I had received a text message from Chuck. Leo and Toby leaned over either shoulder and took turns reading each message: Toby reading Chuck’s and Leo reading mine.

“Where are you? Class in two minutes.”

“Feel like skipping? We got kidnapped by bandits who took us to breakfast. We’re at Grover’s.”

“Sounds fun, but can’t. Need to talk to Mr. Rues after.”

“We’ll miss you. Oh! Tell T something came up or something.”

“Not here today. No worries.”

“Who’re Chuck and T?” Leo asked.

“Chuck’s our other best friend, and T is my new friend.”

“Friend, here having the meaning of knight with shining frisbee into whose pants one wants.”

My ears felt hot, and I tried not to look completely mortified while I said, as uncaring as possible, “Randy, shut up.”

Leif looked at Randy then at me. “I’m sensing a little bit of a romance between the beautiful Josephine and the handsome Tristan.”

“You are creepily perceptive,” I said, embarrassment fully sinking in and also hoping my veiled compliment would change the subject to something other than any future romantic entanglements between myself and Tristan.

“You’re blushing,” Jacob said. “It gives it away.”

“Ah,” I said. I was even more embarrassed. I decided then would be a good time to remove myself from the conversation as it would it be the only hope of ending all further discussion of Tristan; unless Randy saw fit to gain retribution for my actions earlier. Thankfully, though, they had already moved on with a new topic, and I took that chance to sit back and actually take a look at the new people around me.

Jacob was a tall, hulk of a fellow with a square jaw and longer, shaggy curly blonde hair. His voice was deep, and he had a very pensive looking face. He didn’t talk much, but he had a very strong presence you just couldn’t ignore.

Leif was of thinner form with a softer face. His hair went to just past his shoulders and was dark, straight, and shaggy. He talked the most out of everybody and couldn’t seem to sit still for very long as he was always bouncing his leg, shifting in his seat, or wiggling his fingers.

Toby had dark hair, too, but his was much shorter and neatly trimmed. He had the appearance of a constant two o’clock shadow even though he was young and probably shaved every day. He was also an absolutely sweetheart. He was always smiling, said ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and had even pulled out my chair for me when we sat down.

Leo was blonde, like Jacob, but he had a much rounder baby face. He talked more than Jacob, was just as sweet as Toby, but every once in a while he’d make the most smartass comment.

“What are you thinking about?” Toby whispered.

I tore my gaze away from Jacob, who was scribbling away on a napkin between a few vague comments in reference to Leif and Randy’s conversation – though it looked more like an argument.

“Is that how they always are?” I asked, referring to Jacob and Leif.

Toby glanced over at them. “Always. You get used to it.”

“How long have you guys known each other?”

“Well,” Toby leaned back in his chair, “Leo and I were friends in preschool, had a falling out in kindergarten then reconnected in middle school. That’s when we met Jacob. Actually, we’ve known him since preschool, but we didn’t become friends until middle school. We met Leif in high school; that’s when we formed the band. We met Randy a couple of months ago. Now she’s our drummer.”

“So who plays what?”

“Randy, drums. Leo, bass.. Leif, lead guitar. Jacob sings and plays rhythm guitar, and I’m the keys and backup vocals.” Toby grinned satisfactorily.

“Wow.” It was easy to see how each instrument fit each personality, at least from what I had gleaned so far. “Last question: Where are you guys from?”

“Mason. Leif’s from England, originally.”

“Oh, is that where he gets that adorable accent from?”

All conversation stopped and we looked to the end of the table where a new, very young and peppy waitress stood, pen and pad in hand, and looking joyously at Leif.

“How old are you?” Randy asked suspiciously.

“I’m… I-I’m…” Her eyes danced around the room, looking for answer. “I’m seventeen.”

“Shouldn’t you be in school today?”

“I graduated early?” she asked. Then, before anyone could respond, “Can I get you something to eat?”

The question was mostly directed at Leif, but we all answered before him, scared she’d only take off with his order. Although she wrote down everyone’s, anytime she looked up, it was only to glance at Leif. To tease her more, we all gave him our menus to hand to her. He grinned and winked as she took them. It nearly made her collapse in a fit on the floor. We couldn’t help but laugh hysterically when she disappeared into the kitchen again.

“So,” I said, dragging it out while the laughter died down. “I’m assuming your band has a name, or are there about twenty options that no one can agree on?”

“No,” Toby smiled, “we’ve had the same name since high school”

“Which is?” I prompted.

“Missing the Ground,” Leo said.

“Missing the Ground,” I repeated slowly, pretending the taste the words. “I like it.”

“We do too,” Leif said, always grinning, though this time it was for a different reason than to weaken a pretty girl’s knees.

Next to him, Randy discreetly pulled her elbow closer to herself so that it wasn’t touching Leif’s anymore as both of them had their arms resting on the table. Leif noticed but didn’t acknowledge it, just moved his arm a little closer. Randy glared imperceptibly and slowly pulled her hands into her lap.

The peppy waitress came back much more quickly with our food than she had been to take our orders. As she handed out the plates, her hand lingered on Leif’s so that he couldn’t immediately take it away. They played a small round of tug-o-war before he finally wrestled it away. She continued to stand by and watch him while Leif completely ignored her, more concerned with his food.

“Run along now, little one,” Randy said impatiently, shooing the girl away. “Fuckin’ jailbait, I swear,” she mumbled after the girl had left.

“Wow,” I said, wide-eyed and worried. “You guys aren’t even famous yet. I’m scared to see you when people actually know who you are and seek you out.”

“I like that you said ‘yet.’” Jacob smiled.

“We shall be kings!” Randy said before taking a huge bite of hash browns.

“What are you talking about?” Leif asked, finally looking up from his, already half-eaten, plate.

“You’re just a vacuum cleaner mouth attached to a black hole stomach,” Randy said, looking in wry amusement at his plate.

Leif sat up straight and started to open his mouth but thought better of it and leaned over to whisper something in Randy’s ear. None of heard what it was, but her face turned bright red and she elbowed him, hard, in the side.

“What the fuuuuck?” someone shout from the door. All six of our heads turned to see Mikey, Tristan’s friend, standing in front of the door. “It’s the hot the chick from the Frisbee game and the girl Tristan was scamming on! I was beginning to think I’d never see you two again.” He grabbed a chair and sat at the end of our table between Leo and Jacob. “It’s me, Mikey, remember?”

“Hi, Mikey,” I greeted, laughing a little. I didn’t think he’d remember us, or that we’d ever see him again either, but I was kind of glad he had appeared. He was funny, and I missed him.

“Oh look it's Tristan's spastic friend who curves his frisbee-throws so people run into each other!” Randy said, seeming just as amused and happy as I was that we had run into Mikey.

“Fuck yes I do!” he shouted, punching the air with his fist. Someone actually shushed him, and an elderly couple glared at him, shaking their heads.

“Randy,” Leif said, elbowing her in the side, “aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“No, Leif, I am not,” she responded, distinctly looking away from him.

“Uh…” I said, not completely what was going on. Either way, I stepped in. “Leif, this is Mikey. Mikey this is… Jacob, Leif, Toby, and Leo; Randy’s in a band with them.”

“That’s fuckin’ awesome! What’s everybody play?”

We spent the next hour or so chatting animatedly with Mikey. Well, everyone except Leif who slowly finished his food much less enthusiastically than before and just sat there, moping, while Randy kept ignoring him. It was kind of weird and very awkward. I wasn’t sure if Randy was really mad, or if Leif was really upset, or if this was just another “way they were,” but I tried my best to ignore them (which was made extremely easy by my company) and continued to chat away with Mikey, Toby, and Randy with a few comments from Leo and Jacob.

“Damn it!” Mikey exclaimed after looking at his watch. “I gotta fucking get to class. What about you guys/gals?”

“We’re skipping today,” I explained, feeling a little rebellious as I said it, even though I’d skipped many times before.

“Well, fuck. When am I supposed to see you guys again?”

“Here,” Randy said, pulling a pen out of her back pocket and scribbling her number on a napkin.

Leif sat forward very slightly but very suddenly, which was what caught my eye. I watched him as he watched her. His eyes barely got wider then he went back to normal and leaned back in his seat. I rolled my eyes at pathetic nosiness. It seemed that when they were around each other, they found it far too fun to annoy each other, as they had been doing all breakfast. They were more like brother and sister than newly acquainted friends.

“Awesome,” Mikey said, tucking the napkin into his pocket. “Fuck, I’m gonna be late. I’ll call you,” he said, pointing at Randy, “and we’ll,” he pointed at both of us, “hang out sometime.” He turned on his heel and walked out, turning right and disappearing beyond the window.

“He seems nice. I like him,” Toby said.

“He’s like Patrick Stump on speed,” Jacob said.

“I like it!” Leo yelled.

“We should definitely invite him to the show,” Toby mused.

“Show?” I asked. “What show?”

“We’re playing a small show tomorrow afternoon on campus. Randy didn’t tell you?”

“…Way to ruin the surprise, Tobes,” Randy said.

Toby held up his hands, palms out in surrender. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize it was. I just assumed that you had already said something.”

“You know what they about assuming, right?” I asked. “It makes an ass out of you and me. And she didn’t even tell me she was in a band, much less meeting with one in the hopes of joining. Why would she ever tell me about a show?” I said, looking at her.

“I didn’t realize it meant that much to you,” Randy admitted.

“Of course it does! It’s a big deal for you, which, as your best friend, means it’s a big deal for me too.”

Randy sighed. “Sorry, Josey.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t leave out these details in the future.”

Randy just smiled in response.

“Hey, who’s paying for this shindig?” Leo asked, rather loudly.

Everybody looked at each other, almost in a panic, when Jacob pulled out his wallet, threw a wad of cash onto the table and stood up.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

We all stood up with him and bundled back into our coats, hats, scarves, and gloves to once more venture out into the cold wasteland of Camden.