Goodbye Blues

From the moment that Joy awoke after naptime, the dream rushing back to her, to the moment that she was seated in her white, plastic chair, she was dazed with deep thought. Every little girl was looking at the old lady in antisipation. Although her mind was clouded with thoughts, Joy could tell that only Delilah cared about her health, which had gotten worse.

Joy wiped the napkin she had in her under under her nose before starting without admiring Delilah and answering the girls' skeptical, harsh questions.

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Joy was a proffessional at making a fool of herself. Especially today as she tripped on an unseen game controller wire.

Joy fell backwards, landing on her butt and hands. This lead every handsome, nice featured boy, including Brendon, into hysterics of laughter. It rolled on for a good five minutes, as Joy just sat there, sneering in pain.

Finally, still chuckling, David Blaise stood up and gracefully walked up to Joy, offering his hand. She took it and was hoisted up with the young looking boy's help. "Come sit down with us. Want something to drink?"

With a blush in her cheeks as the boys eyes followed her, Joy shook her head and sat down on the couch beside David. For a moment, there was silence with the exception of the videogame until Dan Young piped up.

"So Joy," He said kindly, his Australian accent thick and attractive, "How old are you?"

"Checkin' if she's legal, Young?" Joe piped up from the floor. His eyes were locked on the tv screen, his thumbs glued to the controller, but a smirk was on his bearded face. A couple of people chuckled and Dan just rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me, but I'm married," Dan scoffed, then turned back to Joy who was looking at his wedding ring. She looked up to meet his eyes after a moment, to see everyone was sitting, waiting for her reply.

"Oh, erm, 19 in July," She grumbled. A couple of people dubbed her as young, as a few just shrugged and nodded. Joy glanced towards Brendon who staring right at her, no emotion in his face. He was still in that position with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

"So you're going to college?" Andy asked, leaning back against the couch cushion. Joy scratched the side of her head and nodded. "Where to?"

"Berkley," She stated, feeling awkward. Again, she took a small glance towards Brendon. His eyes were still boring into her, making her feel gross and self concious.

"Awesome. Majoring?" David asked, staring at Joy's face. Her cheeks seemed permanitely pink as she fumbled with the ring on her thumb, biting her lip everytime she didn't have to talk.

"Uh," Joy said, stuttering a bit, "Art History."

"Cool, cool," David said slowly, nodding. All the boys copied his actions, and a mellow silence blanketed the room. Joy felt like she was the cause of this. When she came in, everyone was laughing. Now, everyone was silenced with conceit.

"So what's your connection to The Hush Sound?" Jon asked from the floor, near Joy's feet. She looked down at him to see that his eyes were still glued to the television set as well, deep in his videogame, yet still in the conversation.

"Chris is my faternal twin brother and Greta is my best friend." Joy said, her hands now falling and landing on her knees. She tried to look comfortable in the room filled with talented, good-looking musicians, but it was hard.

"Faternal twin brother? Righteous," Joe said, from beside Jon before Michael Guy Chislett piped up from beside Brendon's legs.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Greta? There's another chick on this tour?" He said, his Australian accent different from Dan's but still very adorable. Joy nodded as Michael muttered an,"Oh," and glanced up at Brendon. Brendon looked down with a little smirk on his face and nodded a little, slowly.

"I'm sure you'll like her better. She's talented, eccentric, and very adorable," Joy mumbled, smiling a little. A few boys chuckled, smirking at Joy, then looking down at their shoes or beverages. Joy tried not to, but she couldn't help it - she glanced again over at Brendon.

His chocolate brown eyes were still set on her and she couldn't help but feel the sweat collect in the palm of her hands. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked away from him.

"What does she look like?" Andy suddenly piped up. A chorus of laughter followed as Andy laughed a little while muttering, "What? I'm a curious, single boy."

"Uhm," Joy said, giggling a little, "She has long, curly blonde hair, a cute little nose, deep brown eyes, and naturally pink lips." Joy looked at the boys who looked back at her, wanting more of a description. "Uhm, she prefers wearing dresses over jeans. She has a natural pink to cheeks. And she's my height."

The boys now nodded. Andy muttered, "She sounds cute," and a couple boys agreed. Almost as if on cue, Joy's eyes wandered towards Brendon. His eyes were now looking down upon his big Nike shoes, and Joy took this time to take in his beautiful features again.

He was biting his bottom, deep pink lip, his hands now behind him, touching the wall. His tousled dark hair hung a little in his eyes. Joy could see his long eyelashes hitting the white skin on his cheek. She sighed a little.

"I think I'm going to go out for a smoke," Joy announced suddenly, standing up. She needed to get out of this awkward room immediately, and it didn't help that she was desperate for nicotine. Andy called after her, "Hugs not Drugs, kid!" which made her laugh a little as she walked down the stairs.

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The nurse stopped Joy there, piping up that it was nap time. Every girl groaned, knowing that Joy had just gotten to a good part. They muttered and grumbled angered things as they packed their lunches and stalked off.

Delilah lingered behind as always. She walked up to Joy as Joy wiped her nose again on the napkin. Joy thought she was going to ask her about her cold, but instead, Delilah surprised her, asking, "You smoked?"

Joy smiled a little to herself and nodded. But she looked Delilah deep in the eyes before saying, "And I regret it deeply. So don't ever smoke, Delilah Feilds. Promise me that."

Delilah looked at Joy before nodding slowly then repeating in her small voice, "I promise I won't ever smoke."

A smile spread on Joy's lips that caught onto Delilah's. And suddenly to Joy's surprise, Delilah's small arms wrapped around Joy's neck, embracing the old lady. Joy's smile widened as she hugged back.

They two ladies said their goodbyes after the embrace, and Joy was followed to her room. Although Joy felt a little bad that she had lied to Delilah, saying she regretted smoking, it was half true.

Sure, Joy regretted messing up her health with the chemicals. But smoking was what brought Joy and Brendon to have their first real conversation together. And nothing could beat that.

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Joy quickly rushed towards The Hush Sound's bus and grabbed her carry on from her bed, ignoring the people in the living room. They were familiar faces so she knew it wasn't rude to pass them by without a greeting. She grabbed her Bali Shag cigarettes, her black lighter, and rushed back outside.

She didn't take a note to who was around her as she walked towards the tent and used the table to set down her lighter and cigarettes. She was too eager to care. Pulling out a piece of paper, she steadied it between her fingers, and took some tabacco from inside her cigarette pouch, setting it in the paper. She rolled the tabacco together in the paper like she had some many times before, then licked the paper to make it sticky and stuck it down.

As she brought the lighter to her cigarette, a deep, soft but smooth and clear voice from behind said, "I heard you had to be really skilled to be able to roll a cigarette."

Joy turned around as she took a drag to see Brendon. The sun hit his face from an angle that made his skin shine a bit. His hands were in his pockets, as he slowly made his way under the tent next to Joy.

She blew out the smoke nonchalantly, though her heart was beating ten times too fast. She looked at him and shrugged. "I heard that too, but I don't believe it."

Brendon smirked a little and nodded, looking down at the red Bali Shag pouch filled with paper and tabacco. Joy stared at him as she brought the cigarette to her lips again. Taking in a long drag, she blew it out quickly away from Brendon, before saying, "Give it a try."

"What?" Brendon asked, furrowing his brow and looking up at the pretty girl, who wore a light smile on her face at this point. She nodded her head towards the cigarettes before taking another drag.

Speaking as the smoke cleared out of her mouth, Joy repeated herself, "Try to roll a cigarette."

Brendon looked at her then down at the cigarette pouch. Suddenly a smile broke out onto his face and shrugged. His large hands appeared from out of his pockets, as his long fingers fumbled with the paper. Once it was steady in his hands, he looked towards Joy.

"Take the tabacco, and put it in the middle of the paper," She advised, her voice soft. Brendon's eyes lingered on her before he did just that.

"And now?" He asked. Joy smiled as she took another drag of her almost dead cigarette. She had smoked it so deeply and quickly, so in need of nicotine, the cigarette was dead in a matter of two minutes. Joy dropped her cigarette and stomped it out before taking Brendon's fingers in hers, and showing him what to do.

"Now lick the paper," She said slowly. Brendon hesitantly did just that, the smell of bitter tabacco filling his nostrils as he did so. Joy took his long pointer finger in her small ones, then pressed it down against the paper. "And that's how you roll a cigarette."

Brendon smirked and nodded before out stretching his hand and offering it to Joy. She laughed a little and shook her head. Brendon's eyebrows furrowed yet again at her. "What?"

"Well, now you have to smoke it," She said simply, crossing her arms. Brendon looked at her, a little smile on his lips. He slowly looked down at the cigarette and sighed, putting it between his lips. Joy smiled and grabbed her lighter, turning it on and putting it against the cigarette.

Inhaling, Brendon took the cigarette between his fingers. But he coughed it out, and gave an amused, sour look towards Joy. She laughed at him as he took a deep breath. "That is probably the worst tasting tabacco I have ever encountered."

"Are you dissing my Bali Shag?" Joy said, faking offense. She had a big smile on her face though, that contradicted her. Brendon smiled, too, a wide smile that showed off his straight teeth.

"I think." Brendon said slowly, looking down at the cigarette then back at Joy, "I am."

"Well wise guy, if you think this tabacco sucks, what do you smoke that tastes oh so damn good?" Joy asked, tilting her head to the side. Brendon scoffed and stuck the cigarette in his mouth, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a box of Camel cigarettes. "I smoke those when I don't have Bali Shag!"

"They're much better than this shit," Brendon said, inhaling then blowing the smoke out in Joy's face. She laughed, scrunching up her nose and waving the smoke away. He smiled and took another drag from the cigarette again.

"They're alright," Joy smirked, picking up his box of almost emptied cigarettes and taking one out. He lifted an eyebrow but didn't stop her as she stuck it between her lips. Brendon smirked and grabbed the lighter before she could, turning it on and lighting the cigarette as she inhaled. "Thank you, kind sir."

"Anytime, my lady," Brendon smirked as they both stood there with smiles and each other's cigarettes, both naive to the fact that they were going to be the end of each other.