Rum and Coke

Ryan quietly rolled his new kick drum on the dolly, careful not to pull Ellie out of her deep contemplative state. He would have succeeded, too, if not for the damn chunk of pavement that was missing in the walkway.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked without even looking at her twin.

Ryan grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Um…I’m a ninja! You can’t see or hear me!”

She slowly turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. A cigarette was held carelessly between her fingers. Ryan quickly moved in front of the drum so that she couldn’t see it. “What the hell, Ryan? Don’t you remember Into the Woods? Here I am, singing at the top of my lungs, when there’s a loud bang behind me!”

Ryan chuckled at the memory. “Oh, yea, that wasn’t my fault. You see, there wasn’t any glow tape on that table.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “There wasn’t a table on set…ever, you idiot, and what the hell are you hiding rather poorly?”

Ryan could never get anything past her. He didn’t even know why he tried anymore.

“Well?” she asked, taking a drag of her cigarette.

“It’s a new kick drum,” He mumbled.

She narrowed her eyes again. “Why do you have a new one? Did you break one of your others?”

“No,” he half whined. “I-I wanted to try something new?” He questioned more than anything.

Laughing, she stomped out her cigarette. “Wait, you wanna try a quad-kick set? Is that even possible?”

“Technically, it could be done if you set it up correctly. Has anyone tried and succeeded? No, but they didn’t have my awesomeness.” he said, putting a hand over his chest in a proud, cocky manner.

Ellie rolled her eyes again. “You’re so damn full of it.”

Ryan scoffed. “And you’re not, Miss Prima Donna?”

She rolled her eyes yet again and looked back out into the alley way behind the venue.

“What’s wrong, Tilly?” He asked with little humor in his voice.

“Why are you calling me Tilly? I never played her. I was Francis.”

Ryan and stood next to her. “You have so much Melancholy, it reminds me of Tilly.”

She laughed. “What? so my Melancholy is so sexy that I make everyone fall in love with me…and, when I become happy, I make everyone else who feels melancholic turn into almonds?”

“Is that even a word?”

She shrugged. “Who gives a shit?”

“Tell me what’s wrong, Ellie.”

She sighed and looked down at the ground. “Bailey hasn’t called me, yet. What about you?”

Ryan shook his head and pulled out his phone. There weren’t any missed calls.

“Anything?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry, Ellie. She’s just dealing with so much right now. She’ll call when she can, trust me.” he said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“It just…feels so weird, I guess, without her. I mean, when I used to dream of the future, I always pictured all of us in it, you know?”

“Used to dream?” He questioned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shook her head and slipped out of his arms. “Nothing. It’s nothing. C’mon, it’s time to warm up.”

"No, Ellie," Ryan said, catching her by the arm.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just being selfish like always. Come on."

Sighing in defeat, Ryan let go of her and followed her back into the venue, towing his new kick drum behind him.

~*~

Three thousand miles away, Bailey wrapped her arms around her torso. Even though it wasn’t cold out, the alley she was currently in chilled her to the bone. She quietly approached the group of wayward boys.

“Justin?” she asked boldly.

“Who wants to know?” The shortest of the five guys asked.

“Me. You used to be Ryan’s hook up?”

The five boys smirked at her, identical rotten smirks on their faces. The tallest, and raggiest, of the five stepped forward. “I’m Justin. What does that idiot want?”

“Nothing, I’m here for me. I want in,” she stated with courage that she didn’t know she had.
Justin cracked a smile, showing his yellowing broken teeth. “Sure, baby, you can get in…into my pants. I’m sure a hot thing like you would feel wonderful.”

Bailey suppressed her shudder of disgust. “Not…that. I mean, I want you to hook me up.”

Justin shrugged, “Your loss. What do you want me to hook you up with?”

“Anything you got right now.”

Justin and his buddies laughed. “Dangerous thing to say. Have you ever used before?”

Bailey shook her head.

“Figures. Tell you what, I’ll give you a dime of MJ half price.”

Bailey nodded her head. She’d seen her father’s soldiers and Ryan on it. She knew what to expect. “How much?”

“For you? $100.”

“It’s not laced with anything, is it?” she asked, the reality of what she was doing finally setting in.

Justin’s smirk grew crooked. “Baby, I only sell pure.”

Bailey nodded her head. “Okay. Deal,” she said, handing over her cash as he handed her the small plastic bag. After she pocketed it, she turned and walked away.