Disasterpiece

I hissed loudly, pulling the sticky tape from my lip and taking skin with it. Josie looked up from the mirror and giggled; I glared at her and stuck the tape next to my finger which was attempting to hold the corner of bright blue wrapping paper. I should’ve chosen something in a nice even square box.

“You should just buy one of those gift bags next time,” Josie said, her face was about an inch from the mirror as she meticulously applied eyeliner. I huffed, stood up and kicked the roll of tape across my room. Tonight was Friday night, the night I was going to meet my nephew; and I had the brilliant idea to buy him present – and wrap it. It’s one of my many failing talents in life.

“I’ll try to remember that,” I replied sarcastically. I picked up the badly wrapped gift and put it on my bed next to my bag, ready to go for whenever Josie finally finished getting ready. Why was she taking so long? Well, she wasn’t coming to Corey’s house with me if that’s any hint. “I hope you’ve told Daniel where you’re going, I am so not lying for you again,” I told her, sitting on my bed I watched her move onto her eye shadow collection. She glanced at me in the mirror reflection and shrugged.

“You won’t need to lie,” she said casually, I rolled my eyes; I didn’t need to lie but I was highly doubtful that she had told the truth. The last two days had been, well, strange with Josie. Daniel had been over last night and everything seemed to be normal between them, but I’d noticed her getting a lot more text messages than usual – texts that made her giggle.

“What exactly are you two doing tonight any way?” I asked suspiciously, she was considerably dolled up in a short black dress and heels; one of those outfits you wear to a first date to try and dazzle your way into their heart. Josie sighed in annoyance and continued to put her make up on, ignoring my last question. “Well if you ask me, it looks like you’re going to meet up with your boyfriend; oh but wait he’s at work isn’t he?” I said mockingly. She packed her eye shadow away and turned to me, her eyes glinting in the overhead light.

“I’m not cheating on him, I’m not doing anything with Sid; we are just hanging out and I feel like looking like a girl for once ok?” she snapped, I blinked in surprise and nodded; it was unlike Josie to ever get angry like that. Her anger was usually centred on trivial things like bad drivers and people who don’t cover their mouths when they cough.

“I wasn’t suggesting you were, I just don’t want Daniel to get the wrong idea if he ever finds out, I know how much you mean to each other,” I mumbled, she frowned, pouting and extended her arms out, I got up and hugged her.

“You’ve always kept my head in check babe,” she whispered; sometimes I wish she could keep mine the same way too.

I adjusted my grip on the present and waved at Josie’s retreating car that disappeared around the corner and into the darkness. Biting my lip nervously, making my way up to the front door I pressed the door bell. Corey had a beautiful house, two story like Joey’s but his was white with huge glass windows and deep purple curtains; I would never have picked this as Corey’s future abode when we were younger. The door sprung open in front of me, I looked down to find one of the most adorable kids I had ever seen; instantly I knew who his father was from the eyes and sandy hair.

“DAAAAAAAAD!” he yelled, slamming the door. I laughed and pressed the doorbell again, after some hurried yells the door was pulled open again; I found myself staring at Corey this time.

“Fuck I’m sorry VJ, he’s a little prick sometimes,” Corey apologised; I waved him off lightly and smiled.

“He’s your kid what do you expect?” I joked; Corey grinned and stepped aside to let me in. His house was extremely warm, there were frames filled with blown up comic book covers lining the walls and random pieces of rock memorabilia stuck on tables and shelves. Corey inclined his head down the hallway; I followed him to the back of the house, finding myself in a large kitchen/dining room. Griffin was sitting innocently on the edge of a stool by the breakfast bar, swinging his legs around; a goofy grin on his face.

“Griff this is your Aunty VJ,” Corey told him. Griffin stopped swinging his legs and tilted his head, his blue eyes sparking in confusion and wonder.

“Hi Griffin, I bought this for you I hope you like it,” I said quietly, stepping forward slowly I handed over the present that resembled a ball of scrunched wrapping paper. Griffin took the present eagerly, ripping off the paper without a second thought; a wide grin spread across his face as he pulled the light sabre from the paper mess. “I don’t know if you like star wars, but your Dad use to when we were kids,” I told him. Griffin jumped off the stool, tore the sabre from its box and began to run around the house. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his boundless amount of energy.

“Oi Griffin get here now,” Corey bellowed loudly, Griffin popped up a second later in the doorway carrying the same innocent face we had walked into him wearing. “It’s rude not to say thank you,” Corey told him; I felt a strange feeling burn in my heart, Corey acting like a real father, a grown up and the way I could see that Griffin looked up to him made me feel, I guess maybe proud of Corey.

“Thank you Aunty VJ,” Griffin said, then disappeared again waving the light sabre around, making swooshing noises. Corey shook his head and went over to the abandoned paper to clean it up.

“He’s a maniac sometimes but you gotta love them,” he said, throwing the paper into the bin.

“He’s adorable, looks so much like you,” I complimented, sitting myself on the stool Griffin had abandoned.

“Yeah? Poor kid then ay, I hope he turns out more like his Mom; he’s actually got a big mouth when he wants you know,” Corey replied, opening the fridge he pulled out two cans of soda, sliding one along the bench towards me. I caught it easily and popped the top open.

“Oh come on he’s got a gorgeous looking father,” I retaliated jokingly.

“Oh yeah he’s a real looker, should do one of those Armani ads,” Corey scoffed sarcastically; opening his own can of soda he toasted the air and brought the cool metal to his lips.

We ordered pizza and spent the rest of the night watching bad TV and Griffin playing the Nintendo. I yawned, snuggling deeper into Corey’s chest; he had his arm wrapped loosely around my shoulders as we both lay on the couch. Corey rubbed my shoulder, flicking through the television channels aimlessly. I blinked slowly a few times as my eyes got heavier, I looked around the lounge room; I hadn’t paid much attention to what was in here before now – I’d been too entertained by the father-son-Nintendo wars; then there was the pizza wars; and when the cat decided to come out they both tried to prove who the cat loved more. I am happy to reply that the cat ignored them both and came straight to me.

But now my eyes caught something familiar in the corner on a stand, it looked a hell of a lot more worn than I remember, but the fading tattered sticker on the outside couldn’t be mistaken in any memory.

“I can’t believe you still have that guitar,” I said, nodding towards the aging acoustic. Corey looked over at it and smiled; we both had fond memories around that object – Corey especially, it was his first guitar after all; he had been given it as a bribe by his Mom to give up his second room for me.

“It’s not something you can just throw out; I changed the strings the other day actually – first times in years,” Corey replied fondly. I shifted myself away from him, and crawled onto the floor. Corey watched as I manoeuvred myself on my hands and knees over to the corner and took the acoustic up carefully in my hands. “I didn’t know you could play?” Corey said, pulling himself into a sitting position and turning off the television. I grinned and shook my head, running my fingers over the steel strings.

“I can’t, I only know a few chords; tell me if this sounds familiar,” I responded, gathering my bearings slowly I moved my fingers carefully into the only musical positions they knew and strummed along. I hadn’t heard or even thought of the tune in years, but now I was playing it it seemed like only yesterday that we were kids.

She gripped her pillow tighter, cradling it in her arms she rocked back and forth on top of her bed. A tear streaked down her cheek, the darkness of the unfamiliar room overwhelmed her; she wanted to go home, her real home. A branch knocked against the window, the wind was whooshing loudly around outside; a storm was brewing. The girl sniffed, shaking her head; she was afraid, she felt more alone than she had her entire life.

He had heard her muffled sobs from the room next door, tapping gently on her bedroom door he invited himself in and found her shaking on the bed. He frowned, taking a few short steps across the room he sat down beside her; she looked over at him, quickly wiping the tears from her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked awkwardly; not sure if he should’ve interrupted her private moment or not. But he felt a strange pull when he heard her upset, it was something he had never experienced around her before; he was so use to just mucking around. She bit her lip nervously, she felt stupid and embarrassed.

“You’re going to laugh,” she whispered. Under normal circumstances he would have, but he knew that this wasn’t the moment – perhaps this was the defining scene in their life that would bring them closer, not just two kids living in the same house.

“I promise I won’t,” he replied honestly. She sighed, loosening her grip on the pillow she let her legs fall over the side of the bed. The room didn’t feel so strange when he was in here with her.

“I can’t sleep, your house scares me I want my old room back,” she told him. He didn’t think he would laugh even if he had promised not to, he knew exactly how she felt, his Mom had had a few boyfriends before her Father in his time; he knew what a new unfamiliar room felt like.

“Wait here,” he said, getting up he raced quietly out of her room and into his, grabbing the new acoustic that lay on his bed he made his way back to her carrying a weak grin. “It’s your turn not to laugh now ok?” he made her promise, she blinked a few times in bewilderment but nodded. “Ok get under the covers,” he said. She stood up, pulled her blanket back and got in underneath; snuggling into the warm depths.

He sat on the edge of her bed biting the inside of his mouth nervously; unsure exactly of what he was doing. He strummed a few open chords then was suddenly hit with inspiration, adjusting his grip on the neck of the guitar he began to play the tune from nowhere over and over, getting lost in the mesmerising sound. When he finally remembered why he was playing and looked over to the girl he found her asleep; a small curl on the corner of her lips.

“I can’t believe I ever forgot that,” Corey said incredulously, his eyes bright. He moved himself onto the floor beside me, taking the guitar out of my hands he began to play the tune himself. I felt bathed in contentment as the music swooned around my ears, the epitome of relaxed; I sank back against the wall closing my eyes.