She's With The Band
Chapter 13;
That night, a few beers and hot dogs later, the band stumbled back to the van to turn in. Alex and Imelda climbed all the way back to the last row and Jack fell in right in front of them. Danny, Evan, Vinny and Nano all separated to their own areas of the van and Matt got them on the road to the next stop.
Imelda curled up against the window, her newly shampooed hair piled on her head with a thick red scrunchie. Alex was watching her pull on a brown Jack’s Mannequin sweatshirt while sitting next to her in his own pajamas made up of blue plaid flannel pants and a white Valencia hoodie.
“You wanna have a date with me?” he whispered. Jack’s ears perked up, but he continued to fluff up his Spiderman pillows and stretch out across his bench.
“Sure. We can grab some lunch together somewhere tomorrow,” Imelda suggested with a small smile.
“No, I mean now. Let’s watch a movie or something. Have a date night in the back seat.”
Imelda laughed and nodded. She removed her MacBook Pro from its sticker-adorned case. Alex rubbed a finger over the front of the old computer.
“Nice stickers. What are they?” He ran his hands over the Burton, Billabong, Rome SDS and other stickers covering the laptop.
“Uh, I’m a really avid snowboarding fan. I go riding up in Whitetail in Pennsylvania whenever I get the chance,” she explained with a blush. Snowboarding was one of Imelda’s great loves of her life, but she didn’t like to publicize that fact. None of her friends back home really appreciated that particular interest of hers.
“That’s awesome! Are you any good?” Alex asked. Imelda was relieved to see a look of pure excitement on his face. He looked genuinely interested.
“Oh, not really. I can’t do the half pipe or anything. But I can survive a run or two. What about you?”
“We all love to snowboard! For our winter break last year we flew out to Aspen for a week. It was fucking sweet! Jack mastered it in like, two days. He fucking cheated, though, I swear. He messed with my bindings or some shit…” Alex mumbled. Imelda watched Jack smirk out of the corner of her eye. He was pretending to be asleep.
Imelda laughed and pushed Ocean’s Thirteen into her CD drive. Alex raised an eyebrow at her.
“Oh yeah, we’re watching this. You have no say in the matter.”
“Alrighty then,” Alex sighed, placing a kiss on Imelda’s pink lips, “I like a woman who takes control.”
Jack gritted his teeth at Alex’s comment and listened as the two giggled away in the backseat at the antics of Danny Ocean and his gang of ne’er-do-wells. Watching Alex and Imelda was like Lisa all over again. However, he had numbed a bit to heartbreak and was used to coming in second to Alex. He hadn’t even had a girlfriend, hook-up or even a kiss since Eliza last year.
Eliza and Jack had been friends for way too long and it had begun to affect their hormones. One rainy day during finals studying in junior year, Eliza was propped up on Jack’s bed with her red hair down in waves and a short Hollister skirt barely covering her matching bikini. She was nibbling on Jack’s Blink 182 pen and muddling through a physics problem. Jack was watching her intently and suddenly, something exploded in his head and he pinned her onto his pillows. She looked shocked, but pleased nonetheless and kissed him. She kissed him hard.
It went on like that for a few months, with Jack falling harder than Eliza while she skipped around Towson with his heart in her skilled hands. Eliza came to her senses and finally stopped leading him on, because all she had wanted out of their relationship was the physical aspect. And that was exactly what she got. Jack was deeply hurt again, but of course, was getting used to heartbreak.
That was the sad part. That when he looked back at his best friend and his new crush, the cliché feelings of betrayal, desperation and envy welcomed him in like old buddies. Jack was used to losing girls like Imelda. He was especially used to losing them to Alex. Because he was so used to coming in second, the burning in his chest was almost a natural feeling. It felt normal not to feel loved.
“Mellon. Mel, what are you doing?” Jack called out. Imelda was prying herself out of his grip and Jack was vaguely aware of About a Girl by The Academy Is… playing in the background.
Imelda was all decked out in a short silver number that fell about halfway down her thigh. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun and her lips were a spicy red. He noticed those especially because of the smirk spread across them. She was mocking him. She was dancing on a gigantic fret board and moving slowly away from him. He was screaming for her and running toward her, but that only made her prance away faster. Her sharp cackle brought tears to his eyes and his throat was running dry.
When he was finally knocked awake by a shockwave of terror, he opened his eyes and stared above him at Imelda, who looked frightened and was rubbing his cheek. He sat up, paused his iPod, which was blaring the aforementioned TAI song, wiped the remaining tears from his stinging eyes and glanced around the sleeping van.
“What’s up?” he croaked.
“You were screaming my name! You kept saying, ‘Imelda come back!’ I was just driving because Matt almost passed out at the wheel again so I made him go back and sleep while I drove and then you started screaming so I pulled over and now here we are,” Imelda explained, her breathless voice getting more high pitched and concerned.
“You were driving? Is that even legal?”
“Jack, shut up. Who gives a fuck? What happened to you?” Imelda brushed the hair out of his eyes and leaned closer to him.
Jack fought to keep from making eye contact with her but failed miserably. She grabbed his face and Jack nearly choked from staring at her head on.
Even exhausted and slightly damp from her shower, Imelda was the very definition of breathtaking. Chunks of her pin straight hair had been tossed from it’s messy bun on her head and the light purple circles under her nearly onyx eyes stood out on her pale, olive-y skin. Her enormous sweatshirt, most likely one of James’, pooled around her tiny hands and brushed against his tear-stained cheeks. Now she was straddling his lap and staring intently at him, trying desperately to break through his indifferent shell. He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her gently.
“Don’t worry about me, Mellon. I’ll be fine.”
Imelda curled up against the window, her newly shampooed hair piled on her head with a thick red scrunchie. Alex was watching her pull on a brown Jack’s Mannequin sweatshirt while sitting next to her in his own pajamas made up of blue plaid flannel pants and a white Valencia hoodie.
“You wanna have a date with me?” he whispered. Jack’s ears perked up, but he continued to fluff up his Spiderman pillows and stretch out across his bench.
“Sure. We can grab some lunch together somewhere tomorrow,” Imelda suggested with a small smile.
“No, I mean now. Let’s watch a movie or something. Have a date night in the back seat.”
Imelda laughed and nodded. She removed her MacBook Pro from its sticker-adorned case. Alex rubbed a finger over the front of the old computer.
“Nice stickers. What are they?” He ran his hands over the Burton, Billabong, Rome SDS and other stickers covering the laptop.
“Uh, I’m a really avid snowboarding fan. I go riding up in Whitetail in Pennsylvania whenever I get the chance,” she explained with a blush. Snowboarding was one of Imelda’s great loves of her life, but she didn’t like to publicize that fact. None of her friends back home really appreciated that particular interest of hers.
“That’s awesome! Are you any good?” Alex asked. Imelda was relieved to see a look of pure excitement on his face. He looked genuinely interested.
“Oh, not really. I can’t do the half pipe or anything. But I can survive a run or two. What about you?”
“We all love to snowboard! For our winter break last year we flew out to Aspen for a week. It was fucking sweet! Jack mastered it in like, two days. He fucking cheated, though, I swear. He messed with my bindings or some shit…” Alex mumbled. Imelda watched Jack smirk out of the corner of her eye. He was pretending to be asleep.
Imelda laughed and pushed Ocean’s Thirteen into her CD drive. Alex raised an eyebrow at her.
“Oh yeah, we’re watching this. You have no say in the matter.”
“Alrighty then,” Alex sighed, placing a kiss on Imelda’s pink lips, “I like a woman who takes control.”
Jack gritted his teeth at Alex’s comment and listened as the two giggled away in the backseat at the antics of Danny Ocean and his gang of ne’er-do-wells. Watching Alex and Imelda was like Lisa all over again. However, he had numbed a bit to heartbreak and was used to coming in second to Alex. He hadn’t even had a girlfriend, hook-up or even a kiss since Eliza last year.
Eliza and Jack had been friends for way too long and it had begun to affect their hormones. One rainy day during finals studying in junior year, Eliza was propped up on Jack’s bed with her red hair down in waves and a short Hollister skirt barely covering her matching bikini. She was nibbling on Jack’s Blink 182 pen and muddling through a physics problem. Jack was watching her intently and suddenly, something exploded in his head and he pinned her onto his pillows. She looked shocked, but pleased nonetheless and kissed him. She kissed him hard.
It went on like that for a few months, with Jack falling harder than Eliza while she skipped around Towson with his heart in her skilled hands. Eliza came to her senses and finally stopped leading him on, because all she had wanted out of their relationship was the physical aspect. And that was exactly what she got. Jack was deeply hurt again, but of course, was getting used to heartbreak.
That was the sad part. That when he looked back at his best friend and his new crush, the cliché feelings of betrayal, desperation and envy welcomed him in like old buddies. Jack was used to losing girls like Imelda. He was especially used to losing them to Alex. Because he was so used to coming in second, the burning in his chest was almost a natural feeling. It felt normal not to feel loved.
“Mellon. Mel, what are you doing?” Jack called out. Imelda was prying herself out of his grip and Jack was vaguely aware of About a Girl by The Academy Is… playing in the background.
Imelda was all decked out in a short silver number that fell about halfway down her thigh. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun and her lips were a spicy red. He noticed those especially because of the smirk spread across them. She was mocking him. She was dancing on a gigantic fret board and moving slowly away from him. He was screaming for her and running toward her, but that only made her prance away faster. Her sharp cackle brought tears to his eyes and his throat was running dry.
When he was finally knocked awake by a shockwave of terror, he opened his eyes and stared above him at Imelda, who looked frightened and was rubbing his cheek. He sat up, paused his iPod, which was blaring the aforementioned TAI song, wiped the remaining tears from his stinging eyes and glanced around the sleeping van.
“What’s up?” he croaked.
“You were screaming my name! You kept saying, ‘Imelda come back!’ I was just driving because Matt almost passed out at the wheel again so I made him go back and sleep while I drove and then you started screaming so I pulled over and now here we are,” Imelda explained, her breathless voice getting more high pitched and concerned.
“You were driving? Is that even legal?”
“Jack, shut up. Who gives a fuck? What happened to you?” Imelda brushed the hair out of his eyes and leaned closer to him.
Jack fought to keep from making eye contact with her but failed miserably. She grabbed his face and Jack nearly choked from staring at her head on.
Even exhausted and slightly damp from her shower, Imelda was the very definition of breathtaking. Chunks of her pin straight hair had been tossed from it’s messy bun on her head and the light purple circles under her nearly onyx eyes stood out on her pale, olive-y skin. Her enormous sweatshirt, most likely one of James’, pooled around her tiny hands and brushed against his tear-stained cheeks. Now she was straddling his lap and staring intently at him, trying desperately to break through his indifferent shell. He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her gently.
“Don’t worry about me, Mellon. I’ll be fine.”