Won't You Die Tonight For Love

I stood there impatiently, watching the toaster with determination. It wouldn’t scare me this time. With a knife in one hand and a jar of strawberry jelly in the other, I waited.

“Oh, hey, Juliet,” Bam said, appearing in the kitchen and starting to rummage through the cabinets in search for food.

“Good morning, Bam,” I replied, turning towards him with a smile. Suddenly, the toast popped up, making me jump. “Damn it!” Bam started laughing to himself and shaking his head.

I flung a small pile of jelly on the toast, spreading it quickly and sitting down to enjoy the meal fit for kings. After waking up this morning to find Jukka and Jarno passed out in my bed and the movie having played on repeat all night, I figured things like this would happen much more often. So, with light feet, I grabbed my clothes for the day and headed off for a shower, leaving the two men sleeping soundly. This time, fortunately, no one stole my clothes, so I was dressed and clean in my own garments. Now here I was, staring at my bread.

“So I forgot to tell you, I’m having a big party tomorrow night and we’re gonna take you shopping today for an outfit,” he said casually, like dropping this on me now was nothing. I dented my eyebrows and let my head fall sideways, facing him.

“What?” I asked with a mouthful of toast in my mouth. Bam raised his eyebrows, obviously impressed with my etiquette.

“Well, I assume you don’t have anything top notch like what this store has, and the theme of the party is fancy.”

“Why do you assume I have nothing fancy?” I demanded feeling a bit peeved. He only smirked, looking me up and down. I looked down to my outfit; a fitted black top with a decently modern design and dark skinny jeans. Shrugging, I slumped back over the counter, pushing the last piece of toast in my mouth. I stood up and started towards the staircase to return to my room.

“I see no problem with it,” I said loudly, now making my way up the stairs.

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, princess. Go wake up Jukka and get back down here. He’s going with us.”

I sighed once in my room, discovering that Jukka and Jarno were still asleep on my bed. Slowly, I made my way to the boys and started lightly tapping Jukka’s bare shoulder, whispering his name. No response. I then started to shake his shoulder. This time, he suddenly awoke and shot his head up to see the culprit. Realizing who it was, he smiled lazily and, quite literally, rolled out of bed.

“Well good morning, Pretty Lady. To what do I owe the pleasure of?” Jukka asked with sleep thick in his voice, and face. He rubbed his face and then ran his fingers through his messy, long, blond hair. I giggled, tucking some loose hairs behind his ear.

“We’re going to the store, Bam says. We’re gonna get an outfit for me to wear to the party tomorrow,” I explained. I heard muffled and hoarse moans coming from Jarno, whose face was buried in blankets. “...What?” He raised his head and blinked a few times.

“I said I’m coming, too.”

A good two hours later, Bam, Jarno, Jukka and I were the only inhabitants, other than the employees, of a small but beautiful dress shop. They had gowns for all occasions, whether it is a picnic, prom, or a wedding.

The boys decided to split into two teams and hunt for dresses that would suit me fine for a party of Bam’s. Bam and I were one and Jukka and Jarno were to other. So far, Bam and I had managed to find a few good dresses for me. One was a dark blue, sleeveless, short dress with a puffed bottom and sequins covering the chest. The other was a longer and more formal ruby red dress that was more fitted in the skirt than the blue.

Once we rendezvoused at the farthest dressing room, Bam and I realized that the Dudesons had a much more effective run, having a total of five gowns picked out. Granted, one of them was a very bubbly pink one with ruffled sleeves that were almost as big as my head.

Looking over the other dresses that they found, I saw one that was magnificently beautiful and very me. It was a black and red vertically striped corset with a long black skirt that reached the floor and was accompanied by elbow-high black gloves. There was a lace overlay on the skirt with an intricate, floral design and a detailed hem. I fell in love with it immediately, and knew that it had to be mine.

I tried it on and when I came out, I received cat calls and cheering from the boys.

“It would not look better on any Goddess in the world, that’s for sure,” Bam said with a wink. I blushed and thanked him.

“You are so beautiful, Pretty Lady, that you shouldn’t even take it off,” Jukka insisted with a charming smile. I giggled and wrapped my arms around him, appreciative of the compliment. And I told him that I was. Bam, however, suddenly looking slightly irritated, told me that I had to take it off, though, in order to pay for it and shooed me back into the dressing room. That caused some boos from Jarno and Jukka.

“Thank you again, Bam. I appreciate it so much,” I said. We were at the checkout and, after much arguing, Bam convinced me to let him pay. I had pleaded him not to buy it and that I could gather up enough money, but he wouldn’t see to it. He said that in the presence of a gentleman, a lady should never pay, which made me smile and groan at the same time. I resented coming off as a gold digger or schmoozer.

When we were safely back home, I, accompanied by Jarno, rushed upstairs and hung my beautiful new gown in my closet that would wait anxiously for its use tomorrow night. Jarno was telling to me all the while about who to expect at the party.

“Bam didn’t want me to tell you, but I can’t resist,” he said with a smug look. “He has invited so many people. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, The 69 Eyes, Kat Von D, anyone you could really think of.”

“The Malaysian Prime Minister?” I said with false excitement.

“I heard he was going to make an appearance, yes,” Jarno replied. After a moment of silence, we both laughed and made our way back downstairs.

Again, since the downstairs was awfully silent other than a conversation being held by Dunn and Dico in the kitchen, I figured everyone else was out back.

“Hey boys,” I greeted, waving at Ryan and Dico on my way through the kitchen.

“Hey,” they both replied simultaneously and then carried on with their conversation of pole dancers and strippers. I rolled my eyes.

After a little searching, I discovered Bam skating on his half pipe while Raab, Novak, Jukka and Rake watched. Novak, of course, was sunbathing on a lawn chair with only a pair of boxers and sunglasses on, despite the sky being a cool, overcast mid-November day. I wasn’t surprised. Standing next to Rake with my hands on my hips, I watched. When he saw me a few minutes later, he jumped off of his board and held it out for me to grab.

“You’re a good skater. Wanna try?”

“No, its ok,” I said with giggles. A chorus of awes and boos erupted.

“Come on, let’s see you skate!” Novak shouted from his lawn chair. I raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Let’s see Bam and Juliet have a competition!” shouted Rake. This time, a chorus of cheers followed and I was handed a board by Raab. I looked around nervously with a shy smile.

“I dunno, guys, it’s been a while...”

“I saw you skate two days ago and you kicked ass,” Bam interrupted. I shot him a look but eventually agreed.

As I started, the boys cheered me on, including Bam. I did the most elementary of tricks, but I did them with gracefulness and concentration. This had been the first time in a while that I had skated and felt free, felt like I was flying. I closed my eyes and smiled as I was launched into the air one last time before slowing to a halt at the bottom.

There was silence for a moment, and I thought I did something wrong. However, everyone burst into applause. I laughed because I didn’t think I had accomplished some tremendous feat, but I wouldn’t deny admiration, either.

I had paid close attention to Bam as he skated up and down the half pipe, taking on much more daring stunts than I had. In fact, he was amazing. Much more polished than I had assumed him to be, and much more skilled than myself. When he was through, everyone applauded once more and I even whistled and cheered.

Raab walked to the center of the half pipe, pulling me along with him. He grabbed Bam and I by the wrist and cleared his throat.

“All those for Bam,” he said loud and clear, raising Bam’s arm into the air, “say aye!” There were no responses, and Bam scoffed. “All those for Juliet say aye!” and he raised my arm. Everyone shouted aye and applauded once more. I felt my cheeks getting warmer.

“I think I should have won,” Bam said with a childish tone.

“Yeah well we like Juliet more!” Novak replied, causing another uproar of agreements. I laughed, patting Bam on the head.

“Don’t worry, Bam. Maybe one day you can be as admired as me.” He grumbled something and swooped me up and over his shoulder. I screamed, but that only made him laugh. He made his way towards the house, despite my demands to be put down.

“I’m hungry. Pizza is on Novak!”