First Impressions

The week passed by extremely quickly after I had gotten the tape. When I got home on Monday, I stomped on it and buried it in the backyard, making sure that no one is ever able to watch it. The conversation that Shale and I had together though stuck with me. Brad really was everywhere and, as much as I want to say it was a coincidence, there are no coincidences in life. But it was starting to freak me out a little.

I sigh and look down at my notebook where my finished song was written. There were many scribbles and scratches on the paper, but who ever said the draft had to be neat? I sit up on my bed and stare at the words, trying to create a melody in my head so I can put music to it. After going through it a couple times in my mind, I sing it out loud to see if it sounded right.

"I've got a head full of ideas to change the world,

I'm gonna let them all know who I am

And that I'm here to stay.

I'm in the spotlight now,

So listen to what I have to say."

I make the first verse upbeat and make the chorus go even faster. In my head, it was supposed to sound like chaos, but in my mouth, it sounded like a musical tune.

"Screaming, laughing, crying tears of sadness,

Come one, where's the madness?

I've got every emotion that I need.

Anger, anguish, calling from the top of a mountain,

Hoping someone will hear my cries and realize

That I'm not just your average, ordinary, un-extraordinary girl."

I don't know why my versus and chorus came out like they did, but I never really was a person to try and figure out why the sky is blue either. But after careful consideration of my song, I did like it and what the message was.

"I know that nothing seems alright.

I never said I was perfect,

But that's fine with me.

There are good times and then some bad ones,

But what can you do,

That's just what life's all about."

I jump into the chorus again before going into the final verse, slowing it down. In my head, every instrument is quiet while my voice stands alone, strong and sure.

"I'm just the kind of girl

Who wishes for the world to be alright,

That's why I'm standing here

Singing this song tonight.

Screaming, laughing, crying tears of sadness,

Come on, where's the madness?

I've got every emotion that I need.

Anger, anguish, calling from the top of a mountain,

Hoping someone will hear my cries and realize . . ."

I pause. In my head, there is dead silence to build the tension before the instruments and my voice erupt together to finish the song.

"I'm not just your average, ordinary,

Un-extraordinary, indecisive, pessi and optimistic girl.

I have every emotion that I need."

I whisper the last part, the instruments fading away in my head. The message that the song is trying to send is that emotions are important. Emotion is key. It's sending the message that every person can contribute to the world, but this song is specifically reaching out to girls. It's something that they can listen to in the morning to get pumped and wake up, ready to take on the world. Something to find hope in.

I pick my pen back up and scribble Emotional Rollercoaster at the top before closing my notebook and picking my guitar up to find the right tune for it. I just may have an acoustic, but if I can get the melody to sound exactly how I want it to sound on an electric, then it's good to go. Working with acoustics for major upbeat songs like the one I have just written don't sound quite as good as they do on electrics, but they are good for slower, simpler songs. I work with my guitar for a good thirty minutes before my door opens.

"Honey, I'm sorry but could you go to the store today? I'm running really late." Mom says as she puts an earring in and slides her shoes on. She stops moving when she sees me holding my guitar. "Oh, have you written a new song?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to find the right tune right now, but it doesn't sound just right yet." I say. Mom comes over and picks up my notebook, scanning her eyes over the scribbled writing before putting it back down and buttoning her jacket.

"I think it will be wonderful. It sure does seem nice." She says, bending down and kissing me on the forehead. "I'll be back around seven. Order some take-out for me."

I nod as she slips a twenty into my hand and exits my room. I sigh when I hear her car pull out of the driveway and look at the clock. 9:47. I set my guitar back on its spot against the wall beside my bed and put my combat boots on. I already had on a pair of jeans and a black 'Tom Petty Rocks' t-shirt. I loved Tom Petty, even if he is old school. I run my fingers through my hair, not bothering to pick my brush up, and grab some money out of my stash in a little box beside my lotion on my dresser. I go down stairs to see what all we need and realize that all we really do have is expired milk and fingernail polish in the refrigerator. I sigh and head back upstairs, going into Mom's room. She said that in deadly emergencies could I ever take money from her jewelry box. Right now is a deadly emergency because if we don't get any food, I will starve and turn into a cannibal.

I count out all the money I have and think that forty dollars and twenty cents is good enough. I run back down stairs and grab my keys before locking the door and shutting it behind me.

"Are you stalking me?" I ask when I see Brad closing his door. He looks over at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You wish." He then sees me tucking money into my front pocket. "Where are you going?"

"Downtown, why? Are you going to stalk me there too?" I grin broadly. I start walking down the steps to my driveway, Brad mimicking me.

"Are you walking there?" Brad asks, twirling his keys on his forefinger. I roll my eyes and spread my arms wide open.

"Do you see a car?" I say sarcastically.

"So you're just going to walk the ten blocks to buy whatever you're going to buy and walk back?" He concludes, disbelieving it even as he said it. I think for a minute.

"Yeah, pretty much." I say before starting down the sidewalk.

"Do you want a ride?" He finally asks. I turn around, the grin still on my face, and run over to the passenger's side of the truck and get in.

"I thought you'd never ask." I say as he gets in. I see his eyes look down at my chest and immediately hit him in the head. "I thought you weren't a boob guy?!"

"I'm reading your shirt, jeeze." He growls, rubbing his head. I just stare at him for a minute, taking a moment to realize how childish I just acted. Well, if I didn't act like a kid I wouldn't really be myself, would I?

"I knew that." I say, turning away from his and buckling my seatbelt. He pulls out onto the road, taking a right, and silence comes between us. I can't help but start humming a Tom Petty song. Specifically Wild Flowers. Brad glances over at me every so often before I call him on it. "What?"

"What exactly are you humming?" He asks. I scoff.

"Tom Petty, or are you to disturbed to know who he is?" I shoot out. My comment may have seemed mean, but anyone could realize that it wasn't since I was smiling at him.

"Shut up, I know who he is." Brad mutters as we enter the downtown district.

"Hey, park over there. I still want to be able to walk." I say, pointing to a tattoo parlor. He reluctantly pulls into the parking lot, locking all the doors as we get out. I stretch as I stand, taking in a deep breath of air. "I love the great outdoors!"

We start walking along the cracked sidewalk, me rambling about different things and Brad grudgedly listening. It's not long before he tells me to shut up.

"But you'd look awesome with pink hair!!" I whine. He just gives me the 'You're An Idiot' look.

"No. Shut up."

"But-" I stop talking and walking at the same time making Brad turn around towards me.

"What are you doing?"

"Shush." I say, waving him off. I walk over and peek into the alley we were passing by, hearing another whimper and walk further in with Brad in tow. I peek on the other side of a dumpster and let in a slight gasp. There was a mother Golden Retriever and about six pups. The pups looked good and healthy, maybe being about four weeks old, but the mother...

"Aw, Brad." I say sympathetically. The mother was underweight, dirty, and looked like she'd been beaten. Her fur was all greasy and stringy, ruining the magnificence of a beautiful dog. I look over to Brad and see him just standing there, staring at them.

"Brad, can we take them? Please." I ask. The pups start whimpering and start crawling over to us when they notice we're there and the mother starts wagging her tail slowly, letting her tongue loll out. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. After a minute he hangs his head in defeat.

"Yes! Brad, I love you!" I yelp excitedly, hugging him. He stands there awkwardly, not sure of what to do. I don't know why, but I stand up on my tippy toes and give him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek before going back to the puppies and the mother, petting everyone of them.

"Here, help me take them to the car." I say, picking up as many puppies as I can. I can't help but almost whine again when I see that the mother can't even stand up. Brad sighs, picking her up with a surprised look on his face when he realizes how light she really is. When I realize that I can only hold three puppies and Brad can only hold the mom, I get an idea. I set the puppies back down. Brad looks at me curiously before jumping a little when I take my shirt off.

"Autum! What the hell?" He shrieks his eyes wide. I give him a look.

"Brad, I have an undershirt on." I state. I tie my shirt sleeves together, making a bag, and start putting the puppies in. They all stick their heads out when I pick them up, one of them licking my cheek. On the way back to the car, I start talking, but not to Brad, to the puppies.

"-and you'll have a good home. It'll be nice and warm, and you'll get spoiled a bunch, and-" I hear laughter coming from beside me and see Brad looking at the pup.

"It actually looks like its listening." He comments before laughing some more. I roll my eyes and touch noses with the pup.

"-and don't worry. Brad will make sure you're nice and clean." I tell it right before we meet the truck. He hops up into the bed of the truck and sets the mother down, getting a couple rags and wadding them up for her so it would be more comfortable. I hand the shirt full of puppies to him when he walks back to me so he can put them beside the mom.

"What are you going to name her?" Brad asks, pointing to the mom. I think for a minute about the name. I never really was good with names for pets. I had a pet fish one time and his name was Skipper. I had a pet beetle one time and its name was Shredder. But my fish died and I accidentally stepped on Shredder on my way to school.

"Mac. I like that name." I say. I pet the one pup that I was talking to; it had managed to waddle its way over to me. I look up at Brad. "I'll name the pups when I get back. Stay here and watch them, ok?"

I wave good-bye and run off before he can answer. The closest store was a half block away from where Brad has parked his truck, but it didn't seem as expensive so I stopped in. I grab everything that could possibly be needed for survival, not to mention dog food, treats, and accessories for my new pets. After checking out, I try balancing everything as I run back, quick as possible, to the truck before collapsing in front of Brad and the dogs.

"Oh my God. Did you run all the way?!" Brad asks, staring down at me. I only manage a nod before he jumps down, taking the bags from my hands and the ground, putting them in the back with the dogs. He then turns back around to look at me.

"I swear, you're the weirdest person I've ever met." He says while I crawl into the bed of the truck, tackled by the pups and doggie kisses. He continues to watch me as I point every single one of them out, naming them.

"Dannit, Pumba, Twinkle, Sharada, Snickers, and Twiggle." I say before flopping onto my back. I hear Brad close the trunk-ish door before getting into his own seat and driving off. It's not long before I fall asleep on the ten minute ride home.

I hear a voice saying my name repeatedly. I don't know who it is or where I am, but I don't care, I want to sleep. I bring my hand up and feel it come in contact with something before rolling onto my side. A hand pushes me onto my back again and starts shaking me, yelling my name even louder. My eyes finally open before I sit straight up.

"What the-" I feel my head collide with something painfully and fall back down, clutching my forehead. Now I'm awake. I open my eyes again to see Brad lying right beside me, holding his head and scrunching his face up.

"Ouch." I say the tender spot hurting on my head. He looks over at me, looking like he wants to glare but can't muster it up. "What happened to you?"

"What happened to me?" He scoffs. "You slapped me, then you try to give me brain damage and your asking what happened to me?!"

I slap my hand over his mouth just to make him shut up. He just continues to stare at me, but with a weird look in his eyes that makes me sort of uncomfortable. Thankfully, a bark brings both of us back to reality. We unload the dogs onto the pavement and let them sniff their new home, wagging their tails. I smile at them, pulling out a box of dog biscuits and tossing them to each one, also taking one for myself.

"Ew." Brad says from his spot in the driveway where he is sitting. I get on all fours, just like a dog, and crawl over to him. "You're weird."

"I know, but you like it." I say jokingly, making the biscuit fall out of my mouth. I can't help but lick his cheek just to spite him and laugh when he jumps. His expression is first a glare, but then it turns into a smirk. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground with Brad on top, tickling me mercilessly.

"Ah ha!" I shriek into a fit of giggles. My stomach starts cramping and my eyes start watering from laughing so hard, but for some reason, I don't want it to end. When I open my eyes I actually see Brad smiling at me and it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good that he's actually having fun with me. My giggles get caught in my throat and start coming out as snorts, satisfying the guy sitting on my stomach and making him stop torturing me. We just stay there for a minute, me heaving and him just sitting on me. Then he rolls off of me, allowing me to get up.

"Alright, all of you inside." I usher the dogs into my house. I look back at Brad who was just standing in the driveway. "You too, you're helping me give them a bath." I watch him make a face and can't help but smile. "Don't worry; I'll be there to make sure you don't drown in the tub."

I laugh maniacally, splashing Brad as the dogs bounce around in the bathtub.

"Autum, knock it off!"

"Ahahaha!"

"Autum, you're going to-"

"Ah!"

". . . fall." I blow bubbles off of my nose and at him as he folds his arms and gives me a stern look. I laugh slightly because, as serious as he tries to look, he looks hilarious. His wet hair is plastered to his forehead, his t-shirt is sticking to his body from being drenched, and bubbles completely engulfed his body. Not that I should be saying anything, I'm pretty funny myself. Here I am, sitting in a tub full of puppies and a mother crawling all over and licking me.

"That's what you get for splashing me." Brad states before picking his washcloth back up and scrubbing Twiggle. I turn my body towards Mac who was wagging her tail and flipping water everywhere. Picking up the bottle of soap, I squirt it on her back and start rubbing it in to get all of the dirt out of her coat.

"When we're done you're gonna be a pretty doggie, aren't you?"

"There, now I'm done." I say, leaning back to look at Mac and her beauty-ness. Brad walks in from the kitchen and stops dead.

"Oh my God." I grin at him as Mac whines, tilting her head to the side. "Why the hell does that dog have red fur?"

"You're exaggerating, it's not all red." I say, petting one of the reddened locks. "They're just streaks."

He just continues to stare at Mac, studying her and her new style. I can't help but watch as he does it. His eyes were just sparkling and, the light must have hit him just right because, even though he is hot, he looked even cuter. I shake my head at the thought just as he looks back at me.

"Please tell me you didn't do this to the others." Just as he says this all the dogs run past him, barking. He shakes his head at the different colored puppies. "Wouldn't this be called animal torture?"

"I don't think so." I smile, rubbing my head. "Wanna help me walk them?"

He sighs again and grabs four leashes while I grab the other three. We head out the door with all the dogs in their leashes and collars. When we're about half way down the block; the pups that are on my leashes start running circles around me, binding my legs together. Brad's dogs sit down and watch while Brad raises his eyebrows. After they're done, they wag their tails while I struggle to keep my balance.

"Eep." I say as I start tilting to one side like the Leaning Tower of Pisa until I finally fall. I hear a grunt and look up, Brad setting me on the ground and unwrapping my legs. Once he's done, I stand up and wipe my butt off.

"I swear they're trying to purposely make me fall." I eye them all suspiciously. I open my mouth to say something else, but a white Convertible pulls up beside us, blaring Brittany Spears. All my dogs start growling when Shelby steps out and glares at me.

"What are you doing around her, Brad?" She demands. I put on a fake, sweet smile and grab the four leashes from Brad's hand.

"Nothing, he was just criticizing my poor taste in dogs." I say sweetly, not really wanting to deal with her at the moment. I then turn around and drag my growling dogs with me. As I'm walking away I hear Brad say something, but decide to not pay any attention to them. Once I'm around the corner, I feel something ignite inside me for some reason and start ranting to Mac as the other pups sniff the grass and objects around the sidewalk.

"I mean, honestly! I don't care if she does have a crappy home or not, she doesn't have to be so bitchy." I growl. I hear someone clear their throat from behind me and whirl around, expecting it to be Shelby. "Oh, it's just you."

"Nice to see you too." He replies sarcastically.

"Where's your girlfriend?" I see him physically wince at the surname and smirk.

"Are you jealous?" He asks, recovering quickly.

"What makes you think that?" I snap back at him.

"Your ranting." He states bluntly. My face turns slightly red from what I was ranting about. Not only did I call Shelby a bitch, I also said other things before that, arguing with myself about Brad out loud.

"What? Is Autum Flicka finally embarrassed?" Brad asks sarcastically, keeping pace with me easily. He stops me, making me face him. That feeling was returning again, and I really didn't want to have it right now. He starts leaning in, a little too close. My direct instinct comes in and I go to back up but he grabs me. Then puts his lips to my ear. "Haha, I win."

I stand there, dumbfounded, as he pulls away before regaining my senses and start walking back home with him, yelling the whole time. I always love picking fights even though I do get grounded a lot by Mom, but maybe I'm a natural debater. Even though I am yelling at Brad, I really just like talking to him. But louder.