Sparked Up

Alex and Gio stood in front of Marshall’s family’s home and waited for Singer to get the door. All the guests were already at the party and they made sure to arrive later than them so no one could ruin the surprise. It took him 2 minutes to finally get to the door saying that he had to find a way to get away from Marshall without being suspicious.

“He’s in the backyard with Joey and a few other people. Everyone is scattered around the house so we need to hurry up and get you to him so no one can announce that you’re here.” Singer said in a hushed tone.

“Instead of trying to be all ninja and stuff why don’t we just wait in the living room and you can tell him that someone came to see him. He’ll wonder who it is then be like ‘oh-shit it’s Alex and Gio’ same reaction and less work for us.” Alex said. Singer agreed and went to go fetch Marshall as they went to the living room. Upon walking into the room, Marshall’s mom screeched and ran to Gio.

“Honey, I haven’t seen you in so long. Marshall said that you couldn’t make it,” she said.

“I couldn’t at first but my plans fell through and I thought that I would surprise him. This is my friend Alex by the way,” Gio said. His mom shook his hands and hugged Gio tightly. “I didn’t think you’d be this glad to see me; you’ve only met me once.”

“Well you made a big impression; and the boys always talked about you so it felt like you were here even if you weren’t,” she laughed.

“Mom! Why’d you scream?” Marshall asked walking in with everyone behind him.

“Because of someone special,” she said.

“Who?” he asked.

“Umm us.” Gio and Alex said when his mom stepped out from in front of them.

“Dude, you guys said you couldn’t make it.” He said giving the both of them hugs.

“Yeah, her plans fell through then invited me,” Alex said handing his presents off to Marshall. He said thanks and turned to a blonde girl behind him.

“This is Mindy; we’ve been dating for a few weeks. Mindy this is Alex and Gio.”

“Another Alex? Well hi to both of you,” she said giving them a genuine smile.

“You guys missed out on the cake and presents. We always do that first,” Marshall apologized. At this point Joey was behind him starting at Gio wondering why she hadn’t greeted him yet. It was hard to miss him because of his hair.

“That’s fine, we’re not big fans of sweets,” Gio said finally turning to everyone behind him. “Joey, Johnson, I’ve missed you guys.” She said hugged both of them at the same time. Joey and Gio both wanted a better greeting but knew that right now wouldn’t be the appropriate time.

“Okay, well everyone can get back to the party now,” Marshall laughed as did everyone else before going back to where they were.

“I say you open our presents now,” Alex said. Marshall agreed and led his band, mom, and girlfriend to the living room. “Open mine first because it’s simple and I don’t want you to be disappointed after you see Gio’s gift. Apparently it’s supposed to be great, because the guy at the store couldn’t stop raving about it.”

“Okay,” Marshall said stealing a glance at Gio who smiled in return. He opened up Alex’s gift to him and laughed. “This is freaky; I was just at the store yesterday and I told Joey how I wanted this exact outfit but I left my wallet so I couldn’t get it.”

“That is weird, I guess Alex minds think alike,” Alex said.

“Ha yeah,” Marshall laughed. “Okay time for Gio’s gift.” He said. She handed the box over to him with shaky hands.

“Now I feel like I overdid your gift,” Gio laughed nervously.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Marshall said.

“Gio, you’re gifts are always amazing. I don’t think she’s ever given anyone a bad gift. I remember for our friendship anniversary, she took me skydiving. I always wanted to skydive but never had the balls to do it and put if off for so long. I never actually told her that I wanted to do it but when she told me I freaked out. Turns out I absolutely loved it.” Alex explained.

“Alex shut up. You’re building up hype and what if it falls far from expectation?” she asked.

“Only way to find out,” Marshall said opening the box. There were two sections to the box: one section held the custom picks and the other held a custom microphone. “Wow, these are amazing. Did you design these?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said shyly.

“Is that my piano?” he asked referring to the piano on the picks.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what to put on it and I remembered that grand piano” she said pointing to the piano in the foyer “so I sketched it out and sent it to the guy.”

“That’s amazing,” he said passing picks around for everyone to see. Next he took out the sixties styled microphone that had the lyrics “I will love you just the way you are; Don’t you change yourself” on a ribbon printed onto the microphone. “I love this microphone.”

“I thought you might,” Gio said. She then noticed Mindy looking at the words on the microphone and suddenly her face turned sour. “Umm, I mean love as friends. I love Marshall as a friend, I promise.” She said directing it to Mindy but she still looked unsure.

“I promise we’re just friends,” Marshall whispered into her ear and squeezed her thigh for reassurance. Only then did her smile return. “Anyways these gifts are amazing.” He said getting up and hugging her.

“No problem, I thought you might like them for tour.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to save some just for myself. I’m sure the when I throw them in the crowd after the set; the kids that get them will appreciate them just as much as I do.” He said. Just then did Gio’s phone start ringing; she checked her phone and saw that it was Keenan that was calling. She’s been waiting for him to call all day. She excused herself and went to the front of the house to take the call.