Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner

Hayliee

“You’d better not run me into anything!”, I giggled. Johnny had my eyes covered with his hands and was leading me down what seemed like a hallway.

“I won’t.”, he responded. “You can trust me, baby.” Suddenly we stopped, and Johnny lifted his hands from my eyes. “Here we are.”

“Which is...where, exactly?”, I asked, craning my neck to look at Johnny.

“This is the studio.”, he answered. “We have to record a song or two for the new album.”

I smiled at him. “You mean I get to see you play?”

“Yep.”, Johnny stated. “You can see how amazing I am at the bass guitar.” Johnny pulled me close to him, and I wrapped my arms around his middle. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him lightly. “Mmm...”, Johnny moaned. “Please don’t do that.”

“Why?”, I asked patronizingly. “Are you still pissy because I won’t fuck you again?”

“Yes.” Johnny glanced down at the floor for a moment. “Can I at least have a kiss?”, he mumbled.

In response, I placed my hand on Johnny’s jawline and pulled him into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. Johnny deepened the kiss, and we got so caught up in the moment, we didn’t realize that several people had walked into the room.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do we have here?”, a loud voice said.

I pulled away from Johnny, my face red with embarrassment. I felt Johnny shift in my arms to face the new arrivals.

“Hey, Zacky. Nice to see you made it.”, Johnny said sarcastically.

Zacky walked towards us. “So, Johnny. This is your new girlfriend?” He looked me over. “Nice.”

Johnny tensed. “She’s not a piece of meat, dude.”, he snapped.

“Calm down, Johnny.”, a new voice said. “He was just joking.”

“I know. I’m just...never mind.” Johnny released his grip on me. “Let’s get started." Johnny followed his friends into the recording room, with me trailing behind. They stepped into the studio, and I tried to follow them, but Johnny stopped me. “You can’t come in here, baby.”, he said. “I’m sorry. You can wait over there on the couch. We’ll be done in about in hour. Okay?”

“Okay.”, I repeated dejectedly.

Johnny obviously sensed my disappointment. “Hey, it’s okay, baby. As soon as we’re finished with the instrumentals, Matt has to record the vocals. We can sit on the couch and boss him around.”

“Alright.”, I mumbled, still disappointed, but trying to hide it.

“Be back in an hour.”, Johnny said, kissing me lightly on the lips.

. . .

“You’re flat!”, Brian, the lead guitarist, jeered at Matt. Matt flipped him off, and Brian just laughed.

I turned to Johnny. “Are they always like this?”

“Pretty much.”, he stated. “Hey, if you think this is bad, you should see them when they’re drunk.” I giggled and snuggled closer to Johnny. I don’t know why, but I was feeling overly flirty today.

“Johnny?”

“What is it, baby?”, he whispered.

“Kiss me.”

Johnny smiled widely at me before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. I reached up and placed my hand on his jawline, drawing him deeper into the kiss. I felt Johnny’s hand slip under my shirt. Alarm bells went off in my head, but I didn’t stop him.

“Whoa, you two! Save it for the bedroom!”, Zacky shouted.

“I think we need to come up with a way to keep the ‘rabbits’ off each other.”, Brian interjected.

I tried my hardest to hide my burning face in my hands. “Shut up.”, I mumbled.

“Look!”, Jimmy laughed. “You embarrassed her, Brian!”

“No shit, sherlock.”, Brian retorted. “Look how red her face is!”

“Leave her alone, guys.”, Johnny said, trying to hide his laughter. “Hey Jimmy, did you know Hayliee plays the drums?”, he continued, trying to change the subject.

Jimmy’s face lit up. “Really?”

I nodded my head. “I play tenor drums in my college marching band. And I also play set.”

A condescending look appeared on Jimmy’s face. “Well, why don’t we go see how good you are?”

We all followed Jimmy to his drum set, one with a large deathbat emblazoned on the bass drums. He seized my shoulders and dragged me over to set behind the drum set. He then handed me a pair of drumsticks.

“Well?”, he asked. “What are you waiting for? Have at it!”

I looked up at them. “What song should I play?”

“Do you know ‘Beast and the Harlot’?”, Jimmy asked. I eagerly nodded my head and he continued. “Then play that one.”

I nodded and raised the sticks over my head to start the opening clicks. I started in on the song, and soon forgot that the guys were even there. I finished, and no sooner had I put down the sticks than Matt stormed into the room, looking extremely bewildered.

“Where the hell did you guys go?”, he inquired. “I turned around and you were gone!”

“Sorry, Matt.”, Brian laughed. “We were listening to Hayliee play the drums.”

Matt’s reaction mirrored Jimmy’s. “Really?” He approached me. “Is she any good?” He paused. “Play.”

I shook my head and stood up, shoving the drumsticks back into Jimmy’s hands. “Nah. I’ve got to go. I’ve got classes tomorrow.”

“Ooh, classes?”, Brian quipped. “What kind of classes?”

“College classes...”, I answered in a ‘duh’ tone.

Johnny pulled me close to him. “I think Brian meant, what are you studying? What’s your major?”

I rested my head in the crook of Johnny’s shoulder. “Early childhood education.” I kissed his neck and felt him shiver. “I want to be a first-grade teacher.” I kissed Johnny again, lingering on his neck for a few seconds.

“Will you please stop that?”, Johnny snapped, softly so that only I could hear.

I recoiled slightly, hurt by his tone. “I’m sorry.”, I whimpered.

By the look on his face, I could tell he instantly regretted his outburst. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby.”, he whispered. “But you really need to stop doing that. Okay?”

“Okay.”, I chirped. I kissed him again, this time on the lips, and he laughed.

“Well, someone’s frisky today.”, he stated. “What’s up?”

I shook my head and grinned. “Nothing.” I leaned in and pressed my lips against Johnny’s again.

“God, I think I’m going to barf.” Zacky’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I pulled away from Johnny. “Will you two just go fuck and get it over with? It’s obvious you both want to.”

Hey, maybe Zacky’s right. Maybe that’s why I can’t seem to keep myself off of Johnny.

Johnny seized my hand. “Do you want to, Hayliee? If you don’t, that’s okay. I’ll understand.”

“No.”, I whispered. “I want to. I want you.”

. . .

By the time we reached Johnny’s house, it was nearing dusk. I stuck close to him as he unlocked the front door and pushed it open with a flourish.

“Wow, Johnny.”, I said in awe. “It’s beautiful.”

“You haven’t seen the best part yet.”, he said, taking my hand. “Come on, the bedroom is upstairs.”

Johnny began pulling me up the stairs, and the closer we got to the bedroom, the more I began to rethink my decision. I mean, sure I wanted to sleep with Johnny, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to make such a big jump in our relationship.

As Johnny walked over the doorsill of his bedroom, I dropped his hand. He made it to the bed before he realized I’d stopped outside the door.

“Hayliee, what’s wrong?”, Johnny inquired, walking back over to me.

I glanced down at the floor. “Johnny...” I choked and paused. “It’s not the right time.”

Johnny took my hands into his. “What?” He seemed honestly curious, not incredulously.

“It-it’s too soon.”, I mumbled. “I’m not ready.” Johnny was silent, and I was afraid I’d pissed him off. I’d gotten his hopes up, letting him think I was going to sleep with him, and then changed my mind. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”, I whispered, scared of what his answer would be. “I’m sorry, but I just think-”

Johnny placed his hand over my mouth, quieting me. His eyes sparkled with adoration, and when he spoke, his tone was soft. “Hayliee, I don’t care if you don’t want to have sex with me right now. I just like being around you, no matter what you’re doing. You know, I never thought I’d have these feelings for a girl again, not after my ex-girlfriend fucked around on me. But I can’t help but have those feelings for you.”

“I-I have those feelings for you, too.” I was a little disappointed, I thought Johnny was going to tell me he loved me.

Pretty damn close, though.

“Well...” I glanced around the room awkwardly, my gaze landing everywhere except on Johnny. “What should we do now?”

Johnny grabbed my hands, bringing them up until they were level with our faces, and laced hi fingers through mine. We could go to the beach. Pack a picnic...some wine...maybe watch the sunset. Sound good to you?”

I finally locked my gaze onto Johnny’s. “Perfect.”