Kings and Queens of Promise

I woke up around nine the next day, squinting against the intense light in the family room. Sitting up, I let out a groan as my head began to pound. All around the room, the guys were sprawled out: the Avenged Sevenfold guys, Pierre and David, and Alex. Zack, Chuck, Jeff, Seb, and Rian must’ve left sometime last night. Honestly, I couldn’t remember anything after getting home and breaking into the beer. I looked around at the mess of thrown pillows, knocked over furniture, and empty beer bottles, letting out a sigh as I realized I would have to clean all of it up. Deciding it would be rude to just leave them all over the floor and knocked over couches, I tried to get them moved. First, I went to Pierre, slinging one of his arms around my shoulder and heading for the elevator. I stopped dead as I saw who was in the kitchen.

Sitting up on the island was a tall man with black hair that covered his face as he looked down at the black book in his right hand. A half–eaten apple was grasped in his other hand and he seemed to have not noticed me yet, so I let myself stare at him. He was wearing black, skinny jeans, a black jacket, and some big, black boots. A white scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck and his hair was slightly damp. I started to back out of the room, when I accidentally kicked something, making his head jerk up to see where the noise had come from.

We stared at each other for a moment, his piercing blue eyes clashing against my own chocolaty brown ones. All I could think about was how insanely mesmerizing his eyes were. I was in such a daze, it took me a minute to realize he was talking to me.

“Do you need some help?” he was asking. I nodded dumbly, suddenly becoming aware of Pierre’s weight on my shoulder. The man jumped down from the counter, marking his place in the book before coming over and slipping Pierre’s other arm around his neck. As we lugged him toward the elevator, I began to find my voice.

“V–Vitaly Orlov,” I stuttered.

“Do you like that movie, Lord of War?” he asked without looking at me. I nodded, still not having much success at stringing a sentence together. We got Pierre up to his room and then returned downstairs, hauling Zacky onto our shoulders. He was a bit heavier than Pierre, so we were a little slower getting him to his room. By the time we were pulling up Johnny, planning to put him on one of the couches in Syn’s room, my brain was screaming at me to say something.

“Are y–you in a b–band, too?” I stuttered. Curse my stuttering!

“Yes,” he said.

“P–Pierre said y–you weren’t ever ar–round.”

“I’m just getting ready to leave for a little while,” he said. I waiting to see if he would offer any more information, but he didn’t. We sank into silence again as we laid Johnny on the couch and went back for Syn. After pretty much throwing him onto his bed––there was no alternative––we went back for Matt, who was definitely the heaviest. Jared and I barely managed to get him into the study before dropping him onto the couch. Then, we had to figure out how to move Jimmy: he was simply too tall for us to drag around over our shoulders.

“We c–could put a blanket there, roll him onto the blanket, and carry him l–like that,” I suggested quietly.

“Here,” Jared said, going to Jimmy’s head and grabbing him under the arms. “You grab his feet.”

“Where are we gonna put him?” I asked.

“The great room,” Jared said, giving a grunt as he lifted Jimmy. We slowly, slowly carried him into the great room, straining to keep him off the floor. Finally, we deposited him on the one couch that wasn‘t turned over.

“Wh–what’re we gonna do with A–Alex?” I asked. God dang it, stop stuttering!

“I can carry him and put him in the guest room,” Jared said, leaving the room. I looked after him longingly, but knew I had work to do. I moved around the kitchen, searching through drawers for some medication. “What are you doing?” Jared asked as he came through with Alex against his side. His reappearance surprised me for some reason.

“T–Tylenol,” I said.

“Pierre’s bathroom,” Jared said simply before carrying Alex out. With a sigh, I grabbed eight glasses and walked upstairs, finding the Tylenol in Pierre’s bathroom. With the medicine in hand, I went to each room, leaving everyone two Tylenol and a glass of water. After checking on Jack––he still had a fever and he was sleeping peacefully––I got a trash bag and went to face the giant mess in the family room. David was fast asleep on the one piece of furniture that was were it was supposed to be––the arm chair. I began to stuff beer bottles into the trash bag, along with all the junk food wrappers. I put down the bag and grabbed one side of the couch, trying to flip it into it’s normal position. I could barely lift it. I closed my eyes and pulled as hard as I could and, much to astonishment, it flipped upright and landed gently on the floor. As I opened my eyes, my triumphant smile faded as I saw Jared had been the one to fix the couch.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, going to push a side table back to its original spot. I heard the rustle of the trash bag as Jared began to pick up trash.

“So, what’s your name, Girl Gaskarth?” Jared asked.

“Em,” I said simply. If he was only going to give me the briefest answers possible, I would do the same. This was war.

“How long are you planning on sticking around?”

“As long as my employment isn’t terminated.” Jared laughed and I fought the urge to turn and glare at him.

“You’re brave to take this job, you know,” he said.

“Why’s that?” I asked, heart picking up it’s pace. Maybe he was going to tell me why everyone seemed to quit this job?

“I’m sure you’ll find out, soon,” he smirked. This time, I did glare at him.

“Why is everyone in this house so secretive?” I demanded.

“You’ll see.”

“Fine,” I said, dropping what I was doing. “Have fun cleaning up. I’m going upstairs to take a shower.”

“Have fun,” he called after me. I ignored him. Why had I ever been curious about him? I went upstairs and took a long, hot shower before getting dressed in today’s clothes. Today was supposed to be Jack’s day, but with him sick, I had a feeling the day would be spent with me playing doctor. While I was in the shower, a sudden realization had hit me. Last night, Syn had kissed me. Like, seriously. The very memory sent a shiver down my spine. Once I’d put on my makeup and covered my slightly messy hair with a beanie, I fed Lily before heading back downstairs. No one appeared to be awake yet and I needed to get out of the house, so I quickly scribbled down a note and my phone number before grabbing my biker jacket and heading into the garage.

I straddled my bike and donned my helmet before pulling out of the garage and down the drive. The gate opened for me, just like yesterday, and for some reason, it barely bothered me anymore. I rode down to the waterfront, parking my bike before sitting by the water’s edge. It was only my second day in Huntington Beach and I already had a ton to think about.

1––I live in a house with guys that are in famous bands.
2––Jack was scared out of his mind around me
3––Syn was far too suggestive with me
4––Jared was infuriating
5––I had been outed as a semi-good guitar player
6––I had already gotten drunk, something I had told myself I wouldn’t do
7––I had already developed an attachment to these men
8––Syn’s friends loved me
9––I had gotten to play guitar with Avenged Sevenfold
And 10––I had been seriously kissed by Synyster Gates, lead guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold.

Need I go on? So much had happened in only forty–eight hours…I was interrupted by my thoughts as my Droid vibrated in my pocket. It was Alex.

Jack seriously sick. Come back now.

With a sigh, I got up and went back to my bike. When I finally got back to the mansion, I hurried upstairs to find Jack puking his guts out with Alex sitting uncomfortably by his side.

“Oh, Jack,” I sighed, sitting next to the poor boy. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily as he leaned away from the toilet. “Flush that, would you?” Alex leaned up and flushed the toilet, looking at Jack with concern. “Now, please go find the largest glass in the kitchen and fill it with cold water and bring it up here, please,” I instructed. Alex left quickly as I grabbed the toothbrush off the counter and loaded it with toothpaste. “Here,” I said, crouching down next to Jack and lightly rubbing his sweaty back. With a shaking hand, he took the toothbrush and scrubbed his teeth, not looking at me. Sort of like how Jared wouldn’t look at me. Once I got him cleaned up, I helped him back to bed and spent the rest of the day making him drink lots of water and fixing him healthy food. As soon as Jimmy was awake, everyone found themselves hating him as he ran through the house banging pots and pans together. I had to chase him around with a broom to get him to stop so Jack could sleep!

With nothing better to do, I decided to do a little housekeeping in my spare time––dusting all the main rooms, sweeping all the hardwood floors, washing the windows, and all–around avoiding Syn. Pierre didn’t emerge from his room all day and the Avenged guys all left around one o’clock to go jam at Matt’s house. David vanished around two, and that left me with Alex following me around, making extra messes for me to clean up, just to piss me off. I kept myself busy enough to avoid thinking about Jared or Syn.

By nine o’clock, I was thoroughly exhausted. I trudged out of Jack’s room, dead set on going straight to bed, but something caught my eye. Jared’s door was ajar and I could have sworn I saw a piano inside. I slowly crept up to the door, glancing in for any sign of Jared. It seemed as though he had already left. His room had dark walls, covered in posters. His bed was unmade, the covers and sheets being shoved at the bottom, and an open laptop lay on the bed. Why would he have left his laptop open? I crawled onto the bed, glancing at the screen. On it was a video. Curiosity getting the better of me, I hit ‘play’. It showed a high school gym, full of students playing random games. I could hear the voice of a much younger–sounding Jared narrating.

“And this is Shannon, the most kick–ass drummer ever!”

“Hush, Jared,” Shannon laughed. Shannon looked similar to Jared, but with shorter hair. He laughed and held up his hand to block the camera. I watched as the video rolled on, switching to a Christmas scene where a very young Jared unwrapped his first guitar, then to a video of a young Shannon banging on pots and pans in a semi–rhythmic manner. I ended up laying on my side, watching the long collection of videos play. I don’t know how many videos I watched before I fell asleep.

Jared’s POV

I pulled up to the mansion, letting out a frustrated sigh. I had been fully prepared to head up to the mountains, but Shannon had kept me much longer than I’d intended. I would have to wait until tomorrow to leave. It began to rain as I walked to the front door, fumbling for my key. It was almost midnight and I was rather exhausted from all the crazy things Shannon had wanted to do downtown. I checked the house for any of the guys, noting that Syn and Zacky weren’t at home. I trudged upstairs, unraveling my scarf as I went and peeling off my jacket. As I entered my room, I went straight to the door to the terrace, gazing out at the moonlight. It was beautiful. I dropped my scarf and jacket on the floor before turning, freezing as I realized I wasn’t alone.

Em was laying across my bed, fast asleep. My laptop was open in front of her and I gently eased it away from her, glancing at the screen. She must’ve watched the videos. They weren’t anything too sensitive––just clips of my teenage years with Shannon at school and on holidays. Nothing recent. I closed the computer and put it on top of the piano before trying to decide what to do about the girl sleeping in my bed. I finally just covered her up with the blankets and left, turning off the light and closing the door on my way out.

I slowly made my way upstairs, figuring that, if she could sleep in my room, I could sleep in hers. The first thing that I saw in her room was a small black and white cat curled up on the edge of her pillow. As I approached, it blinked up at me, letting out a yawn. I decided to do a little poking around, looking in her closet. Along with the clothes, the closet was full of guitars. Closing the door, I turned my attention to her dresser. On it lay a notebook, an iPod, and a pair of glasses. I turned on her iPod to see what she’d been listening too, smiling as I saw a 30 Seconds to Mars song. I put the iPod down and picked up the notebook, opening it to a random page. Em’s handwriting filled the page.

“So, today, Alex started a band. He and these 3 boys I don’t know. They’ve gone away and I probably won’t get to see him again for awhile. =( Well, at least they’re out of here. Off on a great adventure! I wish I had half the talent they had. They’re so popular now…of course, I’m totally weak for sexy singers, so who can blame people for swooning over Alex? If a guy sang a song to me, I might just die of shock…or suddenly ravage him XP I think it would be the most awesome thing ever if a guy would remix a totally weird song, like Lady Gaga or something, and made it beautiful and fitting to how we feel toward each other. That would be pretty amazing, don’t you think so, diary?”

Feeling very intrusive––I hadn’t really even thought about it being personal until she wrote the word ‘diary’––I decided to stop snooping and go to sleep. I turned to the bed, but it didn’t even have sheets on it yet! Shaking my head, I went into her bathroom and pulled some plain sheets out of the linen closet.

“Sorry,” I muttered to the cat as I picked it up and dropped it onto the floor so I could put the sheets on the bed. As I laid down in her bed, my mind reeled, thinking over the events of the day. The little black and white cat jumped back up on the bed, curling up next to my head and going back to sleep. Deciding to do the same, I rolled onto my side and cleared my mind of all thoughts but the ones about tomorrow.