Something Vague.

I sat there, feeling even more nervous. I looked down at my shaky hand and my foot bouncing up and down to the beat of Garrett’s tapping. I looked up at the red man with the glasses, his hair looking oily from the sweat building up. I whipped off the sweat that was glistening on my face, it was boiling hot in here and all of us were feeling it. I looked over at Jared redder than usual, whipping the sweat on his face with his shirt. The hair on Pat’s face stuck to his sweaty face as Kennedy looked like he was going to pass out from the heat in this small room.

“Can’t he just tell us it sucks and then be done with it. I’m going to die from the heat and the anxiousness”, Garrett said whipping off the sweat on his face with his tank top.

I nodded my head in agreement feeling like my heart was pounding faster than normal. I looked up at Howard sitting there with an unpleased look on his face. He reached over to the buttons, pushing down on it. I watched his every move, from the whipping of the sweat to pushing his black framed glasses up. He turned his body around to face us and my heart stopped as his lips opened.

“Complete shit.”

I threw my head back as everyone let out loud sighs. My eyes met Jared’s before we looked back at Howard scared of what was going to be released through those lips.

“There was no honesty; there was nothing catchy about it. If you want to make a shitty record then keep going with what you’re doing”, he said taking a pause to take his glasses off giving us a stern look like we were in some kind of trouble. “Or you boys can get your shit together and make something amazing. Go home, you’re not allowed in this studio until you bring me something that doesn’t make me want to become deaf for the rest of my life.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I stood up and left the studio. I wanted to scream and honestly I wanted to kick the shit out of Howard but I let myself calm down as I sat down in the van waiting for the rest of the guys. I looked over at the guys walking to the van, seeming like what he had said was nothing. They got in the van, each one of the taking a seat around me.

“What’s wrong dude?”

I looked over at Pat with a look saying are you serious? He still had a smile on his face and I was close to tears from frustration. I just rolled my eyes and looked out the window. The tension in the van was too much to handle, mainly because I made everything awkward. Killing everyone’s spirits with just a look, it seemed as though I was the only one caring about our band and the record. We got to the house and I jumped out of the van not waiting for the guys, I had to get away from them.

“How did it go?”

I looked over at Tim and just kept walking, walking straight into my room with a slam of my door before falling down on the bed like some kind of child. I heard my door open and someone walking in and sitting down on my bed. I didn’t move, just stayed in the position I was in. I hated feeling like this, like some little pussy.

“You look like you need a beer.”

“Looks like I need a new job.”

“Stop being a pussy and letting shit get to you”, Tim said with an annoyed tone to his voice. “You dealt with Matt Squire telling you the same shit every day, stop being a bitch and get up. Were going out.”

“I’m good.”

“JohnOh.”

“What dude?”

“Are you seriously just going to lie around like some sour puss?”

“Yes.”

“Suit yourself, see you later.”

“Bye!”

I just heard him laugh as he walked out of my door. I got up from the bed and walked over to my notebook, grabbing it and placing it on the small desk. I took a seat and just stared at the empty lines hoping anything would come out. I heard the door slam and the car starting up. I threw my head back in frustration before twirling the pen in my hand around. I looked over at the house and there she stood, throwing her things on the counter. I looked over at the time seeing it was 8 o’clock; she just got off of work. I’ve been watching this girl nonstop for a week, in the least creepy way, but she was always doing something. I’d watch her do yoga but then go and eat junk food. Sit around yelling things at the TV, have light saber wars with her dog. This girl was interesting to say the least; everything she did amazed me for some reason. I watched her take her shoes off, a smile was planted on my face knowing I was finally going to see something good.

I got off of the desk walking over to the window to get a better look of her. I watched her take off her pants and then reaching for her shirt pulling it over her head. The excitement was building up as I looked at this beautiful girl standing there in just a bra and underwear. I watched her hands move up her back to the clasp of her bra. I watched anxiously licking my lips, letting my eyes wonder up and down her body. I watched her unclasp one hook and then undid the other. I watched the bra fall from her body hitting the wooden floor. I couldn’t control the excitement I had. Then she turned around and my heart skipped a beat, her eyes meeting mine. I threw myself on the floor, scared that she saw me being a creep.

“Shit, shit, shit!”

I lay on the floor cussing over and over again, scared that she noticed me staring like some creep. I reached over trying to see her, hoping she didn’t see me. I looked into her room and saw her getting dressed, she looked over in my directions once more making me fall down on the floor, my heart beating out of my chest.

“Fucking shit!”

I heard a door shut from outside, I got up off of the floor and looked out the window and saw her walking across her lawn.

“What the fuck?”

That’s when I heard the doorbell. I let out a big fuck before walking out of my room staring at the door as it was some mass murder behind it. I heard the doorbell ring again but I just stared. She rang it three more times in a row, she was getting impatient. I walked over to the door, reaching for the doorknob. I placed my hand on the cold metal, doing everything in slow motion. The word fuck being repeated in my head as I turned it to the right. Once the door was open, there she was with her hands on her hips staring at me.

“Uh hey.”

“You must be new to the neighborhood, I’m Carly.”

I heard her thick accent and the dimples in her cheek. I looked at the hand in front of me, the yellow nail polish catching my attention. I reached over taking the hand, once I touched her skin I got this happy feeling in my stomach.

“Nice to meet you, I’m John.”

“Well John, I’m about to go get something I eat. Would you like to come along?”

“Um yeah, sure.”

She just gave me a warm smile, maybe she didn’t see me. My heart was beating out of my chest as I locked the door and followed her to her car. I saw the classic Corvette parked there, the paint chipped and rusty but all of us guys fell in love with this car. I watched her unlock the door letting me in her car.

“So John where are you from?”

“Arizona”, I said simply, still feeling uneasy about this.

“What part?”

“Chandler but I guess you know Tempe, right?”

“How do you like it there?”

“Its home”, I said simply kind of thrown off by all the questions coming out of this girl’s mouth, but I couldn’t complain her accent was adorable. “Where are you from?”

“Everywhere.”

I just nodded my head as she continued to drive off, I shifted in my seat feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. Suddenly the car stopped, I looked over at her slightly scared. My heart beating out of my chest, why didn’t I learn to never get in a car with a stranger?

“Take off your clothes.”

“What?”

“I said take off your clothes”, she said with a smile, the dimples more evident. “You saw me, so I think it’s fair I see you.”

“I swear I didn’t see anything.

“Shirt and pants off!”

I listened to her, feeling my body shake. I stripped down and handed her my clothes. She threw them in the back and looked down at my boxer briefs with a grin on her lips.

“Now get out of the car.”

“Are you serious?”

“John from Chandler, Arizona get out of my car.”

I just rolled my eyes before stepping out of the car. My bare feet touching the hot ground, I heard the sound of the door locking. I threw my head back with an annoyed look on my face, but she looked more than amused.

“Take them off.”

“What?”

“Take those tighty whiteys off.”

“They’re not tightty whiteys”, I said under my breath before slipping out of them and throwing them in her direction.

She just laughed as she sat in her car with an amused look on her face. Suddenly her high beams were shot in my direction; I tried my hardest to cover my goods. That’s when I heard her engine turn on and the sounds of her driving away.

“Fuck!”

I rushed after her, my feet hitting the hot street. Once I saw her stop, her laughter was uncontrollable. She opened the door for me letting me in. I grabbed my clothes in the back, trying to get dressed as I heard her laugh.

“It’s not funny.”

“It’s pretty funny.”

“No it’s not, I could have gotten arrested”, I said throwing my shirt over my body. “I could have cut my foot; I could have caught a cold.”

“Caught a cold?”

“Yes, a cold then I wouldn’t be able to sing and then we’d be fucked more.”

“You sing?”

I looked over at her watching her grin, I nodded my head. She looked over at me more interested.

“So you and those gumpy boys are in a band?”

“Yes, those gumpy boys are in my band.”

“Interesting”, she said not looking over to me. “Denny’s?”

“Yeah sure.”

I looked over at this girl, completely confused. I couldn’t read anything from her, all I knew was her name and that she had an accent and some sick sense of humor. She stepped out of her car and walked off, leaving me running to catch up to her.

“How many?”

“Two”, she said with a smile. “Also can I get one of the kid’s meals?”

The waiter looked at her oddly before nodding his head and showing us the way. We took a seat and I watched him hand her the kids menu along with crayons. I watched her thank him, not caring that this guy probably though she was some crazy girl. She grabbed the paper and the crayons and began to draw.

“So John from Chandler, Arizona that’s also in a band”, she said making me laugh. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“Like what exactly?”

“How old are you? What are you doing in the beautiful city of Los Angeles? Anything at all.”

“Well I’m 21”, I said dying to see her beautiful green eyes again. “Like I said I’m in a band and well were here to record.”

“What’s with the long face when you said record?”

“You didn’t even look at my face.”

“I didn’t need to”, she said looking up at me with a grin. “You look sad, so tell me why.”

“Well when we came here, my band and I. We brought some material that I thought was pretty good but when we showed our producer he completely hated it. Called it complete shit and just bashed it.”

“And since you’re the lyrical genius, it hurt your feelings.”

“Yeah, I guess so”, I said looking down at the paper she was covering with her hands. “It just sucks; everything I worked on while we were touring he completely got rid of it. Like nothing I wrote was good enough and it’s just frustrating.”

“Write more.”

“Well I’m kind of uninspired.”

“Get inspired silly!” she said looking up at me with a grin. “Look around you, what do you see?”

“People.”

“No! You got it all wrong, look harder”, she said with a laugh.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to see, all I see is people.”

“Not everything is black and white; you can’t look at the life like that. Everything has color”, she said with a smile before looking off in the distant. “You see that couple there?”

I followed her eyes and saw an older couple, the lady wearing some fancy looking dress while he was wearing a tux. I didn’t even notice them when I came in.

“They’ve been married for years”, she said looking over at them with admirable eyes. “They go to these stuffy dinners every weekend but always end up at Denny’s. The very same Denny’s that they went on their first date. The very Denny’s that he proposed to her.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t”, she said with a laugh. “For all I know she’s some hooker that he bought for the night.”

“Then what’s with that whole story?”

“Have imagination! Stop seeing things so vague, see deeper”, she said moving her hands around with frustration. “Now look at that old man over there, what’s his story?”

I looked over at the old man sitting at table all alone sipping on some coffee. I looked down at his hand seeing a wedding ring placed on his finger.

“I don’t know”, I said with a shrug. “He just got off of work and decided to get some coffee.”

“So boring, how the hell are you some kind of rock star if you’re so ordinary?”

“I’m not a rock star.”

“Stop arguing with me and tell me what you see, make up a story.”

I looked over into her beautiful green eyes that were piercing right through me. I watched as they change from a bright green to a dull blue. I finally got myself to look away from her at the old man standing there.

“He looks sad.”

“Go on.”

“He used to come here with his wife every Sunday morning, they sit there for hours at that very same table and order coffee and pancakes and talk all day. His wife passed away not too long ago, so he still comes here every night, sits at the same table ordering the same food in hopes that his wife would walk through those doors and sit next to him.”

I turned around looking over at her, she gave me smile. She handed me the piece of paper she was working on and there on the paper was a picture of her and I, smiles on our faces. She stood up from where she was sitting a smile on her face.

“Ready?”

I nodded my head and followed her to her car. We sat there in silence as the sounds of Band of Horses played on the speakers. We got to our house and all I wanted to do was just sit in the car with her and just look at her. When she stepped out of the car, I followed suit not wanting to get out.

“See you around John from Chandler, Arizona.”

“It was nice meeting you.”

She just laughed before walking inside her house leaving me standing there. I walked back inside and straight to my room. I sat on my bed looking over seeing Carly standing there in just a bra and her shorts. She looked over at me with a smirk on her face before shutting the blinds. I let out a laugh before lying back on the bed. I think I found my inspiration.