A Rock Prince with a Vengeance

After one hour of sitting in the tattoo parlor, my newest piece of body art was completed. Damien, the tattoo artist, handed me a mirror to view his work. It couldn't of been more perfect. The detailing was magnificent and the color was a beautiful shade of dark blue.

I paid Damien and Matt, Jimmy, and I walked back to the car. They all had concerned looks upon their faces.

"What's the matter you guys? Doesn't this look bad ass?" I showed off my newest tattoo on my left ribcage.

"How do you think Bri will react?" Matt asked.

"I'm hoping she'll love it."

"Don't you think you're taking this relationship a little too fast? I mean you two have been going out for five months and you already got a tattoo." Jimmy chimed in.

"Wait, it's only been five months?" I was startled.

"Yeah. You thought is was a lot longer than that?"

I banged my head on the wheel and the horn went off. I felt completely stupid. Last week I was convinced that last week marked our six month anniversary. Obviously, I don't know how to count.

"We're making a quick stop at the liquor store. I need a 40 and a pack of cigarettes." I pulled into the parking lot. "Jimmy, can you go in and get something for all of us? Oh and if you drop any of them like Johnny did I swear I'll-"

"Don't worry, boss. Right on it," Jimmy said as he walked into the store.

"I'm guessing we're going to take a trip down memory lane at the park?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. I need it."

Jimmy stumbled back into the car with three 40s and several packs of cigarettes.

I drove to our old spot in the woods. Back in the high school days, all five of us would hang out here and do some fun and regretful shit. Either way, over the years, we all left fond memories here.

When we reached our destination, Jimmy handed us all a 40 and a pack of cigarettes. I was in desperate need of a cigarette. I opened the pack and lit the stick so fast that it should be in the world record book. I felt like I was in heaven. I fell back onto the ground and poured half of the bottle in my mouth, though half of it landed on my face.

"I wish we could go back to high school. We had nothing to worry about. We had all the booze, sex, and drugs a teenager could ever ask for."

"Here we go. Another mid-life crisis," Matt whispered to himself.

"I fucked up. What was I thinking? Why did I get this tattoo? It's only been five months. She's gonna break up with me because I'm taking this relationship too fast."

"Matt, I told you not to bring any of this up. Now give him some magical pep talk," Jimmy whispered to Matt.

"Zacky, don't be too hard on yourself. If I was Briony, I'd be flattered and I'd still stay with you," Matt tried helping Zacky.

"Zacky, do you love Briony?" Jimmy asked.

"Pfftt what? No. It's too early to tell," I lied as I took another big gulp from the bottle.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire. You are so in love with her that you lost track of time." Jimmy poked fun at me.

"Okay fine. I guess I'm in love with Briony. I'm just scared that she doesn't love me back. Remember the last time that I said 'I love you' to a girl I really liked?"

"I know. You just have to take this chance with her."

"Okay. Thanks man. I just feel stupid for not keeping track of time."

"If it makes you feel any better, I forgot Val and I's first wedding anniversary a couple years ago. Boy, I never want to go down that road again."

"Good. Then let me be the first to remind you that tomorrow's your third wedding anniversary," Jimmy said.

Matt had another priceless look plastered on his face. This one was so funny that it even beat the face he made when he found out that Val maxed out his credit card. He took my 40 and started drinking more than he should.

"We have to go you guys. I promised Briony that I would take her out tonight," I mentioned as I wiped off dead grass from my shirt.

"Yeah, and I have to make a lot of plans, and phone calls, and excuses, and apologizes." Matt took another big gulp.



I was still uneasy about the whole Brian-kissing-me-and-shit situation. After talking to Johnny, I felt a little better. I was glad that I could trust someone else in this house. I couldn't tell any of the girls' they would spread the secret like it was the plague.

I was in the bathroom pacing back and forth in the small space I occupied. I was debating if I should tell Zacky or not. If I do tell him, who knows what he would do to Brian. If I don't, I know for a fact guilt will haunt me for the rest of my life. I sorted through all of my pros and cons and decided to tell him because in a relationship, it's good be truthful, right? Question is: when is it the appropriate time to confess?

"Woah, sorry about that. I should of knocked first," Zacky barged in on me. Thankfully it wasn't at a bad time.

"No, no, it's alright. I was just pondering, that's all. Come in," I said.

"Good. You're just the person I needed to see. We're gonna go out tonight."

"Like right now?"

"Why not? I also got the surprise for you."

"Oh fine. Give me about ten minutes."

I dashed to my room and found whatever my hands could grab first. I wish Zacky could of given me a heads up so I know what I'm doing.

"Okay, I'm done!" I made a scene while walking down the stairs.

"coll. So I'm guessing we can leave now?"

The car ride to wherever we were going is awkward. The last thing I want to do is to be with Zacky as mean as that sounds. I don't wan to be near him. When I look at him, it kills to see him all happy naturally. I have to cover up my face with my best acting and a secret smile on my face. What kills me the most is that I have to be the killjoy to ruin his happiness.

"Is everything alright? You seem to be down," he asked while keeping one hand on the wheel and the other stroking my upper thigh.

"Oh nothing. I'm just- thinking about life."

"You're lying. I can read you like a book. Am I doing anything wrong? Did I do anything to make you sad or mad?"

"I think it's best if we talked about this later."

Nice going, Briony. Thanks for keeping him waiting with anticipation. What a smart move from me. Now I bet that's he's thinking about something bad like breaking up with him. Way to go Brian for fucking up my love life.



When I told Briony that I wanted to take her out tonight, she didn't seem too pleased. In fact, she seemed nervous and guilty. I have no idea what's up with her, but I hope her attitude changes before we head out. My main two goals tonight are to have a good time and to make Briony happy.

"Is everything alright? You seem to be down." I asked her.

"Oh nothing. I'm just thinking about life."

"You're lying. I can read you like a book. Am I doing anything wrong? Did I do anything to make you mad or sad?"

"I think it's best if we talked about this later."

That isn't a good sign. Talking about something later when she's in a bad mood means that either I'm really paranoid or something is really wrongs with our relationship. Boy, am I fucked.

When I pulled up by the beach, she still wasn't excited; this is her favorite place! Maybe it's best if we skip out on the Frisbee and smores and just, walk, I guess.



Our surprise for tonight is going to the beach, during a romantic sunset. As cliche as it is, I'm a sucker for romantic movie scenes like this. Oh why, Zacky, do you must treat me this wonderful?

"Here we are, the beach. I was planning a casual game of Frisbee and some smores afterwards, but something's up and I want to talk this out." Zacky confronted me.

"I said we can talk about this later. Let's just forget about this right now and have fun," I rose my voice a little. I was getting irritated by this. I should of never brought this up in the first place.

"No. We're not leaving until everything is cleared up."

"Alright then. Have it your way." I took off my flip-flops and we began our leisurely stroll down the beach. "You said you had a surprise for me."

"Yes I did. I don't know if I want to show it to you anymore."

"I'm sorry for raising my voice and getting all pissy at you. I really want to enjoy tonight and make it drama free."

"Apology accepted. Happy five month anniversary."

He unbuttoned his plaid shirt to reveal a tattoo with MY name inked on his left ribcage. It was a little tribute to me and my fascination of space thanks to Something Corporate.

I felt terrible. He had the balls to go out and get permanently inking for me while I stood her with bad news as my only gift. Why must he choose this day to treat me like gold?

"Wow, Zacky, it's beautiful. No one's ever done that for me before."

"I always wanted to do this, but I was waiting for the right girl."

Zachary James Baker, why do you like contributing to the pile of shit that's on me?

"Now I want to talk. I want you to take all the weight off your chest."

I took a couple deep breaths. "Brian kissed me."

He was speechless on the outside; inside, he was probably boiling up and coming up with a plan to seek revenge on Brian for crossing his line. I should of taken Johnny's advice and keep my mouth shut.

"You didn't kiss him?" He asked calmly in my surprise.

"No. He kissed me." I paused. "Are you mad?"

"Let's go home." That was the last line he said for the rest of the night.



Don't I feel like the world's biggest jackass? First I go and get a tattoo for my girlfriend and a couple hours later I find out that my best friend goes behind my back and kisses her! I'm so pissed at Haner it's not even. He better sleep with one eye open because hell's coming his way.