Nobody's Listening

T W E N T Y - F O U R

"We called Luke, and he said he'd drop by once he finished packing," Cyd said as soon as I opened the door to get in Mesh's Jeep. Today, the middle seat would be kept empty. I sighed in relief and got in behind Cyd.

"Okay, great," I said, trying to smile reassuringly.

James got in behind Mesh and Cyd giggled into her hand. "Hey, James! It's so great to see you, you look great! How was rehab, dear?"

"It was okay," he replied, a strained smile gracing his lips. "I'm a little bit less of a little bitch now, if that counts for anything."

Mesh let out a roar of laughter and clapped the side of James' knee from behind. "Good to have you back, bro."

Cyd was still giggling as Mesh pulled out of my driveway. "So, James. I like your hair. Trying to go for that Percy Jackson look?" His eyes narrowed and she snorted giddily. "Or maybe a bit of that lead singer of the Strokes?"

I looked over at James and realized she was right. I joined in with her laughter. "Oh God, you do look like Julian Casablancas!"

James crossed his arms and stared out the window in mock defiance. "Well, I thought it looked nice," he said pretending to wipe away a tear.

"You're kinda starting to look like Mesh," said Cyd. She made a wild grab for Mesh's ever-present sunglasses and managed to get them off before he noticed what was going on. His aqua eyes flashed with an amused annoyance as he halfheartedly tried reaching for the glasses without taking his eyes off the road. "Here, try 'em on," Cyd squealed, throwing them back at him.

James caught them deftly and slid them on. He did look a bit like Mesh. "How do I look, guys?"

Cyd slapped Mesh's hands away and looked back at him, analyzing his new look. "You two could be pulled off as twins!"

"Grrrrrrreat," Mesh whined. "But can I please have my shades back? My eyes are burning with the rage of a thousand fires from the sunset." James handed them back up and Mesh placed them back on his face, covering his shockingly blue eyes. "Much better."

I turned my attention away from their banter to stare out the window. Bare trees whipped by as we sped down the interstate. The grass looked brown and particularly crunchy under the sparse layer of decaying leaves and snow. I wondered if Luke was mad at James or I. My own anger was already trickling away from my bloodstream, as it always seemed to do when I was around Cyd.

Suddenly, we hit a bit of the rumble strip before pulling off onto the exit. I could guess easily where we were going now; there was nothing of importance on this side of town except for the bar that Wren's band regularly played at. But where Wren usually sat was occupied by me, and her drum kit wasn't in the back.

"So, where's Wren?" Wren had become a bit of an addition to our little group, and I felt a tad more comfortable with her now. She was a lot nicer than she let on.

"Pops got her a new car yesterday for finally getting her license, so she drove herself down there. 'Pparently Dylan got to borrow her pops' van so Wren's drum kit'll get there all right, hopefully," Mesh answered.

Dylan was the guitarist of Wren's band, the Bends. She was taller than me but almost as slight as Cyd, with a pixy cut that changed colors frequently. She also sported a silver Monroe piercing and a small black snake tattoo curled three times on her left bicep. She was eighteen and had graduated last year. She was fairly nice, but had a pretty bad case of road rage on and off the road.

"Oh, are we going to see Wren play?" James piped up, his excitement heightening.

"Yeah, dude," Mesh answered, turning into the small parking lot of the bar. "Who knows what we'll get into afterwards, though." He flipped the car into park and turned the ignition off. We all scrambled out.

"Sounds good," James said right as Cyd went flying at him.

"We've missed you so much," she wailed, pretending to sob into his chest.

He patted her back with an odd grin on his face. His eyes met mine from my spot next to Mesh and the grin widened. "I've missed you too!" he howled.

She punched him lightly with her little curled fists and stepped back next to Mesh, intertwining her fingers with his. "Let's get," she said, smiling brightly, leading the way into the bar. The bouncer let us in without looking at our licenses. Security was pretty lax.

We weaved our way through the crowd and sat at a booth in the shadows near the stage. The Bends were just setting up, and Wren caught our eye and gave a small wave. Dylan gave us a sharp nod before picking up her bright orange guitar. Tonight, she sported bright blonde hair with a thick streak of dark blue in her bangs, and a ruby red was smudged around her cinnamon brown eyes.

The Bends' lead singer, Nancy, raise a slender arm for silence. The bar slowly calmed down. She lowered her hand and gave the microphone in front of her a flick with her middle finger. "What is up?" she asked in her husky voice. The crowd cheered their approval and she rewarded them with the bird. "That's what I like to fucking hear!" she screamed before the band launched into one of their fast-paced songs.

Mesh and Cyd slid out of the booth again and slithered onto the dance floor. James and I sat there, quietly observing the crowd jump and twist with the crazy music.

"So," James said loudly into my ear, "who is everyone in this band?"

I sighed. One of the things I hated the most was trying to talk loudly, which was why I enjoyed Luke's company the most at these things. We liked to sit and soak up the music and each other's presence.

"Well, you know Wren, she's the drummer. The guitarist with the obnoxious orange guitar is Dylan, she's eighteen and she graduated last year. Nancy, the lead singer, is nineteen, but I think she might've moved here in the past year or so, so I dunno where she graduated. The bassist is Felix, and I don't know much about him, other than he's ridiculously in love with his hair and is a good singer too."

James nodded. "I don't blame him for loving his hair, really." Felix's hair was long and blonde, almost reaching his waist. It was thick, wavy, and always looked freshly trimmed. He was often mistaken as a girl.

"He gets hit on by a lot of guys," I shouted back, giggling.

He let out a bark of laughter and fell silent just as the song stopped. "How 'bout some covers?" Nancy cried into the mic. After a satisfying cheer from the crowd, the band slid into "Only Sleep" by Star Fucking Hipsters, one of the band's favorites.

"Hey, I like this song, wanna dance?" James asked, turning to me.

My heart jumped to my throat. "Sure," I choked out, sliding out of the booth after him. We came to a stop at the edge of the dance floor and he put his hands on my waist. I put mine on his shoulders and we started swaying with the beat. As it sped up, James' let his hands travel up my sides, over my arms, and to my hands. He took them off his shoulders and held them; they instantly went clammy.

I stood there awkwardly, letting James' frantic movements sway me just a bit. His hair was in his eyes as he jerked his head to the rhythm. He slowed down a bit to look at me, the corner of his mouth curling in a smile. "C'mon, can't you dance?" he shouted over the music.

I shook my head. "Not really."

He let out a sigh and let go of my hands to take my hips. "Move like this." He rolled my hips up and down to the song. Once I got in the hang of this, he took my wrists and made me move my arms and shoulders like a complete douche. I forgot to move my hips momentarily, and he laughed and put his hands back, trying to move my hips right again.

He leaned forward, and for a second I was terrified that he was going to kiss me, but his mouth went to my ear. "You're hopeless," he whispered, a smile in his voice.

I blushed and pulled away, about to turn back to the booth when I saw Luke standing not five feet away, stoic and expressionless. I started towards him and he turned on his heel, marching back outside and away from terrible me.