Vice Versa

Alice woke up with a crick in her neck. She was sent to the couch after she couldn’t get hard for Michelle due to the awkwardness, in Alice’s point of view anyway. Her body was tangled up in the thin fleece blanket. Tholomew jumped on Alice, stepping on all over her chest. Alice groaned and tried to push off the black cat to her side.

“Can you talk? Or was it some fucked up dream?” Alice muttered to the cat. Tholomew didn’t say anything, but his face seemed to be smiling amusedly, like he knew everything, especially from what happened to her last night. Alice sighed and got up from the couch after shoving off Tholomew. Just then, Brian came into the living room to get to the kitchen.

“Did last night happen?” Alice said to Brian. Brian nodded in confirmation.

“Really? Tholomew isn’t talking.”

“He told me he only could talk from 4am to 5am.” He walked to his coffeemaker, preparing some for the morning.

“Right.”

“How do you like your coffee?”

“Some milk. Two sugar.”

“Okay.” Brian got set to preparing their coffee. Tholomew crawled up to Brian, meowing and gently scratching Brian’s shapely bare legs. He looked down to the cat.

“What do you want now? I carry you everywhere, I look after you and I feed you. What else do you want?” Brian grumbled to the black cat. Tholomew sat down, glancing up to Brian in an expression that may be described as indignant.

“Just give him food.” Alice muttered, talking over Brian’s previous job of preparing the coffee. Like clockwork, the front door squeaked open and Zacky’s voice was heard. Michelle appeared from the entrance of the kitchen.

“Brian, leave it be, I’ll cook.” Michelle offered. But Alice already finished making the coffee so she handed out a cup to each person, including Zacky who just entered the kitchen. Was mornings always like this in the Haner household? Alice wondered that question as she sat down on the bar stool. Brian was, once again, cradling Tholomew. It was hard for Alice to digest the fact that the cat was Jimmy, Brian’s deceased best friend and Brian was looking after the cat. All she knew of Jimmy was from the All Excess video.

“I’m going to have to teach you how to play guitar all over again.” Zacky sat down next to Alice, who was nursing a cup of coffee.

“Milk? I thought you didn’t like milk in your coffee?” he added after glancing at her cup.

“I just felt like it, okay?”

“You’re… really fucking weird since your memory got wiped. It’s like someone else got in your body.”

Alice gulped. Zacky got it precisely right. But she couldn’t tell him that. She silently sipped more from her coffee. She could smell the breakfast that Michelle was cooking.

“I have a big problem, guys.” Zacky announced, spinning slightly on his stool.

“What’s wrong, then?” Michelle glanced up from the bacon she was frying.

“We’re scheduled to tour in two weeks. “

“Two weeks!” she shrieked.

Two weeks. Two weeks was all it took for Alice until she was royally screwed. She doubted she could learn Brian’s entire guitar parts in two weeks, especially which she wasn’t musically inclined.

“How do I supposed to learn it all in two weeks?” Alice said.

“Exactly.” Zacky’s expression was grim. “It means all day, every day for two weeks.” Alice groaned and thunked her head on the counter.

“I know, bro.” he patted her back.

“Breakfast is done!” Michelle announced. Brian joined Zacky and Alice on the kitchen bar. She felt a plate push against her bowed head. She glanced at it. Bacon and eggs on toast. Yum. She pulled the plate after glancing at Michelle and giving her thanks. She seemed distant to Alice. She couldn’t blame her, especially because of the awkwardness from last night.

“Yes! Bacon and eggs!” Zacky yelled. “None of the health shit that Gena makes for me!” he dove in the food.

After feasting on the breakfast, Zacky cleared his throat.

“Time to relearn your parts.” He said, pointing to his guitar case on the floor next to the bar which Alice didn’t notice before. She gulped. I seemed to gulp a lot these days, she thought.

“Can’t you push the tour back a bit?” she bit her lip.

“Yeah… only almost everything was paid for and organised and not everyone knows about your memory loss…” Zacky was scratching his black combed hair. “And you seem pretty feminine just then.”

Alice sat up, trying to look as masculine as she could, before looking at Brian. He was glaring at her, as if he was saying ‘I told you so'. She scratched her neck out of nervous habit.

“Let’s get it on and over with.”

“Are you okay? You seem really fuckin’… weird.”

“You said that before. I lost my memory, I don’t…”

“I know, I know. Shut up. Do you at least remember the basics for playing guitar?”

“I have retrograde amnesia, which means everything in my past. Is that obvious enough for you?”

“Fuck! Two weeks isn’t enough.”

“I know, just… teach me what you have today.” Alice trailed off, indicating that they should start practising and ‘relearning’ Brian’s guitar parts. To leave the two alone and to entertain themselves, Michelle arranged ‘Alice’ to come with her for a girl’s day out with the wives of the Avenged clan. It was interesting for Brian. He always had wondered what girls really talked about in their sleepovers and outings. So he really looked forward to that, despite the annoyingly lengthy shopping sprees and fussy manicures.