Vice Versa

Alice and Brian basically stuck to each other while waiting for the others to arrive. They stayed in the kitchen, staring in space. A worried Michelle stood by Alice’s side. Brian had Tholomew in his arms. The door squeaked open, scaring the five waiting people. Three men trooped in, with two women trailing from behind.

“Hey, Syn. You okay? Matt told me that you had retro memory loss or some shit.” An average heighted man with combed hair and confident green eyes marched straight to Alice. He was slightly pudgy and his face was strangely shaped, round and pointy. He had arched eyebrows and pouty lips. Somehow his features fit together well.

“Retrograde amnesia, actually. I don’t know man.” Alice said, hoping she sounded like Brian. She winced slightly at her terrible acting skills.

“You remember me?”

“Um… nope.”

“Damn. I was hoping I was special enough for you to remember me.”

“Obviously I’m more special. Right, Brian?” a very short man with a brown Mohawk that flopped to the side and a nose ring piped up, a lopsided grin on his face. His brown eyes seemed immature, but with a hidden maturity or sorrow, Alice wasn’t even sure. Despite that, the manner he stood had the ‘fuck you’ vibe.

“I don’t remember you either.”

“He even forgot me. He forgot everyone.” Michelle piped up.

“Very well, then, I’m Zacky Vengeance, or Zacky Baker. And this beautiful lady here is Gena. My wife. Shit, it feels weird.” The green eyed man introduced himself as he pulled a woman with platinum blonde hair cut short to his side. She smiled a dazzling smile and waved.

“I know right.” Alice mumbled.

“I’m Johnny, and I’m your master. I’m your favourite best friend out of all of us.” The Mohawked one piped up, holding hands with a woman with a dark coloured collar length bob. Alice raised an eyebrow, not sure if he was joking.

“Shut up, Johnny. Brian never loved you.” Zacky interrupted. Alice just chuckled quietly, still confused.

“And this is Lacey, my girlfriend.” Johnny indicated to the woman next to him, ignoring Zacky. A tall lanky man stood behind the two men and women. He looked so much younger than everyone here. His hair was brown in a disorderly mess with a few blonde streaks. He had wide brown eyes. He stood awkwardly, waving with a small smile.

“This is Arin, who is drumming for us for now.” Matt jumped in, pointing at Arin.

“So… did you forget how to play our songs?” Zacky finally said after a short silence.

“Yep. I even forgot how to play the fuckin’ thing.” Alice answered.

“That bad?” The rest of the guys were flabbergasted.

“Yeah…” Alice shrugged. She thought it wasn’t too big of a deal, really.

“You know I have to teach you everything all over?” Zacky said, putting emphasis on the word ‘everything’.

“Who the fuck are you? And who is that cat?” Johnny suddenly said, finally drawing attention to Brian inside Alice’s body. He had an expression just like a deer would have being caught in the headlights. He was so used to being ignored because of himself. He found solace in Tholomew from the lack of attention from others.

“Hey?” he said, a sheepish expression on his face.

“Oh, right. H-She is my long lost cousin from… Italy. Her name is Alice.” Alice said, almost blowing it. Brian waved, still holding Tholomew.

“From Italy?” Zacky raised his sculpted eyebrow, disbelieving.

“Yep. Twice removed. And she lives there because she used to be a transfer student.” Alice said, subconsciously adding another lie. She scolded herself, reminding her to not to make up more any lies. Brian raised an eyebrow at Alice’s elaborate lies.

“Okay… I didn’t know that. Hi. I’m Zacky. But you probably know that already.”

“Who’s that cat?” Johnny repeated.

“He’s mine.” Brian said, speaking for more than one word for the first time.

“Are you like… really protective of the cat?” Johnny was tentative, indicating for the cat. Brian simply stared at Johnny for a bit, deciding to scare him a bit.

“Fine.” He handed Tholomew to Johnny. Johnny quickly cuddled with the cat. Tholomew began licking the side of his face before chomping down on his nose ring. Johnny yelped, already feeling the black cat tugging on it.

“Motherfucker! It hurts!” Johnny yells. Everyone else in the house just laughed, especially Brian. He knew that Tholomew won’t intentionally seriously hurt Johnny. Finally, Brian indicated for the cat. Tholomew let go of Johnny’s nose ring and allowed him to be handed back to Brian.

“What is his name? I never asked.” Val piped up. Brian cleared his throat before replying.

“Tholomew.” With that, everyone was silent.

“How did you get the name?” Matt said slowly.

“I don’t know. I got him from a witch. She already named him.”

“Okay.” Everyone in the room was skeptical. The name ‘Tholomew’ wasn’t common. After a short silence, Matt had an idea. Matt sat Alice down on Brian’s couch, which was directly in front of the television. He held up a CD cover. It said “Avenged Sevenfold” on top and it had a skeleton with bat wings holding a pass that said “All Excess”

“We’re gonna jog your memory with this. I hope you can remember some stuff with it.” He said seriously as he popped the disc in the DVD player.

“Oh god…” Zacky muttered from behind them. Alice turned to see his head in his hands.

“Embarassed?”

“Nah... maybe, I don’t know.” He was shrugging offhandedly. Alice simply smiled at his indecisiveness. She already liked Brian’s friends. Zacky seemed friendly and outgoing although a bit cocky and Johnny was simply adorable and cheeky. She was yet to see the fun side of Matt and Arin hasn’t come out from his shell yet.

“Watch.” Matt distracted Alice from her thoughts. She turned to the screen.