Under A Paper Moon

I open my eyes slowly and look around the unfamiliar room “Whe-where am I?” I ask not expecting to get an answer.

“You’re in the staff room of Safeway in Baltimore You blacked out in the junk food aisle” a voice says.

“Can you tell us your name?” another voice that sounds vaguely familiar asks and a smiling face framed by messy dark brown hair appears above me.
“Genevieve Carly Kaos” I respond automatically.

“Very good, my names John Smith I’m a doctor at the practice across the road. Do you feel light headed at all? Dehydrated, nauseous have you taken any drugs? Have you been drinking?” the unfamiliar voice asks. “No to all of the above” I reply. “Ok well I think you’re good to go then” Dr Smith says, “but I think it would be best if you could find someone to give you a ride home just in case.” he adds.

“We’ll give her a ride home” the dark haired guy pipes up. “Very good” Dr Smith says “Miss Kaos, I’m going to give you my card, if you feel nauseous or light headed in the next few hours just give me a call” he says handing me a card. “Thanks I think I’ll be fine but thanks anyway.” I say slipping the card into my pocket. “Well don’t hesitate to call” Dr Smith says with a smile before leaving the room. “So I don’t know if you remember but my name is Jack and that weirdo over there is Alex.” the voice says. “Can one of you pinch me?” I ask. “Why would we want to do that?” the one who introduced himself as Jack asks with a perplexed expression on his face. “Because I’m obviously dreaming right now” I respond.

“What makes you say that?” he asks. “Well I must be dreaming, cause right now my brain is telling me that you’re Jack Barakat from All Tine Low and your friend over there is Alex Gaskarth” I say. “Well then your brain would be telling you right” Jack says. “And you’re not sleeping” Alex supplies helpfully. “Well then am I being Punk’d? Is Ashton Kutcher gonna burst into the room in a minute?” I ask. “Nope, sorry it’s not that either. It just cold hard reality” Jack says. “Prove that you’re you.” I say.
“How can I do that?” Jack asks.

“I dunno, show me your I.D. card or something” I say. “Sure” he says with a chuckle pulling his wallet out and extracting a small plastic card which he hands to me. I take it and look at it. “Ok so you are the real Jack Barakat” I say “so it stands to reason that you’re the real Alex” I add turning to look at Alex. “That would be correct” Alex says. “And we’re gonna give you a ride home like the doctor said” he adds. “What? No, you guys don’t have to do that, I’m totally fine to drive myself home.” I protest. “We know we don’t have to. But we want to” Jack says.

“Ok well as long as you’re sure. If you guys have places to be I don’t want to make you late for that” I say. “Genevieve! Its fine, we don’t have anywhere to be ok? And trust me, we don’t mind giving you a lift home” Jack says. “Now quit protesting and lets go” “Shit! What happened to my shopping?” I ask. “It’s at the supermarket, they ran it through the checkout and bagged it up, and all you have to do is pay for it on the way back to the car” Alex says.

“So you know what we do for a living, what do you do with yourself when you’re not fainting in supermarkets?” Jack asks a short time later. We are in my car and he’s driving to my house after insisting that I shouldn’t be driving so soon after blacking out. Alex is following behind us in his car so he can give Jack a ride back to the house they share with Rian Dawson and Zack Merrick the other two members of All Time Low. “This is it” I say pointing to my house. “Nice place” Jack comments as he brings the car to a stop in front of it. “You can park in the driveway if you want” I say. “Oh right yeah, sorry I forgot I wasn’t driving my own car for a minute” he says starting the engine again and moving the car into the driveway.

We get out of the car and meet Alex on the front lawn, I shuffle my feet nervously and fiddle with my keys which Jack handed me after locking the car. “Do you want to come in for dinner?” I ask, I don’t usually ask people I’ve only just met into my house for dinner but well these guys have just spent a couple of hours helping out a total stranger so it’s the least I can do. “Its just gonna be something simple, pasta with tomato and basil sauce but you’re welcome to join me if you don’t have anywhere else to be”
“We’d love to stay thanks. Wait…will there be cheese?” Jack asks. “He’s mildly obsessed with cheese. If you have cheese he’ll be your friend for life.” Alex says. “Yeah I have cheese, and it’s that ready grated stuff cause I can’t be fucked getting out the cheese grater and doing it myself.” I say unlocking the house and leading them inside.

“Make yourselves comfortable I have Sons of Anarchy on DVD season 1, the first disc is in the player if you wanna watch that. Oh and I have a dog…hope that’s ok” I say. “I love dogs!” Jack yells just as Ichabod comes tearing round the corner and erupts into a loud chorus of barks.
“Ichabod Kaos behave yourself we have guests” I say looking down at him with my hands on my hips. He stops barking and instead trots over to Alex who is kneeling down and licks his hand. “Aww he likes you” I say. “OMG THAT IS THE CUTEST DOG I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!” Jack squeals, funny I never really had him pegged as a squealer, but then I am basing my impressions of them on magazines and TV interviews and everyone knows that doesn’t give a fair representation of what someone is actually like. For example, both Alex and Jack are so much better looking in real life than they appear on camera… Jack in particular, he’s so damn hot, he always has been my favorite member of the band but in person? Well he’s kinda just solidifying his position as my favorite.

“Ok well I’m gonna go cook the pasta, you guys watch whatever you want” I say.

“Food’s ready” I announce half an hour later, walking back into the lounge room where the guys are watching SOA, Jax is pointing a gun at some guy and yelling about not moving or ‘I’ll put a bullet in your brain’ the other guy is looking appropriately scared what with his place being invaded by half a dozen angry bikers with guns. Jack picks up the remote and turns off the T.V. before standing up and he and Alex follow me into the dining room.

“Help yourselves, I hope its edible, I’m not that great at cooking” I say gesturing towards the plates stacked beside the stove where the pasta pot is sitting. “It smells great” Alex says politely before stepping up and spooning some of my feeble attempt at cooking onto his plate and sprinkling it with cheese, Jack follows suit and I get some food also before the three of us sit down at the table. “I hope it doesn’t taste too awful” I mumble not really wanting to watch as they take bites.

“This stuff is awesome!” Jack says with his mouth full of cheese and pasta. “Alex can we keep her?” he asks turning to his friend. “Can she come on tour with us and be our cook?” “I think that would be up to her Jack, but well if she agrees then I don’t see why not, I mean Matt has been telling us we need a new make-up artist and cook and she fits the bill so if she wants the job then yeah we can ‘keep her’ as you put it” Alex replies. I am kinda in shock right now which is probably evident by the fact that my jaw is hanging open like i am trying to catch flies.