Arrangements

My showing went off nicely, and I sold a couple of my completed series of Death & Gore I had been working on. It made me smile that someone wanted to hang it up on their wall. I said goodnight to Dave, the owner and one of my friends, and went on home. 

I liked to walk in the city, even if it was dangerous. I was mugged once, but it didn't stop me from continuing to walk. I had a car, but Astrid uses it more than I do.

I lived in a little art village, in sort of like a brown stone. My home had two bedrooms, one down stairs that belonged to Astrid, and one upstairs that was totally mine. I had a stairwell that led to it, and it was open, and I could look over the balcony and see my living room. I love my home.

I opened my door and heard the sound of the living room TV going. I smiled to myself, Astrid was home.

"Trid?" I called.

"It's me and Allie," her cheery voice rang loudly.

I hurried up the small stairs that led to my living room and saw my sister and best friend on my couch. I exhaled happily and sat beside them. Astrid had dyed her hair red, and was shaved up the right side, and side swiped with bangs. She's small, compared to me, a vegetarian and has so many tattoos. She's only twenty and she looks older than that.

Allie is small too. She has dark purple colored hair, a lip ring and nose ring, and an arm sleeve dedicated to the game Candy Land. She and Astrid are a like, only Allie is just a year older, and Allie loves her meat. That's the only thing she and Astrid fight about. They're both musicians, and met while in some cover band two years ago.

"How was the showing?" Astrid kicked up her doc martens on my already fucked coffee table.

"Great. I made $2000."

Her and Allie's jaw dropped, "Shut the heck up! You did?" 

I nodded, "Yeah, I sold my entire Death & Gore series."

"Awe! I really liked those death paintings," Astrid sulked.

"Yeah..." I trailed, "So, um why are you home?" Allie began to giggle, "What?" I looked to them.

"I was kicked out the band." Astrid admitted defeatedly.

"Why?"

She glared at Allie, and she laughed, "She slept with the lead singer's boyfriend!" 

"Hey!" Astrid said causing us to giggle, "He was hot. And besides, that band sucked."

I rolled my eyes, "You always say that after they kick you out."

"Well it's true," Astrid said smugly, "Tell me about your art, Stormy. I like to hear about what you did. Did you do any new pieces?"

I shook my head, "Not really."

"Oh, well, you should work on some more. You're great."

"Yeah, thanks, anyway," I hated talking about my art, "Mom called me and she wants us to have dinner at the end of the month." 

"Dinner? Why?" Astrid began to kick her shoes off.

"The Ways," I told her.

Her and Allie made an "o" face and nodded, "How lame. She still wants you to marry that one guy?"

I nodded, "Yep."

"What was his name? Like Gerald or Gene or something?"

"Gerard." 

Allie chuckled, "Really? Gerard Way? Like that one guy in My Chem, remember Astrid?"

"Oh yeah! But they can't be the same guys, this Gerard is religious, the one in My Chem is like an alcoholic." Astrid shuddered, "Freaks me out."

"I dunno. I'm gonna go see them, are you coming?"

Astrid nodded, "Guess so, what's the harm?"

-

A few days before Astrid and I were to leave, Dave set up another showing for me. The rich folk in the Hills wanted to see some of my toned down, more pop stuff. I had let Dave hook it up, and noticed there were a lot of people that night.

I dressed in my favorite Dee Dee Ramones shirt and nice jeans. I wasn't in the mood to be dressed up, and went as myself. Dave thought it was unprofessional, but Allie and Astrid thought I looked good.

No one seemed to mind as they came in, saying hello. I introduced myself nicely, saying a lot of: "Stormy Jaco, hello. Hi I'm Stormy Jaco." My mouth hurt by the end of the night. 

I sold a couple of my David Bowie renditions and was quite happy. Astrid, who is usually out of control, was well behaved. She was talking to a tall, slender man with glasses and a beanie, with an Anthrax t-shirt. Allie was flirting with him, you could see her twirling her locks.

I walked up, "Hey guys."

"Stormz," Astrid hugged me, "This is Mikey, Mikey this is my big sister, the talented artist. He's in My Chemical Romance."

I shook his hand, "Hi, I don't...um, I don't really listen to your band," I mumbled sheepishly, "Astrid and Allie are the fans probably."

He nodded, "It's cool. I'm really into your art though. I love your Iggy Pop Bird Chest construction paper set up. I think my brother would love it."

"Oh, is your brother here?" I asked.

"Yeah, um..." he looked around, "He's 'round here somewhere. He's in a black leather jacket and black hair, red make up, can't miss him."

We all chuckled softly as Dave came up, pulling at my arm, "I'll see you, nice meeting you Mikey."

"You too, Stormy."

Dave pulled me aside, "Some young guy is asking about some of your Iggy and Stooges work."

"Oh, um, okay? Did he buy any?"

"He bought The Stooges 3D blowout. But, he wants to meet you."

"Where is he?" I looked towards the special corner I had dedicated to 70's bands.

"He's over there," Dave pointed to where a bunch of people were crowded around the same Iggy Bird Chest piece.

"I'll go." I thanked Dave and walked over, excusing myself past people.

I got to the piece and saw a guy dressed in black staring at the 24x32 piece I worked three weeks on. It was my favorite piece, and I was really nervous about showing it. I stood beside him and smiled as he turned to me, the dim lightening made his face hard to see.

"Hi, I'm Stormy--"

He cut me off, "I know who you are." He turned back to my piece, "How long did it take you to construct this?"

I felt sort of self conscious now, "Um three weeks."

He nodded, "Nice. I don't really go for caricatures."

I felt like he was insulting me, "What's that suppose to mean?"

He looked over at me, I could see the slight smirk dance on his lips, and he looked so familiar, "Nothing, don't be so sensitive."

"I can't help but to be sensitive, it is my work." I nearly shouted at this stranger but I held back.

He laughed, "It's nice. That's all." He turned and walked away.

My jaw slacked and I wanted to take my flats off and throw them at his head. I tighten my lips and stormed off, towards Dave, thanking him, and hurrying to my sister.

"What's up, Storm?" She looked at me worryingly.

"I don't feel too great, I'm gonna head home."

She furrowed her brows, "Already? But this is your show..."

"I'm sick, Trid, I already told Dave."

She sighed, "Stormy, you want me to drive you home?"

I shook my head, "No, stay out, have fun, I'm just gonna head home and drink some soup."

She gave me a hug and kiss, "Okay, I'll see ya in the morning."

"Okay, love you."

"Love you."

I said bye to Allie, Dave and that guy Mikey, and hurried out. My mind had that guy on it, and I didn't even know his name. As confident as I always felt, I was feeling like a total spaz now. That guy just annihilate my confidence.