Champagne's for Celebrating, I'll Take a Martini
Three
The last bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Arianna was walking back to her locker now, tired and ready to go home and take a nice hot shower. She entered her combination and pulled open the metal door. A small red index card flew out and fluttered down to her feet. She looked around before reaching down to pick it up. Who would be leaving her notes?
Just in case you change your mind ;)
The note said in messy print. Underneath was an address and time. It was signed JB. Jack. She folded it up and tossed it back into her locker. After she picked out the books she needed, she slammed it back shut and took off down the hall, a small smile playing at her lips.
***
The brunette walked through the front door of her home, welcomed by the sound of little children running around and the whining of her little sister. She shrugged off the strap of her backpack and kicked off her shoes by the front door. Her house was still a little mixed up and hectic from the move. They had only been living here a month and her mom and Step-Father were far too busy with their new jobs to organize and unpack.
"Oh Ari, you're home!" her mother welcomed her with a broad smile, enveloping her daughter in her arms. "How was school?"
Arianna shrugged. Even if there was anything worth telling, she was sure that her mom wasn't too interested in hearing about her day. She had boxes to unpack, four year olds to clean up, and papers to file and organize. Arianna was one of five children. She had two little brothers, Matt and Andrew, who were four year old twins. A little sister, Marissa, who was thirteen. And one older brother, Cameron, who was nineteen.
Her little brothers were a handful as most four years olds are, her sister was a straight A, Honor Roll student, and her older brother was off playing college football on a full scholarship. She was only a sixteen year old high school junior. There was nothing about her that stood out, at least not to her mom and step dad.
"Oh you know…same old, same old," she rolled her shoulders, mustering up a weak smile. Mrs. Carrillo nodded as if she understood exactly what her daughter meant even though Arianna was pretty sure she didn't. "I'm just gonna go up to my room…do some homework."
She walked past her mom and bounded up the stairs, relief overwhelming her the second she opened her bedroom door. The smell of lavender filled her nostrils and she drew in a deep breath, taking in the wonderfully relaxing scent. Walking over to her bed, she dropped her bag to the floor and flopped down on the cushy mattress. She wanted to call one of her friends, but she figured they were all probably still in school. Damn the time difference. Maryland was okay, but to her nothing compared to sunny California. She and her friends used to spend their weekends at the beach and riding around on the wide open roads blasting old CDs until they ran out of gas and had to send out an S.O.S call for someone to come and pick them up.
She missed everything from home.
Why'd Stephen have to get that stupid promotion? Why did the job have to be here?
She felt a little selfish for feeling the way she did. After all, Stephen and her mom had five kids to support. To them, this job was a blessing. With a heavy groan, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in her sheets. She thought about all the homework she had to do, all the classes she'd be taking tomorrow, and much to her surprise, she thought about the black and blonde-streaked haired boy. He was cocky and brash, blunt and over-confident, but there was something there. Something almost endearing and a refreshing difference from all the guys she'd ever known.
She laughed at herself for thinking of him of all people and pushed further thoughts of Jack out of her mind. Since her home friends were unavailable and she hadn't exactly gotten around to making any new ones, she had nothing better to do than to start her homework. She hated how boring her days had become. Wake up, go to school, come home, more school work, go to bed—repeat. Maybe—and it killed her to admit it—Jack was right. A person could only go so long without having someone else to act silly with or talk to. She laughed at herself once again and shook her head.
Whatever happen, happens.
***
The guitarist sat back on the ratty, beat up couch and stared up at the ceiling of Rian Dawson's basement. They had been practicing for three hours now and he was tired and in need of something along the lines of large and cheesy.
"So what are we playing for that Mandy girl's party?" Zack, their bassist who went to school across town, asked setting his bass down gently against an amp.
"I was thinking last flight home, next best thing, maybe hit the lights?" Alex suggested. "How long does she want us playing for anyway, Jack?"
Jack's head snapped back down and he rolled his shoulders in an unconcerned fashion. "For as long as we want I guess, there's just gunna be a bunch of drunk people there anyway so we could play for hours and no one would care," he said.
"All right…then how about we just play it safe and play six songs? We can do a few covers and then some of our stuff," Alex said, thinking everything over in his head. Though he may be immature and uncaring about anything at times, when it came to the band Alex was completely serious. They all were.
"Sounds good to me," Rian nodded and the others agreed.
"Now let's get some fucking food because I'm fucking starving!" Alex threw their newly made set list in the air, his normal self resurfacing.
"Alex!" Mrs. Dawson's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Language!"
"Sorry Mrs. Dawson!" Alex called back up to her, his face slightly red. The three boys snickered and started packing up their instruments and putting away all the equipment.
"So Jack, how'd lunch go with your new friends," Alex asked, putting air quotes on new friends. Zack's eyebrows knit together clearly out of the loop.
"Huh?" the clueless bassist asked, looking between Jack and Alex.
"Jack's got some infatuation with the new girl at our school," Rian explained in a casual tone.
"I do not!" Jack objected.
"Dude you have a girlfriend!" Zack scolded him, laughing. He knew his friend well enough that this whole situation didn't come as a surprise to him.
"Yes I'm aware! Everyone can stop pointing that out to me now!" Jack spat beginning to get extremely pissed off. So what? He wanted to get to know this girl a little better. Maybe he thought she was cute and a bit of a mystery. Was it so horrible to want to talk to her? It wasn't like he was secretly hooking up with her or anything—not that he would have minded that.
"Okay guys, Jack's cranky and I want food so let's go before it gets all Pokémon battle down here…" Rian, the voice of reason, cut in, stepping between Jack and Zack.
"Whatever, let's go," Jack grumbled and started up the staircase.
Just in case you change your mind ;)
The note said in messy print. Underneath was an address and time. It was signed JB. Jack. She folded it up and tossed it back into her locker. After she picked out the books she needed, she slammed it back shut and took off down the hall, a small smile playing at her lips.
***
The brunette walked through the front door of her home, welcomed by the sound of little children running around and the whining of her little sister. She shrugged off the strap of her backpack and kicked off her shoes by the front door. Her house was still a little mixed up and hectic from the move. They had only been living here a month and her mom and Step-Father were far too busy with their new jobs to organize and unpack.
"Oh Ari, you're home!" her mother welcomed her with a broad smile, enveloping her daughter in her arms. "How was school?"
Arianna shrugged. Even if there was anything worth telling, she was sure that her mom wasn't too interested in hearing about her day. She had boxes to unpack, four year olds to clean up, and papers to file and organize. Arianna was one of five children. She had two little brothers, Matt and Andrew, who were four year old twins. A little sister, Marissa, who was thirteen. And one older brother, Cameron, who was nineteen.
Her little brothers were a handful as most four years olds are, her sister was a straight A, Honor Roll student, and her older brother was off playing college football on a full scholarship. She was only a sixteen year old high school junior. There was nothing about her that stood out, at least not to her mom and step dad.
"Oh you know…same old, same old," she rolled her shoulders, mustering up a weak smile. Mrs. Carrillo nodded as if she understood exactly what her daughter meant even though Arianna was pretty sure she didn't. "I'm just gonna go up to my room…do some homework."
She walked past her mom and bounded up the stairs, relief overwhelming her the second she opened her bedroom door. The smell of lavender filled her nostrils and she drew in a deep breath, taking in the wonderfully relaxing scent. Walking over to her bed, she dropped her bag to the floor and flopped down on the cushy mattress. She wanted to call one of her friends, but she figured they were all probably still in school. Damn the time difference. Maryland was okay, but to her nothing compared to sunny California. She and her friends used to spend their weekends at the beach and riding around on the wide open roads blasting old CDs until they ran out of gas and had to send out an S.O.S call for someone to come and pick them up.
She missed everything from home.
Why'd Stephen have to get that stupid promotion? Why did the job have to be here?
She felt a little selfish for feeling the way she did. After all, Stephen and her mom had five kids to support. To them, this job was a blessing. With a heavy groan, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in her sheets. She thought about all the homework she had to do, all the classes she'd be taking tomorrow, and much to her surprise, she thought about the black and blonde-streaked haired boy. He was cocky and brash, blunt and over-confident, but there was something there. Something almost endearing and a refreshing difference from all the guys she'd ever known.
She laughed at herself for thinking of him of all people and pushed further thoughts of Jack out of her mind. Since her home friends were unavailable and she hadn't exactly gotten around to making any new ones, she had nothing better to do than to start her homework. She hated how boring her days had become. Wake up, go to school, come home, more school work, go to bed—repeat. Maybe—and it killed her to admit it—Jack was right. A person could only go so long without having someone else to act silly with or talk to. She laughed at herself once again and shook her head.
Whatever happen, happens.
***
The guitarist sat back on the ratty, beat up couch and stared up at the ceiling of Rian Dawson's basement. They had been practicing for three hours now and he was tired and in need of something along the lines of large and cheesy.
"So what are we playing for that Mandy girl's party?" Zack, their bassist who went to school across town, asked setting his bass down gently against an amp.
"I was thinking last flight home, next best thing, maybe hit the lights?" Alex suggested. "How long does she want us playing for anyway, Jack?"
Jack's head snapped back down and he rolled his shoulders in an unconcerned fashion. "For as long as we want I guess, there's just gunna be a bunch of drunk people there anyway so we could play for hours and no one would care," he said.
"All right…then how about we just play it safe and play six songs? We can do a few covers and then some of our stuff," Alex said, thinking everything over in his head. Though he may be immature and uncaring about anything at times, when it came to the band Alex was completely serious. They all were.
"Sounds good to me," Rian nodded and the others agreed.
"Now let's get some fucking food because I'm fucking starving!" Alex threw their newly made set list in the air, his normal self resurfacing.
"Alex!" Mrs. Dawson's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Language!"
"Sorry Mrs. Dawson!" Alex called back up to her, his face slightly red. The three boys snickered and started packing up their instruments and putting away all the equipment.
"So Jack, how'd lunch go with your new friends," Alex asked, putting air quotes on new friends. Zack's eyebrows knit together clearly out of the loop.
"Huh?" the clueless bassist asked, looking between Jack and Alex.
"Jack's got some infatuation with the new girl at our school," Rian explained in a casual tone.
"I do not!" Jack objected.
"Dude you have a girlfriend!" Zack scolded him, laughing. He knew his friend well enough that this whole situation didn't come as a surprise to him.
"Yes I'm aware! Everyone can stop pointing that out to me now!" Jack spat beginning to get extremely pissed off. So what? He wanted to get to know this girl a little better. Maybe he thought she was cute and a bit of a mystery. Was it so horrible to want to talk to her? It wasn't like he was secretly hooking up with her or anything—not that he would have minded that.
"Okay guys, Jack's cranky and I want food so let's go before it gets all Pokémon battle down here…" Rian, the voice of reason, cut in, stepping between Jack and Zack.
"Whatever, let's go," Jack grumbled and started up the staircase.