Hey, Random Girl!

„Jimmy, would you please calm down? You're getting on my nerves,“ Jess begged. She and her friends were walking down the street before the beach.
“But I'm so excited, this is going to be soooo cool,” Jimmy yelled while jumping around. Some people looked curious in his direction, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I hope Johnny will like his surprise party,” Nicki said thoughtful.

“Why shouldn't he? You only turn twenty-one once and get a party from your friends,” Zacky said and slung an arm around his girlfriend and kissed her temple.
“Nicki's right. He seemed kind of depressed when he was around us the last times. I doubt I would feel very well around couples when I'm the only one who's single, either,” Denise agreed with her friend.
“Yeah, but we're all glad he's not with Lauren anymore,” Matt said and all agreed.

“So, what are we doing now?” Faye, Matt's girl asked. They all were silent for a while. Even Jimmy didn't say anything and that was something which didn’t happen often. The tall boy was always loudly – he was just like that and his friends loved him like he was. Whenever he was near somebody, you could hear some laughs.
“I have an idea,” he suddenly yelled and everybody jumped in surprise.
“You should have thought I have gotten used to it by time,” Denise mumbled.

Meanwhile Jimmy was chasing a girl down the street. The poor girl thought she was going to get raped, when a tattooed guy with his long legs ran after her and yelled something she didn’t understand. She screamed at the top of her lungs and he finally stopped.
“Why do you have to scare that girl?” Matt said and slapped his arm when he finally reached his friend and tried to catch his breath.
“If Christ isn't able to find the right girl, then we'll do that for him,” Jimmy explained as if it would be the easiest thing on earth. “What? Do I have something on my face or why are you all staring at me?” he asked and looked at his friends.

“You're crazy,” Brian laughed.
“Well his idea isn't so bad, though if he wouldn't try to scare the shit out of the poor girls.”
Jimmy just shrugged. “She has to fit in our little group. I'll show you,” he said and ran away again.
“You got a crazy man there,” Nicki commented.

“I know, but that's why I love him,” Denise said and watched her boyfriend. She had been the last one who had joined the group, but the others had accepted her easily. Jess and Brian have been High School Sweethearts and Faye and Matt have met when the guys were only a garage band. Now the guys had recorded some CD's and were quiet popular in the Metal scene. Nicki had known Zacky since they were babies, but it had turned into love only two years ago. Not long after that Jimmy had brought Denise with him, but he refused to tell where they had met. At that time Johnny – the youngest of the group – was with Lauren. Nobody liked her as she was jealous and controlling, but nobody told Johnny that as it seemed he was happy.

Jimmy was walking down a small street when he saw a pretty blonde. She was quite small, but for him everybody seemed small.
“Hey,” he yelled and jogged towards the girl who stood on the street and tried to figure out who had yelled. She finally saw Jimmy and tried to figure out if she had seen him before.
“Hey, random girl,” he said and stopped right before her.
“Hey, random dude,” she answered and was pretty sure now, she had never seen him before! She would have recognized his tattooed arms or his mesmerizing blue eyes immediately.

Jimmy bent down a bit and took his time to get a closer look at her. She had blonde curly hair, which was a bit longer than her shoulders. He couldn't see her eyes as she wore sunglasses which were on her small nose. She was pale – really pale for someone from California. She wore a tank top, which showed a bit of her cleavage and the outlines from a tattoo on her side. She had some shorts on, which showed her pale long legs.
“Are you done with checking me out?” she asked and Jimmy's glace went back to her face.
“I wasn't checking you out,” he said and she snorted. “I have a girlfriend and...”

She didn't let him finish. “Listen, I'm not up for a threesome with a random guy and his girl,” she said and tried to walk away, but he lightly grabbed her shoulder.
“You're perfect,” he squealed and she raised her eyebrow under her big sunglasses. He jumped slightly up and down, his hand still on her shoulder.
“Listen, whatever you're taking... take less,” she advised him and he laughed loudly. If he wasn't so sympathetic it would have scared the living shit out of her.

“We have a surprise for the friend of mine,” he said, but she interrupted him again. “We?” she asked confused and looked around but couldn't see someone.
“I would like to show them to you and explain then. We would only walk down this street and then we would be on a open promenade. No dark alley, I promise you,” he begged her and gave her his best puppy eyes.
“Okay,” she finally accepted and he took her hand and dragged her towards his friends.

“Is that Jimmy? With a girl?” Zacky asked surprised.
“Who thought he would do that?” Brian asked surprised.
“You know him, you shouldn't be surprised,” Denise simply said.
“Hey guys, this is random girl,” Jimmy shouted when he was sure they could hear him.
“Whoa I told you, I wouldn't do a threesome with a random guy, so why do you think a whole group would be okay?” The new girl asked and Jimmy's laugh filled the street.
“I love her, can I keep her?” Jimmy asked and his friends stared wide eyed at him.
“It's nothing personal, guys,” the girl said and took off her sunglasses and winked at them. “So, you wanted to explain something, mister,” she said and looked at him.

“Mister, I like that. For the record these are Nikki, Zacky, Brian, Jess, Faye, Matt, my lovely lady Denise and I'm Jimmy, but you can go with random guy if you like.”
“Hey,” she said and waved at them. “So as I knew their names, why did you almost kidnapped me?”
“You kidnapped her?” Faye asked in a high voice.
“I was just joking,” random girl calmed her down.
“I want to keep her sooo bad,” Jimmy whined.

“What Jimmy fails to say, is that we're going to throw a surprise party for our friend on Saturday. He'll turn 21 and we...” Jess searched for the right words to finish her sentence.
“I should be his blind date?” the girl asked and raised an eyebrow.
“Kind of?” It sounded more like a question than a statement.

“We have free booze,” Matt interfered.
“And he's really cute. You'll like him,” Faye said.
“So am I the only one or will there be a chicken party?” she asked.
“You're the only one. And if you don't like it... till Saturday you'll know me then it wouldn't be so awkward anymore,” Jimmy said winking and Denise hit his chest.

The random girl laughed loudly. “Okay, give me the address I'll see what I can do,” she said and Brian wrote down his address. “It should start at nine, so it would be great if you would be there earlier,” Nikki explained.
“I try my best,” she said with a smile on her face. “So, think I'll see you soon again.” She put her sunglasses back on her nose and turned around and walked away.

“Wait, what's your name?” Matt yelled after her.
“Just call me random girl,” she said and walked further.
“She's perfect for him,” Jimmy mumbled and started talking what a perfect idea he had had.

-x-

“You think she'll come?” Faye asked Nicki when they sat on Brian's couch. It was pretty crowded in his house and they were waiting for the birthday boy to arrive. The guys told Johnny they would go to a strip club, but then Brian would realize that he forgot his wallet and they had to come back to his house where the guests were.

“I don't know why but I'm pretty sure she'll come,” Jess said and the others heard the ambiguity in her sentence, but that wasn't something new for them. “So how much time do we have till they arrive?”
“Half an hour, enough time for a new drink,” Faye stormed towards the kitchen and came back with drinks for them.

“Where do we go now, guys? I thought we would go to the strip bar and enjoy the night without your girls,” Johnny asked.
“I forgot my wallet. We have to stop at my house first.”
“That's a roundabout way,” he complained from the backseat. “Come on it's my birthday, I'll pay.”
“No because it's your birthday we'll pay and for that I need my wallet,” Brian said and drove towards his house. When they reached the house everybody got out of the car.

“Where you're going?” Johnny asked confused. “You need four guys to get some money?”
“Come on in so Jess can congratulate you, when we're here,” Brian said lamely. Johnny raised an eyebrow, sighted and got out of the car to follow the guys. He wondered why there was no light on in the house and stepped into the dark hallway. “Fuck Brian, didn't you pay the bill or why is it so dark here?” He stumbled over a pair of shoes – not that he could see what it was, but he assumed it – when the light got on and people stood in front of him and screamed 'Surprise'.
“What the fuck?” he said and rubbed his hurting foot.

“Where's she?” he heard Jimmy asking and saw his girlfriend shrugging her shoulders.
“Happy Birthday, Johnny,” Faye said and hugged him. She was just the first one there were so many people who wanted to wish him a great day. He was kind of sad. Not that someone took it the wrong way: He loved his friends to death and was grateful that they had organized that, but he was tired of being surrounded by couples. He felt left out and as soon as nobody noticed it he went outside.

He searched for his cigarettes, but couldn't find them in his pants’ pockets. He sighed loudly and looked around. He saw a low light right in front of the veranda and took some steps into the direction.
“Mind if I bump a cigarette?” he asked the person when he stood in front of her. She didn't say anything and held out one. “Maybe a lighter, too?” he asked again and took it grateful. He handed the item back and noticed that it was a girl sitting on the grass.
“What're doin' outside?” he asked interested and sat next to her.

“Uhm I lost my pluck to go inside and why are you here?” she asked and took a closer look at him. He was definitely a cutie in her opinion. She liked his blonde and brown hair spiked up and she was not sure, but she thought she could see some tattoo's on his arm in the dim light. She had seen some people walking into the house while she had waited on the other side of the street and felt under dressed. Most of the woman had worn dresses and she was only wearing leggings, a long tank top with a skull printed on it and her favorite boots.

“Well you could say I sneaked off my own party,” he admitted and her eyes were about to pop out.
“So you're the birthday boy?” she asked unbelieving.
“Uhm yeah, think you could say that,” he answered slowly. When she was invited she should have known that, or? He wondered.
“Well I think this is your present then,” she said and handed him a bottle with a Happy Birthday.
“It's open,” he said surprised and looked at the etiquette.

“Well as I said I lost my pluck and I thought when I drink a little bit it would come back to me,” she said ashamed. He laughed loudly. “Well then, thanks,” he said and took a sip from the bottle and handed it to her, so she could take also one. “I'm Johnny by the way,” he introduced himself. “And I would really appreciate another cigarette.”
“How could I refuse a request from the birthday boy,” she said and threw her package onto his lap. He could see her white teeth shining and smiled back.
“Think your name slipped me,” he said and lighted another cigarette. She took this one from him and took a deep breath so he had to light himself another one.

“I go by random girl,” she said and he looked at her in disbelieve. “Ask your friends, they'll know who I am.”
“Okay, if you say so,” he said and let it drop for now. They sat there in silence and smoked some cigarettes and drank almost the whole bottle.
“Johnny, where are you man?” they heard someone yell and then a huge figure stood in front of them. “Oh you're here and... RANDOM GIRL,” the person yelled excited and then she noticed it had to be Jimmy. She soon was on her feet and he hugged her so she had to snap for some breath.
“Nice seeing you again, random boy,” she said when he let off. He chuckled.

“I see you already met Johnny. Why are you party pooper and are outside? The fun is inside.”
“I'm pretty sure they had fun also,” Jess said who suddenly stood next to Jimmy and smiled at the girl.
“Well I had to keep her company as she was too afraid to get inside,” Johnny said.
“That was just 'til he found me and robbed all of my cigarettes. Thank god, you wear normal clothes,” she exclaimed when she saw that Jess was wearing some tight jeans and a T-shirt.

“What?” Jess asked confused.
“I could have told you, that Jess never wears dresses,” Johnny said and took a last drag from his fug.
“Oh come in, the others are asking for you,” Jimmy said and Johnny looked confused.
“The others know her?” he asked confused.
“Um, well...” Jimmy said, but couldn't come up with a story so soon and Jess wasn't a help either.
“Yeah, a few days ago I got lost and asked this huge group if they could tell me where I have to go. We talked a bit and Jimmy said he had to know me better and invited me here today,” the blonde girl said and Jimmy nodded, to show that this was exactly what had happened that day.

“Okaaay,” Johnny said not convinced.
When they entered the house she took a closer look to her companion from the garden. “Are you kind of a gang and only accept people with tattoos on their arms?” The girl asked and pointed at Johnny's tattooed arms.
“What?” they asked confused while Jess laughed. “I think she doesn't know who you are,” she explained.
“Who you are? I knew it, I shouldn't have come. Bet you're a mafia or something like that,” she mumbled and Jimmy laughed loudly and finally Johnny joined him.

“Random Girl,” someone yelled and she jumped slightly when someone slung his arm around her shoulder. “You finally came, we were waiting for you,” he slurred.
“Gosh, you're drunk, are you?” she asked and couldn't remember his name.
“And you're not, why's that? This is a party, so come, I'll get you a drink,” he said.
“Brian, let the poor girl alone,” Jess said and that was the point when Brian forgot about the girl under his arm and was busy with the lips of his girl.

“Seemed as I have to get myself a drink,” she said and looked around. “I'll get you one,” Johnny said and grabbed her hand so they could go to the kitchen together. He didn't saw Jimmy's huge grin on his face.
“Why are you standing here smiling like an idiot?” Faye tried to figure out.
“Seemed as my plan wasn't the worst,” he said and walked away to find his girlfriend. He needed her nearness now.

“So what do you want? We have beer, Jack Daniels, beer, Tequila, Captain Morgan, beer and I think this is some kind of vodka,” Johnny said and looked at her.
“Jack and Coke would be fine, if that's okay,” she said and he filled a cup with the ingredients. He filled a cup for himself and gave her one.
“Oh my gosh, how much Jack did you put in this,” she said and pulled a face. “If you want to get in my pants on this way I have to tell you this won't work,” she said and he looked at her shocked. When she saw his face she began to laugh and some people in the kitchen looked at her direction. “Your face was priceless,” she finally said and took another sip from the cup before she grabbed the coke and filled it up.

“Hey, you made it, Random Girl,” Faye said and sat down on a chair next to her.
“Yeah,” she answered shyly while she tried to figure out with who this girl was, but she couldn't remember.
“Okay, it's kind of odd, that everybody calls you that,” Johnny complained. “What's your real name?”
“Have a guess,” she said with a smile and bent forward so he had a closer look at her. He was kind of distracted by her beautiful eyes. They had a mix of green and blue and were framed by a perfect eyeliner line.
“Hey, I'm the birthday boy, you can't refuse my requests,” he said when he could think clearly again.

“Well, I can. But as you're only asking for my name I think I could do you this favor. I'm Anna,” she said and held out her hand.
“It's nice not calling you Random Girl anymore,” he said and shook her hand.
“So Anna, I'm curious, you're not from here, are you?” Faye asked and started a conversation with the new girl. Johnny listened while she told the she wasn't originally from California and had come here a year ago. She was working as a waitress, until she would find something better.
“How old are you?” Faye asked.
“Twenty-one, dude,” Anna winked and took a last sip from her cup which was now empty. “But it could be possible that my birthday is in four months and then I'm twenty-one official.”
“Hey short shit, you haven't open the presents yet,” they heard someone yell.

“Short Shit?” Anna asked confused.
“That would be me,” Johnny sighed and got up from his chair to walk into the living room.
“So, what do you think 'bout him?” Faye asked as soon as she was alone in the kitchen with Anna.
“I like him, he seems nice,” Anna said honestly.
“Good,” Faye said and refilled their cups before she took Anna's hand and directed her to the living room. She walked towards her boyfriend and the whole group Anna had seen at the beach smiled friendly at her.
“You're here again,” Brian said drunken and earned a few chuckles. His girl rolled with her eyes and hit his head lightly. “What was that for, baby?” he asked confused.

“For being an idiot,” she said simply and the whole group chuckled again.
“So I heard you've met Johnny?” Zacky said and wiggled with his eyebrows.
“Is everybody going to ask me that?” she asked annoyed. She liked them – what she could say from the short time she had seen them, but this question started to get on her nerves.
But the appearance of Johnny saved her to answer that as everybody nodded. “So, where's my present, fuckers?” Johnny asked and slung an arm around Faye and his other around Anna.

“As he hasn't found it yet,” Matt said and tried to tarn it as he was coughing.
“You'll get it later,” Jimmy said and wiggled with his eyebrows. The others burst into laughing except from Johnny, who hadn't understand the gag, and Anna.
“Hey, Random Girl, do you dance?” Zacky asked and his eyes sparkled as he had something in his mind.
“Usually I don't dance,” Anna said.

“But today is a special day, so why don't the two of you open the dance floor,” Nicki said and shoved both of them into the middle of the room.
“Are they trying to couple us?” Johnny asked and stared at the girl in front of him. He saw that Nicki was at the stereo system and had put on a slow song.
“Glad you finally noticed it,” Anna said and put her hands around his neck. “What? I don't bite,” she said as he didn't make a move to dance with her. She was about to went some steps back but then he placed his hands at her hips.
“So, we can use the time and you can tell me about you,” she said.

“Well, what do you want to know?” he asked and was a bit ashamed that he wasn't the best dancer. He hated his friends right now. They had come up with a better way to let him look like a fool.
“What do you want to do for a living?” she asked and stared into his brown eyes.
Johnny was wondering if she was kidding him. “I... hum play bass in a band?” He said and stocked in the middle of the sentence so she doesn't believe a word.
“Right.” she said and with her raised eyebrow she showed him, that she didn’t believe him. She wasn't amused that he lied to her.

“What? You don't believe me? I mean if I was lying I had told you that I was the lead guitarist or something like that and not just a bassist. Or that I was the lead singer, but then you would have said I should sing something for you and that's something I definitely can't.”
“So what is your band called?”
“Avenged Sevenfold.” She had heard of them.
“A girl told me about them, seemed pretty popular here as she mentioned it,” she said thoughtfully.

“Matt does the vocals, Jimmy's at the drums, Brian plays lead guitar and Zacky's up for the rhythm. But before you ask, we're using stage names,” he said.
“Okay,” she said and shrugged it off. She would find out soon enough if he had said the truth or not. She changed the topic and they started talking about California and stuff like that. Pretty soon they sat down on the couch and started talking again. The couples were busy themselves but a smile plastered their faces whenever they looked at their direction.
“I hope Random will stay for a while,” Jimmy said before he looked back at his girlfriend and plastered a kiss on her lips.

“Her name's Anna, Jimbo,” Denise said when she could talk again.
“But I like Random better,” he grinned like a mad man.
By time the guests left the house and except from Anna nobody had talked much with the birthday kid. “So I think I should head home,” Anna said after some hours and stood up. “It was nice meeting you,” she said and walked towards the door.

“Anna, wait,” Johnny said and stumbled after her so she chuckled. “I wondered if you would give me your number so I can call you and we could see each other again?” Johnny was glad that he had drunken the one or another drink, instead he wouldn't have had the balls to ask her that, he was pretty sure.
“Look in your pocket pants. Maybe you can show me your band,” she said and waved with a big smile on her face before she walked down the path towards the street and disappeared in the dark.
Johnny was confused. He put his hands into his pockets and his fingers touched a piece of paper. He took it out and stared at the number which was written on the paper. A smile appeared on his face.

“If you're not calling her, I'll do it for you. Don't let her slip,” Jimmy said who stood behind his small friend and looked over his shoulder.
“I won't, Jimmy. I won't,” Johnny said and put the piece back into his pocket. “Come on, next round is mine,” he said and slung an arm around his best friends waist and together they walked back.