Sequel: Wrists Intact ›
Hearts Intact
Better Off Against Worse For Wear
“Izzye, get out of bed!” Alexia’s whiney voice broke through my dream to wake me up. Groggily I glanced at my clock. It was 5:33 AM! I was so going to kill Alexia!
“What are you doing?” I cried, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I was about to bite her head off when I caught the look on her face. She looked absolutely terrified, and her brown eyes were filled with tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly full of concern. I may hate the little kid but I’m still an older sister and my protective side comes out when there’s something wrong. Alexia sniffled and glanced around as if to make sure there was no one else in the room with us.
“Someone’s trying to climb through my window!” She whispered. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Alexia has nightmares all the time and she has trouble distinguish between the dream world and the real world.
“I’ll go check.” I said with a sigh, rolling out of bed. Alexia nodded and sat down on my bed. As soon as my back was turned to her I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t even going to come with me! Great, if there really was some crazy psychopathic killer outside her window than I would be the first to die!
I didn’t turn the light on as I walked into her very, very pink room. I’d be able to see out the window better if I didn’t have any light on. Slowly I made my way over to the window. I won’t lie; I was kind of scared just on the off chance that there was someone trying to get in. I live in the Northeast of Calgary, it wouldn’t really surprise me if someone was there.
I looked out the window but couldn’t see very well so I opened it just a crack. I sighed in relief, there was no one there. I opened it all the way and looked down. Absolutely no one was around. I was just about to leave when I noticed something fluttering in the wind. It seemed to be caught on a shingle that was slowly working its way free. Reaching down, I managed to grab it.
It was a scarf, a long red scarf. I felt chills go down my spine. Someone had been outside her window; none of us owned any red scarves. My parents and Skylar didn’t wear scarves, all of Alexia’s scarves were pink and all of mine were blue or black.
I knew for certain it wasn’t Devin or Jimmy trying to play a trick on us either. Jimmy never leaves his house at night; he always stays to make sure he can answer if Sheila calls. And Devin is never, ever awake this early.
Still shivering I closed the window, latched it shut and then quickly left Alexia’s room. Alexia was still sitting on my bed.
“There was no one in there, but you can sleep in here with me if you want.” I said, quickly stuffing the scarf underneath the mountain of things on my desk. Alexia didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay.” She said, nodding slightly. With a yawn I climbed back into bed, Alexia lying down beside me. She fell asleep right away, but needless to say, I didn’t get back to sleep. I wonder why! (Can’t you just smell the sarcasm?)
*******
“Izzye, hey, wake-up!” Jimmy said, snapping his fingers in my face. It was later that day and I was now exhausted and falling asleep in the car. I guess it’s a good thing that I wasn’t the one who was driving. Jimmy had just picked me up from work and now we were driving back to his place. We didn’t have band practice tonight but I didn’t really want to go back home, especially not after finding that scarf.
“Why are you so sleepy?” Jimmy asked. I yawned and shrugged. I didn’t really feel like telling him about last night, not yet. He would probably insist on sleeping over every night to make sure that no one broke into our house.
“I dunno, I just am!” I said, curling up into a ball on the seat. Jimmy chuckled but he let me sleep. I was grateful, I was sure that I wasn’t going to sleep much that night either.
*******
It was Thursday night, the day of our gig! I was excited; I’m always excited before a gig. There is no better feeling than playing in front of a crowd of people!
I wasn’t wearing anything flashy, just my favorite black sweater, a shirt with skulls on it and my best pair of capris. It gets really hot on stage and I find that capris are easier to move around in than jeans are.
“You ready Izzers?” Skylar asked, coming up behind, fiddling with his guitar. I nodded, quickly checking one last time to make sure that my bass was in tune.
“Of course I’m ready, I was born ready!” I said jokingly. Truth was, I was so incredibly nervous. I’m always afraid that people won’t like us. But the second I step out onto the stage I forget all my fears and just play with everything in me.
“You gonna remember the set list?” Skylar asked. I nodded. It was an easy one, it went like:1. You’re Like The Stars, Nice To Look At, A Bitch To Hold
2. Love Is Like A Back Alley, Completely Pointless
3. Pop Rocks and Coke
4. Butterflies Are Only Pretty To Look At
5. Seven Lies Under The Bed
6. I Love You, Not
7. Cats And Dogs Are Not A Good Match
“Five more minutes!” Devin yelled, running over to Skylar and I. Skylar put his arm around my shoulders, trying to calm me down. It didn’t work; it just made me even more nervous.
“Calm down Izzers, we’ll be fine!” He whispered. I nodded, he was right; we hadn’t been booed off a stage yet. I was really hoping that there would never be a first time for that.
“Come on you guys, it’s time to go!” Jimmy said. Taking a deep breath, I followed my best friends in the world onto the stage.
*******
“You guys were great!” A fifteen-year-old boy was telling me. I smiled at him; it was after our show and we did amazing, if I may say so myself.
“Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I said. The boy grinned, and slowly the grin turned into a sly smile. I knew what was coming next.
“So, how old are you anyway?” He asked. I rolled my eyes at him and I could hear Jimmy laughing.
“Too old for you to get into my pants!” I said with a smile. The boy looked disappointed and he quickly walked away from me. Jimmy was beside me in a second.
“There’s always at least one kid like that at every show.” He said. I nodded.
“On of those boys and one girl who asks me how good you guys are in bed.” I said. Jimmy laughed again but this time he was blushing.
“And what do you say?” He asked. I batted my eyelashes at him.
“I say that you’re all pretty good but Skylar’s the best!” I said. Jimmy looked revolted.
“I am so disgusted and I know that you are lying. Seriously though, just because you’re the only girl in the band doesn’t mean you sleep with us all!” He said. I nodded. It annoys me the most when people automatically think that I sleep with Skylar (ew, never!) Devin and Jimmy. Between you and me only, I’ve never even had a boyfriend before.
“So how much merch did we sell?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Jimmy shrugged and looked over at Devin.
“Most of the shirts and CDs.” Devin said. Jimmy and I cheered and hugged. We recorded our own CD and we sell it at all of our gigs. We also make our own shirts and sweaters. They sell pretty well, it kind of surprises me.
“Let’s go celebrate; I have tons of beer back at my place!” Jimmy said. We all cheered again. We don’t really go out to the bar much, too expensive. Besides, we can have just as much fun at home, especially since at the bar the guys are all so protective of me. They’re convinced someone is going to try and drug me. It gets a bit annoying after a while.
“Totally there man!” Skylar said, slapping a high five with Jimmy. We loaded all of our things into our van and then we were off!
“What are you doing?” I cried, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I was about to bite her head off when I caught the look on her face. She looked absolutely terrified, and her brown eyes were filled with tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly full of concern. I may hate the little kid but I’m still an older sister and my protective side comes out when there’s something wrong. Alexia sniffled and glanced around as if to make sure there was no one else in the room with us.
“Someone’s trying to climb through my window!” She whispered. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Alexia has nightmares all the time and she has trouble distinguish between the dream world and the real world.
“I’ll go check.” I said with a sigh, rolling out of bed. Alexia nodded and sat down on my bed. As soon as my back was turned to her I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t even going to come with me! Great, if there really was some crazy psychopathic killer outside her window than I would be the first to die!
I didn’t turn the light on as I walked into her very, very pink room. I’d be able to see out the window better if I didn’t have any light on. Slowly I made my way over to the window. I won’t lie; I was kind of scared just on the off chance that there was someone trying to get in. I live in the Northeast of Calgary, it wouldn’t really surprise me if someone was there.
I looked out the window but couldn’t see very well so I opened it just a crack. I sighed in relief, there was no one there. I opened it all the way and looked down. Absolutely no one was around. I was just about to leave when I noticed something fluttering in the wind. It seemed to be caught on a shingle that was slowly working its way free. Reaching down, I managed to grab it.
It was a scarf, a long red scarf. I felt chills go down my spine. Someone had been outside her window; none of us owned any red scarves. My parents and Skylar didn’t wear scarves, all of Alexia’s scarves were pink and all of mine were blue or black.
I knew for certain it wasn’t Devin or Jimmy trying to play a trick on us either. Jimmy never leaves his house at night; he always stays to make sure he can answer if Sheila calls. And Devin is never, ever awake this early.
Still shivering I closed the window, latched it shut and then quickly left Alexia’s room. Alexia was still sitting on my bed.
“There was no one in there, but you can sleep in here with me if you want.” I said, quickly stuffing the scarf underneath the mountain of things on my desk. Alexia didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay.” She said, nodding slightly. With a yawn I climbed back into bed, Alexia lying down beside me. She fell asleep right away, but needless to say, I didn’t get back to sleep. I wonder why! (Can’t you just smell the sarcasm?)
*******
“Izzye, hey, wake-up!” Jimmy said, snapping his fingers in my face. It was later that day and I was now exhausted and falling asleep in the car. I guess it’s a good thing that I wasn’t the one who was driving. Jimmy had just picked me up from work and now we were driving back to his place. We didn’t have band practice tonight but I didn’t really want to go back home, especially not after finding that scarf.
“Why are you so sleepy?” Jimmy asked. I yawned and shrugged. I didn’t really feel like telling him about last night, not yet. He would probably insist on sleeping over every night to make sure that no one broke into our house.
“I dunno, I just am!” I said, curling up into a ball on the seat. Jimmy chuckled but he let me sleep. I was grateful, I was sure that I wasn’t going to sleep much that night either.
*******
It was Thursday night, the day of our gig! I was excited; I’m always excited before a gig. There is no better feeling than playing in front of a crowd of people!
I wasn’t wearing anything flashy, just my favorite black sweater, a shirt with skulls on it and my best pair of capris. It gets really hot on stage and I find that capris are easier to move around in than jeans are.
“You ready Izzers?” Skylar asked, coming up behind, fiddling with his guitar. I nodded, quickly checking one last time to make sure that my bass was in tune.
“Of course I’m ready, I was born ready!” I said jokingly. Truth was, I was so incredibly nervous. I’m always afraid that people won’t like us. But the second I step out onto the stage I forget all my fears and just play with everything in me.
“You gonna remember the set list?” Skylar asked. I nodded. It was an easy one, it went like:1. You’re Like The Stars, Nice To Look At, A Bitch To Hold
2. Love Is Like A Back Alley, Completely Pointless
3. Pop Rocks and Coke
4. Butterflies Are Only Pretty To Look At
5. Seven Lies Under The Bed
6. I Love You, Not
7. Cats And Dogs Are Not A Good Match
“Five more minutes!” Devin yelled, running over to Skylar and I. Skylar put his arm around my shoulders, trying to calm me down. It didn’t work; it just made me even more nervous.
“Calm down Izzers, we’ll be fine!” He whispered. I nodded, he was right; we hadn’t been booed off a stage yet. I was really hoping that there would never be a first time for that.
“Come on you guys, it’s time to go!” Jimmy said. Taking a deep breath, I followed my best friends in the world onto the stage.
*******
“You guys were great!” A fifteen-year-old boy was telling me. I smiled at him; it was after our show and we did amazing, if I may say so myself.
“Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I said. The boy grinned, and slowly the grin turned into a sly smile. I knew what was coming next.
“So, how old are you anyway?” He asked. I rolled my eyes at him and I could hear Jimmy laughing.
“Too old for you to get into my pants!” I said with a smile. The boy looked disappointed and he quickly walked away from me. Jimmy was beside me in a second.
“There’s always at least one kid like that at every show.” He said. I nodded.
“On of those boys and one girl who asks me how good you guys are in bed.” I said. Jimmy laughed again but this time he was blushing.
“And what do you say?” He asked. I batted my eyelashes at him.
“I say that you’re all pretty good but Skylar’s the best!” I said. Jimmy looked revolted.
“I am so disgusted and I know that you are lying. Seriously though, just because you’re the only girl in the band doesn’t mean you sleep with us all!” He said. I nodded. It annoys me the most when people automatically think that I sleep with Skylar (ew, never!) Devin and Jimmy. Between you and me only, I’ve never even had a boyfriend before.
“So how much merch did we sell?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Jimmy shrugged and looked over at Devin.
“Most of the shirts and CDs.” Devin said. Jimmy and I cheered and hugged. We recorded our own CD and we sell it at all of our gigs. We also make our own shirts and sweaters. They sell pretty well, it kind of surprises me.
“Let’s go celebrate; I have tons of beer back at my place!” Jimmy said. We all cheered again. We don’t really go out to the bar much, too expensive. Besides, we can have just as much fun at home, especially since at the bar the guys are all so protective of me. They’re convinced someone is going to try and drug me. It gets a bit annoying after a while.
“Totally there man!” Skylar said, slapping a high five with Jimmy. We loaded all of our things into our van and then we were off!