Get Rhythm

[FLORA]

"I think Fi is supposed to be coming home soon," I said with a slight slur. I laid my head down on the arm John had thrown across the back of the couch. His arm curled in as he turned to look at me and his fingers were playing with the top of my head, running through my long hair.

"Does that mean I need to leave?"

I laughed. "No. She's not my Mom."

"Alright. That's good," John said nodding. He was a little drunk, I was a lot drunk. It doesn't really take much to get me even a little drunk though.

"Is it bad that we're drunk and it is just now five pm?"

"No," John said shaking his head. "We do whatever the fuck we want to."

I laughed. John had kept me laughing all morning and afternoon. I'd made us grilled cheeses with tomato for lunch. We'd gone through a lot of beer.

"Do you want to come with me to this party tonight? Your sister is probably coming, Tim thinks she's a really cool girl so I'm sure he invited her."

I nodded. "We should probably stop drinking though since we'll be doing that later."

John laughed, "Good thinking, doll."

The lock turned and Fiona walked in the apartment, unphased that John and I were on the couch. "We were wondering why you didn't show back up for the tour discussion, John."

"I have an excellent reason," John said.

"He really does," I said nodding.

"Ar- Are you drunk, Flora?" Fiona asked laughing loudly.

"I have had a hard day," I snapped.

"We got to the shop and walked in to see Kelly being held at gunpoint."

"Oh shit," Fiona exclaimed, covering her hands with her mouth in shock.

"Everything worked out fine, we're all alright," I said.

John scoffed, "He took all the cash in the register and the four thousand that was in the safe."

"Flora! Oh no, I'm so sorry baby," Fiona cooed, wrapping her arms around me.

"It's alright," I repeated. "Everything is gonna be alright."

"Well I'm glad you still have that sunny disposition," Fiona said, sighing as she squeezed me once more before letting me go.

"Are you going to Tim's party tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah," Fiona nodded.

"Cool, then sure John. I'll come."

"Awesome. Would you ladies like to grab some dinner, my treat?" John asked.

"I'm always down for a free meal," Fiona agreed.

I laughed, "That sounds nice. Let me get my purse and then we can go."

&&&

John took us to a burger joint near 8123. He said it was one of the absolute best in town. The conversation was easy and the food was great. Sitting at the table and talking and laughing with Fiona and John made Arizona more real to me. Here I was forging new relationships with people while only having my sister as a familiar one. It felt nice to know I was making friends and I looked forward to the party to meet more.

After dinner John dropped Fiona and I off and he went to his apartment to get read himself. Fiona took a shower first, she always has. She takes at least an hour and a half longer than I do to get ready. All my excess time comes from my inability to decide what to wear.

When I was able to get in the bathroom I asked Fiona to pick out an outfit for me in passing, since she would know how casual or not this shindig would be. I quickly showered and got out and gave my hair a blow out. I did my mascara and decided to do a cat eye with black eyeliner since it is a party. When I was done I couldn't decide if I looked cute or like a child.

"Fi! Do my cat eyes make me look stupid?" I asked, bursting into Fiona's room with a huff.

She laughed. "You'll be smokin' once you get that outfit on. The cat eyes are great! John's gonna be trippin' over you even more than he already is!"

"Fiona! He- We're just best friends!"

"Best friends?" She asked with raised eye brows. "You realize you haven't known each other even a full day, right?"

I shrugged, "He said it's my vibes, I have great vibes and he said we should be best friends so we are."

Fiona looked at me and then a huge smile took over her face. "You like him!"

"What?!"

"You so do! Don't you?"

"I don't know him," I hissed. "He's attractive... But I don't know him!"

"Florence and Johnny sit-"

"Fiona! UGH!" I stormed out of Fiona's room and into mine with a huff. I slammed my door shut and looked at the outfit that was on the bed. I slipped on a pair of underwear and then the dark denim shorts. I found a black bra and put it on followed by a black bandeau with white polka dots. I then pulled on the semi sheer black tank top Fiona picked on. I slipped on my usual coral flats.

"Ready?" Fiona called as I walked into the living room.

"Yep," I said. I threw my purse over my shoulder and followed Fiona to her car.

"Do you kind of want to listen to Backstreet Boys?"

"Totally," I agreed, a huge grin on my face. Fiona leaned down and flipped through a black CD case. When she found the one she wanted she quickly put it in the CD player. Immediately we were singing along to the songs we used to sing to when we were kids in the car with our parents or in our rooms while making up dances. Every so often one of us would start giggling causing the other to as well. After only five songs we were at Tim's. I was kind of sad because it was great having moments like that with my sister. Despite our age gap and other differences, we were still super close.

I followed Fiona inside where 90's rap played from the speakers in the living room. Fiona led me through the crowd, looking around for people she knew. I didn't bother since I didn't actually know anybody. The amount of people in the house surprised me and made me sort of anxious.

"Fi! What's up, best friend?" A boy with longer brown hair exclaimed. The group of boys he was standing with all turned around to look at us. Fiona smiled and nodded, leading us to the group. I dreaded things like this. I have no idea what to say to people.

"Hey Pat! Guys, this is my sister, Flora. Flora, these guys are in The Maine, that's Pat, Kennedy, Jared, and Garrett."

"It's nice to meet y'all," I said with a smile.

"You too," Pat exclaimed, leaping forward and wrapping his arms tightly around me in a warm hug. When his arms left my body most of my nerves were gone as well. I don't think I've ever met anyone as immediately welcoming as Pat.

"Thanks," I chuckled.

"Can someone make us two vodka cokes? More vodka than coke." Fiona said.

Garrett agreed and quickly returned with our drinks. Fiona worked with these guys, so I trusted that he hadn't done anything funny to my drink... But if I'm wrong I'll never let Fiona hear the end of it.

We stood inside a few minutes longer when someone made a suggestion of a smoke break. We all stepped outside onto the porch. Several people were outside, on one end of the yard a fire was going. I looked up at the sky, so clear it was beautiful. For how hot the day was, the nice was so cool. I hadn't expected that or I would have probably brought a sweater. For about twenty minutes we were all out there talking. I'm mostly listening and looking, but every so often I would add to the conversation.

"Where's John?" Fiona asked. I bit back my smile at her suggestive look in my direction.

"He's running a little late. He had to go pick up one of our good friends, Halvo."

I turned back towards the yard as other conversation started up. I always thought North Carolina was the most beautiful place, but the beauty of Arizona was catching me off guard. A breeze picked up, sending chills all over my body. I shivered slightly and pushed my hair out of my face. The sliding glass door opened.

"How the fuck are you guys?" a male's voice exclaimed, laughing.

I didn't bother turning around, instead I was watching the birds flying in the sky. A pair of hands on my hips made me jump slightly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, Flor."

I smiled at John. "That's alright. I'm glad you're here... It's nice having another person I know around."

John nodded. "I got 'cha, doll."

"John Oh, who is that?"

John swallowed his beer, "Flora, Fiona's sister. Flor, that's Eric, but most of us call him Halvo."

"It's nice to meet you," I said sweetly.

"Oh, you're the nice version of Fiona," he said, nodding and reaching his hand forward.

"You're such a little bitch," Fiona said, rolling her eyes. I couldn't tell if they actually had a problem with each other or not. I shook his hand anyways and then moved back to my spot beside John. After three beers I was feeling tipsy already. John must have been able to tell because he kept sort of close to me.

"Hey, Flora! This is Tim Kirch, Pat's brother. Manager of The Maine and 'that insane guy' who gave me that offer." Fiona said.

I laughed and shook his head. "I'm Fi's sister, Flora. It's great to meet you."

"Same here! It's good to put a face with a name."

John and I went to the kitchen because he needed a new beer. I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted to hang out with John, but between his sticking to me and my acceptance of that I figured I would just go with the flow.

"Oh I love this song," John exclaimed as a Tom Petty song came onto the speakers. "Would you like to dance, Flora?"

I grinned, putting my hand in his own extended one. He pulled me into the rest of the dancing crowd and we began dancing around and singing along.

"You move me honey, yes you do," John sang, a huge smile on his face as he spun me around.

I laughed and held tightly to his arms. We danced to the next four songs before we both were too hot to be in the house any longer. We got new drinks and went outside. The fire had gone out. Some people were still hanging out in the yard but the party was inside for the most part now. John sat down on the steps of the porch. I sat down beside him as he lit up a cigarette. The cool Arizona breeze began blowing again. I cooled down really quickly. Since my skin was slightly wet from dancing I was freezing.

"Shit!" John exclaimed, putting out his cigarette and pulling me up. "Come on, why didn't you say you were so cold?"

"Really, I'm alright. I don't want to go back inside, it's stuffy."

John nodded. He paused then a smile took over his features. "I'll be right back. I have a shirt in my car that's pretty warm." I sat back down on the steps and John returned in no time with a red plaid flannel shirt. I slipped it on and it was huge on me. I didn't care though, it was definitely warm.

"Thanks."

"Welcome. So Flora, what is your favorite color?"

"It changes a lot, currently it's like a cream color."

"Really?" John asked, chuckling.

"Mhmm."

"Animal?"

"Flamingo!"

"Cat or dog?"

"Dog," I replied.

"We are definitely supposed to be best friends," John smiled. We sat on the porch for awhile talking about ourselves and getting to know each other. Jared and his girlfriend joined us and I found that I really liked both of them also. I exchanged phone numbers with Tessa. It was really nice to have another girl friend.

"How are you liking Arizona?" John whispered, leaning his head against my own as we sat on the couch. A lot of people had left. Fiona was trashed and the guys said we were welcome to stay here so I wasn't arguing. John and I sat on the couch with a blanket over us. Pat was on the other couch and Tim and Garrett were in the floor.

"You're not going to be scared are you?" John teased. I swatted his arm. The movie started, it was a zombie one by request. It wasn't too intense and combined with the alcohol and lateness of night I was soon feeling my eyes droop. I leaned against the couch and got comfortable, slowly falling to sleep.