Good Love

That morning, Annie woke up in a haze. She floated through the morning, walking around in her underwear because no one was home. She absentmindedly made herself breakfast, but if you’d ask what she ate, or if she shampooed her hair or not, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. She knew she was functioning, but not how well she was functioning. She didn’t care.

Images from the night before flashed through her mind, like birds flying in your peripheral vision. Within them she saw the smiling faces and laughter of reconciliation; Jared’s roommate had returned home to their apartment.

Before she’d met her brother’s former roommate and now her new roommate, Annie had been totally prepared to introduce herself as a whole new person. She wanted desperately to start all over, and moving to Phoenix was the perfect way to do that.

Until she had actually met her new roommate, who oh-so-conveniently was the boy she’d snarked at in the bar the other night.

Just her luck. Just her fucking luck that she’d get stuck with a guy who sent her nerves up the wall. She didn’t even know how to begin to talk to him.

Though he had no problem talking to her. Last night, he shouted every innuendo and taunting joke he could find. By the end of the night, she’d been extremely uncomfortable and extremely pissed off. Yet Jared still wondered why she went to bed early. She was especially careful to lock her bedroom door that night.

So naturally, she was grateful that John had left by the time she woke up.

Annie decided to keep herself busy, doing small chores around the apartment like wiping off counters and doing laundry.

After folding clothes and setting them on the couch, she poured herself a cup of coffee -black, with just a little bit of milk- and sat on the windowsill overlooking the street, full of life even though it was winter.

Feeling a rare spark of inspiration, she ran to retrieve her camera, snapping a picture of the scene spread out below her. For the first time in a long time, Annie felt accomplished as the camera rewinded the film itself, letting her know that she’d finished a roll.

After she finished her coffee, she scavenged the apartment for Jared’s phonebook; she found it stuffed behind the cookbooks. She figured that she should probably start looking for a job, if she was going to stay in Arizona, so she wanted to start by looking through the phonebook for job openings. She figured she could get something better than working in the fast-food or as a store attendant. She had taken photography and business classes at Northwestern University, one of the best in the country, after all. So what if she dropped out of college a little early?

She spent nearly an hour with that damn book in her lap, and couldn’t find a thing. Dejected, she decided to take a walk. She slipped on a clean pair of shorts and a shirt -long sleeve, of course, to hide the bruises- and skipped down the stairs, ignoring the elevator.

Pushing a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, she opened the main entrance of the apartment complex and stepped out, letting the bright, eager sun win for once.

***

“Hey, sis! Have you been alright today?” Jared asked, his voice slightly muffled through Annie’s bad cellphone reception. With barely any cash to her name, she’d had to buy the cheapest phone available after she dunked hers in Jack Daniels a few nights ago. Unfortunately, it hadn’t come with 4G.

She was currently in the same bar she’d been to a few nights before, though it was only around two o’clock now, talking to the bartender, Stephen.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ve actually been feeling a little better today. I might actually have found a job!” she said, pushing the inevitable irritation out of her voice. These days, the bad moods were like rain clouds that followed her every move, and she had to work to not snap at Jared, or Tessa, or anyone, really.

“Wow, really? Where at?”

“Do you know that pub a few blocks down the road from our house? The Sleepy Indian?” Annie had to resist the urge to laugh every time she spoke, saw, or heard the bar’s name, though it did make a lot of sense, being in the desert and all. They even had ‘Firewater’ on the drink menu.

“Annie, that’s a goddamn bar! Are you sure you wanna work there?”

She rolled her eyes at his alarmed voice; she was a big girl now, and could take care of herself. Just because there was one night that she got hurt, doesn’t mean she couldn’t handle the world. “Jared, I really need to do something. Something for myself. I need a way to keep busy. If I don’t stay distracted, my mind and my thoughts will drive me insane. Alright?”

She could hear his sigh over the phone. “Alright, Ann, if that’s what you want. I still think you could get a better job elsewhere, though. Isn’t there a photography office a few miles away in Phoenix?”

“I don’t know, Jared, you’re the one who lives here,” she said, pushing the growl back down her throat before she said something awful. “I’ll talk to you when I get home, alright?”

“Wait! Wait, Annie, I have something to ask you. Do you wanna come to band practice with me tonight? Tessa will be there, and I was just thinking that you should meet the guys and all, since you’re staying here now and you don’t really know anyone. I mean if you don’t feel ready that’s okay but you’ve been here a week and-” he stuttered. He always talked fast when he was nervous.

But meeting the guys? The guys as in his bandmates? She wasn’t too sure about that.

Before she could even begin to hesitate, Jared started talking again. “Please, Annie, it would mean a lot to me. I don’t want you to sit at home by yourself all day while I’m gone. You’ll be lonely. You need friends, and my bandmates are the greatest guys I know.”

She bit her lip, knowing she couldn’t say no. Not when her big brother begged her. “Fine, Jare. I’ll come with you.”

“Ah! Yes! It’ll be great, Annie; You’ll have so much fun! I’ll pick you up around four, okay? Talk to you later, sis!” he said excitedly before hanging up.

Well, shit. If there was one thing Annie hated a lot, it was meeting new people. Especially in a place that she didn’t know, surrounded by other people she didn’t know.

But she knew in the back of her mind, despite her stubbornness, that she needed friends. Tempe was home, now, and she had to make it work. She wouldn’t be the crazy party girl that she was back in Chicago. Annie vowed right then and there to be good. To not get wasted all the time and not fail school anymore. She’d get a job and enroll in a few classes at ASU once the new semester started. She would be okay. Because the only other option to her, was not being anything at all.

“So I take it you’re accepting the job here?” Stephen asked, snapping her out of her self-consumed haze.

Annie gave him a small smile; he was such a nice, genuine guy. “You betcha. When do I start?”

He let out a little laugh. “Couple of days, so I can clear it with my boss. You’ll have to start with cleaning tables and shit before you can do anything else, though.”

She scrunched her nose. Cleaning really wasn’t her forte, but she’d take it. She gave Stephen her cell phone number to call her with details, and started heading out.

“Thanks, Annie! See ya later!” he grinned as she left the pub. Annie figured she’d better get home and shower before Jared picked her up. She’d always been a sucker for good first impressions, and she had a feeling this one was pretty damn important.

***

“Fucking keys,” Annie cursed. She’d been standing in the hallway of her apartment complex for twenty minutes, twisting her house key back and forth in the doorknob without any luck. She had to resist the urge to chuck the key as far as she could out of frustration.

She was about to call her brother for help, when she heard a throaty chuckle coming from down the hall. She whipped her head up, her instincts automatically kicking in.

And then she saw him, with his torn up jeans and messy hair. John. Her lovely new housemate.

“You’ve gotta jostle the thing,” he said, laughing and walking up next to her. He put his his own key into the lock. “Twist it to the right first, then the left, then shove the key in as far as it’ll go, and jerk it left.”

She watched as he demonstrated for her, the smirk never leaving his face.

“Think you got it?” he asked, tilting his head and looking at her. Well, looking down at her, because of how tall he was. Annie had always thought she was relatively tall, but threw that thought out the window she when she saw she only reached John’s chin.

“I think I got it,” she mocked, her rebellious attitude getting the best of her as she slid past him into the apartment.

“Good. That lock’s been broken for about two years,” he said, following her into the kitchen.

As she walked, she could feel him hot on her heels. When she reached the fridge, she spun abruptly, making him trip in surprise.

“You should get that fixed,” Annie said, her voice having a cold undertone. She hated it when people breathed down her neck, and that’s exactly what John had been doing. She wanted her personal space. Especially when John was not someone she trusted.

“Thought you said you got the lock, blondie?”

“I do. But broken things need to be fixed,” she said, feeling the double meaning behind her own words. Annie almost wanted to laugh at how broken she felt.

She turned around to the fridge again, poured herself a glass of water, and walked out of the kitchen.

Before she knew what she was doing, she turned around to look at John one more time. Even if he drove her crazy within the two days that she’d known him, she had to admit, he was pretty attractive, with his messy flop of brown hair, lively green eyes, and tall and skinny stature.

“Thanks, John,” she said lightly, not wanting to be rude when he did help her, after all.

“No problem, blondie,” he said, winking at her. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as she left the kitchen and headed for the shower.

Annie sighed, gingerly picking up the boys’ mess of towels in the bathroom. Jared was normally relatively tidy, but John was awful. Maybe it was because he’d just gotten home, still needed to situate himself again, but god was he messy.

Suddenly she smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, living here. Even with two boys. She was capable of doing things; she had to remind herself that. It was so hard for her to think straight anymore. Not since the incident. She’d start with getting a hamper for dirty clothes to put in the bathroom.

As she stripped her clothes off, she also realized she probably ought to go to a doctor, seeing as the bruises covering her body were still there.

She slipped into the shower and washed quickly with the steaming water before drying herself. She sneaked to her room with just a towel wrapped around her, praying John wasn’t around to see her. She didn’t need anyone seeing her bruises and asking any more invasive questions that she sure as hell wasn’t answering.

Luckily, she saw no sign of him and was able to slip into her room like a ghost. She dressed in a trance, still nervous about meeting her brother’s friends. She almost called Tessa and asked what to wear, but decided against it. It was only band practice, no need for anything fancy.

Once she was done getting ready, dressed in her usual outfit of skinny jeans, a t-shirt, and her black combat boots, she waited in her room until Jared got home. She could hear John making noise in the kitchen and didn’t feel like socializing.

Finally, after waiting nearly an hour, she heard her brother walk in the front door and call out.

“Annie! John! Get your asses out here, we’re running late for practice!” he yelled.

She reluctantly left her new room, knowing she’d better get this over with. Hell, maybe she’d even get along great with Jared’s bandmates. She hoped to god she would.

“Ready for this, Monaco?” John asked, walking out of his room at the same time as Annie. She was beginning to believe that he looked perpetually cocky, due to the constant smirk or crooked smile on his face.

She couldn’t think of a response to him; what was she even supposed to say? That she was excited?

“The real question is this, John: are you ready to face Annie strict criticism?” Jared asked from around the corner, laughing lightly. She mentally thanked her brother for coming up with an acceptable response that got her out of answering. Her conversation skills weren’t what they used to be. Annie could barely even manage conversations with her best friend Macy back in Chicago, and they’d been extremely close for six, almost seven, years.

“I think I can handle your little sister, Jared,” John laughed, pulling a black beanie onto his head.

“I dunno, man... She’s pretty brutal. She’s made me cry my eyes out before,” Jared said, secretly winking at his sister. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“It’s true. When we were toddlers, I’d rag on him for his lame outfit choices,” she said, playing along. Though it was hard to socialize, everything was easier with her big brother at her side.

Her brother and John laughed a little before leading each other out to the parking lot, where they loaded into Jared’s van. Annie was pleasantly surprised as John gave her the passenger seat, even holding the car door open for her. Maybe chivalry did still exist, and maybe John wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe he just took some getting used to.

Annie got lost in her daydreams as she stared out the window on the drive to The Maine’s band practice. She was actually anticipating hearing Jared and his friends’ music played live. Music had always been comforting for her. It reached through to her when words couldn’t. She had a feeling she’d be needing another dose of music in her life, before she completely lost her sanity. Especially now.

“Hey, sis, come on,” Jared yelled from outside, snapping her out of her daydream. She hadn’t even realized they’d stopped the car, let alone that the two boys had already gotten out. She really needed to work on her zoning-out problem.

Hopping out of the car, she followed Jared and John into the building, which read “8123” in big print on the wall. She guessed that this was their record label.

She continued following the boys down two long hallways and then down a set of stairs that led to a basement. She figured that the other boys had already started practicing because she could hear their shouts of laughter from a couple of rooms away.

They reached what looked to be a lounge, where she saw Tessa sitting on a couch next to another guy with dark hair and some facial hair. They were both busy clicking away on their phones but looked up when John yelled some odd, nonsense word at the other guy.

“Annie! I’m so glad you’re here!” Tessa said, jumping up and hugging Annie. “Band practice is so fun. You’ll love it, I promise,” she said, smiling warmly. Annie smiled back; Tessa had such a good heart.

“Annie, this is our manager, Tim Kirch,” Jared said, gesturing towards the dark-haired guy with facial hair. The two of them could have been brothers, with the way Jared had his arm around Tim. Like they’d known each other all their lives. She was beginning to think that everyone was like that around here. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t make her feel a little outcasted.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you too. Jared’s talked about you a lot, so it’s great to finally have you here. Has Tempe been treatin’ ya right?”

Before Annie could answer him, John cut her off, saying, “Of course, we’ve been treating her right. Right, blondie?” he said, articulating each word as he put an arm around her shoulders.

Trying not to let anyone see how her body had immediately tensed up, she lithely slipped out of John arm and stepped away from him.

“I can speak for myself, thank you,” she quietly growled at John. “And, please, don’t fucking touch me again. Okay?” She glared at him just long enough to see his eyebrows raise and his mouth hang open slightly before turning to Tim, who had almost the same expression on his face.

“Tempe has been pretty great, actually, though some people haven’t had the best hospitality,” Annie said, smiling wickedly, anger in her voice. She was not going to let anyone walk all over her. Not anymore. John hadn’t quite done that, but she was stopping it before it started.

“So Jared, can we meet the rest of your band now?”