Just Think Happy Thoughts

Ch. 15: Snakes and Stars

The Stump residence was a five-bedroom apartment on the other side of town. Around 1 a.m., Marty led the others exhaustedly up four flights of stairs, nearly passing out against the door while digging for his key when they finally got there. “As fucking amazing as their set was, I’m not going to one of their shows again until my body recuperates from that mosh pit…”

“Indeed, it was epic,” Tony groaned, leaning against Danny for support. “Especially that strange moment when Rosie yelled, ‘I LOVE YOU, GREGORI!’ and jumped and broke her shoe…”

From her hiding place at the back of the group, still nursing her busted Manolo like a wounded loved one, Rosie mumbled, “Speak of this night to anyone back home, and there will never be a Frank Anthony Iero the THIRD Consecutive…”

“C’mon, kids, play nice once we get inside.” Melody stretched and yawned, wincing slightly at the twinge the move sent through her bruised ribs.

Finally the door was opened, and seven weary teenagers nearly fell into the entryway. The sound of humming and a sink running in the kitchen could be heard. Suddenly a head popped around the corner. “Well, it’s about time you got home, mister!” Kind blue eyes smiled at them from behind purple eyeglass frames, black bangs falling around them delicately.

Marty rolled his eyes. “Guys, this is Audrey, our housekeeper. ‘Audrey, this is-“

“No no no, don’t tell me, let me guess.” She came fully around the corner, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was an unmercifully short woman, standing only taller than Elena. Audrey squinted her eyes at them, smirking slightly when she got a good look at Manny’s hair. “Well now I’d recognize those genetics anywhere. You’re the notorious Chemical spawn. It’s very nice to meet you all, no need for further introductions. I’m a HUGE fan of your fathers’ work.”

Audrey turned her attention back to Manny. “The rooms are ready, and I was feeling charitable enough to throw together a batch of those sugar cookies you love so much.”

“Aww, Audrey, you’re a saint! An angel! A-“

“Slow down, little mister, I’m expecting my usual payment for those cookies…” There was something dangerous in her smirk just then.

“…you mean…right NOW?”

“Yes, right now, as I am leaving right after I get it…”

Frustration was building steadily on Marty’s face. “…c’mon, Audrey, don’t make me do it in front of my friends, it’s embarrassing enough without them here…” Indeed, six pairs of Jersey eyes were watching him closely for his next move.

“Mr. Stump, I baked you your favorite treat purely out of the kindness of my heart, and I ask so very little in return…” Audrey folded her arms resolutely and leaned against the doorframe with a decent amount of smugness in her grin. “I’m waiting…”

After a few moments of watching her for signs of bluffing, the blond boy sighed, adjusting his hat and counting off the rhythm in his head.

“Ladies and gentlemen,
These snakes is slitherin'
With dollar signs in they eyes
With tongues reptilian
This industry's venomous
With cold-blooded sentiments
There’s no need for nervousness
It's just a little turbulence!”

At the end of his rap, the kids and Audrey all laughed maniacally and clapped for him, much to his chagrin. “Shut UP, it’s not that funny!” They just continued to laugh. “Fine, fine, we’ve all had a good laugh at my expense, now it’s bedtime. I’ll show you assholes to your rooms…”
~.
Elena couldn’t sleep. It was frustrating, her body was exhausted, but her mind wouldn’t let it shut down. True, it might have been Rosie’s snoring, or Melody’s iPod that she listened to as she slumbered, or it might have been the slight sugar rush from the cookie she’d eaten prior to laying down. But whatever the reason, she was still up at 3 a.m., and her body showed no signs of letting sleep sink in.

Careful not to wake the others, she slid off the bed in the guest room the girls had been given and slipped out the door. Down the hall, just off the dining room, there was a balcony with an amazing view. It would be a good place to think, Lena was sure.

What the female Toro twin had said earlier kept churning around in her head like butter that wouldn’t thicken. It had never occurred to her to even THINK about Tony like that until Rosie had put the idea in her head. But now that it was there, it was gnawing at her like a parasite. Could Tony, T, her best friend, her mentor, really think about her like that?

If he did, he wasn’t too horribly obvious about it, like Marty was. Hell, the Stump child couldn’t be MORE obvious about it; he’d been completely head-over-heels about her since she was in kindergarten, and she knew it. Every other word out of his mouth to her would be a pet name, every syllable of his adorably lisp-addled speech laden with enough honey to screw with insulin levels. And it wasn’t as though she didn’t feel some sort of affection back for the charming little motherfucker, either. Simply…she’d always known that it wasn’t meant to be. Marty wasn’t “the One.”

And now it was back to the new dilemma: could Tony be?

She was opening the sliding glass door when she noticed that the balcony was already occupied. Much to her dismay, Tony turned his head to look at her, smiling that infuriating Iero grin at her. “What are you doing up, sugarpop?” He patted the spot next to him on the table he was sitting on.

The urge to turn back and force herself to try sleep again subsiding, she joined him with a return smile. “Kinda…I guess I’m still feeling the adrenaline from the concert…You?”

Tony shrugged, looking up at the ink-black sky. “Not sure. I came out to look up at the stars, but you can’t see them here, because of the city lights.” He furrowed his eyebrows at a red blinking dot, most likely an airplane. “I sort of miss Jersey already.”

“Just because you miss seeing the stars?”

“Well, it’s not so much because I like looking at them…it’s what they make me think of.” He glanced over at her. “Do you know much about astrophysics?”

A giggle escaped her mouth. “Can’t say I do…”

“Well, my Physics teacher last year talked a lot about it. See, scientists have narrowed down all force in the universe into four driving forces: electromagnetism, weak force, strong force, and gravity. Now, at certain ridiculously high levels of temperature, three of those forces will join together to create one combined force. What they still need to work on, is measuring and calculating what temperature the universe would have to reach before the fourth force joins the other three and binds together into one pure force. They think that if they can find the answer to that formula, it’ll be the explanation for the origins of the universe itself…” Tony trailed off, lost in thought as he watched the red dot some more.

“That’s beautiful, in a weird sort of way,” Elena breathed, letting all that information sink in.

“Yeah…it’s spiritual, really. Most people are under the impression that all scientists are atheists, but astrophysicists are some of the most faithful people in the world.” He let his gaze shift back over to her, hazel eyes so much like his father’s searching hers. “People like Einstein, Hubble…they believe that the universe is so perfect and so simply designed, that it could all boil down to a single equation.”

“Do you…do you really think everything is that simple?” Elena swallowed back the strange sensation she was getting in her face, as though her blush reflex had gone haywire.

“Y’know…I think I do…” And now her motor skills were failing, because she could feel her fingers trembling lightly against her knees.

Finally breaking the eye contact, Elena climbed down off the table. “We have a long day of driving tomorrow…we should probably go try to sleep again…” She avoided catching his gaze again, fearing the drowning hazard it posed.

“Good idea…goodnight, sugarpop…” With one last smile at each other, Tony went one way down the hall, Elena the other.

That night she had a flashback in her dreams. It was summer, and it was night. She wore a tiny Misfits tee, just barely small enough for her five-year-old frame, and Tony was lying beside her on the blanket in a Descendents shirt. He had a hold of one of her hands, and they were looking up at the stars…