Rosie

Another week or two passed and before we knew it, the 4th of July was upon us. I was sincerely hoping that I could just stay home and drink, maybe watch the fireworks on the TV, but I knew better. Brian’s dad had let the guys borrow a coal barbeque to take to the beach, where there would be food and alcohol to sustain the masses. Dawn had mentioned this fact to me, knowing I wouldn’t be going to the beach unless alcohol was involved. I hated that she knew me so well sometimes; why would I settle for a bottle of JD when there would be so much more to drink at the beach? My reasoning was pathetic, to be honest, but Dawn didn’t care because it got me out of the apartment. She liked that I was beginning to be more social, but it aggravated me to no end.

On the way there we’d stopped to pick up sun screen, grabbing the highest SPF we could find. It was incredibly hot and I wasn’t risking my skin getting burnt just so I could drink. I’d stuck my hair up in a messy knot and didn’t even bother with makeup, not that I ever wore much anyway. The only bathing suit that I owned was a black two-piece with little white hearts on it. I wasn’t even sure if I was going swimming or not but I figured I might as well wear it. After checking to make sure it still fit, I put it on with jean shorts and a green tank top over it.

The beach was completely swamped and I was surprised we could even find a spot to fit the eight of us. The guys and Val were already there, blankets and a few umbrellas set up and the barbeque smoking away. Matt was flipping burgers, he and Johnny in discussion about something while Val was getting some sun. The rest of the guys were nowhere to be found.

‘’Hello,’’ Dawn said cheerily as we approached them, ‘’Happy Fourth!’’

Matt and Johnny turned around and Val sat up. Matt gave her a quick hug.

‘’Same to you,’’ he smiled, taking the hot dogs and buns we brought from her and thanking us. I offered a quick wave in their general direction before going over to Val, taking a blanket that had the shade from an umbrella.

‘’Happy Fourth,’’ she smiled, moving her sunglasses so they were perched on top of her head. I smiled back and kicked off my flip flops.

‘’You too. The weather is perfect for today, isn’t it?’’

‘’It is, I could just take a nap out here,’’ she sighed, laying back and adjusting her bikini top, which was a dark blue color. Dawn joined us, setting her stuff down on my blanket.

‘’Where are the rest of your children?’’ Dawn asked her, half laughing.

Val peeked an eye open at us, pointing her finger towards the water, numerous people distancing us from it. ‘’They said they were going down there.’’

Dawn nodded and pulled off her shirt and shorts, revealing her purple and red two-piece. ‘’I’m going for a swim. You two wanna come with me?’’ she asked, tossing her sunglasses onto her pile of clothes.

‘’In a bit, just let me get some color first,’’ Val yawned, rolling over onto her stomach. Dawn looked at me expectantly.

‘’I just got here, I need some alcohol,’’ I mumbled, getting up and taking a beer from the cooler.

Dawn was about to head down to the water when Zacky went flying past me, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed in shock and started pounding on his back, angered by the fact that he was laughing.

‘’Zachary! You’re an asshole!’’ she yelled, trying to squirm free. He only laughed harder, smacking her butt which made her shut up briefly.

‘’Rosie, help me!’’ she called out, reaching her arms out as he started walking towards the ocean, not planning on letting her go anytime soon.

I just shrugged. ‘’Sorry, can’t help you, hun.’’ I laughed when she gave me the finger before they disappeared from view.

I decided to strike up conversation with Matt and Johnny, who’d been looking at me warily ever since I got there. ‘’I won’t explode, you know. You can relax,’’ I said quietly, throwing in a reassuring smile. They looked visibly less uncomfortable. ‘’How’s the recording going?’’ I asked, taking a sip of my beer. I figured I might as well try to be social while I was there, no use in being bored.

‘’It’s going really good, actually,’’ Matt said, checking on the food, ‘’we’ve got about half of the record written out already, Jimmy’s finished most of his drum tracks and Gates, Zack and Short Shit-‘’ Johnny glared at the use of his nickname, ‘’-are coming up with some killer guitar tracks.’’

‘’Mudrock’s kicking our ass, though,’’ Johnny sighed, fussing with his mohawk.

‘’Who’s Mudrock?’’ I asked.

‘’This guy our manager brought in to shape us up a bit,’’ Matt explained, flipping the burgers, ‘’he’s a hard ass but I think it’ll help us in the long run.’’

I nodded silently, licking my lips at the smell of food cooking. I hadn’t realized how hungry I actually was until then. ‘’Have a name for the new album yet?’’

‘’Waking The Fallen,’’ Johnny answered proudly.

We discussed band related things for awhile and it surprised me how comfortable I was beginning to get around them. They were genuinely nice people and the conversation felt natural, as if I’d known them for as long as Val had. I’d just finished up my second beer and the rest of the guys still hadn’t shown up. Telling them I’d be back for food, I put my shirt and shorts on my blanket, the heat automatically hitting my exposed stomach and back. I made sure my bathing suit top was knotted good and tight before maneuvering my way down to the water, nearly getting knocked over by a few kids in the process. I scanned the shoreline, wet sand between my toes as I looked for any sign of them. They were further out than the little kids wearing floatation devices, chasing each other around and splashing about. Dawn spotted me and waved me over, the guys following her line of vision.

I waded over to them, wincing as I stepped on the occasional broken shell or rock. By the time I reached them the water went to my mid-stomach; it was cold and I was shivering a bit but I tried not to let it show.

‘’Hey, Rosie,’’ Brian greeted, he and Jimmy splashing each other persistently.

‘’Nice tattoo,’’ Jimmy chimed in.

I blinked. ‘’What?’’

He pointed to my side, splashing Brian with his other hand. ‘’Your tattoo. I like it.’’

I looked down at the red roses that crept up the right side of my ribcage. I’d gotten the tattoo at nineteen and it was by far the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, but it was worth it. ‘’Oh, thank you.’’

Dawn suddenly left Zacky’s side, launching herself at me and dunking my head underwater. I panicked and writhed as though I were dying, pushing her off of me and surfacing, coughing and gasping for air.

I threw a punch at her arm. ‘’What the fuck was that for?!’’ I yelled.

She winced and rubbed her arm. ‘’You let Zacky kidnap me. He could’ve been taking me off to be slaughtered and you didn’t care,’’ she pouted.

‘’I didn’t see you leaving once I let you go,’’ he pointed out. She turned around to glare at him briefly.

‘’Oh please, if I thought he wanted to hurt you on purpose he’d be long deceased,’’ I laughed, stopping when Jimmy splashed me straight in the face. ‘’Well, fuck you very much,’’ I mumbled, spitting out salt water and shoving Brian out of the way, splashing Jimmy as much as I could.

We tried to see who could make the biggest splashes, our arms flying about and curses spewing from our mouths. I was sure the little kids nearby got an earful.

‘’You cannot defeat me, for I am the master of the elements!’’ he yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. I stopped splashing him for a moment, rolling my eyes. My arms were tired.

‘’You’re the master of being a pain in the ass. Anyway, I’m starving and the food should be done so-‘’

‘’Oh shit!’’ I heard Brian yell, cutting me off.

Before I could even move I was thrown forward off my feet, the wave sending me flying straight into Jimmy and knocking both of us over. I felt the saltwater fill up my lungs and I struggled to get back up, the rocks and shells painfully scraping my knees and legs. We were tossed around a bit until the wave retreated, leaving me in the shallow part of the water as I coughed, Jimmy just a few feet away.

‘’Fuck, that sucked,’’ I groaned, stumbling as I tried to get up, my eyes going wide when I realized my bathing suit top had been unknotted. I quickly pulled it up, keeping one arm over my cleavage.

‘’Need some help, buttercup?’’ Jimmy asked as he walked over, waggling his eyebrows at me.

‘’No, I got it, pervert. Go eat,’’ I grumbled, quickly knotting it around my neck again. He grinned before hopping onto Brian’s back, he, Zack and Brian whooping and yelling for no apparent reason, running off to grab some food.

‘’Are you okay?’’ Dawn asked, noticing the scrapes and cuts I’d just received. I nodded, ignoring the stinging pains I felt in my legs.

‘’Fucking undertow sucks, that’s all,’’ I sighed, walking with her back up to our spot. I looked over at her when she started laughing.

‘’What’s so funny?’’

‘’You got thrown at Jimmy, literally,’’ she sniggered, her eyes bright with amusement.

My mouth was set in a straight line. ‘’It wasn’t that funny,’’ I muttered.

‘’Oh but it was,’’ she grinned, ‘’it looked like something out of one of those funniest home videos TV shows.’’

I had to give it to her, she was probably right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After eating a hamburger and drinking two more beers I decided to try and nap, relaxing under the umbrella while everyone else drank and went off to play beach volleyball. Jimmy was busying himself by chasing the seagulls, which didn’t shock me in the slightest. The sea air always made me tired and the sun had already set, creating the perfect setting to allow me to pass out. It was even better since the beach wasn’t as packed as it was before, meaning it was quieter without all the screaming kids. It’d gotten a bit chilly so I had my shorts and tank top back on with a sweatshirt that Dawn had brought over it. My hair was half dry and it blew around in the breeze, tickling my face. I scrunched up my nose in discomfort; I couldn’t sleep for the life of me, despite the fact that I was exhausted. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t sleep, so I opted for staring at the inside of the umbrella instead. I obviously led a very exciting life.

I looked through the beach bag for my pack of cigarettes, cursing when I realized I left them at the apartment. Figures, I would leave them at home when I actually needed them. Groaning, I pulled a few dollars from my wallet, getting up and slipping on my flip flops. I headed onto the boardwalk which was beginning to clear off as well, a few people biking and some couples walking hand-in-hand. The line to the ice cream vendor was nonexistent so I quickly ordered mint chip, resting my chin in hand as I waited. Somewhere not too far away fireworks had begun going off, explosions of red, blue and gold fanning across the sky. They mesmerized me, capturing my attention for a few minutes as I admired how beautiful they were.

I paid for my ice cream and turned around, a tall, skinny figure bounding towards me, illuminated by the lights along the boardwalk. I didn’t move but waited patiently for Jimmy to approach me, idly licking my ice cream.

‘’What do you want?’’ I asked monotonously. I was grouchy that I wasn’t able to sleep and not in the mood to goof around. He stopped short, ending up not even a foot away. He was still shirtless and in his swim trunks, not seeming to mind the cool breeze. He looked me over for a moment and I suddenly felt slightly self conscious, my body tensing at his gaze. I focused on my ice cream, ignoring the fact that goose bumps were appearing along my arms, covered by my sweatshirt sleeves.

Without a word he scooped me up effortlessly, tucking me under his arm like a football and running back to the beach.

‘’What the fuck?!’’ I yelled, squirming and trying to get him to drop me, ‘’put me down so I can hit you!’’ I hated being picked up; it made me feel helpless.

He was laughing his ass off, not even caring that I would most likely drown him once he freed me. I didn’t stop struggling the entire way back to our spot, the others huddled together with blankets around them as they watched the fireworks, beers in hand. I caught a glimpse of Dawn from my sideways point of view and she was laughing into Zacky’s shoulder at the sight of me.

‘’I don’t suppose there’s any point in asking you to help me,’’ I sighed, trying to bite Jimmy’s arm as he ran circles around the group, ‘’god damnit, Jimmy, put me down!’’

‘’Fuck no,’’ he replied happily, ‘’this is much more fun.’’

I tried to glare at him as best as I could, throwing my middle finger to the six other people who were finding this to be very amusing. I didn’t find it amusing in the slightest, so I took it upon myself to stick my ice cream cone down Jimmy’s swim trunks.

He dropped me in an instant, shrieking and doing this funny little dance, trying to get the ice cream out of his trousers. I rolled around in the sand while I laughed, clutching my sides and nearly crying with laughter when Jimmy ran straight to the ocean in an effort to cleanse his…lower region of ice cream. I crawled over to the group, continuing to chortle with everyone else.

‘’You deserve this.’’ Val handed me a beer, still giggling a bit.

‘’Thanks,’’ I grinned, popping it open and taking a long gulp, watching with everyone else as the sky exploded in different colors. The pops and bangs of the fireworks made it so conversation wasn’t necessary, and I was perfectly comfortable with that. Dawn and Zacky were cuddling with a blanket wrapped around them, occasionally whispering something to each other or he’d place a small kiss on the top of her head. On the other side of me Matt and Val shared a blanket, and they weren’t exactly cuddling but I could’ve sworn they were holding hands under the blanket. Brian and Johnny were smoking cigarettes, which I eyed greedily, remembering that I forgot to bring mine. I didn’t need someone to cuddle with, I needed cigarettes.

‘’Brian, can I borrow a smoke?’’ I asked as nicely as possible. I almost scared myself at how nice I sounded, and I think I spooked Brian as well because he was looking at me funnily.

‘’I-uh…sure, here,’’ he said awkwardly, handing me one. I placed it between my lips and relaxed when he lit it up for me, thanking him and inhaling deeply, the smoke swirling down my throat before leaving my lips in a wispy cloud.

Jimmy came back over to us after a few minutes, dripping water everywhere and humming to himself as he dried his body off. He didn’t even seem fazed that I just stuck ice cream down his pants. If someone did that to me I’d end up in prison.

‘’Who knew you enjoyed having ice cream down your pants,’’ I commented once he sat down, quietly sipping at my beer.

He looked at me before snatching my cigarette away, taking a quick drag. ‘’Just be happy I didn’t make you lick it off, darling.’’

I nearly choked on my beer, my eyes going wide. ‘’If you even tried getting me to do that I’d be back to castrate you in the middle of the night,’’ I replied nonchalantly, trying not to show him that his words shocked me. The fireworks in the background were temporarily tuned out of my mind.

He moved closer, his arm right up against mine. ‘’Touché,’’ he replied approvingly, handing me back the cigarette.

We all watched the fireworks for awhile, and out of the corner of my eye it looked as though Jimmy wanted to say something but couldn’t come up with any words. I blew some smoke out towards the night sky, more than a bit tipsy at this point.

‘’What’s wrong?’’ I asked quietly. He kept fidgeting and couldn’t seem to sit still, pulling loose threads from the end of a beach towels.

‘’Do you consider me your friend?’’ he asked, his blue eyes glancing over at me briefly before returning to the fireworks.

I suddenly felt my throat go dry, my lips moving but nothing but air coming out. He was looking at me again, his marvelous eyes meeting my not-so marvelous ones. ‘’Yeah, I guess so,’’ I shrugged, the answer coming easier than I anticipated. My brain was fogged over but I knew enough to know that I really couldn’t refer to Jimmy as an acquaintance anymore. He was over at the apartment whenever he wasn’t recording, and he’d eat or watch reruns of Friends with me because I refused to change the channel. I was able to tolerate him and he miraculously found the strength to tolerate me in return, something that I remained skeptical about. He could still up and leave whenever he wanted to; it was only a matter of time. But for the moment I accepted the fact that Jimmy pretty much was my…friend. Jimmy and I were friends. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

He seemed pleased with my response, ruffling my hair and taking a beer from the cooler. I looked over at Dawn to find her looking right back at me, a shit-eating grin on her face.

I rolled my eyes and took a long drag, blowing the smoke in her general direction, mouthing the words ‘’piss off.’’