Rosie

The next day I was popping aspirin like candy. My headache was terrible, and that should’ve been enough in itself for me to never drink again. Obviously that wasn’t happening anytime soon but I figured I should wait at least a day or two before doing it again. I’d gotten ridiculously drunk at The Pit and Dawn had to drive me home, fearing that I’d get myself killed in a car wreck or something similar. I guess she was right to worry.

I winced when I caught a glimpse of my face in the bathroom mirror. I did indeed have a black eye and my lip would probably have the scar from splitting for awhile. There were bags under my eyes and my skin looked paler than usual, the residue of my minimal makeup smeared down my cheek. Oh, I looked fucking lovely. Thankfully Dawn was at work so she couldn’t laugh at me until later on.

I took a long, hot shower, considering just staying in there until I drowned so as not to have to deal with that wretched headache. Aspirin didn’t work quickly enough for my liking.

The phone rang suddenly and the sound of it nearly frightened me, causing my head to throb. It could ring all it wanted to; I wasn’t getting out until I was damn ready. The answering machine went off soon after but I couldn’t hear who left the message. The water began to turn cold so I finally got out, toweling myself dry and pulling on a pair of jean shorts and an old U2 shirt. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere so I left my hair as it was.

The apartment was a bit of a mess so I took the liberty of tidying up, checking the answering machine once I was done.

‘’Hi, Rose, this is the Fountain Valley Barnes & Noble bookstore. We’ve looked over your application and would love it if you could come in Wednesday for an interview, if you’re still interested in working for us. We look forward to hearing from you.’’

They left a phone number at the end of the message but I didn’t pay attention to it. I wasn’t even upset at the use of my actual name. A smile spread across my face at the thought: I might finally have a job and a good one at that.

I listened to the message again and called them back as fast as I could, thanking them and scheduling the interview for Wednesday at three. I lit a cigarette when I hung up, searching my closet for something I could wear for the interview. It was safe to say that I had nothing halfway decent enough. I thought about borrowing something from Dawn but I knew I’d never be able to fit into her clothes. I decided that I’d go to the mall when Dawn didn’t have work, which would be the next day. I required her help when it came to dressing in clothes that weren’t considered day-to-day wear, at least to me they weren’t.

I was in the middle of eating a grilled cheese sandwich, holding an ice pack over my black eye, when someone knocked on the door.

‘’Just a second!’’ I called out, wiping my mouth and treading across the linoleum. I opened the door slowly, not really expecting anyone at that hour, to reveal Jimmy standing in the hall in a graphic t-shirt and black basketball shorts. He looked tired and I was surprised to find him there. I was almost certain I’d scared him off.

‘’Top of the morning,’’ he said as cheerily as he could. It was almost noon but I didn’t bother correcting him. His eyes went to the ice pack. ‘’What happened?’’

‘’Black eye from the mosh pit. Um…come in,’’ I said awkwardly, opening the door wider and allowing him in the apartment. I wasn’t sure why I let him in; I didn’t want him to come all that way just to ask me more questions. He’d be wasting his time.

Jimmy plopped himself on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. I forgot all about my sandwich and became more focused on what I should say to him. Why don’t you hate me? Why haven’t you given up on me when you clearly should’ve? Why do I want to run my hands along your tattoos?

I took the casual route. ‘’Are you hungry?’’ I asked.

He thought for a second before nodding. ‘’Fuck yeah, haven’t eaten since yesterday and that was just leftover Chinese food. I would’ve cooked myself breakfast but I’m pretty sure there are laws somewhere against me using a stove.’’ He paused. ‘’I cooked bacon one time and the frying pan somehow caught fire. Short Shit was standing too close to it so his hair went up in flames too. He hated me for awhile after that.’’

I could only assume that Short Shit was Johnny’s nickname, being the shortest member of the band and all. I wasn’t altogether shocked about Jimmy’s story; I knew enough about him to know that he had the spontaneity of a child and now I learned he had the cooking skills of one too.

‘’Is grilled cheese okay? I already made myself some and it’s pretty good.’’

He got up from the couch and nodded. ‘’I’d eat anything right about now,’’ he yawned, rubbing his belly, or should I say lack of one. ‘’Where’s the bathroom?’’

I pointed it out and went to making Jimmy’s sandwich, sticking the ice pack back in the freezer. It was just Jimmy, so I wasn’t bothered about him seeing me in my less than perfect state. I was curious, though, as to why he was there. It was a Saturday and I was sure the guys probably wanted to work more on the album or hang out with him, yet he had been there on my doorstep, acting as though I hadn’t pushed him away so eagerly.

He came out of the bathroom a minute later. ‘’Your bathroom smells like a fucking meadow,’’ he said randomly, leaning on the fridge as he watched me cook. I stifled a laugh and looked at him from over my shoulder.

‘’Is that a bad thing?’’

‘’Fuck no, I can’t remember smelling anything so good,’’ he said whimsically, examining the refrigerator magnets.

‘’It’s probably just the air freshener; I cleaned the bathroom earlier and I hate the smell of bleach,’’ I said, flipping the sandwich over in the sizzling frying pan. I heard Jimmy’s footsteps head back to the bathroom and he emerged a few seconds later, the smell of the air freshener traveling with him very strongly. I coughed, shutting off the stovetop and putting his sandwich on a plate. He sat at the kitchen table, rubbing his hand together eagerly.

The air around him was reminiscent of a cloud of flowers. I looked at Jimmy blankly as I handed him his plate. ‘’Did you spray that shit on your body?’’

He bit into his sandwich, looking at me with innocent eyes. ‘’Maybe.’’

I wasn’t surprised at all. However, I was a bit stunned at how smoothly this was going. He didn’t seem mad. In fact, he was acting perfectly normal, for Jimmy anyway. I was hoping things could stay that way for the time being.

I sat down across from him and continued eating my own sandwich. Jimmy’s plate was cleared much faster than mine was, so to keep him occupied I handed him a box of White Cheddar Cheez-Its. He couldn’t have looked more thrilled.

‘’It’s like cocaine for your mouth,’’ he mumbled through a mouthful of the delicious snack, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

‘’I agree wholeheartedly.’’

‘’Oh I believe that, remember when we met last week at Pathmark? I thought you were gonna rip my arm off and beat me with it because of these fucking things.’’

Had it really only been a week? It felt like so much longer, and at that moment it seemed as though Jimmy and I were just casual friends, casually conversing about casual things in our casual lives.

Were Jimmy and I friends now? I wasn’t really sure.

I laughed nervously at his comment. ‘’Yeah, I tend to overreact with certain things.’’

It looked like he wanted to push further on that issue but thought better of it, going back to eating. I stared at the crumbs on my plate, desperately wanting to ask him an obvious question. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore I took a deep breath, knowing I’d never have peace of mind if I didn’t ask him.

‘’Not to be rude or anything, but Jimmy, why did you come here?’’ I asked quietly, my voice coming out much too timid for my liking but I didn’t care. I just wanted an answer.

He looked at me straight on for a moment, trying to figure out how he should word his answer before leaning back in his chair, balancing it on its back legs. ‘’I honestly just wanted to see if you were okay. I didn’t mean to upset you last night, I just thought I saw you opening up a bit and I got a bit ahead of myself.’’ He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘’I talked to Dawn about it and she said that I’m not approaching this properly, that you’re a very private, closed off person who doesn’t let people in easily. She wants me to be patient, so since I’d like to be your friend I’m doing exactly that.’’

I tried to think of something intelligent to say in response, but all I came out with was, ‘’I like this approach better.’’ I felt my cheeks flush a little in embarrassment, trying to cover that up with, ‘’but if you try to get me to just spew my feelings out again like last time I won’t hesitate to kick your ass.’’

He smiled and folded his hands behind his head, his eyes filled with amusement. ‘’Yes, ma’am.’’

He stayed for a little while longer and we held a bit of small talk. It was kind of nice to hang out and talk with someone who was so…interesting. Admittedly he was the one doing most of the talking, but I did listen as he reencountered crazy stories about him and his friends. Most of them had me nearly rolling with laughter. I think perhaps the craziest part of this whole course of events was the fact that I hadn’t drunk any alcohol. I was completely sober and I’d interacted with another human being who wasn’t Dawn. I was sure it was a sign of a coming apocalypse.

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

‘’What do you think of this skirt?’’ I asked Dawn, looking at it in the full length mirror and turning around. She was texting someone on her phone and didn’t look up. ‘’Dawn.’’ I wondered briefly who she was texting because she still wasn’t paying attention. ‘’Dawn?’’ Still nothing. ‘’Goldilocks!’’

She finally looked up. ‘’What? Oh, the skirt?’’ She stuffed her phone back in her pocket, studying how the garment looked on me. ‘’It makes your butt look good.’’

I rolled my eyes, smoothing out the front of it. We were at the mall and Dawn had dragged me into Forever 21, only after I checked to make sure the cover up I used around my eye was applied liberally. We hadn’t even been in there for five minutes when she handed me an armload of clothes, ordering me to let her see everything I tried on. I was currently modeling a knee-length black pencil skirt with silver pinstripes, the seventh skirt I’d tried on that day. The lady in charge of the changing rooms was giving us the evil eye.

‘’I don’t want the person interviewing me to stare at my ass,’’ I protested, looking at my bum in the mirror. It did look bigger than usual.

‘’But it could be the thing that gets you the job,’’ she pointed out, ‘’besides, it does look professional and you can’t deny that you look good wearing it. I vote this one.’’

The skirt actually didn’t look too bad, so to save precious shopping time I said, ‘’Fine, I’ll get it.’’ I paused. ‘’Who were you texting?’’

‘’My mom,’’ she said with a roll of her eyes, ‘’she wants to have lunch with me soon. What a lovely day that will be.’’

‘’Oh, okay.’’

I changed out of it and paid, leaving the store arm in arm with Dawn. We didn’t go to the mall often, but when we did we’d make a day out of it. It was something we did even as teenagers.

‘’I’m happy you might’ve found a job,’’ Dawn commented a little while later. We were browsing through some shoe store.

‘’Believe me, so am I,’’ I mumbled, picking out a pair of impossibly tall high heels and putting them on. I wobbled over to her, grabbing at the shelves for support. She took one look at me and started chortling with laughter, nudging me to see if I’d fall over. It was safe to say that I almost did.

‘’Jesus, Rosie, could you imagine if you went to your interview in those monsters? ‘Oh don’t mind me, I just came back from working the corners.’ I’m sure they’d have you bent over their desk in a matter of seconds,’’ she laughed harder, doing a terrible impression of me. I glared, trying to hit her but unable to move any closer for fear of busting my ass. I opted to just taking the shoes off, throwing one at her and missing.

‘’You’re a sick bitch,’’ I laughed, throwing the other shoe and getting her in the arm.

‘’Ow! I have my moments,’’ she shrugged, rubbing where the shoe hit.

We weren’t even there to buy shoes, since I already had a pair that would go with the skirt and the shoe store was expensive. Trying them on and chasing after each other was more fun, with the added bonus of pissing of the sales clerk. The one working there today kept nervously peeking down the aisle we were in to make sure we hadn’t broken anything.

A few minutes passed and Dawn had discovered a pair of shoes that were quite possibly even taller than the ones I found. Sticking them on, she clumsily starting strutting up and down an imaginary runway at a snail’s pace. I sat on the floor with my back to the shelves, snapping pictures with the camera on my phone.

‘’Gorgeous, Brava, you’re looking fabulous, sweetheart,’’ I told her in the best posh accent that I could muster. She snorted back a laugh before losing her balance completely, falling forward and doing a face plant on the rug. Clutching at a stitch in my side, I roared with laughter while my best friend groaned in pain.

‘’Fuck me, I think I just broke my tit,’’ she grumbled, rolling onto her back. Waving away the pesky sales clerk, I clambered off of the ground, biting my lip to keep from laughing anymore as I helped her back onto her feet. She brushed herself off hastily, yanking the shoes off before they could commit a second count of attempted murder.

‘’Okay, shoe shopping is over,’’ she said to me, putting her flip flops back on and breezing out of the store, my obnoxious laughter and I following in tow.

We sat down at the food court with a large basket of Nathan’s french fries, not caring about our figures unlike the numerous women around us eating salads. Dawn could eat a damn yacht and she wouldn’t gain a pound. It was just how she was built; slender and at an average height for a girl. I, on the other hand, wasn’t blessed with such superpowers. I was short and had a bit of meat on me, nothing too bad I guess. I wasn’t what you’d define as ‘’fat’’. According to Dawn, I was shaped like a pear; average bust with an ‘’ass that could be its own continent’’. Those were her words, not mine. So if we wanted to divulge in greasy fries, then god damnit, we were going to do it.

‘’Seriously, my boobs are killing me,’’ she said, moving around uncomfortably in her chair, ‘’I think I broke them.’’ I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

‘’You know, Zacky would be more than happy to check for you,’’ I mumbled, popping a fry in my mouth. Dawn looked at me, her head cocked slightly to the side.

‘’Why would he want to do that?’’ she asked. I love her but I swear she is fucking clueless sometimes.

‘’Because he’d want to make sure you weren’t seriously hurt,’’ I said, trying not to laugh. More like he’d want to make sure the goods weren’t permanently damaged.

‘’Oh, okay,’’ she shrugged, dipping a fry in some ketchup.

I suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. I tried not to grin because that would probably alert Dawn that something was up.

‘’I’ll be right back, going outside for a quick smoke,’’ I said to her, getting up from my chair. I actually did need a cigarette but that wasn’t my main purpose for leaving the table.

‘’You and your fucking cigarettes,’’ she mumbled. I waved away her protests and found the closest exit, pulling my pack of Marlboros out and lighting one up. I inhaled quickly before taking out my phone, hitting send when I came across Jimmy’s number.

‘’Hey Jimmy, I need Zack’s number,’’ I told him, blowing the smoke out of the side of my mouth. I heard a scuffling noise and an ‘’ow’’ before he answered.

‘’Why do you need his number?’’ he asked skeptically.

‘’Don’t question me,’’ I said, rolling my eyes even though he couldn’t see it, ‘’it’s important and it involves Dawn, that’s all you need to know.’’

‘’Okay, do you want his house or cell?’’

‘’Cell’s fine.’’

He told me the number and I quickly stored it in my memory, thanking him and hanging up. I tapped off the end of my cigarette before putting Zacky’s number in my phone, calling him.

‘’Hello?’’ His voice was groggy, like he’d just woken up. It was one in the afternoon and he was still in bed. Typical.

‘’Hi Zee, it’s Rosie.’’

‘’Hey Rosie, what…wait, how did you get my number?’’ he asked, waking up a bit more.

‘’I have my sources,’’ I said shortly, ‘’anyway, are you awake enough to come to the mall?’’

He let out a yawn. ‘’Why would I want to go to the mall?’’

‘’Because the rest of the guys are here with Dawn and I,’’ I lied, silently hoping the rest of the band was somewhere other than Zack’s place, ‘’they told me to call and invite you.’’

‘’Really? They didn’t say anything about going to the mall today,’’ he said, confusion evident in his voice.

‘’It was a last minute decision,’’ I insisted. I needed him to believe that the guys were there otherwise he’d chicken out if he knew that it was just Dawn and I. The guys would’ve provided a somewhat distraction from Dawn’s presence.

‘’Alright, I just need a shower so give me like forty five minutes, tell them not to leave yet. I wanna check out that guitar store,’’ he said. I told him we’d still be here and hung up, flicking away my cigarette and heading back inside.

I had a feeling he would hate me after he realized what my plan was, but if things went accordingly then he’d be kissing my feet by the time it all panned out.