Rosie

‘’Stop moving,’’ I sighed, glaring at Jimmy. He groaned as I gathered as much hair on top of his head as I could, making sure to yank a bit before wrapping the black tuft with a hair tie. He tried to get up from the couch but I pushed him back down, gripping his t-shirt in a fistful.

‘’Don’t even,’’ I growled, ‘’we’re going easy on you guys considering the fact that you just spied on us like creepers. You should be thankful that Dawn hid all the knives.’’ He visibly swallowed, his blue eyes slightly widened in fear. I flicked the alfalfa ponytail that sat atop his head, resembling an antenna.

‘’Dawn, be a dear and toss me the eye shadow, will you?’’

‘’Which color?’’ she asked. She had Zacky pinned to the floor, which would’ve been a great position for him to be in if Dawn wasn’t caking make up onto his face. He looked like a very convincing drag queen.

‘’Give me the brightest pink you have,’’ I smirked, my smile growing when Jimmy groaned again.

They wanted to know what girls did at sleepovers, so we were going to show them first hand. Revenge was sweet.

‘’Quit your groaning, Jimbo,’’ Val called from the other side of the room. She worked quickly, having already done Matt’s make up and she was now curling Brian’s hair with a small curling iron. Johnny was yet to be bedazzled, his hands shoved into his pockets as he eyed the door nervously. He caught one look at my serious face and moved away from the door, knowing I would take the curling iron from Val and stick in places that it didn’t belong if he tried to escape. I’d already warned him once.

‘’Close your eyes,’’ I told Jimmy, applying the eye shadow over his lids liberally. He was actually taking his punishment much better than I thought he would. Zacky had been the most stubborn and it wasn’t until Dawn kicked him that he calmed down a little. I taught her well.

‘’Matt, toss me the red lipstick.’’ I took one look at him and burst into a fit of laughter. Val had gone the clown route with him and he wasn’t happy at all. Two pink bows were clipped to his short hair. Scowling at me, he tossed me the tube and I blew a mocking kiss to him.

‘’Cheer up, no one likes sad clowns,’’ I teased, poking Jimmy’s mouth. ‘’Purse your lips.’’

He did as he was told and I put the lipstick on him. I leaned back a bit to admire my work, glaring when he started playing with my pigtails. I’d completely forgotten about them.

‘’You look cute with pigtails,’’ he commented, twirling the ends around his fingers, ‘’almost like a five year old.’’ I ignored him and smacked his hands away, grabbing some blush and leaning forward again, my knee purposely digging into his groin. He inhaled sharply and bit his lip.

‘’Don’t do that, I’ll have to redo your lipstick,’’ I grumbled, brushing the blush onto the apples of his cheeks. He shifted around, trying to readjust himself.

‘’Then get your knee out of my crotch,’’ he protested.

‘’I wouldn’t have to do that if you didn’t call me a five year old,’’ I growled, digging it in a bit more before moving it away.

Once I finished up he wanted to see how he looked. I handed him a mirror.

‘’Oh, what do you know, I actually look sexy,’’ he said offhandedly, making a kissy face at himself. I rolled my eyes. Of course he would enjoy looking like a woman.

When all the guys were done we made them stand in a horizontal line, the three of us examining our works of art.

‘’We did well, ladies,’’ Dawn said approvingly, giving Val and I high-fives. We nodded in agreement.

‘’Definitely an improvement from before,’’ Val laughed.

‘’I think they should give up the band and become drag queens,’’ I smirked.

‘’Can we go now?’’ Brian groaned. His curls were sticking out in every which direction and he looked like a muscular version of Shirley Temple.

‘’Yeah, I want to get this shit off my face,’’ Matt mumbled. Zacky and Johnny agreed.

‘’I don’t know about you guys, but I think I look pretty fucking fabulous,’’ Jimmy scoffed, pretending to flip his hair back and standing in a model-like pose.

I rolled my eyes. ‘’Now, now, boys, settle down. We’re not quite done yet.’’ I whispered something into Dawn’s ear and she smirked, running into her room and coming back with a Polaroid camera. Val and I pulled out our phones. It was a precaution to have the evidence on several devices.

‘’Now, all of you group together and smile pretty for the cameras,’’ Dawn ordered. The guys, apart from Jimmy, automatically began protesting.

‘’Hey, do as you’re told,’’ Val commanded. They were defiant and shook their heads. Jimmy pushed them out of the way.

‘’Fuck them, take pictures of me, I’m the sexiest,’’ he insisted, putting his hands on his hips. I ignored him.

‘’We need all of you to cooperate otherwise I won’t hesitate to cut off a very essential part of the male anatomy!’’ I yelled, ‘’now get together in a group!’’

They stared at me in surprise for a moment, shocked at my outburst until Johnny spoke up. ‘’What do we get in return if we let you take our picture?’’ he asked.

Val rolled her eyes. ‘’You’ll get to live a little longer. Just do it already.’’

They grumbled a bit more before assembling, Matt, Jimmy and Brian in the back with Johnny and Zack in front of them. Jimmy looked thrilled to pieces, his arms around Matt and Brian’s shoulders while the rest of them looked miserable. It served them right; you do not spy on people. Quite frankly I had wanted to punish them even more but when the girls suggested this, along with the potential black mail that could go along with it, I was all for the plan.

We snapped enough pictures that we were satisfied, giving them damp towels afterwards so they could wipe the makeup off. They wasted no time in doing so, their moods visibly improving once the gunk was free from their faces. They started getting comfortable on the couch and floor until we proceeded to shoo them towards the door.

‘’What? Why can’t we stay?’’ Brian frowned, his arms folded over his chest.

‘’Because this is still our girl’s night and you guys crashed it, so get out,’’ I grumbled, too tired to deal with them any longer.

Zacky and Dawn were looking at each other with what appeared to be longing. I pushed him towards her. ‘’Oh go on, make out and get out already.’’

He pulled her in for a slightly heated kiss, one hand on the back of her head and the other on her waist, their lips locked together. After a minute or two of this she pulled away, giving him a slightly apologetic look before nudging him to the door. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow when he followed the guys out into the hall, both of them looking a bit flustered. She shrugged, her face all smiles.

‘’Can I stay at least?’’ Jimmy asked hopefully, still halfway in our apartment. I shook my head, ignoring those piercing blue eyes and focusing on the frame of the doorway instead. The way he looked at me caused me to have this indescribable feeling in the pit of my stomach, branching out to every single nerve of my body. I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t like that I didn’t know.

‘’Sorry Jimmy, not tonight.’’ He nodded and waved briefly, starting to walk down the hall to the elevator. I bit my lip, mentally smacking myself for what I blurted out next.

‘’Are you coming by tomorrow morning?’’ I asked casually, feeling Dawn and Val’s eyes practically engraving themselves on the back of my head out of shock. He turned around and nodded.

‘’Bright and early,’’ he grinned.

I inwardly groaned. ‘’Not too early, otherwise you’ll have to feed yourself.’’ With that I closed the door, rubbing my temples to try and clear my head. I was drunk and I needed sleep. Without another word I walked over to my makeshift bed on the floor, pulling the blanket over my body and blatantly ignoring the fact that Dawn and Val were whispering about me from across the room.

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

I was on the phone with my mom the next morning around nine, picking at a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Val and Dawn already left for work and Jimmy had heeded my warning about showing up too early, as he still hadn't stopped by.

‘’Are you sure you don’t want to borrow money from us? I know your father wouldn’t mind and I hate it that you’re struggling,’’ my mom said, her voice full of concern. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

‘’Thanks for the offer but we’re doing fine. I might have a job at Barnes and Noble, I’m just waiting for them to call me back,’’ I replied, stirring my spoon around in the bowl. My cereal was barely touched, the flakes turning soggy from the milk. I hadn’t talked to my mom much since I left New York and I knew she was worried. She always worried about something but this time I understood her reasoning a bit more.

‘’That’s great honey, I really hope you get it.’’

‘’So do I.’’

We both fell silent, a sigh from her end of the conversation drawing my attention. I bit at the inside of my cheek.

‘’Is something wrong?’’ I asked carefully.

‘’I just…I sometimes wish that you never left,’’ she said quietly, her voice sounding utterly heartbroken, ‘’your father and I miss you, you know. The house really feels empty now.’’

A small lump rose at the base of my throat but I swallowed it back defiantly. ‘’I know, mom. I miss you too but I’ll be back to visit in a few months. I just couldn’t stay there any longer, please understand that. I was having a hard time and getting away was the best thing I could do. If I stayed…I don’t know what I would’ve done,’’ I said, the last part coming out quietly.

‘’Are you better now?’’ she asked, her voice shaky.

‘’I’m getting there,’’ I sighed, running my fingers through my hair, ‘’I’ve recently become acquainted with these guys through Dawn and they seem pretty nice. I don’t know if I can become close with them, though. I don’t know if I’ll ever be close with anyone,’’ I laughed dryly.

‘’You will, sweetie. Just give it time. It hasn’t been very long since…well, you know. I think you’re entitled to being a little standoffish.’’

There were very few people who understood me and why I was the way I was, and my mom was one of them. Maybe she didn’t know everything about me or what I did but she cared, she cared a whole fucking lot and I tried to never forget that. She was very important to me, both of my parents were, but I always had a special bond with my mother. I hoped, once I could find a guy willing to put up with my bullshit, that I would be just as great of a mother to my own children one day.

We talked for a bit longer until there was a knock on the door, a muffled rendition of ‘’Open the Door’’, a song that Jimmy had made up, meeting my tired ears. I stifled a laugh.

‘’I need to go, I have company right now. I’ll talk to you later, alright?’’

‘’Of course, honey. I love you.’’

‘’Love you too, mom. Take care.’’

‘’You too.’’

I hung up and hurried to the door, yanking it open and looking at Jimmy with a raised eyebrow.

‘’Open the dooooor, before I fall on the flooooor and cryyyyy- oh, hello.’’ He stopped singing once he realized that I had, indeed, opened the door.

‘’Hi, now get inside before you wake my neighbors,’’ I mumbled, moving aside to let him in.

He was in his usual basketball shorts, a faded Pantera shirt adorning his torso and his hair was casually messy as always. I was still in my pajama shorts and black tank top from the previous night but he didn’t seem to care. Then again, I didn’t care either. I was comfortable.

‘’Are you hungry?’’ I asked, leading him to the kitchen.

He sat down at the table, watching me as I put my bowl and spoon in the sink. ‘’Not really, I already ate at Matt’s. I actually wanted to see if you were busy today.’’

I blinked for a moment, my back to him. ‘’Aren’t you guys still in the studio?’’ I asked.

‘’We got the day off,’’ he said. I turned around to look at him, my hands on the counter. ‘’I was just wondering if you wanted to go somewhere and hang out. I bet you’d have more fun than if you just stayed here,’’ he said, trying to convince me with his boyish smile.

I honestly hadn’t been planning on going anywhere so I was hesitant. ‘’I don’t know,’’ I replied unsurely.

‘’Oh come on, Ross,’’ he pleaded. I glared. ‘’Fine, Rosie. It’ll be fun, though.’’

I shrugged half-heartedly, focusing my attention elsewhere. The conversation I’d just had with my mom still echoed throughout my head and it left me in a down sort of mood. I glanced over at Jimmy briefly; he was looking right back at me, his lips slightly pursed and his chin resting in the palm of his hand.

‘’Is everything okay?’’ he asked, his brows slightly furrowed. I gave a small nod before hopping onto the counter, my hands folded in my lap.

‘’I’m fine,’’ I said in what I hoped would be a convincing voice, ‘’just a bit distracted, that’s all.’’

‘’You wanna talk about it?’’ he questioned.

‘’No,’’ I replied firmly, ‘’no…thank you. It’s nothing to worry about.’’

He didn’t look very convinced but he nodded anyway, getting up from his chair abruptly. I raised an eyebrow.

‘’What are you doing?’’

He made his way to the door, turning around to look at me. ‘’I’m distracting you. Come on.’’

I didn’t move. ‘’Where are we going?’’

He shrugged. ‘’Anywhere.’’

Anywhere sounded pretty good at that particular moment so I hopped off the counter. ‘’Give me a minute to change.’’

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

Jimmy drove us down to the boardwalk, the one right by Huntington Beach Pier. Being that it was the weekend and the weather was gorgeous, everyone and their mother was out and about, the beach right alongside the boardwalk crowded as ever. It was a good thing I knew where we were going beforehand, otherwise I wouldn’t have had time to put sunscreen on and I would’ve fried to a crisp. I borrowed a pair of Dawn’s sunglasses and once they were on I looked like a SoCal native, with my tank top, shorts and flip flops.

We were only feet away from the car, a cigarette dangling between my lips as I tried to light it, when Jimmy took off at a run.

‘’SEAGULL! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT FUCKING SEAGULL!’’ he yelled, darting after the seagull in question. I nearly choked on the smoke when I inhaled, laughing as the people on the boardwalk moved out of his way quickly in fear of being knocked over. I simply didn’t bother running after him; I just watched as I smoked my cigarette, leaning against the car. It was hot as all hell and I briefly wondered if I could get away with sitting in his vehicle all afternoon, the air conditioning turned on high.

A few minutes later he came back, sweaty and slightly out of breath. I take it he didn’t catch the bird.

‘’Come on,’’ he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him down the boardwalk at a run.

‘’Damn, you have a lot of energy,’’ I mumbled, yanking my hand away, ‘’slow down, we have a whole day to kill.’’

He did slow down a bit and I relaxed, taking a long drag and observing my surroundings. Many people were on their bikes and skateboards. Parents were walking hand-in-hand with their small children, one of them screaming about how they didn’t want to leave yet. The beach was packed and I was thankful that we weren’t going over there. Jimmy was lucky that I even left the apartment.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a little bit, the sounds of people and California waves meeting my ears. It was nice out there. I wasn’t going to make it a frequent thing, but it was nice.

‘’Have you ever been to the boardwalk before?’’ Jimmy asked.

I shrugged, flicking away my cigarette. ‘’Briefly, I mainly stick to the pier.’’ He was looking at me as though I’d committed a crime. ‘’I don’t get out much,’’ was my response.

‘’Well, that’s fucking dumb. You’re seeing everything today,’’ he said cheerily, walking over to a little ice cream parlor. Following him, I realized that the line was pretty long.

‘’They have the best ice cream ever,’’ Jimmy raved, ‘’once you taste this shit, you’ll only want theirs.’’

After twenty minutes of waiting and two more cigarettes, we made it to the front of the line.

‘’What do you want?’’ he asked, both of us looking at the list of flavors.

‘’Um…mint chip on a sugar cone, no sprinkles,’’ I said. He ordered chocolate chip cookie dough, and when he went to pay I pulled a few dollars out of my pocket, putting them on the counter. Jimmy took my money and stuck it right back in my pocket.

‘’I’m paying, don’t worry about it,’’ he mumbled, taking out his wallet and paying for our ice cream. I frowned.

‘’But you don’t have to-‘’

‘’I want to,’’ he insisted, handing me my ice cream, ‘’now eat it. You’ll feel better.’’

After a few minutes of going back and forth I gave up, but I wasn’t happy about it. The ice cream was really good though so I thanked him.

He showed me the surf shop, gift shop and many other little places along the strip, all the while eating our ice cream. I felt more relaxed than I had been in ages, laughing a bit at Jimmy’s stories about how he and the guys would wreak havoc upon the boardwalk when they were teenagers. It seemed to be this way every time it was just him and I; he would do most of the talking and I would do the listening, but I don’t think he minded. He loved to talk and he was a good story teller.

‘’So this one time, Brian and I got really fucking drunk, and I forget what he said but I kicked sand in his face because of it. Two seconds later, he tackles me over and has me in a headlock, and both of us are rolling around in the fucking sand. See that lifeguard tower?’’ He pointed to a tall, white wooden structure on the beach. I nodded. ‘’We knocked it over and the lifeguard sitting on top went flying off. He didn’t get hurt or anything, but he was fucking pissed so we ran like hell.’’

I burst out laughing, covering my mouth and nearly tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. I made sure I didn’t drop my ice cream. ‘’Oh my god,’’ I half laughed, licking my frozen treat, ‘’your teenage years must’ve been eventful.’’

‘’Oh, they were extremely eventful,’’ he grinned, finishing off his ice cream, ‘’and the best part is, I only got arrested once.’’

‘’Only once?’’ I asked curiously.

‘’Ah, but that’s a story for another day,’’ he said, nudging me in the side, ‘’hurry up and finish, there’s a group of seagulls over there and I need to make one my pet.’’