Dirt

I got ready for open mic night at my own house for once, and even though my dad coming added extra pressure, I was really glad he was going to be there. I had decided to go a different route this time, and I picked an outfit, and the song that I was going to sing, that was a little sweeter than usual. My dress came to just above my knees. It was white on top and orange on the bottom, with a little bow tied around the waist. I chose my black mary jane heels, and a few simple accessories. I chose some dark eye makeup and a light lipstick.

After several minutes of Pop yelling for me to hurry the hell up, we got in the car and drove to the club. I met the girls, Matt, Zacky, Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, and Johnny's girl, who he introduced as Lacey, outside the club, and just like every other time the girls wished me luck. I greeted the other singers backstage and waited my turn. My cell went off while I was back there. I smiled when I saw it was from Matt.

"Don't tell the others, but I'm wishing you good luck. I know you'll be amazing."

I texted back with, "Thanks! See you in a bit. Clap real loud!"

And they did. The whole crew clapped and cheered and even whistled. I smiled at them and pulled my guitar on. I spotted my dad in the crowd and gave him a wink. Then I played one of his favorite songs, Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. When I finished, he stood up and yelled for me.

I met him backstage. The stage manager let him back there. He scooped me up in a hug and told me he got it. "You were the best thing I've ever heard. I only wish your mother could have heard you. I understand why you love it. You should have told me sooner, though, how happy this makes you. We could've been doing this all that time!" He told me he was going home, and that I should have a good time, then he hugged me one last time and was out the door.

I met my new little crew out front and sat down to watch the other singers. We had a few drinks and more than a few laughs. I was glad that things were working out for everyone. Jessi and Zee seemed to be really happy together, and Brian and Erin were right behind them in relationship status. Even though he hadn't said it yet, I knew that Brian considered Erin his girlfriend. Johnny's girl Lacey was really sweet and funny. Plus, she didn't take any shit from him and had no problem putting him in his place when he needed it. I felt Matt put his hand on my knee and he gave me a sly smirk when I looked over at him. Men...

"So, you guys are coming to Ash's party next week, right?" Jessi asked the group. They didn't know anything about it, but they said they would be there. I had almost forgot about my birthday party altogether.

"What do you know about it?" I asked Jessi and Erin. "Pop won't tell me anything. I'm still not sure I even want to have a party. It's just my birthday."

"Just your birthday?!" Erin asked incredulously. "It's only the day when our most wonderful, perfect, best friend was born. If you weren't around, who would Jess and I hang out with? Evelyn Parks from high school? No! She was a bitch and a whore."

"She wasn't a whore," I defended in jest, "she just wasn't picky!"

"Even so," Jessi said with a laugh, "you're our girl, and we're not going to go through life not celebrating your birthday. You make the biggest deals out of ours."

"Yeah, but that's because I love you," I told her. They both gave me knowing looks. "Okay, point taken."

"What do you want for your birthday?" Matt asked me quietly. I blushed at the thought of him getting me a birthday present. Why, I'm still not sure. But once again, my traitorous face turned a pinkish shade. I told him that all I wanted was for him to wish me Happy Birthday. He told me no dice. "I have to get you at least a little something. It's your birthday. Everyone needs something cool on their birthday." I laughed and told him it was his prerogative.

We stayed for a while longer before Jess suggested taking the party back to her house. Johnny and Lacey declined, as well as Brian and Erin. I didn't know what they had planned for the rest of the night, but I was pretty sure by the way Erin was grinning like a crazy person, I didn't really want to know. So, Jess and Zacky, Jimmy, Matt and myself went back to Jessi's.

"I think I'm hungry!" Jimmy yelled as soon as we stepped inside. "We should make a food run. I think I want two tacos, fries from McDonalds, three chicken wings, and a slushie. Who's going?"

"Yeah, let's not do that," I told him quietly. "How about I just make something?" The guys thought that was the best plan ever, so I got in the kitchen and made some of my famous leftover stir fry. It's easy to make and makes you look like a genius when you put it together. Just take some leftover Chinese food and heat it up in a pan, add some leftover veggies, cook up two eggs in the mix, stir in some soy sauce, and there you have it! Leftover stir fry. Easy peasy. The guys thought it was brilliant, and Jimmy tried to trade me his "Special" Brownie recipe. I laughed and traded him. Who wouldn't? I promised him we'd make a batch together for my birthday.

Zacky decided he wanted to go outside to smoke a cigarette and asked me if I wanted to join him. I furrowed my brow and shot a look over at Jessi. She didn't seem concerned in the least. I guess I should have felt good knowing that Jessi trusted me completely with her new boyfriend, but the whole situation seemed kind of weird to me. I went with him anyway, and we both sat down on the stairs. I waited awkwardly for a little while, waiting for Zack to say something.

"So, I grew up with my mom and my stepdad. One year, all I wanted for my birthday was a puppy. I just needed to have a dog, but mom and Greg thought I wasn't mature enough for one yet. So instead, they gave me a dirt bike. It wasn't very big, and it didn't go all that fast, but the first time I went more than fifty yards without falling off of it, I was hooked. I've been in love with riding ever since. My mom used to tell me that it was in my blood."

I smiled at him. I appreciated the sharing, but it was still a little unnerving. He was trying to be my friend, though, so I wasn't going to be rude about it. "That's cool. You could probably guess how I got in to bikes." He did. "Yeah, Pop was always off on his bike, and when I got big enough, he would take me for rides. It was cool, but it wasn't until my mom took me that I really loved it. I don't know why, but I guess I never figured that girls could ride by themselves. I had only seen them riding bitch. But once I saw my mom doing it, I knew I had to be like her." We sat in amiable silence for a while before I had to ask. "Did you ever get that puppy, though?"

He laughed. "Eventually. As it turns out, though, my mom was right. Even at sixteen I wasn't really responsible enough. My parents did all the work with him. His name was Iggy Pop and he was awesome."

We chatted a bit more about different things before Matt came outside to find us. "Uh, Zee, could you not hog my girl?" I questioned what he meant by his girl. "You know," he said a little shyly, "I mean, you're...my girl...?" I laughed at how confused he sounded trying to explain himself. I told him that the way he put it explained everything. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Zacky got up and went back inside, so Matt sat down and took his place. "You know, you really sing beautifully." I thanked him. "Do you think you might want to do something with it?"

I nodded. "I kinda do. I love to sing. It's the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing I think about at night. And I do have visions of all sorts of people telling me they like my songs, or that one of my songs helped them through a hard time. I know that sounds really egotistical, but yeah."

"That's not egotistical. Maybe a little, but that's okay. You could do it, you know. I believe in you. You could be a big star if you wanted to. Then you could forget all about us little people."

I scoffed. "Thanks. But that's crazy. I can't believe you just said that. I would never do that. I couldn't forget Erin or Jessi. You guys, I would forget in a heartbeat, but never my Jess or Erin." We laughed for a minute before Jimmy came outside to smoke a cigarette. He waggled his eyebrows at us as he lit up. I just rolled my eyes at him.

After he was done, the three of us went back inside, only to find that Zacky and Jessi were gone. Her bedroom door was closed, so I figured they went to bed. I turned to the two guys standing awkwardly in the living room. "Umm...I guess if you guys want, you could come back to my house. There's the extra bedroom, and the couch downstairs pulls out into a bed. It's better than crashing on Jessi's couch and floor."

"We could always sleep in the car," Jimmy offered with a smile.

I laughed but Matt shook his head. "I don't think so, Jim-Jam. Let's go to Ash's. I'd much rather sleep in a bed than the car."

He almost seemed disappointed. I couldn't stand his sad face, so I thought of a plan. "How about if we just have a sleepover, Jimmy. We could all bunk in my room, tell each other secrets, and if you're lucky, we'll eat ice cream and paint our toenails."

"Yes!" he yelled. "I'm totally gonna recruit you to my stallion duck ninja army." I gave him a confused look, but he just patted the top of my head. "I'll explain it to you later. Once I've explained it to you, you'll be dying to join."

Once in my room, and yes, we all had to sleep in there, Jimmy fell asleep the fastest. He did manage to tell me all about chasing stallion ducks, how they were minions of the devil, and how he started a ninja army to rid the world of their evil. I kinda did want to join.

Matt and I were laying in bed together listening to Jimmy snore. He was on his back with one arm behind his head while I was laying in the crook of his arm with my arm draped across his chest. I had butterflies made of iron and spikes that were knocking around in my stomach. Being in this close proximity to him made me nervous. Which is stupid, because I'm never nervous around anyone. But there was something about him that seemed to slightly throw me off. We whispered goodnight to each other, and just before I drifted off to sleep, I heard Matt whisper something else.

"I like sleeping next to you. I do want you to be my girl."