One Story, Four Lives, and the Thing that Changed Them All

Well shit. How the hell am I supposed to top that. That last chapter was, not only, over four thousand words, but it had two makeout scenes, me, pudding, and me. If you aren't lucky that will be the highlight of this fucking story. Shit. 

And now I have to top that? To quote the only episode of Key and Peele I ever watched, that's like trying to follow up Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. Let me try. Preferably without being racist. That was a funny episode. 

Okay so I'm going to tell you a story. It takes place kind of in the future from where we are now in this tragic tale of love and me. Remember Russ? Russ and Thor Russ? Okay well he wasn't just a one-time appearance guy. As you will find out shortly, me and the kids, as in Amelia an the rest of 'em, actually become really good friends with Russ and his kids, as in Thor and the rest of 'em. We chill. And btdubs he drives a minibus. Which is pretty cool. 

And now here's the story of how Russell Veveiros bought me an AM/PM hotdog. Cue Led Zeppelin's Hot Dog in the background. 

My tummy rumbled. I was hungry and it was getting dark and part of me believed that hunger pains would reach me before I got home, and the other half really just wanted gas station junk food. I stopped off at an AM/PM coming up on my right with a satisfied smile and chose a semi-discreet parking spot. I pulled off my stupid work shirt and threw it in the back. I was halfway through pulling on my other shirt when Russell knocked on my window. I rolled it down. 

"Gee thanks for the privacy," I muttered. 

I don't think he heard me. "Fancy seeing you here. Probably not a mere coincidence. Look, Pet, I been meaning ta ask ya, you wanna come get stuffed with me?" he's a very forward kind of guy. 

"Oh Russ you're a mind reader," I said, getting out of Sally. 

"Well I must say Avery, I thought you were gonna be a harder catch." I followed him to the minibus, thinking he was like getting his wallet or something. 

"Are you kidding? I've wanted this for ages. I've just been craving this kind of stuff, you know?"

"Oh, honey, me too." He gestured at the inside of the minibus and I frowned at the ugly vomit orange carpet. "Ladies first."

"What?" I asked. 

"Go on, unless you're a shy one. Don't worry I think it's cute."

"What?" I was getting kind of scared. 

"Just a quick one then, if you're nervous."

"What are you even saying to me?"

"I thought you wanted a shag?"

"What?!" I took a step back. "I don't want a shag!"

"You said you wanted to get stuffed with me!" he said loudly. 

"I thought you were referring to stuffed with food what the fuck Russ you creep. I'm hungry not horny," I said, a laugh creeping into my voice. 

"Well shit. My apologies, Pet."

At least he handles rejection well. "Will you still buy me dinner?" I asked. 

And that's the story of how Russell Veveiros bought me an AM/PM hotdog. 

"Oh that's cute," I said. "First date jitters. Now wait until they start eating each other."

"They're eating each other," Vinny said a moment later. 

"Yeah." I grinned. "Supernatural is my favorite. Oh, Sam."

"They're eating each other."

"Just wait for the Twinkie guy," I said, patting his cheek. 

Amelia came downstairs in a rush, her face red and hair mussed. She tried to act like nothing was happening, like I wouldn't notice. But Aiden was having a pretty tough time keeping his mouth shut and the school psychologist tells me I'm intuitive, so I knew and I think she knew I knew, but I'm also non-confrontational and so I wasn't gonna say anything until she said something. 

"You guys ready?" she asked. 

I nodded and she practically ran for the door. We were taking one of her Dad's SUV's so that we could all fit. It was the four of us, Spencer, and Freshman. So we piled in and picked up Freshman and left for the venue. 

It was small, and not very far away. We got there and went in, a little bit awkward because we had no clue who or what Roadside Roar was and what they played and all these girls without early admission tickets were staring at us with their Roadside Roar T-shirts on and ipods playing unfamiliar but catchy songs and my face was burning and it wasn't very fun at that point. So we walked past the merch guy and I had to do a double-take. 

Because Thor's face was staring at me from the T-shirt stand. I grabbed Vinny and said, "Hey we know that guy," as Amelia grabbed Aiden and said, "Hey I know those guys," and then we looked at each other and said, "What?" at the same time. 

"You first," I said. 

"Those three. The lead and the trendy black guy and the one with the flippy hair all came into the cafe. They're Irish."

"I saw the one with the glasses in Mickie D's. With his cousin. His name is Thor. Except-- Vinny, didn't Russell have a British accent?"

Vinny shrugged. "Yeah, I think so."

After a few more seconds of conversation, we turned to go down the hall and into the lounge we were supposed to meet the band in, but we were stopped again by someone yelling at me.

"Sweetheart!" Russ said, making a show of pulling me out of Vinny's arm and wrapping me in a hug. I returned the hug only because I enjoy them, but pushed him away quickly. "What are you doing here, Av'ry," he grinned. 

"We're here for the concert. Thor is in a--" 

"Yeah yeah," he interrupted dragging out the vowels in his 'Yeah's. "Naw, Thor there is a drumming machine. Hold 'is own around any of the best of 'em, I tell you. These your friends?"

"Yeah, uh you met Vinny, this is Amelia, Aiden, Spencer, and Freshman."

"Why don't y'all come back stage see the boys before they go on. I'm the manager you know," he smiled, all cheekbones and blue eyes, before briskly walking off in the direction he was originally headed.