Easy to Fall in Love

After a long breakfast of Justin and I awkwardly staring at each other from across the table while his mom asked us questions, we went to get ready. I showered and dressed quickly, unlike Justin who took forever to get his hair just right and decide what boots to wear. When we were finally ready to leave we said good bye to his family and he borrowed his mom’s car so mine could have a rest.

“So where are we heading first?” I glanced at him driving beside me, his eyes towards the road.

“I want to show you a really special place, but it’s a surprise.” He kept his eyes focused on driving, but his mouth turned up in a smile. As we got away from the suburbs and more into town, I recognized some of the places. He didn’t know I had been here before and I wasn’t sure what he’d think about it. He parked on the street in front of the shops and came around to my side to open my door. He took my hand and pulled me out of the car excitedly. We stood in front of and old theater for like two minutes before he said,

“Ta-dah!” He threw up his hands an i just stared at him blankly.

"Yeah..." I waited for some clue to what this was. "What is it?" I finally asked. He sighed, exasperated, and yanked on my hand. He pushed open the door and I followed close behind, trying to adjust to the darkness. Justin moved around expertly, like he knew this place well. We stopped and he let go of my hand. I still couldn't see much except the faint outline of his head but I heard fumbling and then a click. Dim light flooded the room and we where in the lobby of the theater. "What are we doing here? Is this illegal?" I glanced around the room curiously. There were a lot of posters tacked to the wall, some old some new. Justin didn't say anything but walked over to the counter and opened the little entrance. He stopped at the wall of pictures behind the counter and I followed him. He looked up and I looked too. He pointed to an oldish photo, the edges a little curled and crumpled. I squinted and realized it was a photo of him. And Alex and Jimmy. They were on stage playing and they were very, very young. Like Justin's hair was to his shoulders and he was in that emo looking stage.

"This was our first real show. Cool, huh?" He asked. I could see how proud he was, glittering in his eyes.

"So cool." I continued to stare and smile at the photo."The first time."

"Well we played before this like at a couple local festivals and friend's parties but this was the first venue and first time people paid for us show. I think maybe 25, 30 people came. Maybe less, maybe more. But it was one of the best nights of my life. We were so happy. Our friends were there singing terribly to the lyrics or our crappy songs and semi decent covers. I was sixteen. We were all illegally drunk. And i just had this crazy feeling like 'yeah, I think we can do this. I think we could be something.' And I don't know if its because I was buzzed or because we were actually good, but I knew I had to make it happen. And I did. We did. It's nine years later and I'm seeing the moment in a picture and it's so surreal." He suddenly turned to me and in the horribly lighted room I saw this sparkle in his eye that I usually only saw when he was playing music.

"Justin Richards, is that you?" Justin and I both turned at the same time towards the voice. Out of the hallway walked an older African American man wearing a button down shirt and jeans.

"Hey Sal!" Justin hugged the man and clapped him on the back. "I heard you bought this place a few years back. I must confess, I haven't been in town much." He hung his head sheepishly.

"Your mama told me you moved out about a year ago to the south. Not that you were around that often anyway. Always half away around the world with that other band of yours. How long you in town this time?"

"Not long. Leaving early tomorrow morning. We had a break and stopped in to check up on the family." Justin finally realized I was there and said, "Oh, this is my girlfriend, Donia." I held my hand out to Sal and he shook it.

"It's wonderful to meet you Donia." He smiled warmly and I smiled back. "Well feel free to keep roaming about. I have to finish getting the red room ready for a play tonight." Sal disappeared down the same hallway.

"Sal worked as the Janitor here all while I was growing up. He loved this place. Said there's no where in the entire word he'd rather work and now he owns it. It's a dream come true for him."

"Wow. That's so cool."

"Come on. I want to show you something else." We went down the hallway opposite Sal and Justin swung open a heavy stage door. We were backstage. Justin started muttering about hoping they didn't paint something and we went into a back room. He switched on the light and I instantly noticed the walls. One wall in particular. It was was covered in signatures and sharpies of all color.

"Every one who plays here signs the wall, its a tradition. And there we are." He pointed to the word Brighten in blue marker and their names signed below it. Up and to the right if that was Rocket's signature. I turned my entire body to face him and waited for him to look at me.

"I'm so glad you showed me this."

"Me too." He breathed in deeply and then said, "One last thing." We ended up on stage, the light from the hall the only thing illuminating the room. He sat on the edge and I settled in beside him. "I have nothing really to say here, I just kind of want to sit."

"Can I tell you something?" I cocked my head and looked at him, focusing in his black frame glasses.

"Of course," he said quickly, sounding slightly concerned.

"Before I can to see the LA show I had been in California a while. I was going north to south and one day I decided to stop in Chico." We were both silent for a minute I wondered if was going to say anything and when he didn't I continued. "It was only for a few days. It felt weird being here, like your ghost was following me around and it hurt too much. But I just thought it was something you should know, I guess." I looked down at my feet, a little embarrassed. It felt like a weird thing to admit, even if there wasn't really anything wrong with it. Justin placed one hand on top of mine and used the other to tilt my head towards his. He leaned down and kissed me. I counted the seconds in my head, getting increasingly more light headed. When we broke away he dropped his hand from my face. He muttered something to himself, like it had finally hit him. I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right, but I think he said, "I don't know if you'll ever get over this one."