Nothing Else Matters

My grip tightened on the wheel. She wasn’t kidding, I knew that she’d really turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I glanced over at her, she had her eyes closed and was silently drumming on her black-clad thighs, lost in whatever bliss she found with the beat. I bit my lip, indecisive and unsure of what to do.

Assuming I was the first to directly tell James the reality of things instead of being like all the other whores out there, I couldn’t be sure what would happen next. The fact that he hadn’t said anything to me was more than likely a bad sign.

The song ended, and in that second of silence I opened my mouth to speak, to give an answer, but was cut off by her hand lifting to instantly silence me.

“Save it. That wasn’t right of me, to put it that way. Whatever you decide, think on it. I have awhile until I give Lars an answer anyway, like he told me, they’re leaving in 2 days.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded, turning into the In-n-Out parking lot with my stomach suddenly twisting into knots not even Houdini could untangle. I could see the guys waiting for us, all of them laughing and joking around with each other, even James, who’s eyes flashed with a happiness that had my knees going weak.

We walked up to where they all stood, and Veronica instantly went to stand near Lars. They began talking animatedly, and for a split second I felt a stab of jealousy that she’d made such a quick connection.

He pulled out his drumsticks from his back pocket and began tapping the air, and then handed them to her. She pocketed them and he reached around for them, but she dodged him playfully, flirtatiously.

“I’m starving!” she announced and we all crowded into the nearly empty restraunt, squeezing into one of the corner booths.

A conversation picked up between Kirk and Robert, commentaries on the crowd at the show. Veronica and Lars were busy talking, not about drumming, but about each other.

I bit my lip and examined the tips of my hair, unwilling to meet James’s eyes. The awkwardness of the situation hung heavy in the air and frantically, I shot a desperate glance at Veronica who caught on and aimed a question at James, something about his tattoos.

Silently I praised her and then excused myself to go to the bathroom. Once in, I leaned against the wall, head in hands, feeling overwhelmed.

What was a perfect night was now shit, and I wanted it to be over.

The door flung open and Veronica waltzed in, heading straight to the mirror and tugging her shirt just a couple of inches lower. The drumsticks were still in her back pocket, I noted. She turned to me and her expression went serious.

“He’s not angry.” she said, and I didn’t have to ask to know who she was referring to.

I was surprised though.

“He’s…not?”

she shook her head and then flipped it, headbanger style, so that it was a chaotic, tousled, sexy mess.

“No. When you left, he immediately asked me how long I’d known you and all that crap and then asked if you were always that straight forward. He said it was a first”-

I smiled; I’d been right

“and that it was kind of hot. Then, he asked me if I was going to take up Lars’s offer and if you were planning on coming along.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“He did not. That’s bullshit.”

She swiped a finger underneath her eye, wiping away a smudge of eyeliner and shrugged.

“I swear.”

I raised my hand to my mouth and bit at a nail, not hard enough to chew it off, only enough to distract from the madness freshly erupting in my stomach.

“So what’d you say?” I finally asked, a bit scared to know the answer.

She cocked her head to the side and smiled deviously at the mirror, her reflection aimed right at me.
“I told him-“ she began but I sunk down to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.

“Yes. You said yes, didn’t you?”

her expression betrayed nothing and I moaned in agony.

“oh god….”

She laughed and whipped out the drumsticks, tapping an impressively fast, vicious rhythm against the basin of the sink. Softly, I heard her humming “Master of Puppets” and I raised an eyebrow. She’d learned quickly.

“You’re making this so much more fucking difficult than it needs to be” I growled underneath my breath.

I knew she heard me when she began to tap louder. There was a knock at the door and then Lars- who else?- stuck his head in.

“Hey, you two ok in here? We’re all hungry you know.”

He didn’t speak in a rude, pushy tone. He sounded genuinely concerned, joking on the last part. Veronica nodded and then pocketed the drumsticks and walked over to me, her hand out for me to take.

I gave her a nasty look and then took her hand. She pulled me up and Lars shut the door, expecting us to follow after him quickly. I reached for the handle, to swing the door open, but Veronica held me back, her grip tight on my arm.

“Look. As much as I’d love for you to do this with me, don’t if you know it’s not going to be worth it in the end.”

I took a second to let her words process, and then pushed the door open, the smell of fries hitting me right in the gut. Hunger twisted through me fiercely, and I sucked in a breath and headed right back to the table, Veronica behind me.

Already, the guys were eating and the small mountain of double-doubles and fries was rapidly growing smaller and smaller. I slid back to my place cross from James and Veronica slid in next to Lars, who handed each of us burgers, fries, and Sprites.

We began eating and for a second, everything felt normal and unpressured. The quiet was cut off when Kirk flipped his hair back off his face, leaned back, and said

“So you two touring with us or not?”

James eyes widened, Robert ducked his head down, apparently trying not to laugh, and Lars froze and then kicked Kirk underneath the table.

I took a sip of my Sprite and said nothing, eyeing Veronica, who only placed a fry in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. She eyed me back, eyes telling me to just go ahead and give an answer.

I took a breath, looked James right in those heart-stopping blue eyes, and said

“Yes.”