So Now, Run

I turned from my mirror and bounded down the stairs wanting to seek the advice of my oldest brother while simultaneously avoiding my parents seeing me. Part of me was hoping to get through this weekend without them realizing I was here. As lame as it seems, I’m afraid of facing them after all this time of no contact. Why didn’t I keep in touch? Why did I leave without looking back? Honestly? I just felt like I never mattered. My brothers both had their own music careers that they were working with. I was the oddball of the bunch. While music was always a huge part of my life, I knew I’d never make a living with it. I was never that gifted musically, but I did enjoy good music when I heard it. My calling was the arts. I loved to paint. Always have. When I discovered painting is what I wanted to do with my life, I got a less than enthusiastic response from my parents. It’s not exactly like they didn’t support me, but they didn’t think I’d make a living with it. Funny they say that to ONLY me when they have two other sons that have careers as musicians; the other job that most people don’t think you can make a living off of. They seem to be doing just fine. What was so different about me?

I walked into the living room and could hear my brothers talking in the kitchen. I stayed put so I could hear whether or not my parents were in the kitchen. I was startled when I heard my father’s voice behind me.

“Charlie?”

I slowly turned around and faced my dad. He had just come downstairs and was in the process of putting on his tie. I sheepishly smiled back. “Hey dad.”

“Hey bug. What are you doing home? It’s good to see you hun.” He walked over and kissed the crown of my head as he continued to struggle to put on his tie.

I laughed slightly at this and walked over to him and helped him with his tie. He relinquished his attempts at tying his tie and allowed me to help. Once I finished, I began to walk towards the kitchen. I couldn’t stand to be in the room with him for longer than necessary. He was worse than my mother when it came to my life decisions and I wasn’t falling for this act.

I made it into the kitchen and saw Trey and Garrett sitting opposite sides of the island in the middle of the kitchen. I pulled up a bar stool and sat next to Trey, hoping to get to talk to him soon. I heard the front door close then, signaling that dad had left for work.

Garrett spoke up next. “Where’d mom go?”

“She left already,” Trey replied without looking up as he continued to cut into his omelet.

“When did she do that? I was in here when she was making omelets and she was still at the stove when I began eating…”

Typical Garrett. Too absorbed in eating his meal to realize that mom had left the kitchen. Then again, his back was to the stove along with the other doorway leading to the front door.

“Well, since mom’s gone, I’m gonna go get ready. The guys and I have practice today. See ya sis.” With that he got up, kissed the top of my head, and ran upstairs to get ready.

This left me with Trey. Just the person I wanted to talk to. I was about to speak when he cut me off.
“Hey Char, go get yourself an omelet. I asked mom to make an extra, but don’t worry. I didn’t say it was for you. She still doesn’t know you’re here.” He said with a small smile. He understood.

“Unfortunately for me, that won’t last for long. I ran into dad just before he left. I bet my vinyl collection mom will know by lunchtime. You know how often she calls dad at work.”

“Ugh. You’re right. Sorry sis.” He began to get up to clear his spot and leave.

“Wait, uh Trey, I need some brotherly advice.”

He stopped midway to the sink and turned to face me with an amused expression. “Oh? And whatever about? Has Charlie gotten herself a boyfriend?”

“Uh…not exactly, but maybe I will if I don’t screw things up.”

He quickly put his dishes in the sink and ran over to me, pulling me off the bar stool and out the door to his car. I stare at him with an odd expression.

Quickly picking up on my confusion, in his best impersonation voice, “Get in the car bitch, we’re going shopping.”

I laughed and climbed into the passenger seat as he got in the driver’s seat. Sometimes it scares me how well Trey gets me. In all the areas Garrett doesn’t get me, Trey does. I go to Garrett for most things, but when it comes to boy advice, I definitely go to Trey. He knows what kind of information I need whilst Garrett often times just rambles on with no direction, not really knowing what he needs to say. He makes up for it with his killer music, movie, and game collection though.

Trey drove us to the mall. Even though I wasn’t really going to buy much, I knew we would end up just walking around the mall talking; possibly going to a few stores and looking through clothes, but not really purchasing anything. Our relationship was easy that way.

We got inside the mall and had barely made it past the first store before he started up the conversation. “Okay Char. So this guy. Tell me about him. What’s going on?”

“It’s, uh, an interesting story that’s for sure…”

He stared at me blankly. “That doesn’t inspire much confidence Char. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Haha it’s nothing bad! It’s just, well, once you hear the entire thing you’ll be just as stumped as I am.”

“Try me.”

So I proceed to tell Trey my amazing story about how I met Nick last night after the show. How he seemed to maybe like me, and how I was more than smitten with him. I purposely left out that he was the bass player of The Dreamcoats. Leaving that tidbit for later. I continued to explain how Gare had invited me to the party tonight, one which Trey was encouraging me to attend as well. I explained how I was initially hesitant on going until he revealed who all would be in attendance.

When he said that The Dreamcoats were coming, I internally lost it because Nick was going to be there with his band per Halvo’s doing, and I had no idea how to act. The last thing I want any of my friends to see is me falling all over myself over a band boy, especially Nick. I don’t want him to see me acting ridiculous, and if any of my friends caught wind of me liking Nick, they would give me shit about it all night. That was something I absolutely could not deal with. This could be my first chance at a real relationship. I don’t want to screw it up.

After I finished explaining everything, Trey just stopped, and pulled me over to a bench that was against the side of the walkway so we could sit down. He sat there silently for a few minutes, contemplating what to say before finally speaking up.

“Okay Char here’s what you’re gonna do. First, we’re gonna get you a great outfit. Really knock his socks off. Not that you’re not stunning already, but I know how you like to dress at parties, and as much as I dig the vintage Stones tee, I know you won’t want to wear that tonight. Am I right?”
I nodded in response.

“Right. So, we’ll get you a killer outfit, or rather you get yourself a killer outfit. But keep in mind, it’ll have to be brother approved. I don’t want my baby sister walking around looking like a street walker. You’ll look great, but respectable. Besides, you don’t need that kind of attention from guys. You want to find an outfit that’s not to ‘out-there’. Make sure it reflects your style and personality. Just be yourself basically. Don’t try to put on a persona to impress him. If he showed a shining to you last night based on you being you, then why change that? He must clearly like the real you. So get yourself a great outfit. Then, we’ll go over various scenarios of what could happen tonight to make sure you’re prepared to handle whatever comes your way. Things such as our friends finding out you and Nick might like each other and trying to avoid them giving you shit about it.”

“Yeah. Let’s be real Trey. I can put money on the fact that Jared, Gare, Halvo, and John would be first in line to give me shit about Nick. They’ve always liked to pick fun at me over it. Kennedy would understand, granted he would only tease me privately. He wouldn’t do it in front of our other friends. He’d do it through subtle facial expressions, text messages, and said loud enough that only I could hear it. Ya know, enough to make me blush, which is embarrassment enough. Pat, though he’s crazy, he wouldn’t embarrass me in terms of giving me shit about Nick so much as just providing second-hand embarrassment. Like if Micheal Christ came out and made an appearance, I might just die from second-hand embarrassment.”

“Haha yeah. I’ll try to keep him reigned in. As long as we keep the vodka away from him, he should be fine.”

I had to laugh. I always found it hilarious that poor Pat couldn’t handle the “strong” stuff like the rest of the guys could. He was more like me. We liked our fruity drinks and we didn’t drink them often. However whenever Pat drank enough to make him a bit more than tipsy, all hell would break loose. You thought the Rat Boy days were bad enough, those are nothing compared to seeing the boy drunk.

Shit gets crazy quick.

I instantly felt better about the night knowing I had my big brother on my side. He had my back, and was going to help me keep the other guys from bothering Nick and me; for which I was grateful. I still couldn’t believe that Nick was going to be here tonight. The odds of this happening were still so….I don’t even know. I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

I found my outfit for the night, with Trey’s approval, and we then made our way to Chipolte for lunch. Knowing it was the guys’ favorite, I texted Garrett, knowing they were at practice, to see if they wanted us to bring them food.

Me: Hey Gare. Trey and I are grabbing Chipolte for lunch. Want us to bring you guys any food back?

Garrett: Hang on. Let me check with the guys.

Not even a minute later.

Garrett: Ok. The group unanimously decided on taking a break and meeting you guys over there. Are you at our usual place?

Me: Yes

Garrett: K. See you soon. The guys say hey and that you better still be there when we arrive.

Me: Tell them not to worry. I’ll be there. See ya soon.

I put my phone away and turned to Trey. “So, the guys are taking a break from practice and are joining us.”

“Sounds good. Looks like we’ll need to grab a bigger table.”

I looked around and noticed that we were currently standing at a small two-seater booth, so we did need a bigger table. Luckily there were some empty tables nearby. We pulled those together with the small booth we were already sitting at. We went ahead and ordered our food and sat down at our giant banquet-style table while we waited for the others to arrive. We looked a bit ridiculous; two people sitting at this large table big enough to sit about seven additional people.

I was about halfway through my burrito bowl when I heard a heard of yells and talking coming from the door behind me. This only meant one thing: the guys were here. I looked over and saw the five guys walking in the door and go over to the line to order.

My heart stopped at seeing my favorite long-haired drummer. Truth be told, he was also part of the reason for my departure four years ago. He and Garrett had been best friends for years, and naturally had become friends with me since Garrett and I had always been attached at the hip. As you may guess, we ended up dating…all four years I was in high school. They graduated two years ahead of me. I was held back a year before starting school because of when my birthday fell.) My senior year, things between Pat and I had obviously gotten pretty serious, and they were in the process of recording their first album on a major record label. That put so much stress on our relationship. I had my sights set on going to school to get my degree and he had his sights on his band. I can’t say I blame him, but our lives were going very different directions as we quickly found out. It was hard on both of us, and honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever really gotten over him. He could be crazy as hell, but he was honestly the sweetest, most thoughtful guy I’d ever come across. I was so sad that we weren’t able to work it out when I left for school. We didn’t necessarily leave on bad terms, but we didn’t keep in touch either. I was wondering if Garrett had told the guys I was here yet or not.

My question was answered by me being shaken from my thoughts by a loud clash on the other side of the restaurant. I look over and see a tray full of food on the floor and look behind me as I hear the door slam closed, just missing Pat storming out the door he previously entered through. I look back over at the guys, who were in the process of walking over to the table, and they were frozen in their spots, staring at me wide-eyed as if they couldn’t believe if I was really here or not. I then see John, with a cross look on his face, set his tray of food down, and rush out the door after Pat. Jared and Kennedy just continue to look at me dumb-founded, and gradually make their way over to the farthest side of the table away from me, their eyes never leaving my face. I felt like a caged animal. Garrett struts over like he didn’t witness whatever just happened and sat next to me and began to eat.

Welcome home, Charlie.