Commit This to Memory

Justin couldn't remember why he was on the subway in the first place; he didn't like them and despite the fact that he needed to get from A to B, he would have preferred not to be there. As he moved down the car looking for a place to sit, the train lurched forward. He lost his footing and fell face first into an empty seat, someone's knees jabbing him in the stomach.

"Well hello," the owner of the knees said.

"Betty!" Justin's face split into a grin. He moved into the seat his face had been occupying. "What are you doing here in New York?"

"Do you even remember me saying I was coming to New York?" She closed the book she was reading and raised her eyebrows.

"Vaguely," he muttered recalling a few days ago.

"So the real question is why are you here? You didn't really think I was serious about the whole stalking thing?" Her tone was serious but she was smiling.

"You weren’t serious about the stalking thing? Balls, I'd better leave then." He stood up but as the train lurched forward again, he fell back into his seat. "Actually I'm here for a couple of shows Josh booked. But what are you here for, you never told me."

"A friend of mine had a fashion show he was having and begged me to come support him."

"So does that mean you're free to do stuff?"

"Why, what'd you have in mind?"

"Nothing too special, I wondered if you wanted to hang out before tonight's gig."

"I can't hang out because I promised to spend sometime with Alex but maybe I could go to the show, where is it?" Betty looked genuinely disappointed, but Justin couldn't help but feel a flicker of rage. Who was this Alex and why was he more important than Justin was?

"Don't worry about it, it's really no big deal," he mumbled, wishing he hadn't brought up the stupid subject.

"Yes it is, don't be a butt-face. Tell me when and where, I want to go." She couldn't understand why he was getting so defensive all of a sudden. It was Alex, the man was a fashion designer for Christ’s sake, if that didn't scream gay, she didn't know what would. Sighing, Justin told her where to go right before she got off; half-hoping she would show up, half hoping she wouldn't.

Several hours later, Betty and Alex were standing outside the venue, about to go in. "Come on Bee do we have to do this?" Alex whined looking very out of place in gray skinny jeans tucked into stylish black boots and white shirt/red vest combo. Betty and everyone else were dressed in faded jeans and old band shirts.

"I told you to dress down," Betty replied scraping her cigarette out with a worn pair of Converse.

"This is dressed down."

"Alex, you may be a fashion designer but you have no sense of how to dress for certain things." Alex looked like a hurt puppy. If she hadn't known he'd spent years in front of the mirror perfecting that look, Betty might have felt some sympathy for him. But as it stood, she just laughed and dragged him inside.

"Now be nice," she said once they'd found a table. "I don't know what they sound like but I can bet it's nothing you'd like."

"Oh goodie," Alex muttered, sulking in his chair.

Justin peered at the crowd from offstage. "Shit she came," he muttered.

"Who came?" Jesse asked moving over for a look.

"Betty."

"Ah the bookworm-Starbucks-Laundromat-wants-to-marry-you girl?"

"The one and only, look at the guy she's with, I can't compete with that." The person she was with was smartly dressed and had the face of a Roman god. Suddenly Justin felt very shabby in his Jawbox shirt and jeans.

"Don't worry man," Jesse said patting him on the back. "He's not her type."

"And you would know?" Justin retorted, but Jesse was already gone.

"You ready Justin?" Josh asked putting on his guitar. Justin nodded, more to reassure himself than Josh. "Then let's do this."
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"Holy shit that was amazing!" Betty screamed to the band after the show. She gave Justin a huge hug and for a moment it looked like she might kiss him. Instead, she turned to the rest of the band. "I was totally blown away. You guys are not the nerds I thought you were."

"And what's wrong with nerds?" the drummer asked looking mildly offended.

"Nothing," Justin interjected. "It's just when I told Betty about the band, she said we looked more like a bunch of nerds than rock stars." To Betty he whispered, "Tony's a huge Star Wars fans so don't get him started on nerdy-ness or geeky-ness."

Alex cleared his throat. "Oh right sorry," Betty said, slightly flustered. "This is my friend Alex. Alex this is..." She trailed off realizing she didn't know all of their names.

"Josh," waved the slightly balding guitarist.

"Matt," the dark haired bassist said.

"Tony," the drummer said raising his hand slightly.

"Jesse," the energetic keyboardist, with the big nose, said bowing deeply.

"And I'm Justin, resident extraordinaire," Justin said saluting Alex.

"Only in your head," said Betty and Matt. Justin's mouth hung open as the two laughed at their synchronicity.

"That hurts you guys, really. Hurts right here," Justin said placing his right hand on the hem of his jeans. "That is where the heart is right? It's either the heart or the brain there. I can't remember I failed Biology."

"You're such a perv!" Betty laughed and shoved him. Because some higher power wasn't paying attention to Justin's poor twisted soul, he was standing in front of an uneven piece of concrete. Gravity took care of the rest.

"Ow, shit Betty that hurt!" Justin yelled from his position on the ground.

"I like this girl," Jesse said laughing and hugging her from the side. "Let's hold on to her for a while shall we? I'm going to name her Squishy and she shall be mine and she shall be my Squishy."

"Finding Nemo, said by Dory after finding a tiny jellyfish," Betty said. Everyone stared at her. "What?"

"You knew what movie the quote was from and why it was said," Josh said in amazement. "I didn't think anyone but Justin did stuff like that."

"'That rug really tied the room together'," Justin said suddenly, still on the ground.

"The Big Lebowski, said by pretty much everyone thoughout most of the movie."

"'There's a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.'"

"You're giving me easy ones. Annie Hall, said by Alvy after seeing a spider in Annie's bathtub."

"'Did you just say he contacts you through a fucking bird?'"

"Oo I love that movie. Ghost Dog, said by Sonny when the mobsters get together to try and track down Ghost Dog,"

"I'm keeping her," Justin said getting up. "Anyone who's that quick at recognizing movie quotes can't be set loose. They need to be with fellow movie geniuses. Plus my former roommate just left me for a warmer climate and I need help with the rent. So Betty, how about it?"