Love on the Brain

Jade glanced at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t quite believe the girl that was looking back at her. Her hair had been dragged backwards and into her signature ponytail, and her eyes were now heavily framed with dark eyeshadow that covered both of her eyelids.

“I’m a little scared,” the brunette confessed to the twins that were looking at their friend with wide eyes.

“I can’t wait to see Brian’s reaction,” Michelle exhaled, meanwhile her sister just kept looking at Jade, wondering where the real Jade had ended up.

“He’ll lose his shit,” Val commented.

“You need lipstick. Oh my God! How could I forget?” Michelle announced, throwing her favourite red lipstick to Jade who caught it gracefully.

The brunette soon applied a generous layer unto her already rich lips, smacking her lips together in order to even it all out.

“Does it look okay?” she asked, glancing up at her friends.

“More than okay, honey,” Valary sniggered.

“What would your mother say if she saw you like this?” the blonde asked Jade, meanwhile she started straightening out her hair.

“She would probably put me up for adoption,” Jade mumbled. “And start a heavy investigation on finding her real daughter,” she added.

“Jesus,” Val voiced. “You look great, Jade!”

“Thanks, V, but I think my mother has a little different taste,” Jade giggled. “She’d say I look like a prostitute from Brooklyn,”

“Have you ever just done something she seriously didn’t approve of? Aside from getting together with Brian, that is,” Val asked, genuinely curious about how it was for her.

Their parents had always been out of town due to work, and they fully trusted Matt’s parents to step in if something was to happen to the twins. Valary and Michelle had therefore grown up with a lot of freedom, as their parents had never been around much, and when they first were, they would never bother to comment on how they looked.

“No,” Jade admitted.

“Seriously? Never?” Michelle’s eyed widened, as she nearly burned off her hair.

“It just hasn’t occurred to me,” the brunette shrugged. “I mean, I’ve never wanted to do something I wasn’t allowed to do,”

“You’ve never wanted to get a piercing or a tattoo? Or at least dye your hair?” Val was also taken aback by Jade’s life, as she had basically grown up doing the opposite of what her parents would want her to do.

“I told my mom that I wanted to dye my hair a little darker,” Jade admitted. “She said it would look hideous on me,”

“Nonsense,” Michelle said from her seat. “You would look totally badass!”

“Yeah, what the hell! I actually recommend that you do so,” Val sniggered.

“Well, I don’t exactly have hair dye now though,” Jade said jokingly, as she went over her face with some powder.

“Then, my friend, this is your lucky day,” Valary announced, disappearing out of the room for some minutes, before she returned, carrying a bottle of hair dye in her hand. “I’m not gonna use the rest of it,” the raven-haired girl said, throwing the bottle to her friend.

“Manic Panic? Should I be scared?” the brunette giggled, glancing at the little box and noticing the dark red colour.

“Not at all, babe! That colour would look dope on you,” Michelle announced, as she recognized the dark red colour from Val’s earlier days in high school.

“I can’t just dye my hair,” Jade told them.

“Why not? If you want to, then do it,” Val shrugged.

“But first of all, this is your box and I don’t have my wallet with me. Second of all, I can’t just dye my hair without tell my mom,” the brunette insisted.

“Babe, I told you! I’m not gonna use the rest of it, and besides, you’re eighteen. You’ve been a fucking saint your whole life, Jade! Let loose!” Val told her friend. “Your parents won’t stop loving you just because you go a little crazy! And that hair dye won’t stay in your hair forever,”

“I mean, if you really don’t want to, we’re not gonna force you. It’s your hair and you know your parents better than us, but what Val’s trying to say is that you don’t have to follow the rules all the time,” Michelle said, placing her hands on Jade’s shoulders.

Jade thought about it for a moment. She had in fact always done what her parents had wanted her to. She didn’t drink, she barely went to parties and she was always home at an appropriate time. She was the best in her class, going all the way for an ivy league and she had scarified every friendship she’d ever had in order to make her parents happy.

Would they kill me if I just went a little wild? How does it feel to do something without asking for permission?

A cheek smile curved her lips. Michelle and Val were right. She was eighteen, and besides, she wouldn’t change just because her hair did so. She was still the same old Jade, who stayed away from drugs and alcohol and who would work her way all into the gates of Yale University.

What the hell? Just do it!

“I wanna do it,” Jade stated after a while, taking both of the twins by surprise.

“Like now?” Val asked. “Right now?”

“Yeah, why not?” Jade shrugged. “You guys are right. I’ve always done what my parents want me to do. I’m still me, just with a different hair colour,”

“Now that’s an attitude I like!” Michelle exclaimed. “Let’s go into the bathroom! Red hair dye is a fucking bitch!” she told her friend, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her towards their bathroom.

This would be one interesting adventure.

***

Brian looked down at his guitar, his fingertips feeling rigid after all the playing, as he snatched his beer from on top of the coffee table and took a swig from it, his mouth holding unto the bitter taste.

“Are we ready for our second gig, guys?” Matt came in after having pause outside, the smell of smoke lingering under Brian’s nose.

“Ready as hell,” Johnny sniggered from his seat, his hand hooked around his ankle that was resting on his thigh.

“Now we even have a bassist, so people can’t trash us!” Zacky announced happily, toasting with Johnny as their beer cans smashed into each other.

“And I got the shit!” Jimmy yelled with excitement, fishing up a little bag of green shit.

This would be a good night.

“Where’s the girls?” Matt asked.

“And the Berry’s? They have our shit,” Zacky mused.

“Michelle said something about running late for tonight,” Johnny mumbled, his eyes fixed on his phone.

“What the hell? This is a fucking gig, not a fashion show,” Matt groaned under his breath.

“Keep it in your fucking pants, Shads,” Jimmy said from behind his drum-kit. “It’s not gonna fall off just because you have a little break,” the drummer went on.

“Fuck you!” Matt frowned at his drummer. “Why aren’t you lashing out on Syn as well?” he asked.

“Oh, come on. It’s obvious that Brian hasn’t gotten anything in weeks!” Jimmy expressed, meanwhile Brian only rolled his eyes. “I don’t think Jade’s gonna give away her V-card just like that,” he said in honesty.

“Fuck off,” Brian growled. “Jade and I have amazing sex. She’s the best chick I’ve ever had in bed,” he announced.

“Okay, that was more than what I needed to hear,” Zacky said.

“Have you seriously gotten her in bed already?” Matt asked, genuinely surprised, as he considered Jade to be one of Brian’s harder conquests.

“As if a girl like Jade would ever touch your dick!” Jimmy half-shrieked.

“Yeah, of course we’ve had sex,” Brian answered, acting as though it was a stupid question. “Did you really think she could resist me?” he cocked his eyebrows at his friend.

“Yeah, I actually do think so,” Matt answered dryly, before he could feel a buzzing sound coming from his jeans. The singer soon fished for his phone and saw Val’s name on his screen.

'We’re running a lil late 2 night, babe. You’ll understand why;-)'

Matt stared at his phone for at least one minute, cursing under his breath, as he was nervous as hell about the show tonight. He pressed his phone into his ear waiting impatiently for his girlfriend to pick up and calm his nerves.

“Val? Where the hell are you guys? Are you getting a fucking tattoo or something?” he asked her, to which she only chuckled.

“I’m sorry, hot stuff! I told you already, you just have to wait and see. We’re heading into the car now, see you in a bit,” the raven-haired girl didn’t even let her boyfriend finish before she hung up.

“Did you get something out of her?” Zacky asked, holding his beer up to his mouth.

“She said it would be worth the waiting,” Matt mumbled back, not quite understanding what had gone through Val’s head.

“I bet they’re just fashionably late,” Johnny tried to insure the singer.

“You do not get to call it fashionably late when you’re running an hour late!” Matt half-sneered, as he decided to go out for another cigarette.

“That horny motherfucker,” Jimmy said, shaking his head and grinning.

The singer soon returned, this time companied by the Berry’s, who were dragging on a shitload of stuff, giving Zacky some peace in his mind as they bought new strings for his guitar.

“Finally!” the raven-haired boy announced.

“We do so much for you guys,” Matt Berry told them, as he put down one of Brian’s guitars, not quite sure which one the guitarist wanted to use for the night.

“Yeah, you better become fucking famous,” Jason told them.

“We’re working on it,” Johnny insured him.

“Where the hell are the girls?” this time it was Brian who expressed his impatience. The show was drawing closer, yet the girls were nowhere to be found.

The giggling sound of female voices soon caught their attention, as Valary and Michelle stepped into the room, both of them making the guys widen their gaze.

“Val! Michelle! What the fuck did you guys do?” Matt all but yelled at the twins, as he looked at their hands.

“Did you fucking murder someone on your way here?” Jason let out, not able to hold it back.

“What the living hell?” Jimmy shrieked.

All of them referred to the same. Both of the twins had dark red stains on their hands, which pretty much looked like old blood. As the guys kept staring and screaming, the girls couldn’t help but giggle at their reactions.

“Seriously, Val. Answer me,” Matt spoke, this time sounding serious, as he backed away from his girlfriend. “Did you guys fucking kill someone on your way here?”

“I mean, not literally,” Val responded.

“Only metaphorically speaking,” Michelle added.

“What the hell is going on?” Zacky asked, still shocked about their entrance.

“Jade, darling! You can come out now,” Valary called, as the now dark-haired girl stepped into the room.

Damned.

It literally looked as though the guys had lost their jaws, as they looked at Jade. Her once light brown hair had been replaced by dark red, nearly crimson red, which was glowing under the poor light in the room. Her eyebrows looked more styled than usual and the eyeshadow around her eyes stole most of the attention.

Brian’s eyes looked down at her outfit, noticing her Metallica t-shirt that was hanging over the edge of what he recognized as Val’s denim skirt. The skirt was short and underneath it he could see a pair of new tight fishnets.

“Who the hell are you and what have you done to Jade?” Zacky let out, being the first to break the silence.

“Yeah, what the fuck!” Jimmy shrieked, not believing the girl that was standing in front of him.

“I mean, I don’t mind if you stay for a while, but who the hell are you?” Jason chuckled, before he received a death glare from Brian.

“We just thought it would be a fun thing to do for the night,” Jade admitted, brushing it off as though it was nothing, even though she knew that the guys would need a little time in order to recover from this.

“You crazy girl,” Brian chuckled, his breath still stuck in his throat as he walked up to her and pulled her against his chest. “You crazy fucking girl,” he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

She looked great. More than great she looked hot. The guitarist brushed his lips passed hers, not wanting to smear her lipstick across her face, meanwhile he at the same time wanted go somewhere private and do all the good things to her.

“I hope it’s not too much,” she told him, linking her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

“You’re the hottest girl I know of,” Brian insured her, kissing her forehead.

“Gates! Get your hands off of her! We have a show to play!” Zacky told his fellow guitarist, ready to yank him off Jade if he had to.

“Yeah, you guys have plenty of time to fuck after that,” Jimmy added.

“I gotta go,” Brian said, cupping her face and pulling her lips against his. “See you soon, hot stuff,” he winked at her, before he grabbed his guitar and followed his friends.