Status: slowly updating
Rush Hour
XIII: Are you happy where you're living?
"Really? Do you play bass? Are you familiar with all our songs?"
"I..."
"Yes, he does, and he's familiar with all our songs. He just needs a little time to practice. I'm gonna take him to the dressing room, we'll be back at eight."
Yeah, I know. You didn't understand anything. I didn't either. Let's go back...
Yesterday at 3, Adam was waiting for me sitting on the same couch he always sits on, near the school's entrance. But this time he wasn't alone: John was there as well.
We went to Queens Center and ate pizza. We had to order half pepperoni and half vegetarian (yes, Adam is vegetarian) and John was complaining, so I let him eat first and I ended up eating a slice of each half. I don't complain, both were good.
I don't remember who brought up John's band and he was beyond excited, he even took his cell phone and showed us some songs and a picture of the guys.
"This is Antonio, our singer. This is Eddie, he basically came up with the idea of starting the band. He plays guitar. This is me, obviously. I play guitar. I also sing sometimes. I didn't want to, but Eddie told me to and he's the boss here, so..." John said, chuckling. "This is Jesse, our bassist. Sometimes he's kinda annoying but I love him anyway, haha. And this is Mark, our drummer. As I said before, we're all from Long Island and we met at a tribute show last year. We all love Sunny Day Real Estate, so we started from there."
"Awesome. I remember we used to have a little fanclub, only John and me. A few friends joined us every now and then, when we'd organize meetings and stuff. But yeah, we usually were the only people who attended. We used to meet outside a pub, because we were too young to enter. We'd pretend we were 21 but you know, nobody ever believed us. Especially because we'd try so hard and so often", Adam added.
"And what about you? I feel like we're talking a lot and you're there just looking at us, thinking, 'what the hell are you talking about?'", John asked.
"I've lived here my whole life. Well, I lived in Jersey for two years and a half, supposedly to save money, but I used to spend every weekend here and the money I saved in rent, I spent in transportation, so I moved back and here I am, I haven't left ever since. What else? I play bass, I'm not vegetarian but I love vegetarian food, I'm addicted to tea, all kinds of tea. I don't like soda, and I don't know if this is what you meant when you asked 'what about you?'", I replied.
There was a 5-second silence. Then we all laughed.
"I like you already! Adam, don't look at me that way. You scare me", John said. I don't know if he's this bad at pretending or he's just pretending he's bad at pretending. "No but really, you always surround yourself with rad people. For example, yours truly."
"Yeah, and Michelle", Adam added, between sassy and matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God. Don't get me started, Adam, otherwise I'll end up hating you again." John said, pretending to get up and leave. I was so confused, and apparently both noticed it, because they started trying to explain at the same time.
"Okay, your turn", Adam said.
"Okay, the thing is that this guy over here used to date my sister. But he suddenly left Long Island with no explanation. We assumed he was going to college but he never told us anything and we never heard from him again. I don't hate him because I know him and I kinda saw that coming."
"Hey, don't blame me. I was seventeen, and stupid. I didn't wanna say goodbye so I thought I wouldn't do it and that's it. I mean, I didn't even tell my parents until, like, a few months later? I think dad called you to ask you if you knew where I was."
"Yeah, and Nathan was always asking me. I didn't know anything but he thought I did. He thought you eloped with Michelle but he came over and she was at home so he was so confused... By the way, he said he missed your homemade meals. You sucked at cooking, then you finally learned how to cook a proper meal, just to leave a few months later."
"Let me tell you the truth. I moved here because of a band, Aposiopesis to be exact. Do you remember I didn't attend prom? I didn't attend because I was auditioning. I became their bassist, it was a great opportunity I couldn't miss by any means... or so I thought. They disbanded like three months later and they didn't tell me. They posted a farewell letter on their MySpace and that's it. I guess that's what I get when I leave my hometown without telling anybody."
"Aposiopesis? I used to love them! In fact I was going to audition as well, but my calculus teacher had to schedule the final exam on the same day, at the same time. Ugh..." I complained.
"Really? So you mean we'd have met a few years ago if it wasn't for your teacher?"
"Pretty much. I don't think they'd have chosen me, though. I mean, I barely played a few songs... but you know, I was young and naive, I used to think I could eat the whole world in less than five seconds if I wanted to."
"That's impossible. The world is about 510 million..."
"Adam", John said, glaring at Adam.
"Yeah, I know. It wasn't literal. Well, the point is that I refused to come back because everyone would start asking questions I didn't want to answer, so I ended up filling tons of school applications, and here I am."
"I..."
"Yes, he does, and he's familiar with all our songs. He just needs a little time to practice. I'm gonna take him to the dressing room, we'll be back at eight."
Yeah, I know. You didn't understand anything. I didn't either. Let's go back...
Yesterday at 3, Adam was waiting for me sitting on the same couch he always sits on, near the school's entrance. But this time he wasn't alone: John was there as well.
We went to Queens Center and ate pizza. We had to order half pepperoni and half vegetarian (yes, Adam is vegetarian) and John was complaining, so I let him eat first and I ended up eating a slice of each half. I don't complain, both were good.
I don't remember who brought up John's band and he was beyond excited, he even took his cell phone and showed us some songs and a picture of the guys.
"This is Antonio, our singer. This is Eddie, he basically came up with the idea of starting the band. He plays guitar. This is me, obviously. I play guitar. I also sing sometimes. I didn't want to, but Eddie told me to and he's the boss here, so..." John said, chuckling. "This is Jesse, our bassist. Sometimes he's kinda annoying but I love him anyway, haha. And this is Mark, our drummer. As I said before, we're all from Long Island and we met at a tribute show last year. We all love Sunny Day Real Estate, so we started from there."
"Awesome. I remember we used to have a little fanclub, only John and me. A few friends joined us every now and then, when we'd organize meetings and stuff. But yeah, we usually were the only people who attended. We used to meet outside a pub, because we were too young to enter. We'd pretend we were 21 but you know, nobody ever believed us. Especially because we'd try so hard and so often", Adam added.
"And what about you? I feel like we're talking a lot and you're there just looking at us, thinking, 'what the hell are you talking about?'", John asked.
"I've lived here my whole life. Well, I lived in Jersey for two years and a half, supposedly to save money, but I used to spend every weekend here and the money I saved in rent, I spent in transportation, so I moved back and here I am, I haven't left ever since. What else? I play bass, I'm not vegetarian but I love vegetarian food, I'm addicted to tea, all kinds of tea. I don't like soda, and I don't know if this is what you meant when you asked 'what about you?'", I replied.
There was a 5-second silence. Then we all laughed.
"I like you already! Adam, don't look at me that way. You scare me", John said. I don't know if he's this bad at pretending or he's just pretending he's bad at pretending. "No but really, you always surround yourself with rad people. For example, yours truly."
"Yeah, and Michelle", Adam added, between sassy and matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God. Don't get me started, Adam, otherwise I'll end up hating you again." John said, pretending to get up and leave. I was so confused, and apparently both noticed it, because they started trying to explain at the same time.
"Okay, your turn", Adam said.
"Okay, the thing is that this guy over here used to date my sister. But he suddenly left Long Island with no explanation. We assumed he was going to college but he never told us anything and we never heard from him again. I don't hate him because I know him and I kinda saw that coming."
"Hey, don't blame me. I was seventeen, and stupid. I didn't wanna say goodbye so I thought I wouldn't do it and that's it. I mean, I didn't even tell my parents until, like, a few months later? I think dad called you to ask you if you knew where I was."
"Yeah, and Nathan was always asking me. I didn't know anything but he thought I did. He thought you eloped with Michelle but he came over and she was at home so he was so confused... By the way, he said he missed your homemade meals. You sucked at cooking, then you finally learned how to cook a proper meal, just to leave a few months later."
"Let me tell you the truth. I moved here because of a band, Aposiopesis to be exact. Do you remember I didn't attend prom? I didn't attend because I was auditioning. I became their bassist, it was a great opportunity I couldn't miss by any means... or so I thought. They disbanded like three months later and they didn't tell me. They posted a farewell letter on their MySpace and that's it. I guess that's what I get when I leave my hometown without telling anybody."
"Aposiopesis? I used to love them! In fact I was going to audition as well, but my calculus teacher had to schedule the final exam on the same day, at the same time. Ugh..." I complained.
"Really? So you mean we'd have met a few years ago if it wasn't for your teacher?"
"Pretty much. I don't think they'd have chosen me, though. I mean, I barely played a few songs... but you know, I was young and naive, I used to think I could eat the whole world in less than five seconds if I wanted to."
"That's impossible. The world is about 510 million..."
"Adam", John said, glaring at Adam.
"Yeah, I know. It wasn't literal. Well, the point is that I refused to come back because everyone would start asking questions I didn't want to answer, so I ended up filling tons of school applications, and here I am."