The Biggest Fan

The Park, Magazines And Tea.

“Oh, a swing! Wanna try it?”, Bert suddenly asked as we walked by a park.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Haha, I love the park. It’s so relaxing just to be here, to smell the fresh air and stuff.”
“Me too. Sitting on a swing feeling the wind in your air as you’re at the top, makes me feel free”, I said as I sat down on the swing next to him.
“Couldn’t agree with you more”, he responded, closing his eyes before he started swinging.

I swung forward and backwards, going up and down with my feet.
My hair was drawn to the back of my neck as I felt the wind in my long blonde hair.
Bert’s hair, black and shoulder-long, was almost glistening in the sun because of its grease.
Neither one of us had bothered combing our hair today, but it didn’t really matter.
We didn’t say a word to each other, we just sat in each of our swings going up and down.
The sun was blinding me as I reached the top, but that didn’t matter either.
It felt good.

“Do you often do this?”, I asked, looking at Bert with curious eyes.
“Whaddaya mean?”
“Like, taking some time off like this and go to the park?”
“Never”, he responded, slowing down a bit before lighting a cigarette.
“Oh…”
“And that’s what’s so great about everything right now. I’m able to relax and make decisions right away. Hell, if it wasn’t for you, I’d still be in the tour bus, sittin´ doing something completely lame and wastin´ my time.”

“Yeah, I would’ve done the same thing too if I was home. I’d be sitting all alone in my room listening to the loud volume from the TV in the living room, my mom getting more and more drunk, while I’m having no friends to hang out with because every single one of them either has to stay at home or they’re just lying and telling me they’re too busy. So therefore, being here with you, just beats everything right now.”

Bert didn’t respond, something I was glad he didn’t do.
He smiled at me, that was all he did.
There were surprisingly no other people in the park, just us as the silence was occasionally being broken by the San Francisco traffic and a couple of birds singing from the several trees around here.

“What’s the time?”, I asked, feeling it was getting late.
“Almost 5 pm. We should get goin´.”
“Yeah.”

As we got off the swings, Bert took the bag that was lying next to him, containing the magazines we’d purchased earlier, before we started walking down the street where we had come from.
It didn’t take long before we were back in the bus.
Somehow, the way into the city seemed so much longer than finding our way out.

“Hey, guys! Where the hell’ve you been?”, Jepha asked as we entered the bus.
“Nowhere special. Just in some stores, in the park n’ stuff”, Bert responded, setting down the bag.
“Oh. Whatcha got there?”, he then asked, pointing at the bag.
“A couple of magazines. I bought ‘em for Lina.”
“Cool. Can I look?”
“Sure”, I said, handing him the bag.
“Which magazines are they?”
“Music magazines”, I replied, sitting down next to him as Bert headed into the bathroom.
“You like readin´ these?”, Jepha said, turning page 1.
“Yeah, they’re my favorites How come?”
“Nothing special. I just remember reading magazines like these myself.”

“Usually, after reading them, I like to cut out the pictures and stuff and hang them on my wall in my room.”
“Oh, awesome! Got any of us?”, he asked humoristically while grinning.
“My wall’s full of them”, I answered. I wasn’t kidding.
“Oh, look. An add of us announcing our tour!”, Jepha commented enthusiastically, pointing at a small add in one of the issues.

“You see, if I was at home now, I would’ve got some scissors and cut it put and hung it on my wall”, I said smiling.
“Haha, you’re obsessed, you freakin´ roadie”, he laughed, bumping into my shoulder as he turned to the next page.

“Is it anything interesting, Jeph?”, Bert asked, coming out of the bathroom.
“Hell, yeah. I found an add about our tour in here.”
“Rad. Found anything else?”
“Nope, not yet. I’m just on page 6.”
“Okay, cool. Where are the other guys, by the way?”, he then asked, noticing Quinn and Dan weren’t there.
“They’re doin´ the sound check now. I was just gonna have a cup of tea before I went too.”

“You have tea”, I asked, not being able to hide my excitement.
“Yeah, want some?”
“Sure! Do you have blackcurrant or green tea?”
“Not sure about the blackcurrant, but I do have green. Wait, I’ll go have a look”, Jepha said, heading into the kitchen area.
I was craving so much for a cup of tea right now.
It had been days since I last had one.

“Don’t tell me you like tea too?”, Bert complained, rolling his eyes with a smile.
“I love it.”
“Haha. Jeph’s crazy about it ever since he stopped drinkin´ coffee.”
“Shut up, Bert. At least I’m healthy”, Jepha said, coming from the kitchen.
They sounded like two brothers arguing.

“And sorry, Lina, we only have green tea. Is that okay?”
“Sure, green tea sounds great”, I smiled.
“Sugar?”, he asked from the kitchen.
“Uhm, do you have some sort of sweetener?”
“Yeah, sure. You want that instead?”
“Yes, please”, I responded, sounding like a little child.
“How many?”
“… Four?”
“Haha, you’re just like me. I always take four too”, Jepha said enthusiastically as he took four sweeteners in my cup of tea.
“What can you do? Tea is addictive”, I replied with a smile, seeing him coming from the kitchen.
“Right on, dude.”

I smiled at him, receiving his grin as he handed me my cup of tea.
We both leaned back in the tiny brown-ish sofa, each having our cup of tea in our hands, drinking the hot content carefully.
“Hey, we’re like best friends now. Tea best friends!”, Jepha then laughed.
“Haha, I guess we are”, I said, receiving his smile as I saw him hide his eyes behind his cup while drinking his green tea…
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another update, guys. (:
man, i love reading those magazines, they're awesome.
and tea is great, right? ;D

xo,
lina.