Baby I've Got My Eye On You

I giggled as Syn threw me onto the bed of Zacky’s room. I could tell it had been a couple of days since he shaved, his stubble tickling my neck as he planted rough kisses.
“Everyone is down stairs!” I giggled in slight despair.
“Sucks to be them” Syn mumbled as we locked lips. “Your laugh is adorable” he told me. I’d always hated by laugh: I thought I sounded demented, like a possessed doll or something; I didn’t see how it was adorable in anyway, and that in it’s self made me laugh more.
“Stop making me laugh!” I said, “Everyone is going to hear!”
“They’d probably enjoy it”
“You’re so disgusting” I said, though I guess I contradicted myself when I pulled his shirt off. From downstairs, the sound of music became much louder, as though someone had had the impulse to ‘crank it up to 11’; I guess Motorhead has that kind of effect – everyone wants to have their ears totally raped by the Ace of Spades now and again. And yet, even over the rumble of Lemmy’s lungs, my sister’s anger still managed to pollute the atmosphere.

“Did you hear that?” I said, pulling away from Brian for a second. He didn’t have time to answer. The sound of Zacky and Beth screaming at each other – or rather Beth screaming and Zacky trying to shut her up – was approaching the bedroom.
“Y’know, I thought you couldn’t get any less mature, but you fucking proved me wrong again, Zack”
“It’s a fucking party B, we’re just having fun!”
“What!? Soaking Jimmy with my shampoo is not fucking fun Zack, it’s just…ridiculous!”
“For fucks sake it’s just stuff! I’ll get you more shampoo okay!? Just stop making a scene!”
The door swung open, Beth stood there with her cheeks on fire and I swear I nearly saw the steam explode from her ears.
“Get the fuck out of here!” she yelled at Brian and me.
“Jeez, calm down Be-”
“I said fucking go!”

I quickly grabbed my clothes off the floor. Luckily we hadn’t got far enough to be completely naked. We quickly ran down the stairs, still able to hear Beth screaming about the most ridiculous of subjects through the slammed door. I knew she’d woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I suppose it was inevitable that Zacky would be the one who’d have to face the music.
“What!?” Brian said as we entered the living room. Everyone was staring at us – probably because we were both still topless. I flushed cherry-red in embarrassment and Brian stood in front of me until I managed to –fully- dress my self. My cheeks carried on frying even when everyone looked away.
“OH SHUT THE FUCK UP ZACKY.”
Everyone looked to the ceiling, as if Beth’s screams were the voice of god.
“Do you think we should leave…” Johnny said as everyone stayed quiet.
“Nah” Jimmy slurred as he poured his lanky body over the stereo. He turned the volume up as far it would go: I could feel my ear drums pulsating against the bass. “Problem solved” he said and started to head bang to himself in the corner.

“Me and Roz are leaving” Brian declared as he stole my hand from my pocket. I looked at him in surprise. Leaving to go where, exactly?
“It’s raining” I summarised as he pulled me along to the door. Don’t get me wrong, I was desperate to leave, even more desperate to be alone with Brian, but the downpour that had suddenly appeared outside did not look so appealing. It was almost like we were being laughed at, being thrown one obstacle after another.
“And…” I continued, “You can’t drive us, you’ve been drinking.”
Yet Brian refused to be defeated, ripping open the door to face the deathly cold weather that seemed to have appeared out of no where.
“We’ll go to your house” he announced finally, “it’s closer than mine, walking distance.”
I wanted to protest. No way was I walking anywhere in weather like that. Drenched cat was not a look I carried off well. And besides, what were we supposed to do when we got to my house? I knew exactly what Syn wanted, and though it wasn’t dissimilar to my own plans, my Dad being home was kind of an issue! I dug my heals in to Zacky’s lawn as Brian pulled me along; the grass was wet and sloshy, I could feel my shoes fill with sludge. Brian stopped and turned to face me. His expression was one that said ‘hurry the fuck up’, but instead of complaining, he simply used his ridiculous strength to pick me up and fling me over his shoulders with ease.

“Synyster Gates! Put me down right now!” I yelled as I kicked my legs for freedom. He was walking faster with me on his back than I could probably run. What was he? Superhuman? How dare he use his super powers against me.
“Well, walking seems to bother you” he laughed.

It’s funny what you can tell by staring at the ground. From my position on Brian’s shoulders, I didn’t get much of a view, save for his feet and the floor that seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye beneath them. Even so, I could tell we were nearly at my house. We had definitely passed Mrs Cain’s house, the old lady who was always the best for trick or treating on Halloween as a kid. I could tell by the smell. She seemed to be the only one in the neighbourhood who could grow her flowerbeds all year round, and their scent was even potent through the torrential rain.
“I’ll walk from here,” I said, though it was more of a plead than anything. We were about two minutes away from home. From the top of the street, I could see my Dad’s rusty blue Jag parked outside. He had saved all his life to buy that piece of crap. He seemed unable to grasp the fact that Jaguars didn’t impress anyone when they looked like they harboured the existence of an undiscovered breed of rodent. I was quite looking forward to seeing him, I’d called a couple of times during the tour, always making sure it was late so he wouldn’t stay on the phone long. He sounded a lot better, and when I say better, I mean that his words weren’t an unintelligible slur. He sounded happy; I wasn’t betting on him letting Brian stay, whether he liked him or otherwise.

We fell in the doorway, our bodies dripping icy water on to the kitchen tiles. I looked at Brian, his dark hair clung to his face in intricate wet tangles. I laughed, brushing it away so I could see his eyes. His eyeliner had run, which gave no hope for my non-waterproof mascara. The house fostered an unfamiliar scent, but seemed clean and well kept. I felt a great sigh of relief escape from me having noticed no signs of my Dad living like a hobo. I could hear his footsteps coming down the creaking staircase.
“Dad?” I called.
“Roz? That you? I didn’t know you were back.” It was good to hear his voice, and even better to see that the face that matched it had found its smile. “I’d give you a hug kid, but I might drown.”
“You might” I laughed, looking down at my sodden clothes.
“You have a good time? Where’s your sister?”
“She’s at Zacky’s,” I said, sparing him the details, “and yeah, it was a great tour.”
“That’s good to hear.” I didn’t know whether to mention the encounter with his soon to be ex-wife or not. I didn’t imagine it would be something he’d like to hear.
“There’s um, someone I’d like you to meet.” He said nervously. I could feel Brian go tense. I knew exactly what kind of ‘someone’ this person might me, but unlike with my mother, the thought didn’t bother me. I’d be happy to meet someone who’d made my Dad this happy. We went to the living room. She had a familiar face. Creamy skin and red hair that had modest strings of grey emerging. Unless I was mistaken, she lived just a few houses away.
“This is Maggie” Dad said clearing his throat, “She lives at number 6”
“I thought so,” I said with a smile, which relaxed Brian a little.
“We’re umm… well sort of…”
“I get it Dad” I laughed, saving him the awkwardness, “It’s nice to meet you Maggie.”
“And you” Maggie smiled. I imagine she felt uneasy about meeting ‘the daughters’, I didn’t know what Dad had told her about us, but she seemed relieved that I wasn’t going to bite her head off. She seemed shy, a nice woman.

“This is my boyfriend Brian” I said gesturing to him, knowing he was still stood awkwardly in the background, and probably still craving sex. They exchanged a friendly ‘hello’ before Maggie stood up and put on her pale green coat. Brian and I had obviously interrupted the beginning of a date; there was evidence to show that they’d been seeing each other a while, such as the several pairs of female shoes sat by the door and the scent of perfume that I had noticed on arrival.

“We’re going out honey” my Dad said getting his keys, “I hope you don’t mind”
“No I don’t mind.” And I really didn’t. There was nothing I dreaded more than having to discuss the tour with Dad and his new girlfriend. “Um…is it okay if Brian stays?”
Brian stood completely still, as if a sudden movement might send my Dad into a rage. It was quite funny to watch… he seemed really bothered about staying in my Dad’s ‘good books’.
“No that’s no problem” Dad said as he went out the door, “I’ll be at Maggie’s so you can stay in my room and Brian sleep in yours. See ya kid.”

I smirked at the face of horror that emerged on Brian’s face.
“Don’t worry pumpkin, what daddy don’t know won’t hurt him” I said as we went to my room. I wondered if my Dad genuinely thought we’d sleep in separate beds, or was he kidding himself. “And besides, we do need to get out of these wet clothes.”