A Gift or A Curse

Blake finally landed in LAX, and the first thing she worried about was; where the hell is she going to find a place to stay? She grunted at Jimmy who eagerly looked around for his friends to come out from the arrival hall. She hadn’t had that much money on her, and the living cost in California was a lot higher than in her town.

In the hall, there were a bunch of people waiting, with their cardboards held up high. Blake read them all. Funny they all waited for the same person named A7X.

What kind of a name is A7X? She thought to herself.

She glanced over at Jimmy. While in the plane, Blake didn’t have the chance to talk to his friends because she was poor. She can only afford a seat in economy class while the whole bunch of Jimmy’s friends was all the way in the business class.

Flying was also a frightening experience for her. She shut her eyes and held on to her seat during the flight. Jimmy stood beside her all the time, his cold hand held on to her wrist when he saw her struggling with her fear of flying. She didn’t have the strength to fight from his touch so she just let it be.

“I know I promised to help you but you gotta understand something. I’m broke.”
“I know that.”
“So I can’t stay here long. I’ll tell them your messages and then I’ll be home first thing, okay?”
Jimmy shrugged. “Okay. Whatever you say.”
“Now where are they?”
“Wait here.” Then off he went teleporting somewhere else. Blake hated when he did that. She looked over at those people who were waiting for the strange person named A7X. They all wore black, have pretty much the same kind of edgy haircut and black eyeliner drew on each of their eyes.

They looked a lot like Jimmy and his friends.

Are they…his fans?

“They’re coming out now.” Jimmy suddenly appeared beside her and looked a bit taken aback at the crowd of swarming fans who screamed when his friends started to walk out of the hall.
“Wow, since when did we become this popular?” Jimmy said to himself.
“So, what do I do now?” she asked, looking up at him.
“Aim for that spiky haired guy. He’s my childhood friend.” He leaned down and spoke next to her ear.

Blake nodded and marched forward, though she felt shiver with Jimmy’s cold presence being so near her.

Oh shoot, I don’t know his name! What should I call him?

She wiggled through the crowd of screaming fans towards the spiky haired guy.

“Sir! Sir! I have a message for you sir! Please hear me out!” she yelled. Never in a million years would she imagine herself shouting at someone so famous, in an airport like this, within a crowd of people.

Brian ignored her, but smiled to the other fans. He stopped occasionally to sign something from them.

“Say you have a message from Jimmy.” Jimmy appeared beside her and whispered to her ear. She gasped. That cold feeling rushed over her again.

“Sir! I have a message from Jimmy!”

Brian looked up. His eyes searching for that voice. His brows frowned; eyes narrowed trying to find the owner of that voice.

Blake wiggled even further with her arm raised.

“Sir! Mister! I have a message for you! From Jimmy!”

Fans who stood around her stopped screaming. They just stared at her.

“How could you say that to Syn? Who are you?” they looked at her in disgust.

“How dare you insult Jimmy’s memory?”

“What a fake!”

Blake swallowed in her throat. She backed away slowly watching them, but that spiky haired guy saw her. He frowned at her, his expression looked angry and confused. Those fans were really pissed off. She didn’t know what to do. Being an introverted person, she’d rather just run away and hide under her blanket at times like these.

“Blake! What are you doing? You were so close!” Jimmy appeared in front of her out of nowhere. She was away from the crowd now, catching her breath.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy. They didn’t believe me. I tried. They got mad at me.”
“Damn it! What did they say to you?”
She looked up to him. “They say I insulted your memory. And that I’m a fake.”
“Son of a bitch. I’ll haunt the fuck out of them, don’t you worry Blake.”
“What did I say about not cursing in front of me?”
Jimmy glared at her. “Sorry.”
“Forgiven.”

He smiled at her. In the midst of trying to catch his friend’s attention, Jimmy can’t help but notice that Blake had been the most patient and nice towards him. And all he did to her was curse, making annoying noise and forced her to humiliate herself in public.

He felt guilty again. Ever since he showed up in front of her, she had been nothing but afraid and embarrassed. She went out of her comfort zone for him. Jimmy took a step to approach her - who was standing there with her backpack on, watching the fans screamed – and hugged her.
Blake gasped. The hug was so cold but so tight that it warmed her heart.

“Thank you Blake. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”
“Hey, I haven’t done anything yet!”
“I know, but you’ve done so much, so far.”
Her stiff hand rose, wanted to pat him on the back but then she suddenly stunned when she turned her head.

That spiky haired guy was there, standing still beside her with so many fans looking, and she looked like she was about to fall because of Jimmy’s hug. But nobody can see Jimmy, so she really looked awkward with her hand rose up to nothing.

Jimmy finally let go of his hug and turned. “GOOD GOD, HANER!”

He used to be so surprised when Brian suddenly appeared like that but right now, his heart didn’t feel anything.

“Who are you?” Brian asked with an angry expression patched on his face.
“I-I’m…Blake Quinn.”
“How did you know Jimmy? You’re his fan?”

Blake glanced around. The other friends of Jimmy started to gather beside him. She looked to her side. Jimmy was also stunned when all of his friends were there, in front of him, finally.

“Yo, Syn. What’s up? Who’s this?” Matthew, the muscular guy asked, hands on his hips.
“A fan of Jimmy. Says she has a message for us.”
“Really? Hi there. You must be a big fan of him. But…you certainly don’t look like it.” Matthew greeted her warmly. She felt relieved instantly when she saw his smile.
“You said it, Matt.” Jimmy nodded, agreeing with Matthew. Blake held back the temptation to roll her eyes at him.
“Um, can I talk to you guys for a second? I have something to tell you.”
“But we gotta run now. Can’t you say it here? And make it quick.”
Blake looked around again. Their fans were still looking at them. She didn’t want to be labeled as a crazy person so she just leaned over and whispered to them.
“I have a message from Jimmy.”
Matthew narrowed his eyes, while Brian put his arms across his chest.
“What?”
“I said I have-”

“I fucking heard what you said but what the fuck are you talking about? You have a message from him? Did you know that he’s already gone? What the fuck are you trying to do here? Do you think that if we fucking believe you, you can become one of us? Just like that?”

Matthew was clearly angry. Jimmy once saw him like this and it was a long time ago. Blake was truly taken aback. Moreover by Matthew’s curse words sprinkled everywhere in his sentence. She glanced at Jimmy beside her, asking for back up. But Jimmy was speechless. He too, didn’t know what to say.

“Come on man, let’s go. We have an interview in an hour.” Zacky pulled Matthew back, and they all dispersed to the front door, walking away from her.

Jimmy had an idea, and he quickly whispered it to Blake.

“BRIAN PICKLED LIVER HANE-DOG!” Blake shouted.

Brian froze and slowly turned around.

Notes