Sometimes Our Saints Are Sinners (TVH sequel)

I heard loud voices in the other room, which inevitably woke my body and my curiosity. I sat up and stretched my body, the aches of sleep running through my arms and out my finger tips. My legs slid over the side of my bed and I stood up silently, tip-toeing to my door. I stared through the crack between the door and the frame, my eyes meeting a sliver of Zach, Johnny, and Jimmy.
“I’m not trying to be insensitive, Zach,” Matt sighed, his body out of my sight. “But was it necessary for all of us to come up here weeks before the wedding?”
“My dad requested to come up here to meet Tammy’s family and get settled in,” Zach replied calmly, his hands resting on his lap. Jimmy and Johnny purred in agreement, both looking like statues.
“We know that,” Brian added, who was also out of my range of sight. “But you’re not seeing our point.”
“Oh, I’m seeing your point clearly,” Zach challenged, sitting up a little bit. I blinked, my wonder eating away at my brain. “You guys are uncomfortable being here because of her, so you’d rather be back home.”
“That is not the point,” Matt and Brian snapped simultaneously, making my jump back a little at the harshness of their words. I wanted to analyze what they were so butt-hurt about, but the conversation did not stop to let me think.
“You guys are acting like it is, though.” Johnny interjected, finally melting from his stiff and statue-like position.
“Shut up, Johnny,” The two invisible men snapped together. I felt heat run through my body, angry that they yelled at Johnny for no reason.
“Don’t snap at Shortshit,” Jimmy barked, his arm sliding around Johnny’s shoulders.
“Are you guys even listening to yourselves?” Matt asked in exasperation.
“Are you listening to yourself?” Zach growled back. I heard angry sighs come from everybody in my living room, and I felt as though I needed to intervene. But I had no clue what they were talking about and I didn’t know if they would be mad that I was eavesdropping.
“Do you guys even care about what happens to the band at this point?” Brian asked angrily. Oh, so that’s what they were fighting about. I had been expecting this. I opened the door a little more so I could continue to listen to their petty fighting while I got dressed.
“Of course we fucking care.” Johnny snapped. I pulled out my purple blouse and black pencil skirt, the outfit that I had been holding for a moment like this. I changed quickly and put my hair in a bun, straightening out the bumps.
“You’re not acting like it.” Matt snapped. I rolled my eyes and put on my Bluetooth, hitting the redial button so that I connect with Guitar Center. The phone rang a few times before I was beeped in.
“Hello this is Guitar Center on 51st street, how may I help you?” The voice said through the phone. I smiled and slid my inch heels on before grabbing the folder of information that Zach had sent me a few months in advance so I could help out the band while they’re up here.
“Hello, this is Jessica; I talked to Marina a few weeks ago about renting out the store for a few hours?” I stated as I paced the room looking at the folder.
“Oh yes, I see you here. Do you need to talk to Marina?” The cashier asked in a kind voice. I smiled and tilted my head a little.
“That’d be great.” I sighed. I heard the voices in the room lower a little, but they continued to bicker like a polygamous family. I was put on hold for a second before I heard another beep.
“Jessica! How are you doing today?” Marina, the owner of the only Guitar Center in Sioux Falls, greeted.
“I’m doing great, Marina. And you?” The voices in the other room rose again, making it almost impossible to hear my own thoughts.
“I’m doing fine.” Marina chuckled, obviously amused by the noise coming through my Bluetooth. “So I’m assuming Avenged Sevenfold is here and ready to work?”
“I guess so. They woke me up with their fighting about how they’re going to go about working on their album or some crap.” I laughed, turning towards the door.
“Well you’re welcome to come here now, and any time you need to use Guitar Center just let me know and I’ll make sure that you’ll be able to get practice in.”
“Thank you so much, Marina. I’ll see you soon… Okay, goodbye.” I walked out into the living room, smirking as all eyes landed on me. I hung up my Bluetooth and sent a wink to Zach. He mimicked my smirk and leaned back into the couch, his arms slung around the back of the couch. “Good morning, boys. Are you up for some music-making today? I have the Guitar Center in town rented out for the day and any other days we need it.”
“Wha—”Brian and Matt looked at Zach, who had a cocky look on his face. Johnny and Jimmy were looking at me in admiration and I smiled at them.
“What were you all bickering about this morning? You probably woke up the whole house.” I questioned kindly, sending a triumphant look towards Matt and Brian. They both looked incredibly dumbfounded and sat down on the loveseat simultaneously.
“Matt and Brian were questioning my ability to get shit done,” Zach stated, rolling his eyes a little. I blinked and shrugged, putting the folder in my armpit so I could fold my hands together.
“Hm, well, we don’t want to keep the kind manager at Guitar Center waiting, do we?” All the men shook their heads and I smiled. “Good. Just let me grab my make up bag and then we can borrow James’ car.” I sauntered over to the bathroom, the click of my heels on the wood reverberating through the apartment, and quickly snatched up my emergency makeup bag. As I made my way back, I was stopped my all the confused stares I was getting by the guys. “What?”
“How did you…” Matt began, his eyes rolling up and down my body.
“You look sophisticated.” Jimmy blurted out, pursing his lips right after the words escaped his lips. “How?”
“And how do you know how to make appointments and stuff?” Johnny added, his eyebrows scrunching together. “You don’t even like ordering takeout.” All the men nodded and I frowned, feeling a little offended.
“I went to college to be a band manager, assholes.” I snapped, feeling irritated by their surprise. Everyone’s eyebrows shot up, including Zach’s. I sighed and made my way to the back door. “I had a life before meeting you all, you know.”
“So are you qualified to be a band manager?” Jimmy wondered as they all followed me down the steps. I waved kindly to my aunt Susie, who was playing with Brooklyn in the pool. I didn’t look back as I made my way to James’ abandoned car, shooting a quick text to James that I was high jacking the Escalade for the day.
“No, I’m not.” I retorted, ruffling through my makeup bag to find the spare key to the car. I checked over my shoulder quickly before throwing it to Zach, who was a few feet behind me. He caught it with ease and went over to the driver’s seat while I opened the passenger seat to myself. “I was in Junior year when Emma hopped on a plane for California and I couldn’t transfer to any school without having to start my schooling all over again.”
“Why didn’t you just stay with your brother until you graduated?” Brian asked as he slid into the back.
“Because I had like a few years after regular college that I had to attend to get my degree and without a friend supporting me it just didn’t seem worth it.” I shrugged. I felt eyes on the back of my head but chose to ignore it as I began putting on makeup. “But I have three years of intelligence in the art of business, so that’s good enough for me.”
“Indeed it is,” Zach sighed, looking over at me to give me a big smile. I smirked and went back to applying my makeup as he started up the car. It was mostly silent in the car, but that seemed to only bother Brian and Matt. Brian was in the trunk of the car, and the mirror I was using aligned my eyes perfectly with his. Every time he looked at me I would flick or wiggle my eyebrows at him, which would send him into a fit of blushing. That went on until I had finished with my professional-looking makeup, shutting the mirror that kept me contact with the ever-so-distant Brian. Zach asked for directions and I would supply them, but my mind was fogged. Both guys now were acting incredibly awkward around me and I was offended, to say the least. I understood Matt’s point of view, he had totally ruined the chance he had to be with me and now he was stuck in the same house for another month, but Brian’s case was driving me up the wall. I knew that I had probably hurt his feelings, but that was what scared me most; Brian had feelings. I didn’t know where I was with the two of them, but I knew I was in deep shit.
“Kid!” Jimmy snapped from the back. I jumped a little in my seat, coming out of my daze in a flash. I looked over at Zach, who was looking at me with concern. He mouthed what’s wrong but I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it in the full car. Zach sighed and twisted his mouth before looking back at the road.
“Where do I go now?” Zach asked as he weaved through the horrors of 51st street.
“You’re turning up at this light and immediately taking a right, if you haven’t already spotted the huge Guitar Center sign.” I snickered, pointing right at it. Zach’s cheeks turned pink and he coughed.
“No, no. Of course I saw that. I was just making sure you were still on Earth.” Zach stated, a smile raising on his mouth. That lying asshole.
“Well I wasn’t. But thanks to Jimmy, you guys no longer have a concert on Mars. Good going Jimbo.” I joked, turning around to wink at Jimmy. He snapped in fingers and frowned, although his lips were twitching.
“Well, we’re here guys.” Zach announced as he stopped the car. I stepped out quickly, wanting to get in before the guys so I could warn Marina. My shoes clicked quietly as I walked through the door and I headed to the register. Waiting for me was Marina, whose long blonde hair was pulled back into a braid so you could see her pale skin and turquoise eyes from under her glasses.
“Hello, Marina.” I greeted, putting my hand out. She shook it and smiled, nodding a little.
“Hello, Jessica. It’s good to finally meet you.” She replied, her eyes glued to my face.
“Same to you.” I said. I pulled out the file from between my arm and set it down in front of her, which took her attention from me to the papers within the manila folder. “So I already planned this out with Zach a few months ago, and so since we’ll only be here until the first week of July, we only plan to rent out the store at most six or seven times. Zach wants to make sure they at least get in once a week, but he thinks for a few weeks we’ll be here twice. Is that okay with you?”
“That’s perfect.” Marina chatted, smiling as she looked at me over the rims of her glasses. We backed away from the papers and stood up straight, Marina’s eyes shooting to the door as the guys walked in. “This is actually a pretty great opportunity for me. I mean now maybe business will boom once people find out that Avenged Sevenfold had practices here.”
“Holy shit, look!” Brian screamed, causing me to look at him. He held up a guitar, which was the Syn guitar that almost every Guitar Center in the Midwest sold. “They have my guitar!”
“Manners, Brian.” I tusked, rolling my eyes at him. Marina laughed and I smiled at her before whistling for Zach to come over.
“So, Zach, if you can just sign here and pick out the dates that you want to rent the store out, we can get this finalized before your next band practice.” Marina chirped happily. I left Zach to do the money portion, since I was nowhere rich enough to rent out an entire store for half of the summer. I went towards the group of men, who all were ogling over the fact that Brian’s guitar was being sold in store.
“So it’s all set up. Zach’s paying for the dates to rent this out, so we should be here about six or seven more times before we return home.” I announced happily. Johnny and Jimmy gave me high fives, but Matt and Brian just shared a guilty look.
“Hey, Kid, we’re sorry we questioned you and Zach.” Matt apologized, not willing to meet my gaze.
“Yeah. Zach told us he had it all worked out, but we didn’t think he could do such a thing from California and we didn’t know you had been in college for business.” Brian added. I sighed and gave them a sympathetic smile.
“It’s okay, guys. I’m sure Jimmy and Johnny didn’t really know what was up, either. Zach wanted to keep it a surprise for you guys.” I explained. At that, Brian and Matt looked even guiltier and they both pulled me into a bone crushing hug. Once they heard my back pop, they let go of me and ran over to the front of the store, nearly tackling Zach to the ground in a group hug. I rolled my eyes and looked at the other two, who were giggling like children. “So, let’s get to work, shall we?”

Notes

Hey, guys. I'm so sorry about the long wait. I could sit here and tell you about how busy I was and all the stuff I was doing this summer that made it impossible to write, but I would be a big fat liar. The truth is that my attention span went into "nope" mode, so I couldn't even write two lines without getting bored and doing something else computer related. I'm a horrible person because I wasted half my summer and now that I go to school next month on the 13th (screw the Midwest) I am up to my ass in summer reading. So I have no clue how long it will take me to update any of my stories. I am so so so so so sorry. DX ~Jessi