Water and Salt
“Just a bit violent for such a nice lady, don’t you think?”
3:17 AM, Poppy and Addison’s room, Sacred Heart School for Girls
“So? Did you give him your phone number?”
Addison turns around, annoyed by her own bed sheet. Her bed sheets annoy her, her life annoys her, even the idea of having to live in that room for 6 more months annoys her. She hears Poppy squeal in excitement.
“Yes! I can’t wait for him to call me!”
They both don’t say anything else.
Addison doesn’t know that, but Poppy not only gave him her phone number, but she also gave him her panties. You know, just because.
“Because… He’ll call me, right?”
Addison snorts. She wonders how her friend could be so naïve about anything and how she could get lost in such sentimentality that didn’t last longer than a few smiles and a good fuck. Speaking of which…
“Of course he’ll call you. But why did you tell him you’re a virgin?”
The noise Addison hears is Poppy shrugging, then turning on her side to look at her friend.
“I don’t know. Don’t boys like when girls say that?”
Addison wants to say something, but she isn’t sure there’s something to say. She’s known Poppy since they were kids but she still doesn’t understand her. She stopped trying to understand her a long ago. She’s seen her fall in love and then forget about the guys she’s dated (and fucked) so many times that she never knows what to tell her. However, there’s something she really needs to tell her and she decides to speak mostly because she’s her friend and she knows Poppy would do the same. Or at least, that’s what she likes to think.
“He's not a boy, Poppy. He’s a man.”
“He’s a rockstar!”
“Yes, but rockstars are still human beings. It’s not like they’re from another species or something.”
Her friend isn’t listening to her, Addison knew it. She hears her put her headphones on and lose herself into that forbidden love story with an older man; a man her mother would never approve of. It’s difficult to make eighteen-year-old girls understand that Romeo and Juliet lasted for three days and ended with six deaths.
Addison closes her eyes, trying to fall asleep and meet the monsters that her nightmares have brought with them since she has memory. At first she was scared of them, then they became her friends and started wishing they would take her to their world, letting her stay with them forever. But this wasn’t possible. Poppy, however, takes her headphones off, which makes Addison open her eyes and stare at the darkness around her again. She slightly turns her head and looks at Poppy, who can’t tell if her friend is awake or not.
“Listen, how do you think the nun knows them?”
Addison smiles. The nun being Virginia Collins. She likes her, the way she’s always kind and devoted, the fact that she always hums a song when she’s in the library looking for a new book and that she always looks so calm; except those moments – that Addison notices and sometimes even waits for – when she finds herself thinking of something so deep that her melancholic look is beautiful and breaks Addison’s heart. Addison likes how she knows so much about anything, that she’s smart and witty, and that one time even told her she likes rock and metal. She would’ve never guessed it. She likes it when Virginia sees her alone in the schoolyard and she sits down next to her, then takes her perfectly white shirt of her skirt and hits her softly with her shoulder, encouraging her to tell her about those things, they both perfectly know, Addison will never tell her about. She likes her because she’s so down to her, even if the principal introduced her to them as the most perfect daughter, student and woman ever, the role model every student should have, almost trying to make them hate her.
This is why Poppy hates her and calls her ‘nun’, almost identifying her with those mythological creatures she hates so much. Poppy thinks she’s so full of herself, annoying and strict, but she knows she’s lying, because Virginia is far from being like that. She’s kind. And strong. And such a good person.
“Addie, are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, I fell asleep.” She lies, “What did you say?”
“I asked you how you think the nun knows the guys.”
The guys. Addison smiles.
“I think she knew Zacky, actually. Maybe they were friends. She’s not much younger than them, after all.”
“Hm.” Poppy says, not exactly satisfied with the answer, but thankfully she doesn’t say anything else.
Addison sighs. She can finally sleep now.
3:17 AM, Virginia Collins’ home, 7349 Ocean Heights
Gin keeps moving in bed. Seeing him again gave her such a beautiful heart attack she’s sure she was allowed to have. Andrew barely moves when she gets up to get some water. She walks down the stairs and immediately finds herself in the living room. She looks around as she’s supposed to recognize the furniture she’d picked. Andrew gave her his credit card and let pick everything for the house, from the furniture to the tiles of the bathroom, from the curtains to the carpets, from the appliances to the bed sheets.
Why on earth did I come back to Huntington Beach?
She could’ve stayed in UK and go to Oxford to get her post-graduate diploma. She could’ve accept that job offer as an English literature teacher in Paris. But no, she packed her stuff even before to reply to the principal of that girls’ school where she had spent three years of her life. The principal was offering her a job in their school, promising her she could even pick the course, so she obviously accepted and moved back to Huntington Beach. How dumb. Dumb, dumb, Gin.
Then Andrew found a job as a researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a part-time job at UCLA, so of course she followed her fiancé back to California. They lived in a loft in Los Angeles the first couple of months and then they moved to Huntington Beach, deciding that living in a small city was much better. Not to mention the fact that now that they both had a stable job and a big house, they were finally ready to get married, right? No. Besides, she was closer to her parents and this was good, right? Of course. How dumb.
She shakes her head and heads to the kitchen, deciding to make herself some tea. Yes, seeing him gave her a wonderful heart attack. And, other than that, she was really happy she got to see Zacky again.
The next day – 5:30 PM, Spin Records, music store on Main St
He sees her before she sees him, and he smiles widely. He doesn’t even know why. He stands behind her and moves his head over hers to see the vinyl she’s holding in her hands and why she’s staring at it with such intensity.
“Johnny Cash. I like it. Just a bit violent for such a nice lady, don’t you think?”
She jumps at his words, but she smiles. “Who exactly do you think I am? Hi, Almost Easy.”
Jimmy’s smile gets even wider and Gin finally turns around, holding the vinyl to her chest.
“Hi, little fairy.” He says, looking up and down at her.
“Are you trying to intimidate me with your creepy look or something?” She asks, almost amused.
“No, I’m just appreciating the view.”
“Jimmy, I’m wearing an old sweatshirt that it’s two sizes bigger than mine. There’s not much to appreciate.” She says, not at all scared of the fact that he’s standing so close to her or of that look of his. It’s the second time ever that he’s heard her say his name and he still can’t decide what to think about it or how to feel about it.
“I’m an observer.” He winks and she can’t help but start laughing, which surprises him. Thankfully, another man shows up behind Jimmy, so neither of them has the chance to say anything else.
“Jimbo, I found that–Oh. Hi, fine ass.”
Gin doesn’t seem bothered by the new nickname. She smiles softly at the man. “Hi, Brian.”
Jimmy gently grabs the vinyl Gin is holding. “I’m buying you this.” He says, without giving her the chance to say something.
“What happened while I was searching for that Blur shit?”
“It’s happened that he showed up behind me like Dracula, then we quickly commented on Johnny Cash’s work, then he… Well, he analyzed me through the sweatshirt with his superpowers and then you arrived.”
Brian nods at her words, not really impressed. “Nice report. Look, has Zacky called you?”
Gin looks at him, slightly confused. “No, why? Was he supposed to call me?”
Brian rolls his eyes as his arms fall down his body. He looks like he’s tired of everyone’s bullshit. “Duh. Of course. That dumbass was supposed to invite you at the Christmas barbecue at my place.”
“Well, you could’ve called me.” She says. “I mean, it’s at your place, right?”
Brian looks at her, confused. She has a point.
“But he’s got your number.”
“And couldn’t you ask for it?”
He’s even more confused now. Damn, she is smart. Gin looks around for a moment, waiting for an answer and suddenly feeling embarrassed. She’s really sweet, he thinks, only to also think that if thinking that a woman is sweet has to mean that he’s turning gay. Johnny had the same thought about himself the other day, but Brian doesn’t know this.
“What? Is this not possible? The members of Avenged Sevenfold can’t ask each other about old friends’ phone numbers?”
Well, no. Brian clears his throat and notices how Jimmy’s walking back to their direction, so he decides to speak, not wanting his best friend to notice how dumb he looks like.
“We’d really like if you came to my Christmas barbecue. You can bring, I dunno, beers if you’d like and your parents. The Bakers will be there and I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
“Thank you, I’ll definitely come.” She says and grabs a pen on the counter not far from where they are, then gently grabs his hand. “This is my number. Text me the address.”
Brian holds back a laugh because the tip of the pen slightly tickles his hand.
“I will. Next Saturday at 6 PM. Be on time.”
“Saturday? What a bummer, Andrew will be in Seattle.”
Two voices speak at the unison: “Who is Andrew?”
Jimmy came back with a small package. He hands it to Gin, who takes it and smiles at him.
“Andrew is my boyfriend.” She isn’t sure why she said ‘boyfriend’ instead of ‘fiancé’. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go. Thank you, Jimmy. It means a lot to me.”
She kisses their cheeks then walks outside, looking back into the store to smile at them one last time. Jimmy and Brian stand there, staring at the corner of the street where she just disappeared. Suddenly, the guitarist turns his head to his best friend.
“Thank you, Jimmy. It means a lot to me? Since when do you let women tell you stuff like this? You’re so gay.”
“Ask your mother.” Jimmy says but right when he’s about to say something else, Brian scares the shit out him when he jumps and checks his own hand. He was leaning against the counter with his hand and now he’s afraid the number’s gone. It’s still there.
“What is it?” Jimmy asks and Brian smirks.
“Gin’s phone number.”
“What? I buy her vinyls and she gives her phone number to you? What the fuck is this shit?”
“No need to be such a gentleman. You need to be more active; if you were, like yours truly, you’d have her phone number. Besides, you’ve already fucked her sister.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Besides, weren’t you supposed to call little girl?”
“How about you mind your own fucking business?”
“And since when my fucking business and your business are two different businesses?”
Jimmy groans, but he knows he’s right. “You’re right.”
“Anyway, she said she’s coming to the barbecue.”
They look at each other for a brief moment, neither of them is commenting Brian’s last words.
“Who the fuck is this Andrew, by the way?” Jimmy asks, more to himself than to Brian.
7:43 PM, Zacky Vengeance’s house, 843 Shirley St
“Who is it?”
“Hello? Zacky?”
Obviously. Zacky sits up in bed and reaches out to grab the clock on the nightstand. He was supposed to sleep for 15 more minutes.
“What do you want, Brian?” He asks, trying to wake up.
“Were you asleep?”
“Of course I was! You’re calling me in the middle of my nap!”
“What even? It’s not even 8 PM!”
“Exactly. You know I always have my nap from 6:30 PM to 8 PM!”
“You’re such an old man. I’m pretty sure you’ll end up at a nursing home soon and we’ll have to look for another guitarist.”
“I need my sleep to keep my beautiful face young.”
“I already can see it. Nursing home: “Cypress Hill”, single room, ocean view.” Brian says, “I
won’t pay for that shit, though.”
“Stop it. What do you want?”
“Did you call Gin?”
Zacky frowns at those words and heads back against the headboard of his bed.
“Not yet.”
“I perfectly know that. Do you know why I know that? Because I’ve met her less than two hours ago at Spin Records, she was buying some Johnny Cash stuff.”
“Always said that good people always listen to Johnny Cash.”
“Didn’t know you were such a psychologist. I told her, by the way. About the barbecue.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“And she even gave me her phone number.” Brian says, excitement in his voice.
“Oh, look at you! All happy and shit. Has she even left a sweet kiss on your cheek?”
Brian gets the irony in his friend’s voice. “Actually, she did.” He admits. Okay, saying ‘and she even gave me her phone number’ in such a happy voice by a nearly thirty-year-old man sounds a little… Stupid. But there’s someone who’s been even stupider.
“Jimmy bought her a vinyl.”
“What?”
“Jimmy bought her the Johnny Cash vinyl!”
“Which one?”
“Folson Prison Blues.”
“So romantic. If he ever thinks about getting her something else, please, help him pick something more appropriate for a girl because I have the feeling he might show up with Edgar Allan Poe’s The Complete Tales and Poems. He’s such a pro when it comes to gifts.”
“She already had it in her hands! He simply got it and paid for it.”
“Even more romantic. Please tell me, when he came back, did he hit her in the head with it like people used to in the Stone Age?”
“You’re so funny.”
“I’ve always been.”
The silence that follows Zacky’s words is light, yet they both can tell something’s going on.
“Look.” Zacky says, “Treat her well, alright? Don’t be dicks as usual.”
“Look at you, being all sweet and kind. Since when do you care so much about other people’s well being?”
“I mean it, Brian. True, we were friends when we were kids and we saw each other after so many years, but I have a beautiful memory of her. She was such a special girl.”
“If she played with you, of course she was a special kid. I mean, there must’ve been something wrong with her.”
“No, Brian. You don’t get it. I’m not kidding.”
Brian doesn’t say a word. Instead, he thinks about Zacky’s word. He usually doesn’t care about other people, unless they’re friends, but the way Zacky’s speaking is making him think that maybe, maybe he needs to be careful this time.
“We don’t wanna kill her or something, Zacky. We’re not animals. Chill.”
Zacky sighs heavily.
“Do you remember what happened with her sister, right? We don’t wanna live that shit all over again.”
Brian frowns, suddenly clouded by those words. “No.” He says firmly, “We don’t want to.”
10:13 PM, Virginia Collins' place
The ding of the ringtone announces a new text and makes Andrew turns his attention to the table: it’s Gin’s phone.
“Babe, you got a text.” He says.
Gin reaches out to grab her phone but she does it too quickly to be a natural movement, but Andrew doesn’t seem to notice. He doesn’t even think about it. She smiles, it’s a text from Brian. There’s the address, the time and a bunch of unique greetings.
What’s up, fine ass! Brian, here. The God of guitar…
What a man.
“Why are you laughing?” Andrew finally asks, watching her sit down next to him on the couch.
“Nothing. Have I told you I met an old friend when I was out for dinner with mom and dad, the other day?”
Andrew frowns, but she can read the questioning look on his face. It’s almost as if he’s trying to see if she’s lying or something.
She chuckles. “Don’t make that face. We used to be close friends because our moms are close friends since forever. It’s nothing strange.”
He smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. They’re watching an old Cary Grant movie, one of those man Gin loves. Andrew knows it. She loves them because can sing and dance and they’re so fascinating it almost seems like they have their own scent. A scent of adventure. Oh, don’t look at me like that, I know pictures usually don’t have scents. Some do, though. This is how she tried to explain to him, once, after a few glasses of wine. Andrew doesn’t know it, but Gin is thinking about those pictures that don’t have scents.
She thinks of all those polaroid pictures she used to receive, closed into white envelopes, months after their shipping; because this was how Lena told her she was happy. Sometimes there was a sentence or two on the back of the pictures, sometimes just a date, other times just a name. Lena was never in the pictures, there was always somebody else; a person, a group of people, a landscape. Every picture had a special detail Lena wanted her sister to have, to see, to keep in her heart, to make her part of her freedom and her life.
Yes, pictures don’t have scents. But some, the best ones, do, though.
“So? Did you give him your phone number?”
Addison turns around, annoyed by her own bed sheet. Her bed sheets annoy her, her life annoys her, even the idea of having to live in that room for 6 more months annoys her. She hears Poppy squeal in excitement.
“Yes! I can’t wait for him to call me!”
They both don’t say anything else.
Addison doesn’t know that, but Poppy not only gave him her phone number, but she also gave him her panties. You know, just because.
“Because… He’ll call me, right?”
Addison snorts. She wonders how her friend could be so naïve about anything and how she could get lost in such sentimentality that didn’t last longer than a few smiles and a good fuck. Speaking of which…
“Of course he’ll call you. But why did you tell him you’re a virgin?”
The noise Addison hears is Poppy shrugging, then turning on her side to look at her friend.
“I don’t know. Don’t boys like when girls say that?”
Addison wants to say something, but she isn’t sure there’s something to say. She’s known Poppy since they were kids but she still doesn’t understand her. She stopped trying to understand her a long ago. She’s seen her fall in love and then forget about the guys she’s dated (and fucked) so many times that she never knows what to tell her. However, there’s something she really needs to tell her and she decides to speak mostly because she’s her friend and she knows Poppy would do the same. Or at least, that’s what she likes to think.
“He's not a boy, Poppy. He’s a man.”
“He’s a rockstar!”
“Yes, but rockstars are still human beings. It’s not like they’re from another species or something.”
Her friend isn’t listening to her, Addison knew it. She hears her put her headphones on and lose herself into that forbidden love story with an older man; a man her mother would never approve of. It’s difficult to make eighteen-year-old girls understand that Romeo and Juliet lasted for three days and ended with six deaths.
Addison closes her eyes, trying to fall asleep and meet the monsters that her nightmares have brought with them since she has memory. At first she was scared of them, then they became her friends and started wishing they would take her to their world, letting her stay with them forever. But this wasn’t possible. Poppy, however, takes her headphones off, which makes Addison open her eyes and stare at the darkness around her again. She slightly turns her head and looks at Poppy, who can’t tell if her friend is awake or not.
“Listen, how do you think the nun knows them?”
Addison smiles. The nun being Virginia Collins. She likes her, the way she’s always kind and devoted, the fact that she always hums a song when she’s in the library looking for a new book and that she always looks so calm; except those moments – that Addison notices and sometimes even waits for – when she finds herself thinking of something so deep that her melancholic look is beautiful and breaks Addison’s heart. Addison likes how she knows so much about anything, that she’s smart and witty, and that one time even told her she likes rock and metal. She would’ve never guessed it. She likes it when Virginia sees her alone in the schoolyard and she sits down next to her, then takes her perfectly white shirt of her skirt and hits her softly with her shoulder, encouraging her to tell her about those things, they both perfectly know, Addison will never tell her about. She likes her because she’s so down to her, even if the principal introduced her to them as the most perfect daughter, student and woman ever, the role model every student should have, almost trying to make them hate her.
This is why Poppy hates her and calls her ‘nun’, almost identifying her with those mythological creatures she hates so much. Poppy thinks she’s so full of herself, annoying and strict, but she knows she’s lying, because Virginia is far from being like that. She’s kind. And strong. And such a good person.
“Addie, are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, I fell asleep.” She lies, “What did you say?”
“I asked you how you think the nun knows the guys.”
The guys. Addison smiles.
“I think she knew Zacky, actually. Maybe they were friends. She’s not much younger than them, after all.”
“Hm.” Poppy says, not exactly satisfied with the answer, but thankfully she doesn’t say anything else.
Addison sighs. She can finally sleep now.
3:17 AM, Virginia Collins’ home, 7349 Ocean Heights
Gin keeps moving in bed. Seeing him again gave her such a beautiful heart attack she’s sure she was allowed to have. Andrew barely moves when she gets up to get some water. She walks down the stairs and immediately finds herself in the living room. She looks around as she’s supposed to recognize the furniture she’d picked. Andrew gave her his credit card and let pick everything for the house, from the furniture to the tiles of the bathroom, from the curtains to the carpets, from the appliances to the bed sheets.
Why on earth did I come back to Huntington Beach?
She could’ve stayed in UK and go to Oxford to get her post-graduate diploma. She could’ve accept that job offer as an English literature teacher in Paris. But no, she packed her stuff even before to reply to the principal of that girls’ school where she had spent three years of her life. The principal was offering her a job in their school, promising her she could even pick the course, so she obviously accepted and moved back to Huntington Beach. How dumb. Dumb, dumb, Gin.
Then Andrew found a job as a researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a part-time job at UCLA, so of course she followed her fiancé back to California. They lived in a loft in Los Angeles the first couple of months and then they moved to Huntington Beach, deciding that living in a small city was much better. Not to mention the fact that now that they both had a stable job and a big house, they were finally ready to get married, right? No. Besides, she was closer to her parents and this was good, right? Of course. How dumb.
She shakes her head and heads to the kitchen, deciding to make herself some tea. Yes, seeing him gave her a wonderful heart attack. And, other than that, she was really happy she got to see Zacky again.
The next day – 5:30 PM, Spin Records, music store on Main St
He sees her before she sees him, and he smiles widely. He doesn’t even know why. He stands behind her and moves his head over hers to see the vinyl she’s holding in her hands and why she’s staring at it with such intensity.
“Johnny Cash. I like it. Just a bit violent for such a nice lady, don’t you think?”
She jumps at his words, but she smiles. “Who exactly do you think I am? Hi, Almost Easy.”
Jimmy’s smile gets even wider and Gin finally turns around, holding the vinyl to her chest.
“Hi, little fairy.” He says, looking up and down at her.
“Are you trying to intimidate me with your creepy look or something?” She asks, almost amused.
“No, I’m just appreciating the view.”
“Jimmy, I’m wearing an old sweatshirt that it’s two sizes bigger than mine. There’s not much to appreciate.” She says, not at all scared of the fact that he’s standing so close to her or of that look of his. It’s the second time ever that he’s heard her say his name and he still can’t decide what to think about it or how to feel about it.
“I’m an observer.” He winks and she can’t help but start laughing, which surprises him. Thankfully, another man shows up behind Jimmy, so neither of them has the chance to say anything else.
“Jimbo, I found that–Oh. Hi, fine ass.”
Gin doesn’t seem bothered by the new nickname. She smiles softly at the man. “Hi, Brian.”
Jimmy gently grabs the vinyl Gin is holding. “I’m buying you this.” He says, without giving her the chance to say something.
“What happened while I was searching for that Blur shit?”
“It’s happened that he showed up behind me like Dracula, then we quickly commented on Johnny Cash’s work, then he… Well, he analyzed me through the sweatshirt with his superpowers and then you arrived.”
Brian nods at her words, not really impressed. “Nice report. Look, has Zacky called you?”
Gin looks at him, slightly confused. “No, why? Was he supposed to call me?”
Brian rolls his eyes as his arms fall down his body. He looks like he’s tired of everyone’s bullshit. “Duh. Of course. That dumbass was supposed to invite you at the Christmas barbecue at my place.”
“Well, you could’ve called me.” She says. “I mean, it’s at your place, right?”
Brian looks at her, confused. She has a point.
“But he’s got your number.”
“And couldn’t you ask for it?”
He’s even more confused now. Damn, she is smart. Gin looks around for a moment, waiting for an answer and suddenly feeling embarrassed. She’s really sweet, he thinks, only to also think that if thinking that a woman is sweet has to mean that he’s turning gay. Johnny had the same thought about himself the other day, but Brian doesn’t know this.
“What? Is this not possible? The members of Avenged Sevenfold can’t ask each other about old friends’ phone numbers?”
Well, no. Brian clears his throat and notices how Jimmy’s walking back to their direction, so he decides to speak, not wanting his best friend to notice how dumb he looks like.
“We’d really like if you came to my Christmas barbecue. You can bring, I dunno, beers if you’d like and your parents. The Bakers will be there and I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
“Thank you, I’ll definitely come.” She says and grabs a pen on the counter not far from where they are, then gently grabs his hand. “This is my number. Text me the address.”
Brian holds back a laugh because the tip of the pen slightly tickles his hand.
“I will. Next Saturday at 6 PM. Be on time.”
“Saturday? What a bummer, Andrew will be in Seattle.”
Two voices speak at the unison: “Who is Andrew?”
Jimmy came back with a small package. He hands it to Gin, who takes it and smiles at him.
“Andrew is my boyfriend.” She isn’t sure why she said ‘boyfriend’ instead of ‘fiancé’. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go. Thank you, Jimmy. It means a lot to me.”
She kisses their cheeks then walks outside, looking back into the store to smile at them one last time. Jimmy and Brian stand there, staring at the corner of the street where she just disappeared. Suddenly, the guitarist turns his head to his best friend.
“Thank you, Jimmy. It means a lot to me? Since when do you let women tell you stuff like this? You’re so gay.”
“Ask your mother.” Jimmy says but right when he’s about to say something else, Brian scares the shit out him when he jumps and checks his own hand. He was leaning against the counter with his hand and now he’s afraid the number’s gone. It’s still there.
“What is it?” Jimmy asks and Brian smirks.
“Gin’s phone number.”
“What? I buy her vinyls and she gives her phone number to you? What the fuck is this shit?”
“No need to be such a gentleman. You need to be more active; if you were, like yours truly, you’d have her phone number. Besides, you’ve already fucked her sister.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Besides, weren’t you supposed to call little girl?”
“How about you mind your own fucking business?”
“And since when my fucking business and your business are two different businesses?”
Jimmy groans, but he knows he’s right. “You’re right.”
“Anyway, she said she’s coming to the barbecue.”
They look at each other for a brief moment, neither of them is commenting Brian’s last words.
“Who the fuck is this Andrew, by the way?” Jimmy asks, more to himself than to Brian.
7:43 PM, Zacky Vengeance’s house, 843 Shirley St
“Who is it?”
“Hello? Zacky?”
Obviously. Zacky sits up in bed and reaches out to grab the clock on the nightstand. He was supposed to sleep for 15 more minutes.
“What do you want, Brian?” He asks, trying to wake up.
“Were you asleep?”
“Of course I was! You’re calling me in the middle of my nap!”
“What even? It’s not even 8 PM!”
“Exactly. You know I always have my nap from 6:30 PM to 8 PM!”
“You’re such an old man. I’m pretty sure you’ll end up at a nursing home soon and we’ll have to look for another guitarist.”
“I need my sleep to keep my beautiful face young.”
“I already can see it. Nursing home: “Cypress Hill”, single room, ocean view.” Brian says, “I
won’t pay for that shit, though.”
“Stop it. What do you want?”
“Did you call Gin?”
Zacky frowns at those words and heads back against the headboard of his bed.
“Not yet.”
“I perfectly know that. Do you know why I know that? Because I’ve met her less than two hours ago at Spin Records, she was buying some Johnny Cash stuff.”
“Always said that good people always listen to Johnny Cash.”
“Didn’t know you were such a psychologist. I told her, by the way. About the barbecue.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“And she even gave me her phone number.” Brian says, excitement in his voice.
“Oh, look at you! All happy and shit. Has she even left a sweet kiss on your cheek?”
Brian gets the irony in his friend’s voice. “Actually, she did.” He admits. Okay, saying ‘and she even gave me her phone number’ in such a happy voice by a nearly thirty-year-old man sounds a little… Stupid. But there’s someone who’s been even stupider.
“Jimmy bought her a vinyl.”
“What?”
“Jimmy bought her the Johnny Cash vinyl!”
“Which one?”
“Folson Prison Blues.”
“So romantic. If he ever thinks about getting her something else, please, help him pick something more appropriate for a girl because I have the feeling he might show up with Edgar Allan Poe’s The Complete Tales and Poems. He’s such a pro when it comes to gifts.”
“She already had it in her hands! He simply got it and paid for it.”
“Even more romantic. Please tell me, when he came back, did he hit her in the head with it like people used to in the Stone Age?”
“You’re so funny.”
“I’ve always been.”
The silence that follows Zacky’s words is light, yet they both can tell something’s going on.
“Look.” Zacky says, “Treat her well, alright? Don’t be dicks as usual.”
“Look at you, being all sweet and kind. Since when do you care so much about other people’s well being?”
“I mean it, Brian. True, we were friends when we were kids and we saw each other after so many years, but I have a beautiful memory of her. She was such a special girl.”
“If she played with you, of course she was a special kid. I mean, there must’ve been something wrong with her.”
“No, Brian. You don’t get it. I’m not kidding.”
Brian doesn’t say a word. Instead, he thinks about Zacky’s word. He usually doesn’t care about other people, unless they’re friends, but the way Zacky’s speaking is making him think that maybe, maybe he needs to be careful this time.
“We don’t wanna kill her or something, Zacky. We’re not animals. Chill.”
Zacky sighs heavily.
“Do you remember what happened with her sister, right? We don’t wanna live that shit all over again.”
Brian frowns, suddenly clouded by those words. “No.” He says firmly, “We don’t want to.”
10:13 PM, Virginia Collins' place
The ding of the ringtone announces a new text and makes Andrew turns his attention to the table: it’s Gin’s phone.
“Babe, you got a text.” He says.
Gin reaches out to grab her phone but she does it too quickly to be a natural movement, but Andrew doesn’t seem to notice. He doesn’t even think about it. She smiles, it’s a text from Brian. There’s the address, the time and a bunch of unique greetings.
What’s up, fine ass! Brian, here. The God of guitar…
What a man.
“Why are you laughing?” Andrew finally asks, watching her sit down next to him on the couch.
“Nothing. Have I told you I met an old friend when I was out for dinner with mom and dad, the other day?”
Andrew frowns, but she can read the questioning look on his face. It’s almost as if he’s trying to see if she’s lying or something.
She chuckles. “Don’t make that face. We used to be close friends because our moms are close friends since forever. It’s nothing strange.”
He smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. They’re watching an old Cary Grant movie, one of those man Gin loves. Andrew knows it. She loves them because can sing and dance and they’re so fascinating it almost seems like they have their own scent. A scent of adventure. Oh, don’t look at me like that, I know pictures usually don’t have scents. Some do, though. This is how she tried to explain to him, once, after a few glasses of wine. Andrew doesn’t know it, but Gin is thinking about those pictures that don’t have scents.
She thinks of all those polaroid pictures she used to receive, closed into white envelopes, months after their shipping; because this was how Lena told her she was happy. Sometimes there was a sentence or two on the back of the pictures, sometimes just a date, other times just a name. Lena was never in the pictures, there was always somebody else; a person, a group of people, a landscape. Every picture had a special detail Lena wanted her sister to have, to see, to keep in her heart, to make her part of her freedom and her life.
Yes, pictures don’t have scents. But some, the best ones, do, though.
Notes
Hello everyone! Here's a new and longer (as promised) chapter. I hope you enjoy <3
Thanks to Kdennis9, Hollie and Avengedlover for commenting. It means a lot to me ;) (yes, I purposely quoted Gin haha)
Ohhh someone's got a crush! Dump the boring fella and get it on with a rockstar... so much more exciting :P ;-)
5/8/17