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Just Before You Go

Chapter Ten: He's a Drummer

“So,” Luke started the second I was back inside, “Who’s your friend?”
“Don’t start,” I growled, immediately heading for the kitchen to dump coffee water into a mug for myself. “Do you want coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Grace said quietly.
I pointed at her just before disappearing around the semi-corner to the kitchen. Assuming Luke was also going to drink the coffee, I poured a cup for him too. I was hopeful as I carried three mugs to the living room that Luke wouldn’t bombard me with questions about my potential suitor.
But he was my brother and thus, I knew better.
“How’d you meet him?” Luke asked the very instant I was back in his sight. “Are you dating? Friends? What did we walk in on?”
“Holy shit-fuck, Luke,” I almost laughed. “Third degree, much?”
He smirked, “I have questions.”
“I don’t have answers.”
“Yes, you do,” he continued, reaching out to take his and Grace’s cups from my hands.
I sat across from them in the world’s most uncomfortable chair and sipped at my piping hot coffee. Luke stared at me. Grace looked crazy uncomfortable.
Having played host once or twice, I clicked on the television for my uncomfortable guest.
“You can watch whatever,” I said to her as I flung the remote in her direction.
She took to scrolling through the channels right away.
“Aria,” Luke laughed, still staring. “Come on.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it,” I said seriously. “I know what you’re going to say and I’d really rather not get into it. Can’t we just enjoy your impromptu visit?”
Luke’s face fell, “What I’m going to say? What exactly do you think I’m going to say?”
“Please,” I scoffed. “We grew up in the same house.”
My whole life, my parents had instilled a notion in our heads that when the time came to enter into a relationship with someone, it better be ‘the right person’. The right person was a relative term, though; the right person for me might not be the right person for my parents. They were sure that Luke and I would marry wealthy and successful partners. They had to be from a good family, college educated, a respectable career—are you nauseous yet?
I’d been nauseous my whole life. However, since I figured I’d probably never get married, I never really worried about the high standards my parents were expecting.
One look at Grace told me that Luke hadn’t forgotten, though. Grace was beautiful and her demeanor told me she was raised in a similar nuclear family like ours.
“Let me speak frankly here,” Luke said casually. “I’m not judging. I’m just curious about your life.”
“Be curious about a different part of it,” I suggested.
No dice.
“His name is Jimmy,” Luke started for me, “and I met him…”
I groaned loudly, “At a bar.”
Luke blinked a couple times.
“Don’t!” I laughed.
“Classy, Aria,” he teased.
I shook my head, “I was working.”
“Ah,” Luke smirked. “We’re dating our bar friend?”
“No,” I replied awkwardly, shifting in my seat. “I don’t think so.”
Grace giggled. Apparently she’d been eavesdropping.
“How can you not know if you’re dating someone?” she asked curiously.
I lowered my brows at her, “It’s a new thing…”
“And we interrupted!” she gasped, smacking Luke with the back of her hand. “We’re terrible!”
“It’s fine,” I whined.
Luke smiled, “Do you want to date this person? Is he worthy?”
“Of what?” I scoffed. “Of a bartender who can’t even afford name brand cereal?”
“You’re so much more than that,” Luke said seriously. “And no one can afford name brand cereal.”
I sighed, “I don’t know if I want to date him…I told you, it’s new.”
“She wants to date him,” Grace giggled.
“What’s he do for a living?” Luke continued his line of questioning.
“Can you not just ask him all of these questions?” I asked, irritated. “Since you invited him to the beach, you’ll have ample opportunity.”
“Or I can ask my baby sister,” he grinned.
“He’s a drummer,” Grace answered for me—effectively stunning Luke and I.
We stared at her with wild confusion. She just laughed.
“How did you know that?” I demanded, still flabbergasted.
She scrunched her nose, “What do you mean? It’s obvious.”
Luke’s turn to demand answers, “How is it obvious?”
“He’s The Rev, isn’t he?” she asked innocently, now looking a little unsure.
Luke looked to me for confirmation.
I just nodded.
“Yeah, he’s the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold,” she said so sweetly to Luke that it sounded weird escaping from her lips.
Luke was speechless for a second, “Two concerns here. Number one, seriously? And number two,” he turned back to Grace, “How do you know the members of Avenged Sevenfold?”
“I like them,” she shrugged. “I have a deathbat bumper sticker and everything!”
Luke and I exchanged glances.
I never would have pegged her for a lover of anything but pop music. Maybe country—it wasn’t always easy to tell who the real country lovers were.
“Huh,” Luke managed. “Learn something new every day.”
She rolled her eyes playfully, turning her attention back to the TV and flipped through the channels until she landed on one that appeased her.
“So you’re dating a musician?” Luke asked, a little bewilderment in his voice.
I shrugged.
“He certainly looks the part,” Luke added quietly.
I pointed at him, rather aggressively, “That! That’s what I was waiting for!”
“What?” Luke laughed heartily. “Aria, come on. The man’s covered in tattoos! He has a metal thing hanging out of his face.”
Grace shrugged, “I think he’s cute.”
I changed my point to her direction, “Thank you!”
She nodded proudly.
“He’s a really nice guy,” I huffed at my brother. “Who cares what people put on their bodies? It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to our parents,” he noted. “What if you get serious with this guy, Aria? You’re going to bring him around Mom and Dad?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I laughed. “How about everyone just minds their own business?”
Luke relented, “I’m not trying to fight. He really did seem like a nice enough guy; he didn’t run when we showed up, so that says something about his character.”
“Can I go to bed now?” I groaned. “As much as I’ve enjoyed being grilled and judged, I’m beat.”
“You don’t need permission to go to bed in your own home, Aria,” Luke laughed.
I shrugged my shoulders, “I’ll be…right there,” pointing at the bed that was laid out just behind my TV. “If you need anything—there are extra blankets in the cupboard in the kitchen.”
Luke made a face, “You keep blankets in your kitchen?”
“It’s a small house, Lucas. I do what I have to do.”
I buried my head under my pillows, listening to the television rumble and my brother and his girlfriend chit chat. The ambient noise lulled me straight to sleep.


“Morning!” my brother screeched, waking me instantly.
I groaned, pulling my face from beneath the feather pillow. The sunlight ripped through me—I was so tired.
Instinctively, I snatched my phone off of the nightstand but was saddened to find I had no new messages.
“What time is it?” I asked with a yawn.
Luke smiled, “Just after ten.”
I nodded sleepily, pulling my body out from under the blankets and shuffling my feet all the way to the kitchen. I was thrilled to find that my guests had already brewed the coffee.
After basically chugging my cup of brew, my brain began to wake up.
“Still up for the beach today?” Grace asked me pleasantly from the couch.
She was watching the news—how boring.
“Sure,” I yawned.
As I dropped myself onto the couch next to my brother’s girlfriend, I opened up my phone and started to text.
To: James
Hey you. Still coming to the beach with us?
She looked at me and smiled. I hoped that I’d like her—she seemed nice enough so far but sometimes first impressions were wrong. Her first impression of me was probably not a good one.
“So you’re a nurse?” I asked to make conversation.
She nodded, “Yep.”
“That sounds like a cool job,” I stated lamely.
She tossed her head from side to side, “It can be. It can be a little…emotional though. It’s tough sometimes.”
“I could never do it,” I half-laughed. “I don’t care about people enough.”
“It definitely takes a special type of person to do our job,” she said pleasantly.
We stayed that way for the next hour. Luke came in and out of the conversation, effectively confiscating the television from us. I didn’t mind. Grace was full of conversation topics—ranging from her taste in music, and of course back to Jimmy, to how she’d been bullied in high school.
I figured I was probably going to like her.
“Should we get going soon?” Luke asked, cutting his girlfriend off mid-thought.
I looked at the clock hung up on my wall and nodded, “I have to work at three.”
“I’m ready to go whenever,” Grace beamed. “I’ll just need to get changed.”
I checked my phone for the millionth time—no response from Jimmy. Now, maybe some people would have, oh I don’t know, actually called him—but I didn’t roll like that. The way I saw it, if he wasn’t answering my message, he was either busy or he was not interested in joining us. Either way, it was his prerogative and I wasn’t going to concern myself with it.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting a little tired of the disappearing act.
“We can go,” I decided for the group.
We got changed, packed a bag, and headed out the door to make our way to the coast. I was telling them all about sharks and shark-related things the whole walk down. But while my mouth was rambling about our sharp-toothed oceanic friends, my mind was worrying about the phone in my back pocket…that still hadn’t vibrated.
No word from Jimmy. No excuse to offer the group.
So, I hid my disappointment as we stretched out in the sand, and I hoped that no one would ask if he was coming.
If this was going to ultimately turn into a relationship, it wasn’t off to a good start. This was the third time Jimmy had mysteriously vanished—though the second wasn’t for very long. But I was never offered any explanations or even the courtesy of breaking our plans.
I was frustrated but decided it shouldn’t matter—because it shouldn’t.
But it very much did.

Notes

xx

Comments

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RamonaFoREVer RamonaFoREVer
6/18/19

@kiss my sas
I'm sorry!!!! Didn't mean to kick you while you're down, I swear!!

fyction fyction
5/14/19

I'm so proud of you for finishing this masterpiece, but I am SO SAD!!!
WHY ARE YOU BEING MEAN AND UPSETTING THE SICK AUSSIE?!??!?!
WHAT IS LIFE??!???!!!!

kiss my sas kiss my sas
5/14/19

IT IS NOT OVER!!!
I REFUSE TO ADMIT IT IS OVER!!!!!!
PLAGUIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kiss my sas kiss my sas
5/14/19

Holy shit, holy shit, I am not prepared!!!!
Going to read the... last... chapter now...

kiss my sas kiss my sas
5/14/19