Just Before You Go

Things were picking up and flying by—and not necessarily in a good way. I’d reluctantly filled my boss in on my plan to vacate my employment and he was less than enthused. Even though I’d assured him I could work until the end of the month, he’d promptly terminated my employment anyway. So, I was broke, unemployed and soon to be homeless. There was a six day gap between the second I had to be out of my house and the moment that we were set to leave for tour. However, Jen had graciously offered me her spare room with only a little bit of a lecture.
She wasn’t exactly thrilled with my decision to tropes around the country chasing Jimmy around—her words, not mine. In fact, she brought her distaste up to me often. I mentioned it to Brian once in passing over drinks and he was certain it was nothing more than jealousy. And I was pretty sure he was right.
But she was my only real friend—independent from Avenged Sevenfold, anyway…not that any of them were really my friends. Though, Brian and I were growing to be friendly. It was easy to bond over his girl troubles and pursuits. It was almost easy enough to forget what a total jackass he could be.
That is, at least, until he showed up for dinner with a girl in tow. And it was not the girl we would have expected. It had been almost two weeks since I’d seen or heard from Blair Peterson. I assumed she’d gone back to her extra cool life and that I’d hardly warranted a phone call or a hangout. And maybe that was true, but sometimes things happen and the world demands that you give it just a little credit—even when you don’t necessarily deserve it.
As a preemptive thank you for helping me move out of my house in the morning, Jimmy had offered to take everyone out for Chinese. It was a dingy place with dim lighting and exceptional food. The usual suspects were in attendance, everyone chatting and clanking their glasses with mine. It was almost as if we were friends. Almost.
In time, I was sure we would be. I just needed to crawl out of my shell long enough to hold up a meaningful conversation and I was certain I’d be in.
When Brian waltzed in with a blonde girl on his arm, I nearly fainted from sheer disappointment. Jimmy looked about as surprised as I was and we both couldn’t help but stare.
“Sorry we’re late,” Brian half-smiled at us as he sank into the chair across from Jimmy and urged his date to join him with haste.
“No…No problem,” I stammered awkwardly.
The girl was pretty—she had surprisingly dark eyes considering the level of blonde she’d achieved in her locks. She had a white diamond in her nose and far too much eyeshadow plastered to her lids—but all and all, she was an attractive girl. Not Blair Peterson attractive, but attractive nonetheless.
“Miss anything?” he asked as he flagged down our server and politely asked for two beers.
Jimmy shrugged, scrunching his nose just a little, “We have to be at Aria’s by five.”
“Five?” Brian smirked. “Oh, Jimmy’s going to be in a foul mood.”
“Yes, Jimmy is,” Jimmy agreed with wide eyes.
“My landlord is coming to get my keys by three,” I told Brian like it mattered. “So…I figured it’s better to be too early than too late.”
He nodded unamused, “Makes no difference to me. I can get up whenever and it’s not a problem. Your boyfriend on the other hand…”
Jimmy groaned loudly, dropping his head to the table with a thud.
“Just a sample of the things to come,” Brian snickered, balling up a napkin and tossing it at the back of Jimmy’s head.
Johnny rose from his seat, the sound of the chair legs against the floor eliciting Brian’s attention.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Brian hollered at him.
Johnny froze, only the subtlest grin shimmering against his uncertainty.
“You think because you’re a midget you can just duck out unnoticed?” Brian grinned widely. “You have to ask to be excused.”
“I did…” Johnny grumbled nearly inaudibly.
This was enough that Jimmy was already cackling, his face still buried in the wood of the table.
“You what?” Brian demanded with utmost entertainment.
“I did!” Johnny called back at him with a laugh before turning on his heel and making for the bathroom.
“Who the fuck did he ask?” Brian snickered, searching his group of friends for the authoritative figurehead.
“That would be me, Sir,” Zack smirked, stretching his arms out in front of him and cracking his knuckles loudly.
“Of course it was,” Brian chuckled.
Jimmy was upright now, dabbing at his eyes.
“As much fun as picking on poor Johnny is,” I spoke up, specifically staring down Jimmy’s brown eyed best friend. “Are you going to introduce your friend?”
Brian cocked his head back oddly, narrowing his brows at me. Mood killed. Way to go, Aria.
“She swings for both teams,” Jimmy winked at Brian. “She has a lot invested in your new girlfriend.”
“Shut up!” I laughed, jabbing my boyfriend in the chest with my elbow.
The new girl squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She was far more shy than Blair Peterson—I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Brian could be a real prick, I wasn’t sure how a woman afraid to lash him with her tongue would make out.
That whole sentence is riddled with innuendos. You’re welcome.
“Subtle,” Brian scoffed. “Anyway, this is Claire.”
Claire? Is that a joke? It had to be a joke, right?
“Claire?” Jimmy repeated for me. “Let me guess, Claire Leterson?”
Brian couldn’t hide his shit eating grin, but nonetheless he denied the connection. Claire seemed confused.
“Brian is rude,” I told her like she wouldn’t already know, stretching my hand across the table. “I’m Aria.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said sweetly, with just a hint of a southern accent. “Brian talks a lot about you.”
I cocked an eyebrow at Brian as he took a big swig of his beer, “Is that right?”
Brian rolled his eyes with a shrug, “I’m forced into spending a lot of time with you. I’m usually telling stories about Jim—you just happen to be there.”
“Uh-huh,” I sang in disbelief.
“Where are you from, Claire?” Jimmy asked curiously, louder than before. “Let me guess, Massachusetts?”
She looked confused. Brian did not.
“Stop that right now,” he warned Jimmy lowly—but playfully enough not to alert any real attention from his new arm candy.
“I’m from a little town in Tennessee,” she told him.
Jimmy nodded slowly, like he actually cared at all where she was from. He had that studying face that suggested to me that he did not care. He was just trying to work out what she was doing there—and what she was doing with Brian.
No. What Brian was doing with her.
Our food arrived, creating a much craved distraction from the awkwardness that had fallen over our half of the table. As I dug into my greens, Zack started to stir up the same kind of shit that Jimmy and I had been teasing all along.
“So, Brian,” he called down the table. “Excited to spend the next several months with…Haven?”
Johnny smirked to himself, taking a big mouthful of chicken and waiting for Brian’s response. Matt seemed interested as well, but less dedicated to the reaction. Interesting.
“Should be fun,” Brian forced. “If that guitarist watches his mouth, anyway.”
His girlfriend looked puzzled.
“They got into a fight,” I told her quietly.
“Oh,” she mouthed at me with a nod.
“It wasn’t a fight,” Brian corrected me smugly. “He fucking sucker punched me.”
“Why?” Claire asked him curiously.
Brian shoveled his plate into his mouth.
“Over a girl,” Matt piped up.
Brian shot him one very intense and meaningful glare. Matt shrugged it off. Technically Matt wasn’t wrong—but Matt also wasn’t typically the shit-disturbing type and so, his response to Claire’s question took me a little off guard. Jimmy was eating it up. His eyes flashed back and forth from Brian to Matt and back again while he chewed on his wontons.
“When was this?” she asked, noting the tiny hint of yellow that still plagued Brian’s eye.
He shrugged at her, “It wasn’t over a girl. And it’s fine.”
“Mhm,” she hummed, pushing the rice on her plate around.
“I don’t fight over chicks,” Brian told her seriously. “You’re all a dime a dozen; hardly worth getting my hair out of place about.”
Her jaw dropped to the floor at the same pace mine did. Jimmy nearly choked on his food, slamming his hand down on the table with a satisfied and surprised yelp.
“That’s real nice, Brian,” Claire scoffed.
“I never said I was nice,” he grunted. “I’m going to take a smoke.”
He was dramatic in his disappearance. We were all the same level of confused. Everyone glanced around at each other, unsure what to say or how to react. Jimmy, the sweet and wonderful man that he was, immediately took to damage control. Sure, we wanted Brian to bring Blair around—but he hadn’t. And this poor girl was obviously embarrassed and was without a friend.
“So, Tennessee, huh?” Jimmy asked, feigning curiosity. “Did you grow up on a farm? Is everyone there a hillbilly? You can tell me the truth; is your uncle also your grandpa? Isn’t that the norm down there?”
Her face slowly turned from sorrowed to bashful and then to amused.
“What? No!” she giggled, waving him off feverishly. “My grandmother is my second cousin though!”
We all stared at her.
She giggled harder, “I’m just kidding! Jeez!”
“I’ll be right back,” I whispered to Jimmy, who just nodded and continued to throw ridiculous stereotype-themed questions at Claire.
As I walked passed the group, Zack grabbed my hand. Startled, I turned to face him. He was looking awfully mischievous.
“If Brian’s doing this broad,” he said quietly, darting his eyes around suspiciously. “Does that mean Blair Peterson’s up for grabs, you think?”
“Don’t be gross,” I grimaced.
He laughed, “Not for me. For Matt.”
Matt didn’t seem to notice us talking about him, or about Blair. He was listening intently to Jimmy and Claire’s conversation, even laughing when appropriate. I didn’t know what to do with that whole situation so I brushed Zack off and reaffirmed to him that he was gross.
Once I was free of the vengeance, I had my own to start plotting. I stepped out into the evening air and immediately found Brian. It wasn’t hard when you had a trail of nicotine to follow.
“No,” he said to me immediately.
“No what?”
He raised his brows, “No lectures. No talking. No interest from me.”
“What about Blair?” I demanded.
He scoffed, “What about Blair?”
“I thought you liked her,” I sighed.
“I’m over it,” he shrugged. “It’s too much work—it isn’t fun when it’s work, Aria. She’s not interested and so, neither am I.”
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him so badly.
But I’d told Blair I wouldn’t—and for whatever reason, I thought that maybe my word mattered. If I ratted her out, I’d have to live with that—and I’d have to explain it to her every day on tour. But if I didn’t…
I reminded myself that Brian went through women like socks. Why should Claire be any different?
“If you say so,” I decided to relent.
He nodded, taking a long drag of his cigarette, “Anything else?”
His defenses were up, which I knew meant that he was well aware that he was being an idiot. But when Brian was defensive, there was little anyone could do to communicate with him. I wasn’t interested in being made out to be a victim, so I shook my head no.
“Why don’t you date her?” Brian snickered to my back as I tried to step away from him.
“I’m taken unfortunately,” I retorted. “But Matt’s not.”
I could feel Brian tense up. It was validating.
“I’ll see you inside,” I said less callously.
“I asked her to come on the tour,” Brian stated. “So…You and Jimmy can knock it off with whatever shit you’ve been pulling lately.”
Oh shit.
“See you in there,” Brian said as a means to get me moving once more.
With a deep exhale and a whole lot of anxiety, I pulled the door open once more.
Oh shit.

Notes

I'm back!

And...oh, shit.

xx