Love & Lyrics (Editing)

2-Something Like Lightning (Edited)

               "That would be hilarious Crys," I admitted, "but what if we hired a whole gang of them? I wouldn't mind seeing Nate get wailed on by a bunch of pissed off midgets."

               Laughing at Nate's expense, tears of hilarity spilled down my cheeks. Crystal looked pleased with herself and I silently thanked God for putting her in my life.

               "So Crys, I was thinking. I'd like to change my image. You know how he used to tell me I wasn't good enough to make it in the industry? Well I want to prove him wrong. While I'm at it, I want to make his life hell. I want to show him, that it wasn't him that was too good for me, but me that was too good for him."

               "Are you serious Liz? You're finally going for it?" For a second I thought she might tell me to just forget about Nate and start my life over doing something else, but instead she surprised me by saying, "It's about damn time too. I've always said you had the voice of an angel, but you always let that douche hold you back. You've got 110% of my support. Us Asians like to overacheive with that extra 10%." She spoke out of the side of her mouth like she was telling me some great secret and I laughed. 

               "Too bad you're only half Japanese. Imagine how much extra you'd support me if you were full," I joked.

               She rolled her eyes at me and started pulling me in the direction of the nearest clothing store. I pulled her to a stop, because she had yet to hear the kicker. "That's the thing. I can't do this alone. I was kind of hoping we could do this together." Crystal's face was completely blank so I pressed on, "Back in high school people used to tell us that our voices fit together perfectly. How many competitions did we win together? Enough to convince me that we could make it big. Together. Just like old times."

               I waited with bated breath for my best friend to respond; it seemed as if I wasn't the only one waiting for a response as a surreal hush seemed to spread across the mall.

               "Okay," she said quietly and just like that sound returned to the mall and a smile impossibly big spread across her face.

               "Okay," She repeated with more confidence, "but for the record I believe they said our voices went together like rice and soy sauce."

               Excitement bubbled in the pit of my stomach and I laughed at the weird simile. With that final issue settled, she yanked on my arm and we proceeded into the nearest shop.

**

               Five hours. That's how long it took us to make it through all the stores worth going into. I was $400.00 poorer, but minus the dull ache in my chest and feet, I felt like a million bucks. That alone was worth $400.00, so the fact that I got a brand new wardrobe, contacts and permanent hair extensions out of it, only made it better. I couldn't stop myself from constantly glancing at my reflection in the glass of the various storefronts that we passed on our way back to the parking lot. My once dull brown shoulder length curls reached the middle of my back in glossy waves and you could actually see my brown eyes a little better without my huge glasses in the way.

               As much as I hated to admit it, the hooker red lipstick bitch was right; my glasses had a 90's feel to them and so not only had I walked out with contacts, I had placed an order for more modernized black plastic framed glasses for the occasions I couldn't wear contacts. At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my old clothes, but again, I had to admit I looked better in my loose fitting black top, boot cut jeans and black heels.

               Other than getting her hair cut shorter and re-dyed, Crystal hadn't changed or bought much else. Unlike me, she had the innate ability to finds clothes that suited both the times and her personality.

               We decided to meet at my place for pizza so we could kill three birds with one stone. We could eat, figure out the logistics of entering into show biz and get rid of or destroy some of Nate's belongings. He wasn't welcome in my apartment and neither were his things. Nate was an idiot if he thought I'd stand idly by as a storage facility.

               Aside from a few close friends from our high school years, no one knew that we lived together or even dated. Not even our parents. I had always thought it odd that he'd been so secretive, but as Jane Austen once wrote, "We are all fools in love." If anything, his secretiveness could work to my advantage. He could hardly press charges for damaged property. I'd just deny it and leave them to try and prove it. There wasn't even a paper trail, because he hadn't even helped pay my rent despite the fact that he made ridiculous amounts of money as the lead singer for the popular band Sweet Seduction.  

               I was practically quivering with excitement at the prospect of taking out some anger on his crap. I doubted that he'd see his possessions as crap, but at that point his opinion was worth less than a Somalian shilling, and that wasn't even worth two cents.

               On the way home I decided to stop by a hardware store to pick up a new dead bolt so I could change out the locks. See if he gets inside now, I laughed evilly. Let the games begin.

[a/n The 5 is a highway that runs through LA.]