Love Gone Black

Part 5

        Friday, May 29th, 1992: (Chris's POV): I was happy to see that it was actually pretty warm outside today being only 62 degrees. I settled on some some shorts, a tank top, and some boots and got ready to head out. On my way out of my apartment, the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Don't forget to pick up Justine from the airport." my friend Eddie Vedder told me. "Eddie, I was on my way out right now. Do you think I would forget to pick up your friend?" "Girlfriend. She's special to me so don't forget her. And be nice to her." "Are you trying to say I'm not a nice guy? I'm nice to you." I said. "You have your moments." I smiled. "Alright, alright. I'm going to get her now." We hung up and I headed out the door, hoping I didn't wake up Matt Cameron, my roommate and the drummer for my band Soundgarden.

        I drove to the Sea-Tac airport to pick up Justine, some girl Eddie met two weeks ago that he's head over heels for. Having never been in love before, the idea of falling for a girl you hardly know was a little shocking to me. Who can be that amazing that you fall for them in such a short amount of time. They only actually spent time together for a few days before he left the states to finish the last leg of the Ten tour in Europe. That's not even enough time for me to like a girl let alone love her. But she's coming here to visit the University of Washington and go to a few concerts and Eddie wants me to be her personal escort. And to save money on a hotel, he asked if she could stay with Matt and I. Since he's such a good friend, I couldn't say no to him. I'm sure he would do the same for me although I couldn't see myself ever being in this situation.

        I made a little sign with Justine's name on it so she can find me when she gets off the plane. Eddie didn't describe her to me so I don't know what she looks like. I saw a group of people getting off her flight so I decided I'd guess which one is her. There was a woman with a Nirvana shirt on and ripped jeans and messy blonde hair. "That's definitely her." I reached my hand up high and waved at her. She saw me, waved back, and keep walking in a different direction. "Guess not." I mumbled. I saw another woman, this time walking in my direction, who was black with very light skin and her hair done in thick braids. I ignored her and kept looking for Justine. Another woman was coming this way and she was wearing flannel and one of those tattoo chokers that every girl wears these days. I started waving at her but she ignored me.

        "You must be Chris." I looked down and the black girl with the braids was smiling up at me. "Yeah...who are you?" she giggled and pointed to my sign. "Justine." "You're Eddie's girlfriend?" I looked her up and down, surprised by what I saw. She was very different from Eddie's last girlfriend. Not just because she was black but because she seemed so...innocent. "You seem shocked." she said. I could tell that the way I was looking at her offended her a little bit. "I'm sorry you're just a lot different than his last girlfriend. Let me help you with those." I grabbed her suitcases and we started walking to the car.

        "So you thinking of transferring. Why is that?" I asked her. "Eddie lives in Seattle. It would be nice to be closer to him." Justine said. "You know Seattle's a lot different than L.A. People stay indoors most of the time. It's not sunny all the time like it is in California." "It's not always sunny in California. We have rain sometimes. But it's certainly never this cold in May. I'm freezing!" I frowned. "It's 62 degrees. What do you mean you're freezing? I'm warm." I said. Her eyes widened. "Warm? Warm is 80 degrees, not 60. Right now it's probably 85 back in L.A." she said, wrapping her arms around herself. I scoffed. "You California people are so temperature sensitive. I bet it's only 70 degrees in the winter down there. Here it's 40." I said. She gasped. "Why don't you just leave then?" I turned my head and rolled my eyes so she couldn't see. "I live here, lady. I can't just pick up and move whenever I want to like you can. You know people actually like it here. Just because it's cold doesn't mean it's not a nice place to be."