I head out to the parking lot after school. I still can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe I agreed to do this. What was I thinking? Maybe I was just desperate to get away from him at the time. Well, that was my dumbest move considering now I’ll have to spend my entire afternoon with him. Who knows how long this is going to take. I have half a mind to bail. I really want to bail. In fact, why don’t I?
I’m just about to enter the lot when I make up my mind and decide to ditch. He doesn’t own me after all. I have rights! I can do whatever I want when I want to, and right now I don’t want to hang out with him and his band.
I’m ready to turn when I realize something. I don’t have any form of transportation other than the bus, and it’s already left. I’m screwed. I let out a deep, throaty sigh and kick the ground. Stupid! I should start rating myself on a stupid scale, because right now I give myself an eight. Not quite ten. The only way I’d ever reach ten on my stupid scale was if I actually started liking Justin, which is unimaginable. So, I’ll never reach ten, but I’ll get pretty dang close.
“Hey, Carrots! Ready to go?” an annoyingly familiar voice rings in my ear. I turn and throw him the nastiest look I can muster.
“Let’s make things clear. I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here because you forced me to be here, got it? I hate you and your stupid little band.” I seethe, more angry at myself then at him.
His playful smile drops from his face and a scowl replaces it.
“Look, Reese, I’m getting real sick of you always dissing my band. It’s really important to me and like it or not you agreed to tag along.” He scolds, pointing his finger into my chest.
“Because you wouldn’t leave me alone!” I say defensively, shoving his hand away.
“Well, sorry! Most girls would love it if that happened to them!” he says. He clearly thinks women are objects and aren’t any different from one another.
“Well, guess what? I’m not other girls, so get off it.” I sneer, rolling my eyes. Justin narrows his eyes at me and we sit there looking at each other with hate until something disrupts us. A laugh. An uncontrollable and hysterical laugh. We both turn and see his friend, Alex, clutching his stomach and laughing.
“What’s your deal?” Justin asks in a confused fashion.
“Of all the chicks, you pick this one!” he says, still breathless with laughter.
“What’s that supposed to mean!” I ask, turning to Justin expectantly.
“I-uh…”Justin stammers.
“It’s alright, Ginger, you got spunk. I like spunk.” Alex winks, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
I scoff and turn to Justin.
“If I’m going to spend my afternoon with your dumb friends I don’t want them hitting on me.” I say in disgust.
Justin looks at me for a second and then snorts.
“Honey, who would hit on you?”
I scowl and blush furiously as the rest of his band doubles over in laughter. That was rude and uncalled for since he is always hitting on me. What the heck? For the second time today I let my rage take over and send my fist sailing at his crotch. Justin yelps in shock and falls to the ground clutching his privates. The band becomes silent.
“Anyone else?” I ask them, raising my fist threateningly. They shake their heads. I notice Sean immediately cover his privates with his hands, as if that would stop me. I roll my eyes and kneel down so I’m eye level with Justin. “Still want me?” I smirk.
“If it’ll torture you, hell yes.” He smirks through a pained expression.
“You’re the devil.” I groan and stand back up.
While Justin recovers the boys introduce themselves and cautiously shake my hand. If I’ve noticed anything about any of them it’s that they are all pretty boys, and they know it. They also all wear a guitar pick on a chain around their necks. Is this some kind of cult?
Once Justin is able to stand up properly he nods to the boys.
“Ready to ride?” he asks, they nod and Austin whoops.
“Excuse me?” I say, putting my hands on my hips.
They all throw they’re skateboards to the ground and slam a foot on.
“Ever skateboard before?” Justin asks with a sly grin.
“No, and I don’t plan to.” I say stubbornly.
“Too bad.” He shrugs then pulls me over to him.
“Oh, no, no, no!” I argue trying to get out of his grasp.
“We’ll ride double.” He explains. “Hop on, I’ll do the maneuvering. You can just stand and enjoy the ride.” He smiles.
“I don’t want to!” I whine, afraid for my safety.
“Oh, come on!” he says persistently and drags me slightly until I have no choice but to get on the skateboard.
I plant both feet firmly on the board and Justin’s foot joins mine. He puts his hands on my waist and I clutch his hands for dear life.
“Oh, now you want to hold hands?” he whispers into my year smugly.
“Don’t make me cut off your manhood.” I hiss.
He chuckles into my ear and nods to the guys and they take off. His right foot kicks at the pavement and we start to move. I feel myself wobble and I let out an uneasy gasp.
“Happy place!” I tell myself while squeezing my eyes shut.
We follow the guys out of the parking lot and travel on uneven terrain. I’m positive we are going to die when a rock gets caught in a wheel and he sways slightly.
“If I fall off this thing I am going to blame you for any bodily injury!” I warn in a high voice.
“Relax, I’ve done this before.” He says. I can picture him rolling his eyes at me and I frown. Smart arse.
“Yeah, is this your snow white steed you were talking about at that gig.” I ask smartly, knowing he finds this annoying.
He answers with a sigh and I know he can’t come back to that.
We come into a pleasant neighborhood which I knew we would. Justin is a bit pampered. We follow the others into a driveway and Justin stops when we reach the garage door. I jump off the board and could practically kiss the ground. I never want to do that again.
Justin gets the garage door to open and a drum set is the first thing I see. Then, I see a few guitars and a keyboard. He’s got a few amps in the corner and the floor is littered with electrical cords. A few mic stands stand in a triangle formation, one in front, two in back. I raise an eyebrow. It’s a pretty legitimate set up. Justin notices my expression and smirks.
“Nice, ain’t it?”
I roll my eyes and cross my arms as the boys go to their instruments. Alex plops down behind the drum set and pulls a pair of drumsticks out of his back pocket while Sean makes himself comfortable behind the keyboard and begins to warm up a few scales. Austin grabs a bass guitar and Kris and electric one. Justin salutes me and picks up his electric guitar and settles the strap on his shoulders. He slings it over his shoulder so that it’s like he’s wearing it as a backpack. Then, he goes over and starts flicking switches. Austin tests the mic and nods to Justin as if saying all is good.
“Alright boys, let’s warm it up then.” Justin shouts.
What they do next is unexpected and kind of silly. They start to sing little warm ups. I want to laugh but know I’d probably ruin their self-esteem. Wait, what do I care? I let out a small giggle. Sean rolls his eyes behind the keyboard and runs his fingers along the keys. The sound echoes throughout the garage. Next thing I know the guitarists are flicking their guitars strings, making the notes stutter and Alex is starting to beat a simple rhythm on his drums. It goes on for a little while and then it stops.
Justin jumps up and lands in front of his mic, slinging his guitar back around and strumming down. He starts to sing and the others join in.
Your love is like a tidal wave, spinning over my head
Drownin' me in your promises, better left unsaid
You're the right kind of dreamer, to release my inner fantasy
The invincible winner, and you know that you were born to be
My eyes widen when he points at me as he sings and realize what he’s doing. He had this all planned out from the beginning. He knows exactly how to make me sing. He’s using my song. My song. Mine. I sang this to him, he’s not allowed to sing it back, much less be so darn good at it. I flush in frustration. I can’t give in. Pretend like it’s not bugging you!
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, a love taker
Don't you mess around with me
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, a love taker
Don't you mess around, no no no
He smiles at me after this and rocks the mic back before continuing on.
Your love has set my soul on fire, burnin' out of control
You taught me the ways of desire, now it's takin' its toll
You're the right kind of sinner, to release my inner fantasy
The invincible winner, and you know that you were born to be
That little cockroach! He knows! He knows it’s making me mad! He can see right through me. The desire to show him up is teasing me. He’s taunting me. I can’t give in, no!
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, a love taker
Don't you mess around with me
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, a love taker
Don't you mess around, no no no
I could slap him right now. The way he hits every note, the way he points at me every time ‘heartbreaker’ escapes his lips, it makes my blood boil. My teeth grind. He’s clever, he is.
No, no
You're the right kind of sinner, to release my inner fantasy
The invincible winner, you know that you were born to be
I can’t take it anymore. I march up to him and snatch the mic off the stand, bring it to my lips as I belt out the next part of the song. Ignoring the sense of betrayal I’m feeling towards myself.
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, love taker
Don't you mess around with me
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, love taker
Don't you mess around with me
I grab his shirt collar and pull his face towards mine.
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, love taker
Don't you mess around with me
You're a heartbreaker
Dream maker, love taker…
I hold out the last note, shoving him from me and leaning back as the sound of my voice bounces off the walls. When I finally cut off the last note and stand up straight I notice that the music has stopped. In fact, it stopped after the first two lines I sang. They all stare at me.
I breath heavily, still breathless from singing. I turn and put the mic back expecting everything to continue on but when I turn back to face them they are all still staring at me.
“What!” I ask them. Justin jumps at the sound of my voice as do the rest of them.
“Hell, she’s got some pipes.” Kris mutters. I’m unsure whether the comment was meant for all of our ears or if he accidentally said it out loud. My question is confirmed when a pink flush clouds his cheeks.
“Is it just me or does she sound like ten times better than she did Wednesday?” Austin asks. I scoff. What the heck? Did they not think I sounded good on Wednesday? Offended!
“It’s not just you.” Sean comments.
“Hey, Justin, get her mad again.” Alex grins. I scowl at him before looking over to Justin.
Justin still stands there motionless, his eyebrows raised slightly. I cross my arms expectantly.
“Uh-um-“ Justin stutters, unable to form words.
“Holy-she’s got Justin speechless! Dang, girl!” Kris laughs, the boys join in with him.
My eyes watch them for a moment before answering, “Don’t expect me to just join your band. I don’t care if I can sing or not, I don’t plan on joining.” I tell them.
Alex jumps up from his stool and points his drumsticks at me.
“It’s too late, you sang. Now you’re in.”
“Just because I sang a few lines doesn’t mean I’m in. It just means I can sing, which I can assure you I didn’t know I could do until now.” I say while uncrossing my arms and taking a step toward him, ready to argue.
“Reese-“
I look over my shoulder and find Justin with his hands in his pockets, staring at me intensely.
“No.” I say immediately.
“We want you here! Not just because you’d help our popularity but because we really think you’re good!” Justin pleads with me.
“Whatever.”
“Girl, your voice is amazing, better then Justin,” at this Justin scowls, “we really want you to join.” Austin says.
I smile as Justin continues to scowl angrily at Austin’s comment. If my voice being better than his bugs him and I get to rub it in his face every day, then the offer has just gotten a whole lot sweeter. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea. I get to do something I actually have a chance at being extraordinary at and I get to make Justin mad. I think this might actually be fun.
“Fine.” I say suddenly. Their heads all whip over to look at me.
“Are you serious?” Justin asks.
“Totally.” I smirk.
He looks at me suspiciously but then shrugs before holding out his hand.
“Welcome to the band, Heartbreaker.” He beams.
I shake his hand with a smile tugging at my lips. The other boys come over and shake my hand, welcoming me. Alex even hugs me, picking me up off the ground for a few seconds before letting me go.
I hope I don’t regret this later.