There is something completley freeing about walking through the school, knowing that you don't really have to be there. Like nothing matters and that you're so much better than everyone else who is still stuck at school.
I was a senior, just graduated of course, and I was going to a teacher to give back a book I borrowed from her. This year had been the best year of my life, full of writing, playing and singing. And what made it even better was the fact that tonight I had a gig at the Unitarian Church with my band: Blue Moon River. We were a fun blend of folk, acoustic and instrumental, a genre I could only sum up in one word: Indie.
Short for Independent, Indie was my life and everyone knew it. From my unusal name, Peyton, to my unual style, I had been named Most Individualistic for my Senior Superlative, a position I didn't take lightly. It definitely took work to perfect the art of that "Just rolled out of bed" look.
My long, honey colored hair fell sloppily down my back, a tight braid weaving its way all the way down. That braid had been there for at least a year, braided by my one true love, Dennis.
Ah, Dennis. My secret love. He was the very essence of indie-chic, with curly black hair, thick framed glasses, grey sweaters and brown courderoys. He didn't know about my feelings for him, but tomorrow, we were going out for coffee, and I was finally, finally going to confess. But tonight was Blue Moon River night. We had been working on new stuff that I was so excited to play. One of my reasons for life was singing and playing the guitar.
Guitar was like a drug to me, and at the same time was my anti-drug. I was completley straight-edge as could be and hand no piercings, tattoos and ate no meat. I wanted my body as pure as possible. Of course, I wouldn't have had a tattoo anyway. I had just turned 18, the week before.
When I left school after returning the book, I smiled. That would be my last time in that place for awhile, and for two months, I was completley free before heading off to Hampshire College, a totally hippie college.
"PeyPey !" I heard a screech as I walked away from the school. I looked to see my best friend, Mimi, running towards me. She wasn't exactly like me, okay, so she was basically my opposite. She liked music that was loud and obnixous, the screaming so hard and so obscure, nobody could understand it. She had long black hair and wore loads of makeup. She sewed all her clothes to make them all tighter and wore black, always. Nobody understood why we were friends, me included, but we always had fun together, even if we didn't exactly agree on music.
"Mimi!" I called back, meeting her on the sidewalk as we walked away.
"Your madre said you were here! What's up for tonight?" She asked. I grinned.
"The band is playing at the UU Church. Are going to be there?" I responded. She shrugged.
"You know it's not really my kind of music." she told me.
"Yeah, but don't you want to support me?" I asked. "Besides, Den is going to be there and I need all the support I can get before confessing to him tomorrow."
"All right, fine. I'll go. But I'm not dancing. You have tons of fans that will do that. And it's going to be akward for me, I don't know anyone." She told me.
"Hey. I thought you said that Charles was cute." I replied. Charles was the piano and slide guitar player for Blue Moon River and he was a lighter and straighter haired version of Dennis. He was pretty much like my little brother, because he was a year younger than us. I loved him to death and always helped him out on girl problems.
"Yeah, in a weird, geeky sort of way." She told me, rolling her eyes. "And he's not my type." She added.
"Oh yeah, the infamous type. What are your qualifications again? Tattoos up the wazoo, multiple face piercings, long hair, tight jeans, and shirts that all look the same with strange and disgusting pictures on them for bands you don't even know because you can't tell what the shirt says? Oh yeah, Mimi, those boys you like are definite winners." I told her with a scoff.
"Um, I've met some really nice boys from all the different shows I go to!" She defended, and I scoffed again at the word 'show'. Of course, that's honestly what it was. A showing of ridiculous guys playing bad music and hurting each other. As if 'moshing' could ever be dancing.
"Yep. They were going places." I told her.
"Not every guy has to be 'going places', Pey." She responded and I sighed. She'd never change her opinion of guys, and frankly, neither would I. But it didn't matter. Because hopefully, by tomorrow, I would have the most perfect boyfriend. Dennis really was the guy of my dreams.
"So. It starts at 7. You won't be late, right?" I asked her, as we walked into our local Dairy Queen where we loved to go just to eat mega-massive sundaes.
"And the reason we can't hang out before hand is...?" She asked, stepping up to the counter. "The usual for me please." She said. We had long before become regulars at this particular Dairy Queen, besides the fact that most of the kids who worked there went to our school.
"I'm practicing with the band before. But I'll see you at 7." I told her and looked at the bored girl named Kelsie Williams behind the counter. "The usual for me too please." I told her and we waited for our ice cream.
"I can't believe you're making me do this." Mimi groaned as we waited. I laughed at her.
"I can't believe you're actually coming."
I could tell something was wrong when we walked onto the small stage at the church, having already set up an hour before. The concert started at 7, which was why I had told Mimi to be there at 7, I knew she wouldn't have wanted to wait long. When we walked out, I saw Dennis. Which made my stomach get butterflies and my heart skip. But then I realized something very, very off. Dennis was sitting next to a girl. A girl I didn't know. And they were sitting close. Very close. And not only that, but their fingers were intertwined as they sat next to each other. I stopped abruptly on the stage and cocked my head at him.
He gave me a grin and mouthed "Girlfirend!" to me with enthusiam. The girl blushed and I smiled a little, wanting to die, dissapear, do anything except be here right now. I caught Mimi's eye and she was looking at me with strangled anger. She obvioulsy could see what was going on and like the good friend she was, she was pissed off, but wouldn't say anything, like I wanted.
I sat shakily down in the chair and looked at the amount of kids sitting on the floor. They were all indie-looking like me and made me only a little calmer. The other guys were coming onto the stage with me, but I didn't feel like singing anymore. Most of the songs we were going to sing in this set were written by me, about Dennis. Fuck.
I took a deep breath in and out and looked to the back of the room, where a guy I had never, ever seen before stood. He was wearing dark blue jeans, old sneakers and an unassuming long-sleeved black teeshirt. His skin was pale and his face, wickedly cute. His dark, dark brown hair was long, parted severly to the side, so that it flopped over his forehead and into one of his intensely bottle green eyes. I don't know why he stood out to me so much, but when I looked at him, the pain of seeing Dennis with his new girlfriend weaned just a little.
We played our songs, even though it was difficult. I nearly lost it on our last song, called incidentally, "I Like You A Lot", and I was pretty sure it showed to the audience, but they clapped when we were finished anyway.
I stepped down, guitar slung over my back and walked over to Mimi.
"I can't believe it." She told me.
"I should have seen it coming." I sighed and shook my head in defeat.
"You need a ride home?" She asked me.
"No, it's cool. I've got to pack up and then I'm fine. I've got my car and stuff, and I have to give Chaz a ride home." I told her and she nodded in reluctance.
"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" She told me and I sighed and turned to the stage.
"You okay?" A new voice asked me.
I turned around to see him!
rest in results.
Him was oddly enough, not Dennis. It was the new boy, the cute one from the back of the room. But still, his question made me tense. Why would be asking me this?
"Why do you ask?" I asked, my throat a little tight. The boy shrugged.
"You looked pretty distraught up there. I figured it was because you liked that guy you were looking at earlier and he was with another girl." He shrugged and smiled, showing a set of beautifully straightened white teeth. I squinted at him, not really appreciating his psychoanalysis of me. So what if he was completley true? It wasn't as if I was going to admit that.
"Uh, no. I just uh, get really into the music when I'm playing." I replied, fibbing a lame cover up. I knew he didn't buy it, but he didn't press it either. But I couldn't help ask him a question, one that had been annoying the entire set: "Who are you? I've never seen you here." I asked. He stuck out his hand.
"I'm Landon. Nice to meet you. And you've never seen me before because I really hate this kind of music." He said with a grin. I was about to shake his hand until I heard the last part of what he was saying.
"Exuse me?" I asked. He nodded his head.
"I just can't stand this fluffy crap." He told me. I fumed at him.
"Sorry, but this 'fluffy crap' happens to pretty much be my life." I retorted back, crossing my arms. Landon laughed.
"You know, if music is your life, you'll never get anywhere. Especially that guy you are so in love with. But honestly, take a good look at him before you decide if he's really worth it." He told me, all the while, my mouth was hanging open. Landon leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, "He looks kind of like a pussy." He said and chuckled again and leaned back.
"Well, I'd love to stay, but I've got things to do. See you around...oh, I never got your name." He said.
I didn't reply, deciding to only glare at him. Landon flashed me a smile.
"See you around, Nothing." And with that, he walked off.
Insufferable, annoying, sexy, cute...asshole!
