"Hello?"
"Umm, Mrs. Kerrington? It's Marian Arden."
"Hello, Marian. Did Glyndalyn receive her money?"
"Umm.. She did. But... Well, she might need some more." Marian decided to begin by asking for money for bail even though she knew they wouldn't get it.
"Why can't she call for it, then?" Marian thought about how to reply. Mrs. Kerrington sensed that something was wrong. "What has Glyndalyn done now?"
"Well... She's. Umm. She's in jail." Marian winced.
"In JAIL?!" Glyn's mother echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah. I don't really know what happened..."
"Well! Maybe Glyndalyn will finally learn some discipline in jail."
"So you won't..."
"Most certainly not, young lady." She hung up. Marian sighed. She ate some pretzels then went to sleep.
Glyn had long ago given up on conversing with the officers. They weren't very friendly. They reminded her of Barnaby. 'If I ever see that blonde jerk again I'm going to kill him for real.' She was in a holding cell at the police station with a bunch of really scary people. There was a clock on the wall that read 2:27. 'I'm going to be here for the rest of my life!!' She dejectedly sat facing the wall, waiting for something to happen. She was bored, so she started talking to herself.
"I wonder if Marian called my dear, dear mother. Or maybe my father."
"Shut up!" someone muttered.
"I wonder if my mother will come save me. I doubt that... Maybe Mari will, if she got money. I don't think she did... Oh well."
"I said shut the fuck up!!" the same voice ordered.
"I don't want to! Leave me alone. I'm going to kill that bastard Barnaby. And his boyfriend Nick. I'm going to kill them both with my bare hands- Something thudded against her back. A shoe smacked the wall near her head. "So, you're so drunk you can't even throw something across the cell and hit me?" she didn't turn around, but leaned her forehead against the wall. There was a squeaking sound and the door to the cell opened. There was dead silence for about ten seconds, then mad screaming.
"Glyn! Glyn, where are you?!" AJ called desperately, ignoring all the mad girls running at him. "Get off! GLYN!" He moved back a few steps away from the mob. Glyn looked up. She supposed she was hallucinating.
"AJ..." She backed away, afraid Barnaby was going to jump out from behind something and assault her.
"Umm... I'm saving you." He smiled. "Sorry about Nick and Barnaby."
"Oh, well that's okay, I guess. You know how people are when they're in love." AJ laughed. "Can I leave?"
"Yeah. I already paid. Umm.. everyone's out in the car."
"Everyone?" Glyn narrowed her eyes.
"Marian and Brian and Kevin," he lied. "That's all."
"Sure. Whatever.... Thanks." She looked mildly pleased and followed AJ outside. He went over to a limo and opened the door. "Um.. what is this?"
"This is our car. Well not REALLY, but we're riding in it today." AJ was slightly confused.
"Why did those people scream when they saw you? The other convicts?" Glyn eyed the limo suspiciously.
"Umm.. I told you, I'm a singer." he shrugged.
"Are we leaving or WHAT?" Nick asked irritably from the inside of the car. "Does she want to stay here with others of her kind?"
"Nick. SHUT UP." AJ commanded.
"Glynnie??" Marian said worriedly. She looked and felt really out of place. "Are you okay? They didn't kill you, did they?"
"I'm fine. No, they didn't, unfortunately." Glyn got in the limo and AJ followed her. "Mari, I've got to show you these pictures..."
"Did you get the pic of AJ and ... umm.... What's his name?" She looked at Nick strangely then gasped and grabbed Glyn's hand for moral support. "Glyn!! GLYN! Oh jeez. Ohmygod." She leaned against a window and refrained from opening the car door and jumping out onto the asphalt.
"What?" Glyn was confused. "...What?!?!"
"They ... It's... umm... God, Glyn, it's that GDG, I think." She groaned and covered her face.
"What?" Glyn said again. Suddenly she recalled a certain CD that had been lying around their apartment for a week or so, something Marian had written a review of. "Oh, shit! It's you!" She was somewhat horrified. Almost everyone else was confused, including Nick. Brian, on the other hand, was enlightened.
"Marian Arden." Brian said quietly. "You wrote the review." She didn't answer.
"YOU wrote that review? YOU?!" Kevin glared at her disgustedly.
"Sorry I don't care for your, um, music." Marian shrugged. Glyn started laughing somewhat hysterically.
"What's a GDG?" AJ asked, looking at her confusedly.
"Umm.." Glyn blushed. "It's.. uh.. God Damn Group. Yeah, that's what it means.." She was somewhat hesitant to tell them the acronym really stood for Gay Dancing Guys.
"Oh." AJ wasn't sure that was what it REALLY meant, but he didn't say anything.
"Well, that's clever," Kevin sneered.
"What music do you like?" Brian asked.
"Um..." Marian didn't feel like talking.
"Linkin Park!! Loreena McKennit, Lifehouse, Train, Vertical Horizon.." Glyn listed.
"Wait. Linkin Park? And Loreena McKennit?" Kevin repeated dubiously.
"You don't even know who she is, so shut up." Glyn stared at her hands. "Um... where are we going?" Nobody knew the answer, so no one said anything.
"How about my house?" AJ wondered.
"I want to go home." Marian said desolately. "I've already proved to myself and everyone else that I'm a social failure, so please just let me back in my cage."
"My house," AJ repeated more confidently.
"Wait... Where do you live?" Glyn repeated.
"Do you remember where you ran when Barnaby was chasing you and-"
"Shit! Aww. They'll never let me in there." Glyn shook her head disappointedly. It would have been interesting to see the 22nd floor finally.
"Yes they will. They like AJ," Nick said obnoxiously. "They don't mind weird people. He lives there, after all."
"Shut up, Nick!" AJ demanded. "Do either of you mind if we go to my house?"
"I guess not...." Glyn said very doubtfully. "But not for long."
"Not for long," Marian echoed. They sat in silence as they were driven back to AJ's house.
"Hey, Britni." AJ greeted the person behind the counter courteously. Britni eyed his companions. There was the blonde one, the tall one with dark hair and the shorter guy. And then there were two pensive-looking girls. One of them looked oddly familiar. Oh, no! It was that convict she'd seen earlier this afternoon!!!
"She shouldn't be here!" Britni hissed, pointing at Glyn.
"Yes she should," AJ contradicted. "Stop! Don't call security!" Britni had picked up the phone.
"Barnaby will keep her under control, Britni." Nick smirked. They all crammed into the elevator and went up to the 22nd floor, AJ punching in the code on the 21st.
"My God." Marian breathed as the doors opened. Glyn remembered to smack her gently. "I mean, JEEZ. You live here?"
"Not everyone lives in ratty apartments like yours." Nick said smugly and went over to a couch.
"Not everyone is talented enough to lip synch to electronically-enhanced music and bounce around on a stage." Glyn muttered bitterly.
"We do NOT lip synch!" Kevin said menacingly.
"Of course not," Glyn murmured soothingly. Marian looked around, trying not to stare obviously. His apartment appeared to take up the entire top floor of the building, and it was absolutely huge. She figured that the little place she rented with Glyn would have fit at least twice into the living room.
"Sit down, make yourselves at home." AJ said happily. "Do either of you want anything?"
"Umm.." Marian shook her head, but couldn't manage anything but that unfortunate syllable.
"Can I sit under your table?" Glyn asked hopefully.
"Err, what?" AJ looked at her strangely.
"Can I?"
"I guess. If you really want to." She wandered over to a table and crawled under it. "Does she always sit under tables?" AJ looked at Marian.
"Ummm. Well not always, but often." Marian didn't really want to sit on anything. She didn't want to screw it up.
"What's that?" Glyn glared at a weird little furry thing that was approaching her.
"Miffie," AJ said proudly. "She's a miniature poodle." Glyn looked strangely at the purple bows in Miffie's fur. Miffie yipped a few times and started chewing on her leg.
"She likes you!" AJ leaned over and scratched Miffie's head.
"Why didn't you name her Audrey?" Glyn whispered.
"Glyn!!" Marian glanced quickly at Brian, whose expression remained unchanged. He looked asleep, standing quietly a few feet away from AJ and Kevin. "Be nice."
"Audrey isn't nice to me," Glyn said loudly. "She called me a-"
"That's enough," Marian declared, trying not to laugh. Something yipped and ran into the room from a bedroom.
“Muffie!!” AJ greeted his other miniature poodle. This one wore pink bows instead of lavender.
“Do you mind if I sit in a chair?” Glyn asked. The dog named Miffie was still licking her face. The other one was approaching too fast.
“No. Go ahead.” AJ wondered why Glyn seemed so afraid of chairs. She looked around to see if there might be an ugly chair he could throw away when she left.
“I don’t think AJ has anything nasty enough for you to sit in,” Nick commented nonchalantly.
“Why aren’t you engaged to Audrey? So far I haven’t seen Brian do or say anything that shows he deserves that kind of hell for the rest of his life. Actually, I haven't seen him do or say anything much at all.” Brian looked up at her with an amused expression that wasn't a smile and, following his gaze when he looked away from her, Glyn noticed he was looking at Marian… how cute. Marian was obviously trying not to look at him.
“God, Glyndalyn, is it so hard for you to be nice?” Marian sighed. “God. God! I have to stop saying that word! UGH!” She covered her face with her hands, oblivious to the fact that Nick, AJ, Kevin, and still Brian were all staring at her.
“Great, so now we have TWO psychos.” Nick muttered. “We should open a fucking loony bin.”
“It’s past your bedtime, Nicky. Nighty night, now.” AJ glared at him. Nick took the hint and started toward a door.
“Hope you kids have fun tonight.” He slammed the door.
“I don’t like him,” Glyn stated as though it weren’t obvious.
“You are a guest.” Kevin glared at her.
“So are you,” AJ pointed out, silencing Kevin. “Can I look at some of your pictures, Glyn? Please?”
“I wish I had killed Nick earlier today…” Glyn pretended she hadn’t heard.
“Please?” AJ repeated. She carefully handed him a bag with her pictures in it.
“Barnaby wouldn’t have let me.” She sat under the table, trying to ignore AJ’s ‘dogs.’ They were accosting her again. “Go away! Stop licking me!”
“Not a dog person?” AJ glanced at her.
“Not a rat person. Well real rats are okay, but those things.. they’re not dogs or rats. They’re just.. ughh.” Glyn shuddered.
“Be nice to Muffie and Miffie!” AJ said indignantly. “Did you really take all of these? Yourself?” AJ was referring to her pictures.
“No, I mugged some old woman on the street and she happened to be carrying them..” Glyn crossed her eyes.
“Will you do a photo shoot for us sometime?” AJ asked timidly.
“Hell, no!” Glyn started laughing.
“I don't know if we’d want her to, anyway.” Kevin said doubtfully. “Let me see some of those pictures, yo!” AJ handed him an envelope of photos.
“Be careful.” He commanded.
“If you hurt any of my pictures…” Glyn started.
“You’ll do the same to me as you did to Nick?” Kevin looked at one of the photos annoyedly. He didn’t want to like it.
“I didn’t hurt the moron.”
“You hit his nose. He was bruised.”
“I, uh... I did that, actually.” Brian spoke up, for once. Kevin glared at him, and AJ laughed.
“You don’t seem very violent. I suppose someone as annoying as Nick could inspire those feelings in even the most peaceful…” Glyn was really trying not to fall asleep on AJ’s floor. “What did he do?”
“He called Audrey my fiancé,” Brian said without really thinking about it.
“Isn’t she?” Marian asked.
“Well, yeah.” Brian realized glumly.
“Hmm.” Glyn looked thoughtful. “Maybe you should-“
“Glynnie, you remember what we said about thinking about things before we speak, right?” Marian glared at her.
“Actually, I don’t. I don't think we ever had that conversation.” Glyn frowned. “And I was thinking! I WAS. He should-“
“Glyn, STOP.” Marian didn’t want her to say something that shouldn’t be said.
“I don’t see what your problem is, Mari.” Glyn closed her eyes.
“Are you going to sleep??” Marian didn’t know if that was a good idea. She was tired, too, and decided they should probably leave soon.
“No!” Glyn sat up. “I’m not! I’m awake, see?” Marian nodded tiredly. AJ was still engrossed with Glyn’s pictures.
“How many pictures are there, Glyn?”
“At least 17 times 25. How many is that? Is there a calculator anywhere?” She grimaced as Muffie attacked her shoe.
“More than 400.” That was the best estimation Marian could come up with. They both looked mournfully at AJ. Kevin was looking at pictures too. Brian was still standing more or less where he had been when they walked in. “We should go, Glyn… it’s late. Err.. early. It’s really early.”
“I guess.” Glyn was hesitantly petting Miffie. Or was it Muffie? “We get to walk!”
“No!” AJ said quickly. “You don’t have to walk. Someone can drive you… You could even stay here!” AJ was amazed at his own genius.
“No, that’s okay. We can walk.” Marian said nervously.
“Walk-walk-walk” Glyn chanted. “Hello you ratdog.” She grimaced as Miffie/Muffie licked her hand.
"That one's Muffie," Marian decided. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.
"No, this one's Audrey." Glyn laughed quietly. She could tell that Marian was staring at her. "Okay. No more."
"Hey! There's a picture of Nick and you, Bone," Kevin said, looking at pictures. It was the one of Nick falling into the lake. "Ha ha."
"Someone said my name!" Nick opened the door.
"Go back to bed, will you?" AJ ordered. Nick slammed the door shut. "Will you please do a photo shoot?" AJ begged.
"You wouldn't appreciate that," Glyn stated. "It would be heinous." She yawned. "Mari, we should start walking."
"I guess. ...Yeah." Marian started walking towards the door. Glyn stood up. Brian wondered worryingly if they were really going to walk alone at this time of night... It really wasn't safe at all.
"No! Don't walk," AJ said. Glyn started to tell him they would be fine but she was interrupted. "I'm not done looking at pictures."
"Hurry up!" Glyn collected some photographs from the couch beside Kevin. He looked at her like she was a bug then looked away. "I'm waiting for you, AJ."
"Maybe you can have this one back." He held up the picture of Glyn he'd been carrying around all day.
"I don't want that one anyway." She frowned at it. "I think Marian took that picture." Marian nodded and yawned. "Sorry, Mari, it's ugly. Your photography talents didn't really shine through in that one." Marian shrugged and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Glyn went back under the table and scowled at Miffie and Muffie, who decided to jump into her lap.
"Can I put these...dogs in that room there?" She pointed at the door she'd seen Nick in a few minutes ago. AJ nodded inattentively. Glyn crept over to the door and opened it a few inches then herded the rats in and shut it softly. She returned to sitting under the table. AJ waited until he was sure both she and Marian were asleep, then put the pictures back into their respective envelopes.
"You're demented." Kevin said flatly. "You have issues."
"You're just realizing this?" AJ shrugged.
"Control issues. And issues about becoming obsessed with strange girls." Kevin continued.
"Okay." AJ said amiably and decided he should let Glyn sleep under the table because she would leave if he woke her up and tried to persuade her to sleep on a couch or in a guest room or something. (Or something.) He turned off some lights and noticed that Miffie and Muffie were gone. "Brian, you're still here, right?" AJ asked, wondering if Brian's Audrey-inflicted complex had progressed so far that he needed to be reminded of these things.
"Uh huh. I'm here," Brian replied. "Marian's asleep, by the way. And Glyn. She is too."
"Really? That's nice," AJ chuckled.
"AJ, your damn dogs are in my room!" Nick yelled, storming out of his confinement.
"SHUT UP!" AJ whispered emphatically.
"Fine. Whatever. Oh, they're asleep." He looked disgusted. "When you wake up tomorrow they'll be gone and they'll probably have taken half the stuff you own-"
"Shut up, Nick. Shit, for the last time. Go back to bed. It's not your room anyway. It's mine," AJ reminded him, then looked through some of Glyn's photographs again. Brian was still there. Right? "Umm. Brian?" Maybe he had crept out the door at some point. Kevin stood up and walked toward the door while AJ hunted for Brian.
"Bye AJ. Seeya. Oh. There's Brian." Kevin saw him sitting by the door when he accidentally stepped on his hand.
"Ow," Brian muttered, still mostly asleep. "Thanks, Kev."
"Bye." Kevin shut the door. Where was Barnaby? He was usually in this hallway. AJ had probably threatened him with death if he stayed. Poor Barnaby.
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