~*October 2002*~
Good Charlotte shouted their goodbyes from onstage, their bodies soaked through and through with adrenaline, their hometown crowd as roudy as a bunch of drunkards reveling in a championship football game, Phoenix, her boyfriend Ethan, and their friend Madison joining in with the crowd, whistling and cheering like mad. The crowd surfers made one last dive for a high, screaming like they’re rulers of the world. Phoenix brushed the black guitar pic from Benji gingerly with her silvered-polished nails as Ethan laid his full lips upon her tan neck, her long black hair swooped behind her shoulders.
“Food?!” Madison shouted over the earsplitting cheers, looking up at Phoenix and Ethan, sweat creeping through her brown hairline, her red highlights sheening over her hazle eyes.
“Let’s,” Phoenix replied eagerly, Ethan smiling at the idea, buckling his hands around her low-riding red Dickies as they followed the surge toward the exit of the 8X10 Club, phamplets and fliers spilt over the floor like unkempt leaves on a lawn. Their rush of energy dropped to the floor as ran outside, drops of rain pelting them with the strength of boulders, girls screaming sheepishly as they ran around like headless chickens on that chilly Baltimore eve. Using their jackets as shields, they sprinted through the dark night, hearing every splash they made through the tiny rivers on the ground. Madison did a few ballerina twirls as they arrived at Phoenix’s black 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse to pass the time as Phoenix unlocked the doors, Madison’s baggy jean cargo shorts soaking up water like a sponge. Phoenix chuckled a little as she tried to release herself from Ethan’s powerful grip, water beading on their jackets. Phoenix pushed Ethan back with her…butt and jumped into the driver’s seat, leaving Ethan out in the cold with his puppy dog eyes. Feeling “daring”, he skidded across the hood of her car with ease like it was a water slide, receiving menacing glares from Phoenix as he entered the passanger’s side.
“Lighten up, Nix,” Ethan told her lightheartedly as he slammed the door, grazing her cheek with his lips.
“You have your own car to skid across and vandalize, mister,” Nix informed him with a hint of playfulness, turning her face away in sport, “The Taste Of Ink” blasting through the car, Madison squirming in the backseat like an antsy child.
“But, the opportunity was calling me!” Ethan defended himself, weights of water pulling down on his naturally spiky brown do, running his finger over his chin piercing.
“You have a very hungry person back here! Don’t make her do anything crazy!” Madison interrupted with a whiney quality in her voice, pushing her navy Etnies under her legs, “Let’s floor it!”
“And get in an accident?” Nix responded, putting the car into ‘D’ and checking for traffic, her cherished charm bracelet dangling from her right wrist like keys. “I don’t think so…”
~*~
“Let’s hit the town, guys!” Paul suggested, stripping off his soaken black T-Shirt and tossing it over to Billy, rummaging through his blue gym bag for a new shirt.
“Gross!” Billy replied, dropping the shirt to the floor like it was burning hot. “Ever heard of deodorant, Paul?”
“Oh, Sure!” Paul answered, sniffing his armpits playfully, “I used yours tonight.”
“Ugh!” Billy complained, throwing his arms to his sides with exasperation and heading for the bathroom.
“What do you say, Benj?” Joel asked him, running his hand through his sweaty black hair as he reached for a water bottle with the other.
“I don’t know,” Benji responded brusquely, hunched over and pressing his face into a white towel.
“C’Mon, Benji,” Paul pressed, throwing on a black “The Used” T-Shirt, “We never home to hang out with our old friends.”
“Maybe they’re old for a reason,” Benji mumbled through the towel. Joel and Paul rolled their eyes simultaneously as Billy reentered the “cool-down” room.
“What’s eating him?” Billy asked the guys, rolling his neck around for therapeutic release.
“That time of the month,” Paul joked, laughing more at the joke than the other two.
“Well, Benji,” Joel began, picking up his MADE sweatshirt lying next to Benji, “I guess you’re going home then to hang with Grandma, play Trivial Pursuit and sip Hot Cocoa as she tells you about the good ol’ days…”
“Alright, Alright!” Benji gave up, the towel plummeting to the floor as he shot up, his black spikes wilting as his eye makeup did. He loved the women dearly, but, you know how Grandmas can be…
~*~
Madison let out an exasperated sigh bearing witness to this inadvertent PDA, Madison and Ethan sharing a Triple Thick Chocolate Shake, Nix’s lip piercing clinking against the glass everytime she went to whisper something in Ethan’s ear. They were the “best” couple, as the award they won Senior Year in the yearbook stated. Everyday was different, everything was different when they experienced the things together. They were best friends before lovers. He was the only guy who’d go shopping with her and she was the only girl who wanted ere about the latest guitars and riffs he learned. It was the only stability they had in this hostile world. She inspired him. He completed her. It was as simple and complicated as that.
Their usual concert after-party at Peter Pan’s Diner filled to capacity with the 7 truckers and insomiacs occupying the red booths and stools, listening drably to the late night news being reported on a tiny TV hanging by the cash register. “I would figure you guys would be like a married couple by now.”
“C’Mon, Mad,” Ethan replied, rising from his straw with a cheesy smile, filching a fry from her plate and dipping it in ketchup, “You know you love us.”
“I have to,” Mad responded with a sarcastic smile, munching away on some chicken tenders, “We’re practically family. At least we’ve known each other that long.”
“12 years strong,” Phoenix responded with a happy sigh, stealing a fry from Madison’s plate as her eyes adverted to the table in thought, her diamond nose stud in her left nostril sparkling in the cheap lighting.
“3 years stronger,” Ethan crooned, nibbling on Nix’s ear with his Prince Charming smile and world-class dimples. Nix attempted to act like she didn’t like that, her shimmering blue eyes darting to the side with pleasure.
“Over 3 years already,” Madison responded with a shake of her head, rudely slurping every sip of Dr. Pepper from her glass, her nose ring lightly tapping the glass. “It seems only yesterday it was…”
“July 12, 1999,” Nix finished her sentenced, looking deeply into Ethan’s brownie eyes like his mind could be read like a book. And it usually could.
“You guys make me sick,” Madison informed them grumpily, stabs of pain poking at her fragile heart, slouching in her booth, wrapping her arms around her small torso and flickering her hazel eyes to the marble tile.
“I’m sorry,” Phoenix replied immediately, her carelessness about her friend’s feelings forcing her to shift her body away from Ethan’s embrace to the aisle. Madison’s boyfriend, Jeff, of 7 months broke it off with her a few days earlier. Apparently he “found someone else,” but that really means he’s been screwing someone else, her suspicions clear with his departure.
“It’s OK,” Madison responded uneasily, propping herself up with her hands, “Can we just get outta here?”
“Can you ask to get your fries wrapped first?” Ethan asked suddenly, reaching for another one, slinking his arm around Nix’s shoulders.
“Are you musicians really strapped that much for food?” Nix asked with a curious smile, flicking at an out of place lock of his hair with her fingers.
“We take what we can get,” Ethan responded matter-of-factly, his alternative rock band ‘Twisted Harmony’, being the love of his life, besides Phoenix. “We live on the edge.”
“Ooh,” Nix replied impressed, dramatically pinching at his cheek, “My little rebel…”
“Without a cause,” Ethan responded cutely, the chubby, stout waitress delivering them the check and taking the fries to be wrapped.
~*~
“It’s really coming down out there,” Benji stated as they dashed into their manager’s black mini-van from the club, shaking excess water from his cameo coat.
“Like caaaaaaaats and dooooooooogs,” Paul agreed with a sing-song voice, waving his hand in the air, leaning his head against the cool glass, mezmerized by the fat drops of rain plopping on the road from saturated clouds.
“Yo, dude,” Joel stumbled into the front seat, his eyes glazed over with the drinks he knocked down that night, “Sure you’re good to drive?”
Benji hesitated for a moment, surveying the back of the van for anyone more sober than him, but all he found was mesmerized Paul and already sleeping Billy. “Sure,” Benji responded confidently, blinking his eyes excessively to bat away the cloudiness. “Yeah, if course.”
Joel nodded and slowly understood the concept of buckling himself into the passenger’s seat, tapping his fingers against the dashboard to “I’m Already There” by Lonestar.
Benji took a deep breath and started to navigate himself through the downpour, the windshield wipers futile attempts at clearing the windshield making the wind and water pound down with a vengeance. A few miles down the road, the rain and time would stop with a snap of his fingers…
~*~
Madison drifted between sleep and reality, her seatbelt giving her good posture, her hazel eyes blind from the gusty winds and thunderous rain surrounding the car like they were stuck in a hurricane. Ethan turned himself toward Phoenix, massaging her neck with his long arm as she drived, her eyes surveying the opaque road like hawk’s eyes, the smooth rhythum of “Picture” from Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow calming the intensity of the storm.
Madison glanced over at Ethan a few times, a peaceful look casted upon his face like he was free as a bird. “What?” Phoenix asked him with a laugh as she ran one hand through her long locks nervously, checking her mirrors every few seconds.
“You just look…so…” Ethan struggled to find the right word, his massaging hand pausing, “intense.”
“Well, thanks,” Phoenix responded with an unsure giggle, tapping him on the arm lovingly as she stopped at a stoplight, the rain hammering with god-like force in the intersection of Route 62, their breathing beginning to condense against the glass.
“You know, Nix,” Ethan began, flicking on the defroster with ease, “I love you. I do. You know that. You are my muse…Well…These years together have been some of the best of my life. You know that, don’t you? Of course you…I need to…”
“I’m sorry, Rebel,” Phoenix interrupted, turning off the radio as she proceeded through the green light. “I can’t concentrate….” She stopped in horror and turned sharply toward Ethan as a black mini-van zoomed through the red light, spinning out of control like a wild carnival ride, two blinding headlights hitting their faces like extreme sunburn milliseconds before the rain stopped. . .