Chapter 5
“Who’s that?” Matt asked, nodding his head towards the car parked beneath the shadows of the trees lining the driveway. “Did Jinxx get a new car?”
Andy shook his head. “No. There’s someone in the passenger seat.”
The car came to a stop and Matt turned towards him. “Well, call me sometime, man.”
“Thanks,” Andy said as he stepped out of Matt’s car before he drove off. He pulled his keys out of his pocket as his cell phone vibrated. He looked down for a moment to read the text from Jake.
She broke her tail bone. She fell in the toilet at work after some douche left the seat up.
Andy chuckled to himself, glad it wasn’t more serious. Someone cleared their throat, causing Andy to startle, jumping and dropping his phone and keys.
A girl was standing in front of him, looking worried and slightly confused.
“Who are you?” Andy asked, wishing he had made an effort to sound more pleasant once the words had already passed his lips. He could practically feel the scowl his mouth was surely forming.
“My name’s Jill. I’m here on a job interview, but no one’s home.” She gave him a sweet smile and cocked her delicate looking head to the side before looking off towards the dark house. “Should I come back some other time?” She pushed up the large framed glasses that had been hanging low on her thin nose.
“An interview for what?” he asked as he bent down to get what he had dropped. He swiftly tucked his phone into his back pocket and hooked his key chain on his belt loop.
None of the guys mentioned anything about an interview... Questions of whether or not they were planning on involving him in this passed his mind before shrugging it off. The girl’s, who had just introduced herself as Jill, sweet voice cut through his thoughts.
“Merch girl.” Her nimble fingers went up to her mouth in a gesture of nerves. Her tiny nails looked chewed down to the cuticle. “And you’re Andy, so I’m assuming I’m in the right place.”
Andy laughed. “I guess I’ll have to interview you,” he concluded, coming to a stop in front of her. He was clearly missing out on important decisions lately, and he was more than capable of finding a merch girl.
Andy led her to Jinxx’s front door and retrieved the spare key from beneath the welcome mat. It had been in the same hiding place for as long as Jinxx had lived here.

The key turned easily in the lock and he led her inside, the familiar scent of Jinxx’s house coming over him. He placed the key back in it’s spot before letting Jill in and closing the wooden door behind them.
Jill followed him into the living room where Andy plopped down onto the couch. She stood before him for a moment, hesitating, before following in his lead.
“Okay, so why do you want to be our merch girl?” he asked, eyeing an unopened bottle of wine sitting on the cherry wood table diagonal from the couch.
This would be an appropriate time to crack open a bottle of wine and bring out the fancy crystal glasses he knew Jinxx kept in the kitchen cabinets. His friend wouldn’t mind. Instead, he turned his attention back to Jill who was clearing her throat, having realized he wasn’t paying any attention to her.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the music industry... Even if this isn’t exactly playing music.”
“Do you play anything?” he asked, turning his back towards the bottle.
She smiled, her eyes growing wide with enthusiasm. “Yeah, I sing and play a bit of piano. I can really pick anything up.”
“Anything?” Andy asks, getting up from the couch and heading across the room to where Jinxx’s guitar was sitting upright in a stand.
He took the guitar up and crossed the room back to the couch in just two big strides. Jill easily took the guitar onto her lap and positioned her fingers onto the frets. Within a few minutes of fiddling around, she was strumming Fallen Angels. An acoustic version the band had meant to create, but never did.
“You’re really good,” Andy admitted during a break in the song. He picked up with her during the chorus, harmonizing easily together. When the song was over, he put the guitar back in silence before turning back to her.
“I think you can be our merch girl,” he said with a shrug.
“What?” she asked, sounding confused. “I figured you’d ask more questions than that.”
“Well, you’re friendly... And unless you’re going to steal our shit,” he laughed, “I don’t really see a problem.”
She got up off the couch and nearly skipped to him out of excitement. Before he could stop her, her arms were around his neck in an embrace.
Jill finally let go when the creak of the front door came, and the sound of heels on the hardwood floor of the front hall. Sammi peeked her head around the corner and peered into the living room. A smile lit up her face when she saw Andy with Jill.
“Andy!” she exclaimed. “Who’s this?”
He laughed, surprised her first question wasn’t ‘what are you doing in my house?’ He supposed she was used to coming home and finding Jinxx’s band mates.
“This is Jill, our new merch girl.”
Jinxx came into the living room then, a smile on his face when he saw Jill.
“Well, if Andy approves you must really be worthy,” he said, stepping closer to them as Sammi disappeared back down the hall.
A smile formed on Andy’s face, mirroring his friend’s.
“Welcome to the gang,” Jinxx added, giving Jill a friendly side embrace.