The girl across the hall
Maybe you'll see the real me?
Andy dug through his closet to find that shirt he knew he had somewhere. He had to settle for a grey T-shirt that had been flung on the bed minutes before, along with his typical black skinny jeans, but only one belt. He straightened what he could of his short black hair, letting it fall forward as bangs.
Across the hall, Arielle had changed out of her dress for the presentation today, into a pair of emerald skinny jeans, a soft, oversized, cream colored t-shirt with a faded black cat outline on the front. She added a pair of brown flats, then put her long brown hair into a side braid. Who said she couldn't look nice on a date she was dreading?
Exactly at five o'clock, Andy took a deep breath, raising his arm to knock three times. The door was soon opened to reveal the girl he had been dreaming about the past few weeks. She looked absolutely stunning with her wavy hair falling perfectly in the loose braid, the jeans made her brown eyes pop, and that almost not noticeable layer of lipgloss making him want to push her against the wall and feel those plush, pink lips on his. She smiles a bit, out of courtesy.
"Should we go then?" Andy asks, leading her to the elevator. As soon as they are in the enclosed space, he notices she tenses up. Arielle asks quietly, avoiding eye contact, "so.. Where are we going?"
"My friend told me about this great restaurant about 15 minutes from here so I thought we would try it. He said their duck is phenomenal." He smiles down at her. She raises her eyebrows, surprised at his higher vocabulary and classiness. He subconsciously inches closer to her so that their hands are almost touching as they reach the bottom floor. Soon, Andy is holding the door open for her to his car, then walking to the drivers side and starting it. Suddenly, the music starts playing in the cd drive.
"I am the chosen,
Wretched and Divine
I am the unspoken,
The one they left behind
Fearless, fight until we die
I am broken
The Wretched and Divine
We live for broken hearts,
Won't watch them fall apart
We live for the ones
Who don't know they exist
We die for endless winter,
Beginner and the sinner
We die for the ones
Who raise their hands to resist"
Andy quickly shuts it off as soon as he can, a worried look coming across his features. "Sorry."
She nods, a little worried about the man she had just entered an enclosed space with. "What song was that?"
He bites his lip, "uh, it doesn't have a name yet. It's a rough tracking of the vocals for a record my band is recording and I'm not supposed to let anyone else hear it, not even my parents. It's not like I don't trust you or anything it's just... Business and contract stuff." He explains, blushing.
She nods as they pull out of the lot, "I think they're good. Honestly I would have expected something more screamo and metal from you."
"Nah, that's not my type of thing. It's actually a concept album." Andy smiles over at her, she notices a heated feeling in her cheeks- why is she blushing?
"What's that?"
"It's where the album tells a story through the songs. Ours is more of a dystopian theme, it's still in the very early process though." He shouldn't have said that. The record label has been down his throat for sharing information on the record with Juliet so now to make a deal, she has to sing on one of the songs. It's going to be an emotional hell for Andy considering lost it all was written about losing her.
Eventually, after talking a bit more about stereotypes in the music industry, Andy pulls up to the restaurant, handing over the keys to the valet. She smiles at him as they walk inside, already enjoying the date a bit more than she thought she would.
As the young waitress leads them to their table, she sends Andy a look, as if to ask what he was doing here. He brushes it off, sitting across from the beautiful writer at the high top table. She looks at him from over the menu, admitting to herself that the lip ring definitely does a good job at drawing attention to his plump lips. And the tattoos, while maybe a little excessive, are slightly hot.
"So, you're in a band, huh? What's that like?" She asks, folding her menu back up after the waitress had filled their cups with wine. Andy smiles, making eye contact, "it's a little hectic at times, but it's amazing. I've actually wanted to be in a band for as long as I can remember."
"That's funny." She raises an eyebrow, "I've also wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember. It's la, anything can happen."
"That's very true. I'm just lucky I'm not living out of my car anymore." He smirks, taking a sip of wine. She chuckles, "ya, I was living in my car for a while too, down in the Kmart parking lot near the strip. There were a bunch of us at one point. But that was years ago..."
His eyes widen, "wait, that's where I lived."
"I guess it's just a common place." She takes her own sip of the red wine. The waitress returns to take their orders, leaving a few short moments later to leave Andy and Arielle to their date. They keep talking, laughing, and sharing stories until the food comes. Andy starts a story about when he dressed up as kiss at five, when out of the blue Arielle subconsciously rubs his leg with her foot.
'His smug look is cute.' She things as she slips her footsie game underneath his pant leg. Andy asks, "so are you an only child like me or..?"
"I have an older brother. He's in medical school now. We don't really talk." She shrugs. Andy nods. "So am I going to have to watch out for him if I get the chance to see you again?" He asks after signing the bill without letting Arielle see it. She smirks, knowing its an invitation to go out again. Andy eases his hand into hers as they walk out of the restaurant, being childish and taking a handful of mints each. She giggles and pops one in her mouth. "I dunno. That would depend."
"Depend upon what?" He asks, looking over at her. She smirks, "whether or not you... Ya, I've got nothing."
He starts up the car with the smile that had been there all night growing even wider. "So am I as repulsive as you thought?"
"No.. I'm sorry I misjudged you Andy." She places a hand on his shoulder, "it was wrong of me."
"Thank you." He nods to her, pulling out of the parking lot. She feels his hand in hers again, it doesn't feel that bad as she thought. Andy grins over at her, a smile growing across her face as well. "Do you have any rules for me when we get back? Can I walk you inside or do I have to wait until then to go up myself?" He jokes, winking.
"Umm I think the second one." Arielle giggles, then says seriously, "but really though, you can walk me up."
"I thought I had to stay in the car?" He giggles, pouting his bottom lip a slight bit. She giggles again as they arrive at the apartment building, getting out with their hands soon clasped together again. Andy grins at her as they walk in a comfortable silence until they get to the elevator. "So what music do you like then?" Andy asks as they get in. She blushes, knowing her taste in music is very weird but not as common as most. "I like some acoustic rock, mostly pop music but not the ones that's on the radio... Like the ready set or I like never shout never. I'm not exactly a huge fan of the musicians that I like... Oh ya, do you know automatic loveletter?"
Andy bites his lip nervously at the mention of his ex girlfriend's previous band. "Ya... My ex was in that." He mumbles. She blushes even more than before, "oh. Sorry."
"It's fine. I don't care about her anymore." Andy mumbles, "anyways... So has the land lord been trying to raise your rent or is it just me?"
"He has! Is it because now it's not a couple living there?" She exclaims. Andy nods.
They keep talking about how annoying the landlord is until they reach their floor. As Andy walks her to the door he says a friendly goodnight and goes to peck her cheek. Except, Arielle goes on her tiptoes to peck his cheek, not realizing that he was as well... Andy ends up accidentally moving too fast and she turns her head by mistake, their lips meeting for a moment. He blushes even worse and mumbles, "I was... Uh... Aiming for your cheek."
"I was too." She mumbles to the floor. Andy presses his lips together, knowing that he enjoyed that half of a second. She plays with the hem of her shirt, looking up at Andy, not being able to focus on anything but his lips. He embraces her in a quick hug, then turns to walk the few feet to his own apartment. "I'll see you later then?"
"Ya.." Arielle turns, stepping into her own apartment to be greeted by the eager face of her roommate.
"How bad was it?" Delaney smirked.
Arielle just shook her head, laughing at herself. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I had fun."
Delaney's smirk disappears. She raises an eyebrow, "you didn't lead him on?"
"I couldn't. He actually wanted to go on a date, not just have sex later. Andy's actually a nice guy, just dresses like he's not." Arielle explains, sitting down on the couch next to her friend. She blushes, "and just now we were trying to kiss each others cheeks at the same time but we ended up missing and pecking. He was so embarrassed about it, it was cute."
"Him... Cute?" Delaney looks at her best friend confused. They had been talking about how much she was dreading the date just hours before. Now it's 10:35 and she is basically saying she likes the man. How did her opinion change so quickly?
"Ya, he kind of had this expression like a puppy that knew he did something bad. I thought it was kind of adorable." Arielle mumbles, thinking about Andy's face just moments before.
Delaney just stares, a bit shocked at her explanation. "But he's all weird and satanic-"
"I guess we misjudged him. It's not right to judge by looks, we've all been taught that but sometimes we forget."
"But he slept with all those women!" Delaney cries out, "he probably has an std!"
"You know, that's really a typical way men get over relationships. I bet dean is doing the same thing." She shrugs, placing her hands in her lap, starting to have second thoughts about a second date with Andy. She did indeed have a great time, something they both desperately needed. The old saying, 'you can't judge a book by its cover' surely comes in handy at this point. Still, her friend persisted, "he's a terrible influence on you Arielle. Has something gone loose in your head because this isn't like you. Next thing I know, you're going to look just like him."
"Lets change the subject alright?" Arielle mutters, thinking about the new hairstyle she had been contemplating for a few weeks, "so I've been thinking of dying my hair. Maybe having the tips fade into a pastel pink."
"What? But your hair is beautiful the way it is!" Delaney exclaims.
Arielle shrugs, "I'm in the fashion industry, I'm going to follow trends. Just be glad I'm not dying them blue or something."
"Well if that's what you say is going to be in style..." Delaney sighs, turning back to the tv she was watching. Arielle looks at the ends of her hair, they are desperately in need of trimming and dry. "It is, I bet that by the end of this summer all the teenagers will
Be copying the fashion and having their tips dyed."
She rolls her eyes. Arielle makes a face, turning to her room to change into pajamas. She pulls out her phone to call her parents since her dad hasn't been doing so great to see Andy texted her.
Andy: hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and watch the batman marathon with me? :) I'm obsessed with batman and it's not the same when you watch it alone.
She chuckles, typing:
Arielle: sure, I'll be there in a few minutes.
Arielle quickly pulls on a T-shirt and sweat pants, grabbing her keys and phone before walking out to the main room. Delaney looks up at the sound of her flip flops on the floor. "Where are you going?"
"Out. I don't know when I'll be back." She shrugs, not turning back to hear her friend's warning.
Across the hall, Arielle had changed out of her dress for the presentation today, into a pair of emerald skinny jeans, a soft, oversized, cream colored t-shirt with a faded black cat outline on the front. She added a pair of brown flats, then put her long brown hair into a side braid. Who said she couldn't look nice on a date she was dreading?
Exactly at five o'clock, Andy took a deep breath, raising his arm to knock three times. The door was soon opened to reveal the girl he had been dreaming about the past few weeks. She looked absolutely stunning with her wavy hair falling perfectly in the loose braid, the jeans made her brown eyes pop, and that almost not noticeable layer of lipgloss making him want to push her against the wall and feel those plush, pink lips on his. She smiles a bit, out of courtesy.
"Should we go then?" Andy asks, leading her to the elevator. As soon as they are in the enclosed space, he notices she tenses up. Arielle asks quietly, avoiding eye contact, "so.. Where are we going?"
"My friend told me about this great restaurant about 15 minutes from here so I thought we would try it. He said their duck is phenomenal." He smiles down at her. She raises her eyebrows, surprised at his higher vocabulary and classiness. He subconsciously inches closer to her so that their hands are almost touching as they reach the bottom floor. Soon, Andy is holding the door open for her to his car, then walking to the drivers side and starting it. Suddenly, the music starts playing in the cd drive.
"I am the chosen,
Wretched and Divine
I am the unspoken,
The one they left behind
Fearless, fight until we die
I am broken
The Wretched and Divine
We live for broken hearts,
Won't watch them fall apart
We live for the ones
Who don't know they exist
We die for endless winter,
Beginner and the sinner
We die for the ones
Who raise their hands to resist"
Andy quickly shuts it off as soon as he can, a worried look coming across his features. "Sorry."
She nods, a little worried about the man she had just entered an enclosed space with. "What song was that?"
He bites his lip, "uh, it doesn't have a name yet. It's a rough tracking of the vocals for a record my band is recording and I'm not supposed to let anyone else hear it, not even my parents. It's not like I don't trust you or anything it's just... Business and contract stuff." He explains, blushing.
She nods as they pull out of the lot, "I think they're good. Honestly I would have expected something more screamo and metal from you."
"Nah, that's not my type of thing. It's actually a concept album." Andy smiles over at her, she notices a heated feeling in her cheeks- why is she blushing?
"What's that?"
"It's where the album tells a story through the songs. Ours is more of a dystopian theme, it's still in the very early process though." He shouldn't have said that. The record label has been down his throat for sharing information on the record with Juliet so now to make a deal, she has to sing on one of the songs. It's going to be an emotional hell for Andy considering lost it all was written about losing her.
Eventually, after talking a bit more about stereotypes in the music industry, Andy pulls up to the restaurant, handing over the keys to the valet. She smiles at him as they walk inside, already enjoying the date a bit more than she thought she would.
As the young waitress leads them to their table, she sends Andy a look, as if to ask what he was doing here. He brushes it off, sitting across from the beautiful writer at the high top table. She looks at him from over the menu, admitting to herself that the lip ring definitely does a good job at drawing attention to his plump lips. And the tattoos, while maybe a little excessive, are slightly hot.
"So, you're in a band, huh? What's that like?" She asks, folding her menu back up after the waitress had filled their cups with wine. Andy smiles, making eye contact, "it's a little hectic at times, but it's amazing. I've actually wanted to be in a band for as long as I can remember."
"That's funny." She raises an eyebrow, "I've also wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember. It's la, anything can happen."
"That's very true. I'm just lucky I'm not living out of my car anymore." He smirks, taking a sip of wine. She chuckles, "ya, I was living in my car for a while too, down in the Kmart parking lot near the strip. There were a bunch of us at one point. But that was years ago..."
His eyes widen, "wait, that's where I lived."
"I guess it's just a common place." She takes her own sip of the red wine. The waitress returns to take their orders, leaving a few short moments later to leave Andy and Arielle to their date. They keep talking, laughing, and sharing stories until the food comes. Andy starts a story about when he dressed up as kiss at five, when out of the blue Arielle subconsciously rubs his leg with her foot.
'His smug look is cute.' She things as she slips her footsie game underneath his pant leg. Andy asks, "so are you an only child like me or..?"
"I have an older brother. He's in medical school now. We don't really talk." She shrugs. Andy nods. "So am I going to have to watch out for him if I get the chance to see you again?" He asks after signing the bill without letting Arielle see it. She smirks, knowing its an invitation to go out again. Andy eases his hand into hers as they walk out of the restaurant, being childish and taking a handful of mints each. She giggles and pops one in her mouth. "I dunno. That would depend."
"Depend upon what?" He asks, looking over at her. She smirks, "whether or not you... Ya, I've got nothing."
He starts up the car with the smile that had been there all night growing even wider. "So am I as repulsive as you thought?"
"No.. I'm sorry I misjudged you Andy." She places a hand on his shoulder, "it was wrong of me."
"Thank you." He nods to her, pulling out of the parking lot. She feels his hand in hers again, it doesn't feel that bad as she thought. Andy grins over at her, a smile growing across her face as well. "Do you have any rules for me when we get back? Can I walk you inside or do I have to wait until then to go up myself?" He jokes, winking.
"Umm I think the second one." Arielle giggles, then says seriously, "but really though, you can walk me up."
"I thought I had to stay in the car?" He giggles, pouting his bottom lip a slight bit. She giggles again as they arrive at the apartment building, getting out with their hands soon clasped together again. Andy grins at her as they walk in a comfortable silence until they get to the elevator. "So what music do you like then?" Andy asks as they get in. She blushes, knowing her taste in music is very weird but not as common as most. "I like some acoustic rock, mostly pop music but not the ones that's on the radio... Like the ready set or I like never shout never. I'm not exactly a huge fan of the musicians that I like... Oh ya, do you know automatic loveletter?"
Andy bites his lip nervously at the mention of his ex girlfriend's previous band. "Ya... My ex was in that." He mumbles. She blushes even more than before, "oh. Sorry."
"It's fine. I don't care about her anymore." Andy mumbles, "anyways... So has the land lord been trying to raise your rent or is it just me?"
"He has! Is it because now it's not a couple living there?" She exclaims. Andy nods.
They keep talking about how annoying the landlord is until they reach their floor. As Andy walks her to the door he says a friendly goodnight and goes to peck her cheek. Except, Arielle goes on her tiptoes to peck his cheek, not realizing that he was as well... Andy ends up accidentally moving too fast and she turns her head by mistake, their lips meeting for a moment. He blushes even worse and mumbles, "I was... Uh... Aiming for your cheek."
"I was too." She mumbles to the floor. Andy presses his lips together, knowing that he enjoyed that half of a second. She plays with the hem of her shirt, looking up at Andy, not being able to focus on anything but his lips. He embraces her in a quick hug, then turns to walk the few feet to his own apartment. "I'll see you later then?"
"Ya.." Arielle turns, stepping into her own apartment to be greeted by the eager face of her roommate.
"How bad was it?" Delaney smirked.
Arielle just shook her head, laughing at herself. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I had fun."
Delaney's smirk disappears. She raises an eyebrow, "you didn't lead him on?"
"I couldn't. He actually wanted to go on a date, not just have sex later. Andy's actually a nice guy, just dresses like he's not." Arielle explains, sitting down on the couch next to her friend. She blushes, "and just now we were trying to kiss each others cheeks at the same time but we ended up missing and pecking. He was so embarrassed about it, it was cute."
"Him... Cute?" Delaney looks at her best friend confused. They had been talking about how much she was dreading the date just hours before. Now it's 10:35 and she is basically saying she likes the man. How did her opinion change so quickly?
"Ya, he kind of had this expression like a puppy that knew he did something bad. I thought it was kind of adorable." Arielle mumbles, thinking about Andy's face just moments before.
Delaney just stares, a bit shocked at her explanation. "But he's all weird and satanic-"
"I guess we misjudged him. It's not right to judge by looks, we've all been taught that but sometimes we forget."
"But he slept with all those women!" Delaney cries out, "he probably has an std!"
"You know, that's really a typical way men get over relationships. I bet dean is doing the same thing." She shrugs, placing her hands in her lap, starting to have second thoughts about a second date with Andy. She did indeed have a great time, something they both desperately needed. The old saying, 'you can't judge a book by its cover' surely comes in handy at this point. Still, her friend persisted, "he's a terrible influence on you Arielle. Has something gone loose in your head because this isn't like you. Next thing I know, you're going to look just like him."
"Lets change the subject alright?" Arielle mutters, thinking about the new hairstyle she had been contemplating for a few weeks, "so I've been thinking of dying my hair. Maybe having the tips fade into a pastel pink."
"What? But your hair is beautiful the way it is!" Delaney exclaims.
Arielle shrugs, "I'm in the fashion industry, I'm going to follow trends. Just be glad I'm not dying them blue or something."
"Well if that's what you say is going to be in style..." Delaney sighs, turning back to the tv she was watching. Arielle looks at the ends of her hair, they are desperately in need of trimming and dry. "It is, I bet that by the end of this summer all the teenagers will
Be copying the fashion and having their tips dyed."
She rolls her eyes. Arielle makes a face, turning to her room to change into pajamas. She pulls out her phone to call her parents since her dad hasn't been doing so great to see Andy texted her.
Andy: hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and watch the batman marathon with me? :) I'm obsessed with batman and it's not the same when you watch it alone.
She chuckles, typing:
Arielle: sure, I'll be there in a few minutes.
Arielle quickly pulls on a T-shirt and sweat pants, grabbing her keys and phone before walking out to the main room. Delaney looks up at the sound of her flip flops on the floor. "Where are you going?"
"Out. I don't know when I'll be back." She shrugs, not turning back to hear her friend's warning.
Notes
How's this? Also, I'm trying to keep the dates, fashion, and andy's hair ;) in the right timeset, this is placed in the beginning of when they were writing wretched and divine so around early summer 2012.thank you for the comments, ratings, and for reading!
-C
What happened to this story
8/17/16