Andy

“You’re a religious kid, aren’t you?” Jinxx asked conversationally after we’d gotten outside. The rain had slowed considerably to a drizzle. He chewed on the toothpick thoughtfully while he decided which way we should go first.

“I suppose so, why?”

“Just wondering.” He replied, “I always thought that I saw someone like you leaving church every week.”

“Huh? How? Do you go to church?”

“No, I live across the street from it, though. I don’t do much, so normally I’m always out on my porch seeing what’s going on. Every Sunday, at 4:30 in the evening, like clockwork, church gets out, and there’s this weird kid running around in the rain.” He peered down at me with a mischievous smile, before chuckling.

I frowned, disliking that he already knew more about me before we met than I knew about him. I feel like I’m at a disadvantage. I couldn’t claim to have noticed him, though, because I was always stuck in my weird delusions when I got out of church on Sundays. I never noticed the weird guy across the street watching me.

“Wait, should I be concerned that you were watching me?” I hedged, pulling up my hood around my face.

“Nah,” he shook his head, “you’re interesting to watch, I guess, but not for any weird reason. You’re just a dork.”

I smiled at him cheekily, proud that we were finally making some weird baby steps towards being friends. We already reached the name calling phase.

“I’m actually quite pleased to be called a dork, to be honest.” I say, shrugging. “I’ve never claimed to be anything less.”

“Ah ha, that’s the spirit... I think they went this way.”

We were walking down Mainstreet, pass the dimly lit neon window displays and the huddled refugees that I could do nothing to help. I felt like a ghost among them.

“How can you tell?”

Jinxx paused to kick at something glowing dimly on the ground. “Camels,” he clarified, “Jake smokes ‘em.”

I nod, and follow him quietly with my hands burrowed in my pockets.

“I ah... Wanted to apologize to you.” He spoke up after a minute or so. I looked at him in confusion, “What do you mean?”

He winced a little, “For that whole Ferguson thing. We knew the guy wasn’t right in the head, but he was all we had, y’know? We were keeping an eye on him that night, but he’s a sneaky old rat. I’m sorry that happened to you, and I’m sorry we put you in the position for that to happen.”

“It’s okay.” I assured him after I processed his apology. “People like him are unpredictable. You’re never entirely sure what their intentions are. I forgive you.”

He gave me a half hearted smile, and we kept moving. Soon, we both perked up the the sound of arguing.

“That sounds like them.” Jinxx spoke up, slowing his pace to hear where it was coming from better.

“Andy, Ashley, knock it the hell off before I knock you both out.”

“That’s definitely them.” I agree quickly, our pace quickening to reach a nearby alleyway.

“Leave me the fuck alone! Who the hell said I wanted to be here with any of you? Least of all Ash. You all treat her like she’s a Goddamned princess, but none of you can see what she really is-”

I held back a little, and Jinxx noticed my hesitation and stopped by my side. I listened in, hoping to gain a little insight to what was going on in Ash’s head, and how I could make my presence less miserable for him.

“Ashley, I said lay the hell off.” Jake snapped, “We’re not in middle school, this isn’t a dumb jock feud, and we’re all Goddamned adults, now fucking act like it. Ashley, I wasn’t there when you met Asheen, but I can assure you she’s no wretch. If she were, do you really think I’d want her around any of us? You’re not the only one with a lack of trust.”

“You only see what you want to,” Ashley sneered harshly, “you see a set of tits and nothing else. Why else do you think all your relationships have failed?”

“Alright.” Jinxx heaved a sigh and entered the alley without me. I decided against following him, in fear of making things even worse. “Ashley, don’t aim below the belt, that’s low, even for your new... Image.” Jinxx said, placing himself between the other four men with an authoritative stance, “we can all stand out here like drowned rats, arguing over stupid shit, or we can pack up until we have viable evidence that Asheen is a bad person. Until then, shut your damn mouth.” He pointed an accusive finger as Ashley.

His eyes were furious, and the looks he was throwing around at his once best friends were deadly. I peeked around the corner of the building, and I saw his furious gaze burning into their eyes. Andy’s back was turned, and he was pacing, annoyance and frustration creasing his face, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He missed the bizarre display.

“You forget that the kindest people hurt others the most.” Ashley said, his voice low and ominous, as though his words meant something else completely. He cocked his head to the side curiously, flashing his dark eyes at them and Jake, Jinxx and CC blinked, stared at Ashley in confusion for a moment, and shook their heads.

“Can we go now?” Jake asked, “I’d like to get home at a decent hour.” He lit up another cigarette, and started to exit the alley. CC and Jinxx followed him, and Andy turned around.

“What? Just like that you’re all going to walk away with your tail between your legs?” He called after the departing group, waving his hand after them.

“What do you mean, Andy?” Jinxx turned to give him a puzzled look, “Let’s go get something to eat, I’m starved.”

Andy looked like he’d just been smacked. He struggled to recover, “What? Did you all just have a massive lapse of memory?”

“What kind of drugs are you on?” CC chuckled, ruffling the fluffy mohawk on Andy’s head, “let’s get some pancakes.”

Andy looked to me, and I nodded to let him know I was was on his side. We had both seen the strange display. He lowered his head, and gazed at his feet as we gathered into a uniform group to exit onto the street.

“What did you see?” Andy whispered to me, lingering a few steps back.

“He was glaring at them...” I replied in confusion, “do you think they’re joking?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, “let’s finish up tonight, and we’ll discuss it later.” He pressed his lips to my temple in a fleeting peck before quickening his pace to walk beside Ashley.

“Sorry about all of that.” Andy apologized to him, but I would guess he was just trying to get him to confess.

“Sorry for what?” Ashley asked innocently, and I could tell something was up.

We walked in silence for a bit, not speaking too much to one another as we made it to the 24 diner a couple streets down.

“1:00 AM pancakes!” CC cried in excitement as we walked towards the chrome diner, with neon signs in the window advertising what beer brands they carried. I smiled for him, and we went inside.

We all crammed into a booth, and stared at each other in the overly lit restaurant. It was certainly strange how none of them shot dirty glances at one another, or anything, to indicate they were still thinking about the covered up argument. Almost like their memory had been swiped.

“What can I get you boys?” A tired looking waitress approached our table with a notebook and pen in hand, chewing on a piece of gum. She wore a pair of worn black skinny jeans and a faded Jack Daniels shirt that hung off of one slender shoulder awkwardly.

“And girl.” CC corrected her with a beaming smile, throwing his arm over my shoulders dramatically, making me feel like a crunched up rag doll. I smiled at him, and then tried to offer the waitress an apologetic smile. It was met with cold blue eyes and a brooding frown. “What can I get you?” She repeated.

The ordered greasy breakfast food, and pie. The waitress penned it down with little interest. I opted to share a massive stack of pancakes with CC to avoid having to look up at her cold gaze again. Grumpy people aren’t something I can easily tolerate without automatically thinking it’s my fault for their attitude.

“Kay, I’ll have it out to you soon.” She sighed, taking back the menus and going to resume her spot behind the counter, flipping through outdated People magazines while waiting for more customers to come in. We were the only ones besides a man with a grizzly beard sitting alone at a booth, nursing a tumbler of beer, reading the newspaper. S’pose not too many people crave diner pancakes at 1 am.

I rested my hands on the tabletop, picking at my nail polish idly, until Andy reached over to gently turn over the charms that adorned the silver bracelet on my list.

“That’s cool.” He noted, inspecting the colorful glass beads. “Looks old.”

“It is,” I laugh, turning it over to show more of the aged charms, “I got it from a secret admirer on Valentines Day. Said it was his grandmothers.” I smiled at him sweetly, watching his expression contort in confusion.

“Wait... What? Secret admirer?”

“Uh huh.” I nodded, still smiling at him. “He told me he loved me more than life itself when he gave it to me.”

“Then why the hell aren’t you with him instead of this joker?” Jake asked, jabbing a thumb in Andy’s direction, causing him to roll his eyes.

I laugh, “Because that guy was my father.”

“Oh.” Jake leaned back in his chair, chuckling quietly, “Well played.”

Andy took a deep breath, “Had me worried,” he admitted, “I was starting to think there was someone else.”

“It’s impossible for me to get a ‘someone else’. I’ve had a hard enough time thusfar getting anyone to notice me, let alone want to have an affair with me.” I snorted, “all my crushes since middle school either moved away, or turned out to be gay.”

~~~


Our food came soon after. I helped CC pick at his pound of pancakes, and Andy ate pie, making disturbing sounds of content as he did so.

“Pie is a gift from the Heavens.” He sighed fondly, scooping up a spoonful, eyeing it seductively.

“And that’s coming from the guy who’s not religious.” Jinxx chuckled, picking at his piece of toast, looking at Andy with amused eyes.

“Have you guys ever been to the pie factory in Salt Lake City?” CC asked, before throwing back his head and moaning, “best damn pie ever, I swear on my drumkit.”

“Your drumkit is held together by duck tape and twine.” Jake deadpanned.

“Still, I would trade it for a single spoonful of their rocky road pie.” CC replied with determination.

I checked the time, it was almost 2:30 am. The sky outside was dark and dreary, only lit up slightly by the remaining streetlights. Luckily, the rain had temporarily stopped.

“It’s nice not to hear raindrops on glass for once.” CC noted, seemingly reading my mind. I nodded in agreement, slowly pulverizing the edge of one of the pancakes to crumbs with the end of my fork.

“I should probably get Ash home. She has church in the morning.” Andy teased, “and school on Monday.”

“I’m excited to go to church... But school? No, gross.” I sighed, “I didn’t mind school until this whole Elizabeth thing came to light. Now it’s just a building full of willing and able bodied bullies, waiting for me to return.” I shuttered. “Any advice on how to handle it?”

“Don’t let anything they say or do go to your head. Keep calm.” Jinxx told me. I looked up at him, noticing him glance at Ashley in the process. I understood instantly who he was referring to. I nod in agreement.

“Ashley, are you coming back with us?”

“Later.” He replied, leaning back in his seat calmly, “I had some other things to attend to, first. If that’s alright?”

“Yeah, fine.” Andy nodded, slowly climbing up from the booth. “Well, it’s been damn awesome getting to see you guys again... I just wish the circumstances could be different.” He frowned, then smiled at them, “Are you ready?”

“Yep.” I got up from the booth, and zipped my jacket up, looking out the dark front windows for a moment. “Thanks for... Breakfast. It was nice getting to hang out with you all.” I smiled at them, and they gave me half hearted waves and goodbyes on our way out.

“What time is it?” I wondered out loud, to which Andy responded “Almost 3:00. Do you want to go home, or do something else?”

He was leaning against the chrome siding of the restaurant, lighting a cigarette from underneath the awning, that was still dripping with fresh rain.

“Like what? Swimming in the streets?”

“We could swim.” He agreed, looking at his cigarette thoughtfully before flicking the ash. “I could take you somewhere new.”

“Are you Aladdin, now?” I questioned with a coy smile, leaning against the restaurant beside him, making him roll his eyes. “I could show you anything.” He sings halfheartedly.

“I’ll only go with you if you have a magic flying carpet.”

He snorted, looked at me with a crooked smile and proceeded to smoke until the cigarette became nothing more than a useless foam nub, the end glowing with dying embers.

“Unless you want to go home now, of course.”

I shook my head, “I can always go home, going on weird adventures with you? Those are special occasions. Let’s go.”

He smiled proudly, and jerked his head in the direction we’d be traveling. “Let’s go, then.”

Notes

Apologies for forgetting to do shoutouts in the last chapter, they're definitely here this time. ;) Weird to think that we're nearing one hundred chapters.

Shoutout!
-Batsy's Robin
Thank you for reading and and commenting!