Climbing the
steps to an elaborate front porch, we found two beat up old couches. Yet
another sign it was occupied by students. Blocked with plywood, the door itself
wasn’t visible, but a big note tacked to one of the planks read: Use Kitchen
Door. Under the words an arrow pointed left. We walked around the house, wading
through giant dandelions while trying to avoid killer thistles with one inch
thorns. Obviously, gardening was not a priority. Not that I’d expect as much
from five guys living in a bachelor pad.
Kai greeted us
eagerly at the kitchen door and ushered us into the house. The high ceilings
made the room feel bigger than it was. “Sorry ‘bout the mess. Just ignore it
and follow me.” He swiped away any worries with a wave of his hand.
Exchanging
disgusted looks, Ally plugged her nose, and I screwed up my face. The sink was
piled high. Every inch of countertop was plastered with milk-stained glasses,
dirty silverware, scummy dishes, empty beer bottles, and old pizza boxes. I
snickered and nudged Ally when I spotted a Costco sized supply of paper plates
on a rickety kitchen table – a table in which one broken leg was being
stabilized by a stack of magazines.
Kai showed us
into a living room jam-packed with couches. Giant windows with tic-tac-toe grids
allowed tons of natural light into the room but drew attention to the scratched
wood floors. On our left, we found everyone gathered in another huge room at
the bottom of a winding staircase. Band equipment was crowded into a tight
circle at the center of the room, and a couple guys were setting up ladders.
Kai introduced
us to his girlfriend Laney, his brother Noa, Noa’s girlfriend Anya, his
roommate Matt, Matt’s girlfriend Rachel, and to his final roommate Patrick, who
he informed us was currently single and on the open market.
“You’re gonna
have to give us time to keep all your names straight,” I said.
“Already got ‘em
down,” Ben said proudly as he pointed to each person, calling out their names.
“You’re
awesome,” Rachel said wide-eyed.
“Careful, it’ll
just go to his head,” Ally commented with a smile.
“Where’s Ash?” I
asked, scanning their faces.
Noa positioned
his ladder against the wall and said, “Not home yet.”
“As usual,”
Laney griped.
“Yeah,” Kai
laughed, “he rarely makes it in time to help set up, but he promised he’d be
back in time for practice.”
We spent several
minutes talking and joking around. The band members were pretty boisterous, and
the girls much quieter, with the exception of Kai’s girlfriend Laney. She held
her own and shot gibes right back at the guys. She looked of Hawaiian descent
with her tanned skin, black hair, and ebony eyes. Everyone was dressed casual
in jeans and t-shirts; my kind of crowd. Noa thanked us for coming early to
help out.
“The idea,” Matt
said motioning to both rooms, “is to soundproof all the walls before we set up
for practice. Then the house will be ready for the party tomorrow night.”
“Lexi?” Laney
said. “Will you help me collect pillows from upstairs while everyone else gets
started down here?”
“Sure,” I said
eagerly and followed her up the walnut staircase.
“We tape pillows
and couch cushions to all the walls and windows in the band room and living
room,” she explained. “They make perfect insulating material, and the neighbors
have yet to complain about loud music. Usually,” she laughed and shot me a
knowing look, “it’s the obnoxious, drunk people who hang out in the yard that
the neighbors gripe about.”
We went from
bedroom to bedroom collecting small rugs and pillows, while everyone else worked
downstairs on assembling them against the walls with some serious duct tape. We
stepped into the fifth bedroom at the back end of the upper floor, and I was
surprised to find it sparkling clean.
“This is Ash’s
room,” Laney said contemptuously. “You’ll find he’s very organized in his
personal space. But this is about the only place he’s so orderly. In the rest
of his life he’s sporadic, chaotic, and infuriating.”
“Wow, I’m
amazed,” I muttered, also noting he was not high on her list of favorite people.
She smiled
adroitly and reached to open a closet door in the back of his room. “Since he
has this huge bonus closet, we keep all the extra pillows we’ve picked up from
Value Village and The Goodwill in here.”
While she dug
pillows out of the closet and handed them to me, I surveyed his room with
interest. His slanted, wood ceilings were covered with posters of music
artists, like Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and Zeppelin. A couple
mattresses thrown on the floor comprised his bed, and an elaborate multi-media
center sat against one wall. One corner of the room held a tall rack with
hundreds of CD’s, and in another sat four different electric guitars resting
safely on stands. I wondered if the spiral notebooks stacked precariously on a
small desk contained his written music and lyrics.
“Okay, I think
this is it,” Laney said and heaved out two more pillows before slamming the
closet door. She slapped her hands together and brushed off her yellow shirt.
We made a couple
trips to the top of the stairs and tossed the last of the pillows over the
banister before joining everyone on the main floor. After about an hour and a
half, we had the house set up. We piled most of the, now cushionless, couches
on the front porch, so there would be plenty of standing room during the party.
But for us current spectators, we left two couches facing the band room.
As if on cue,
Ash strolled in just as the band members began tuning their instruments. He
pulled off his green helmet, shook out his long hair, and inspected the
sound-proofing job we’d done. He tapped his helmet with one hand and said, “Not
bad, not bad. I might have done the windows a little differently, but hey,
whatever works.”
“Oh, give it up
pretty boy,” Kai called out.
Noa gave him a
vicious smile and said, “Yeah you worthless, no good piece of s–! Go grab
your guitar and let’s hit it.” Ash gave him the finger, and we all laughed at
their exchange.
With a lot of
hand rolling and a showy bow, Ash acknowledged all of us on the couches. “Glad
I could provide you all with some pre-show entertainment.” He spotted me and
ambled over in his usual confident stride. Reaching out, he tilted my chin and
said, “I see you got my message.” Shaking my head loose, I shrugged, but he
narrowed his eyes and continued, “Good thing too…”
I snorted and
studied his stubbly face. “It’s obvious you think too highly of yourself, or
you would have been here helping. My advice to you,” I jabbed him in the chest,
“is to show up early and do more than your share of the work next time, because
there was some talk of finding a new lead singer,” I said smugly, trying not to
crack a smile.
His eyebrows
twitched, and he pressed his lips together. “Sounds like you’re on your game
today. Should be fun.” He motioned towards the guys and smiled wildly. “These
guys love me; they wouldn’t think of dumping me.”
Several snorts
erupted from the band room. “Don’t be so sure about that,” Noa called out.
“So…you got any
requests?” He looked me straight in the eye. “I’m here to please.” He smiled
wickedly and winked, but I rolled my eyes to show I was not amused. “I’m
talkin’ about song requests, of course.” His strange green and hazel-spotted
eyes danced. He brushed a finger along my cheek before strolling casually
towards the stairs, not bothering to wait for my response.
“Yo, Ash,” I
said loudly when he reached the third step. I don’t know what came over me, but
I felt the need to rattle him or at least to even the score. Then again, maybe
I simply wanted to beat him at his own game for once. He halted in his tracks
and looked at me suspiciously. I think he was surprised at my audacity to call
him out in front of an audience – and we had everyone’s undivided attention. I
studied my fingernails with feigned interest, just to keep him waiting a bit
longer. Walking the razor’s edge with him was dangerous; understanding why I
did it, was another matter completely. In my best slow and sultry voice I said,
“As a matter of fact, I do have a request.”
“Yeah?” he said
hesitantly, raising one brow. The way his mouth hung slightly open, I knew I
had him hooked.
“While I find
your black and white guitar smooth and shiny…” his eyes rounded as he came to
the realization I’d been in his room long enough to study his personal
possessions. “I think…” I sat down on the edge of the couch and tapped my
finger against my lips, “tonight I’m feeling partial to your blood red, Fender
Stratocaster. There’s just something more
pleasing
, no, more
provocative
about its sleek, sexy body…”
I let my last
words hang in the air and was greatly rewarded when his jaw dropped and he
grabbed the handrail. Sputtering, he was unable to generate a snappy retort and
instead shook his head and tromped up the stairs. Appalled at myself, I covered
my mouth and gasped. The guys were whistling and giving each other high-fives.
The girls were looking at me like I was insane, and Ben and Ally were laughing
their heads off.
“Way to go,
Lexi,” Matt said, and I gave him a conspiratorial wink. While we’d been
soundproofing the house, I’d talked with Matt quite extensively about Ash’s
guitars. During our discussion, he’d given me valuable information. Little had
I known that short chat would yield such powerful ammunition. All was good
though; Ash was due for a fumble.
Still, I needed
to tread carefully. Our flirtatious friendship was about all I could handle
with him. My emotions and feelings were so mixed up. Candid, opinionated, and
adventurous Ash, who wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion, always made me laugh.
Fascinating and impenetrable Jason, who kept his feelings boxed away and who
had some sort of big secret, one which involved Madison, always sent my heart
racing…
Loud booms from
the bass reverberated around the room as the amplifier kicked in, and my
thoughts diverted to the music. The band started with a serious oldie: Thin
Lizzy’s
Jailbreak.
Listening to the band was awesome; they had great
chemistry and sounded good together. They played with enthusiasm and Ash moved
all over the place – standing next to Noa for awhile and then Patrick. They
performed more oldies with some of my favorite’s being Zeppelin’s
Stairway
to Heaven,
Guns N’ Roses’
Sweet Child o’ Mine,
and my all time
favorite, AC-DC’s
You Shook Me All Night Long
.
The music was
deafening, and I loved every minute of it. Ash’s voice belted out the hard-core
rock-n-roll songs, and he subdued his vocal cords for the time-honored slow
songs. With his tight-fitting, expensive jeans, luminous eyes, and haunting
voice, it was hard not to find this lead singer extremely attractive. Every
time he made eye contact with me, I blushed. What girl wouldn’t be mesmerized
by the singer of a live band?
Listening to
their original songs was exciting. The lyrics were thoughtful and the sounds
their instruments made were unique, without a lot of repetitive notes. After an
hour or so, they took turns entertaining us with individual solos. Matt’s
fingers were blazingly fast on his guitar, Kai ripped the drums apart, and Noa
and Patrick performed an awesome duet with the bass guitar and keyboards. Ash
just sat back and rocked out while the others played. After a few more group
songs, they decided to take a break while Laney and Rachel made a pizza run. As
everyone started heading towards the front porch to cool down, I rose off the
couch to follow, but Ash asked me to hang out for a couple more minutes.
“I have a song
I’d like to play for you; I’m positive you’ll like this one,” he said with a
shrewd smile. Sitting casually on a barstool, with one foot resting on the
ground and the other on the cross bars, he strummed a few notes on his red
guitar. Glancing up, he winked and then focused on his guitar strings.
Instantly, I recognized the song
Always With Me, Always With You
, a
Satriani guitar solo. I stared in amazement. When no one else was home, I
cranked that song on Ben’s stereo system full blast. I couldn’t believe Ash had
chosen it.
When he
finished, he set the guitar down gently and strolled towards me. He didn’t stop
until he was extremely close. With his face only inches from mine, I had a hard
time controlling my breathing. I finally managed to ask, “Did you know that
song was one of my favorites?”
A deliberate
smile parted his lips. “I guessed,” he said in a low, shifty voice.
Drawing in a
sharp breath, I quipped, “No you didn’t.”
With my heart pounding
and my fingers nervously tracing the edge of the couch, I could actually feel
the blood pulsating through my veins. Jessica would have been proud of my inner
awareness at that moment. Too bad I couldn’t feel my Essence flowing. No doubt
it was streaming with intensity.
He inched closer
and said in a low voice, “Some of us stoop so low as to
snoop
through
other people’s rooms,” he drew his eyebrows in, “and others of us just listen
to personal iPods that happen to be lying around.”
“Huh?” I
murmured, because I didn’t have the will power to question or challenge him at
that moment. I was distracted by his nearness and the fact that I could feel
his breath on my face.
In a velvet
smooth voice he said, “You’re still single.” Even though it was more of a
statement than a question, I nodded slightly and was keenly aware his lips were
dangerously close to mine. I could smell him – the sweat on his body from
playing and singing in the hot room mixed with an intoxicating scent, an
expensive men’s cologne, no doubt. It rendered me dizzy. I needed fresh air; I
needed to go outside – to escape.