The Beginning of Us (83 page)

I sit in the seat and start to think of everything that is going on in my life.  I have this great girlfriend in my life now.  Our band is taking off and
I'm
doing well in school.  Even after I thought everything was ruined, I have made my way past the tragedy.

I finally close my eyes to get some sleep and the passenger door opens. Nicole climbs in.

“I'll
leave in the morning.  I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.  Please come inside and sleep.  I can’t sleep knowing that I have forced you from your house.”

“Just go inside, Nicole.” She slides across the seat and attempts to kiss me. I push her chest back. “I have moved on, Nicole. You need to do the same.”

“What do you mean you moved on? Do you have another girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.” 
I'm
surprised at how easy that came out of my mouth. 

“How can you give up on me so easily?”

“We apparently gave up on each other about eight months ago.” My words snap out.

“I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.” She says,
sounding depressed.  We sit there for a long time.  I finally decide to end the silence and try to move past all of my anger.

“I really do hope you find peace in your life. I hope you find someone that can make you happy.” I say feeling a weight lift from my shoulders.

“Go inside and get some rest. 
I'll
be in after a while.”  I tell her hoping she will finally leave me.

I fall asleep in the truck and wake up to Taron banging on my windshield when he was leaving for school.  I rush to get ready for class.  I walk in my room and see that Nicole is still here and has made herself at home in my bed.  I hope she enjoys the fact that
she's
sleeping on sheets that Eaven and I were wrapped up in Saturday night.  I text Eaven and wish her a good morning.

I shower and dress quickly before I notice Nicole is awake. 

“I’m out of here. My brother will take you wherever you need to go.” I say walking out of the room.

“Talon. 
I'll
always love you, ya know.  You saved my life twice.  I really am sorry that I hurt you.”  I start walking again and never look back.

I see Ivy at the student center without Eaven. They always meet me here before this class. “Where is my girl?” I ask her.

Ivy looks at me confused. “She was headed to your house this morning. I figured I would meet up with you both here.”

“Shit. Are you kidding me?” My face must fill with panic because Ivy’s starts to also.

“What Talon? You are scaring me!” Ivy starts to grab my t-shirt around the neck.

“My ex-girlfriend was at my house this morning.”

“And?” Ivy asks pulling the neck of my t-shirt tighter.

“And she was sleeping in my bed.” 
She's
practically strangling me now.  “Shit! Ivy get off of me!” 

“You fucker.  I was just telling her this morning to take the plunge and break down her walls with you.  You go and cheat on her
during
my conversation about how perfect you guys are together.”  She starts walking away.

“I didn’t cheat on her.”

“Don’t worry. 
I'll
clean up the mess. 
I'll
always be there to help her pick up the pieces.  You have really messed up a good thing asshole.”

I try calling Eaven, but it goes straight to voice mail. I take off running to catch up with a pissed off Ivy. “Will you listen to me? I did not cheat on her. Nicole was dropped off at my house and we talked, that is it.”

“So Eaven would have seen her in bed sleeping next to you?”

“Fuck no! 
I'm
not sure when she came by.  I could have been in the shower or I could have already left for the day.  Look you can ask both of my brothers, I slept in my truck last night.”  This whole thing is pissing me off.  I'm yelling at Ivy and this whole mess isn’t even her fault.   

“Ok, I believe you.  It will be tough for her to see past
it if she saw her in your bed, especially after what she walked in on with Brandon in the past.”
 

Ivy is finally seeing the truth.  I tell her what I know happened last night and this morning. 

“Let me go home and see where her head is at. 
I'll call you.”
  There is no way I'm going to wait for her to call me.  I give her a little head start, but I know where I'm going.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Eaven

I cry for what feels like hours when I finally hear Ivy knock on my door.

“Ev, open up!”

I saunter to the door and open it.  Ivy can see that
I'm
devastated.  She wraps her arms around me and holds me upright in the doorway. 
I'm positive my legs would have collapsed if she wasn’t holding me so tight.

“Oh Ev, what you saw isn’t really what you think it was.” I pull back and look at her.

“How can I misinterpret a girl in his bed wearing almost nothing?  How can I misunderstand when that girl says
she's Talon’s girlfriend?”

“Well I don’t know what to say, but you did.” Ivy says, just plain pissing me off now.

“No he left my bed and then met up with his ‘
ex
’ in his own. My eyes did not lie to
me.  I'm not going to be a nai
ve stupid bitch that believes the lies from her cheating boyfriend.”

“I’m not asking you to.  You know that I would hang his ass up in a second if I thought he did this.  He slept in his truck.  You can ask Holden.  Don’t mix this up with the memories of
Brandon
, Ev.  Be smart.  Think about it. 
If you listen to everything, you will see what I'm saying.”

“What do you know that I don’t?”

“He left here because Holden called him saying that Nicole was dropped off at their house last night.  He went home to send her away for good, but found out she had no place to go last night.  He slept in his truck because he can’t stand to be near her.  He woke up this morning and showered first thing.  Then he left for class.  That is when he found me at the student center while he was looking for you.” 

“That doesn’t explain the skimpy dressed skank in his bed, Ivy.” I say back with hardly any volume. I just don’t feel like I have much left.

“Please baby. Listen to me.” I cringe as Talon walks in. Ivy disappears from the room. I know my face is puffy from all of the crying. I get in bed and face the opposite direction. I want to hide under the covers. I really am not ready to be face to face with him.

“You have to believe me. I would never cheat on you.”

“I saw her in your bed.  She said
she's
your girlfriend.  What do you want from me?”

“I want
you
. 
You
are all that I want.  I don’t know why she said
she's
my girlfriend.  I promise that is so far from the truth.  Even if you never talk to me again,
I'll
never go back to her.”  I feel the edge of the bed sink as he sits down.

“You don’t even know how twisted my heart is over you, do you? Eaven, I love you. You are the only girl for me. You have to believe me.” I look over at him and see him saying these things to me looking down at the floor and running his hands through his hair in frustration.

My heart sinks hearing him say that he loves me. I want to believe him. I want to jump up and down on the bed and scream in excitement, but I'm spent.
  I let my brain process everything that Ivy said to me before Talon showed up.  She would never steer me wrong.  This is me jumping.  This is me flying through the air
and
hoping Talon will catch me. 

“I love you too, Talon.”  I say quietly, not even sure if it was loud enough for him to hear.  I know that he did, because he flips around and dives into the bed next to me. 

“Please don’t ever scare me like that again.” He says in my ear. “We are supposed to talk to each other remember?”

“I know.  It just really seemed like it was a definite scenario when I was there. 
She's very convincing.”

“I'll
let her know that her shit didn’t work.”  He tries to comfort me. 

We stay in bed pretty much the rest of the day.  We put to use numerous condoms from the strip that Ivy provided last night.  Talon is very tired from his lack of sleep through the night and keeps dozing off. 
I sleep some, but I also continue to work on the digital prints of the pictures that I want to use in the poster. Come dinner time, we are both starving. I decide to throw something together in the kitchen so we can stay in for the evening.

Ivy is very happy to see me surface from my room with a smile on my face.

“It’s about time.” Ivy says as she bumps her shoulder against mine from the side. “Are you guys going to be ok?”

“I think so.”
  I say, full of hope that we will be.

“Well I figured so when I heard you yelling….. YES! Oh god,
YES!”  I smack her on the shoulder.  How embarrassing!

“Were you calling me?”  Talon
appears
just in time to hear Ivy moaning.  We all laugh at the same time.  I should really enjoy this.  There has been many times where Ivy and I were switched in roles just like this.  She doesn’t seem to mind.

“What did you do, listen outside my door like a perv?” I point at Ivy. She smiles wickedly. “Actually I just got home and didn’t hear anything, but I had you going!”

We spend the evening working on homework and catching up on the classes we missed today.  Talon leaves in time to practice with the band.  I decide not to go with him so I can finish my project. 

The poster is a collection of photos at different angles of each of the band members. I have a hard time selecting the best photo of each of them.
  I add ‘Rebel Walking’ and each of their names as I prepare it for print. 

I decide to send in a picture of Talon to make a large print.   I plan to have it framed and give it to him.  I captured a beautiful display of him during his solo.  The lights are off with the exception to a light behind him.  His outline is cast forward and his arms are held suspended with the drum sticks coming down to strike. 

There is also a picture of the two of us dancing that is unique. I took it from above our heads as we were kissing on the dance floor. I decide to get that one for myself. I put a rush on the order so I can get them before his concert on Friday.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Talon

I call Nicole and tell her that her scheming did not work. I had to leave her a message since she didn’t answer. I'm positive she will know the level of my anger from the message I left. I threaten her to stay away from my family and friends. I have no tolerance for the shit she's trying to pull. She will not affect my life anymore.
            

The week goes by very quickly as we are all focused on preparing for the concert and work hard to keep up with class work. I have been working extra hours to perfect my solo. There is a ‘Drum-O
ff’ between me and two other drummers from local bands.  I have set the whole thing up hoping to draw some attention to myself and our band.  Luke, Lilly, & Taron have been working with tech people to perfect their parts.  We should be kick ass tonight!

I have buried myself in my room to prep for tonight.  So much will change if we are noticed during this concert.  There will be thousands there to witness what we put out there. 

I have the music cranked up loud and I’m working through my solo again when I sense her near me. I feel her touch my lower back and then run her fingers up and down my back slowly. I stop playing and focus on her touch.

“I just want to pick up this angel on your back and hug away all of the pain.” She says, hugging her arms around my waist.

“Don’t you know you already have?” I swivel around in my stool to look her in the eyes.

“I'm alive because you breathe life back into me every day. Before I met you, I just existed. I have felt more alive with you than I ever have before. You make me want to become someone worthy of you.”

“You do the same for me. You make me soooo happy.” She says, smiling, and kisses my chest.

“I have a special surprise for you!”  She stands quickly and seems excited.  I wait for her to leave my room and she returns with a large wrapped package. 

“I hope you like it!” She hands me the gift and I can instantly feel that it's something framed. I open it and I'm floored by the picture of me.

“Holy Crap!  I love it!  Shit Ev, you are awesome!  I had no idea you were this good!  I don’t know what else to say, except WOW!”  The picture she captured is insane.  I look bad ass with the lighting behind me in the middle of one of my solos from the other night.  This is definitely getting hung on my wall right now.