freak - a daniel johns story

03

January 1995

RUBYS POV

                                "Hi, mum!" I called. I set my tote bag down by the door and joined my mom at the table. I was all sweaty from walking down the street and picking up some fruit, even though it was only January it still got hot when you were out. My mom lowered her readers and smiled. She was reviewing the latest edition of limelight magazine, because she was the editor and my dad did the graphic designs for it.

"Hi dear, are you ready for your date?" She set down the magazine and her glasses, and looked concerned as my face dropped with anxiety. The details were all sorted, thankfully. It would have been much worse if everything was still open-ended. Daniel and I called earlier in the week, Wednesday afternoon, and it was awkward, to say the least. But despite it being awkward we decided that we would meet at this diner called "the hungry kangaroo" (how much more Australian could you get?) at 1 to eat some lunch. Then, from there we would walk back to his house and go to his band's contest.

"I still can't believe you're going on a date with the babysitter." She laughed.

I put my head in my hands, "I can't either." We sat there like that for a bit while I briefed her again on the plan. She agreed to drive me to the diner so I wouldn't get sweaty.

"Well," she said, getting up from the table. "You should probably start getting ready." I followed her words and headed off to my bedroom.

I, like a dumbass, didn't plan what to wear beforehand, so I rummaged through my drawers and came up with a lightweight floral dress along with some white socks and my low-top converse. I stood in front of my mirror for a decent amount of time trying to figure out what to do with my hair. my hair was in the stage where it was just starting to get greasy, but not greasy enough to shower. I put some dry shampoo in and blow-dried it to give it some volume. I stood in front of the mirror some more doing my makeup. The past 2 times Daniel saw me, I had little to no makeup on, as much as I liked experimenting with makeup I ended up with mostly smudged eyeshadow.

Time snuck up on me; before I knew it, it was 12:50 and time to go. My mom was already waiting by the door, prepared as always.

"Where are you going?" My brother asked, messily eating chips at the table.

I looked around in my tote bag to make sure I had everything. "I'm going on a date. With a boy." He looked shocked at that, but before he could say anything else, we were out the door.

I sat down at a booth in the diner, and one of the waitresses came up to me and asked if I wanted something to drink (water, i said). I didn't have to wait too long, about five minutes later, Daniel waltzed through the door. He spotted me off to the side and gave a lopsided grin.

"Hey" he smiled. His breathing was a little ragged.

I took a sip of my water. "Did you walk here? Oh, and hi. Sorry."

He tucked a strand if hair behind his ear. "Yes, I did. I don't live too far from here." His airy chuckle was unique. It wasn't fake like a lot of peoples, and it made me wonder what his full laughter sounded like.

We ordered our food. I got a grilled cheese (my favorite sandwich) and he got a chicken dish thing. We talked idly over our food, talking up until the very last minute until we had to go. I learned he had a dog named sweep, and I told him about my dog named bonzeye who spent most of his time in the backyard. I learned his favorite food was fairy bread, because his mom used to make it for him when he was little. His band released a song called "tomorrow" which unfortunately I had not heard. But he said they would be playing it at their contest. Also apparently the contest/battle of the bands thing they were doing was to win $1000. That was the whole reason he picked up the babysitting gig, to get money for his band. I guess my little brother was probably more than he bargained for.

He payed for the food, even though I had money and insisted we split it. "I'll hopefully be winning a thousand dollars soon, so this wont matter." He said.

We walked and talked all the way back to his place, and he had his guitar and amp loaded up when we realized we didn't have a ride. He called his friends (and bandmates) to come get us. Everyone must live close together because they were at Daniels house in less than 5 minutes.

They hopped out of the car, a black mini van, probably one of their mom's. The two guys both had long brown hair, and almost looked like twins. "Who's the girl?" the one on the left said.

"Her name's Ruby." Said Daniel, loading his gear i to the trunk. "She's coming along to the gig."

"Huh?" Both the brown haired boys asked in unison.

I couldn't do anything other than just sort of smile and stand to the side.

"Come on you guys, don't be pricks. Let's just go, we haven't got all day."

We all loaded into the car. Daniel's friends in the front, him and I in the back. Mid way through the drive, the one in the passenger's seat turned around, "I'm Chris, by the way."

"And i'm Ben." said the driver, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I'm Ruby Cade. Nice to meet you guys." I tried to find the best mid-range between being polite and asking Daniel why he didn't tell them about me. I suppose he wasn't obligated to, but isn't that what boys talk about, their dates?

Anyway, we got to the place, it looked like a smaller version of the festivals I see on TV sometimes. I just stood aside while the guys set up their things. I didn't want to be one of those bitchy band-girlfriends who demand to be backstage when this was only our first date, so I just stood in the audience like everyone else. I pressed myself up against the front of the stage, not wanting to miss a single moment, when Daniel came up and bent down to my level. "You can go backstage, you know."

I furrowed my brow. "Really?" He took my hand, at which I felt my ears get hot, and pulled me up onto the stage.

"Really truly." He said, guiding me back there. It was cool, really cool. Everyone was sitting around under an umbrella and drinking sodas. I couldn't believe how out of place I felt. This was technically my first concert, and I was on a date with one of the band members, backstage. I was just a Newcastle girl who loved rock, what was I doing here?