SHATTERED

two

alex

"what if you're in a fight with someone, right? like, a fist fight... and they pull your hair, and you moan... what happens then?" jessie asked randomly. "i'm sorry, but i definitely would moan."

i stared at them blankly for a few moments before i bursted out laughing. "what?"

"you heard me!" her eyes widened. "this is a serious question, alex. does the fight just stop?"

"i don't know. you would be the one to fucking moan though, you whore," i shot her a look.

"hey, don't judge me! a bitch likes what she likes," she huffed. "you know first-hand!"

i raised my middle finger, which made them laugh. "yeah, yeah, shut up."

i've known jessie for as long as she's been in new york city, which is about four years now. i met them the day they moved here, because they happened to be moving into my apartment complex. they were born and raised in los angeles, california, but moved here when they were twenty-one.

we always have the argument of "los angeles v.s. new york," but i always point out the fact that she moved here instead of staying in la, which makes her shut up.

our relationship throughout the years has been odd, to most people. we were friends at first, then shifted into a friends-with-benefits situation for almost a year. we eventually decided that we're better off as friends, but we still make jokes about it; one of us will jokingly say some shit along the lines of "i'm horny; help me out?"

our relationship now is platonic, and i don't see that changing ever again. we truly are better off as "just friends."

anyways... about a year ago, we formed our band, shattered, together with miguel, a mutual friend of our's, and liam; i honestly can't remember how we met liam. i play lead guitar, miggy plays the bass, jj plays the drums, and liam was the rhythm guitarist. jessie comes from a rich family; with the help of her parents (even though her relationship with her parents is rocky, to say the least), she was able to get a lease on a place where we could freely practice our songs almost as loud as we like.

besides liam leaving last week, things have been smooth sailing.

we've had a bunch of gigs at bars and shit, and even a few at small venues with close to two hundred people attending the show. we're not signed to a record or anything, so things have just been pretty small. we have songs posted on soundcloud with quite a bit of plays.

we've been getting bigger these past few months, and i'm really excited for the future.

we just need to find a guitarist to replace liam, which, hopefully, we'll do today. miguel, jessie, and i all know quite a few guitarist who are interested in the spot, so we're holding an audition-like thing for them today. at the end, we'll decide who's best fitted for the spot.

i'm really hoping we find someone today.

•

"okay, can we all agree that everyone has sucked so far?" i asked after one of jessie's friends left.

"you said it, not me," miggy held his hands up.

"i wouldn't say they're bad," jessie made a face. "they're just... not that great."

"same difference," i waved her off. i slumped onto the couch with a groan. "fuck, man. what are we gonna do if we can't find someone?"

miguel sat on the back of the couch, to my left. he ruffled my hair. "calm down, alex, we'll find someone. i've got someone coming in..." he trailed off as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. "about five minutes. she's pretty good, honestly. i think you'll both like her."