I'll Be There For You

1

Beepity beep. Beepity beep.
The cursed sound of my alarm clock rings through my ears. I flop across my bed to reach the alarm clock on my dresser. I drag myself out of bed and go downstairs to make some coffee. Two spoons of sugar and just a splash of milk, just like always.

"LYN-Z!" I yell to my absolute best friend, who lives with me. It's been my job to wake her up ever since her alarm clock broke and she hasn't bothered to get a new one yet. She comes down the stairs and rubs her eyes. She takes a large sniff of the air.

"Coffee? For me? You shouldn't have," she says and takes the cup I prepared for her. Her long dark hair is in tangles and she looks crazy tired.

"How was your date last night?" I ask her. She managed to score a date with Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance and I'm still super jealous.

"It was great! We went to dinner then a movie, classic first date," she says with a smile.

"Cool," I say and make myself a bowl of cereal. I quickly eat my cereal and go back upstairs to my room. I take a Green Day shirt and some black skinny jeans out of my closet, along with a black jacket. I bring my clothes with me to the bathroom and set them down on the lid of the toilet. I take a quick shower then get dressed and put my hair in a messy bun. I apply a bit of eyeliner and mascara, then check the time. 8:05, good. That gives me 25 minutes at the library and 30 minutes to get to work. I tie my red Converse and go back downstairs.

"I'm leaving now!" I call, "bye!" I hear Lyn-Z's faint 'bye' and step out the door, phone, keys, and wallet in my purse. I walk down the street to the local library, which I visit every day. I return my book and search for a new one. I see one on the top shelf that looks interesting, but because of me being so short, I can't reach it.

Naturally, I try jumping for it. Of course, I still can't reach it. A tall man walks up and grabs it. He hands the book to me with a smile and holy fuck he's attractive.

"Hi, I'm Brendon," the man says and extends his hand to shake mine. I take it.

"Lavender," I say.

"That's a cool name. Hey nice shirt. You should come to one of my band's concerts sometime. Actually, we're having one tonight at the park." He takes a flyer off the stack he has in his hands and writes something on the back. He hands me the flyer and dissappears behind one of the other shelves. I smile and fold the flyer in half so it fits in my purse. I head towards the checkout counter and the librarian scans my book.

"Back again Lavender?"

"Every day," I say and put the new book in my purse. I check my watch and see that it's already 8:31. My shift starts in 29 minutes, so I'd better hurry. I walk down 2 blocks, arriving at my place of work, a music store. I'm mostly a cashier, but I regularly help customers with choosing the right instrument and tuning.

Since it's back to school season, there are a lot of middle and high school aged students coming in for repairs, rentals, and tunings. Ethan manages repairs and can play drums. He and I have become close friends over the year that I've been working here, but nothing more. When there aren't any customers, he practices the jokes that he writes on me. He says that one day he'll be a famous comedian. I say that to be a comedian, his jokes actually have to be funny.

"LUNCH TIME!" Ethan exclaims at precisely 12:00 and flips the sign on the front door to the closed side. I leave and go to a deli to grab a sandwich. I come back to the shop and eat my sandwich while starting to read my new book. I know I'll be done with it by the time I go to bed, that's always the case. That's the reason I visit the library every morning, I'm a very fast reader. When our lunch break is over, I flip the sign back to the open side.

I hear a drum beat coming from the back of the store, where Ethan works.

"Don't you have any repairs to be working on?" I call out to him.

"Yes, but who says I can't practice the drums when I'm bored?" He calls back. "If you knew how to play any instruments you'd be playing them when you were bored at work."

I can't play any instruments, but I'm trying to teach myself how to play the guitar. I should probably ask blond haired Anthony, who gives guitar lessons, to help me sometime. I would now, but he isn't here today (Monday) because he only comes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

At 5, my shift ends and Jasmin comes in to take my place. I leave the store and start on my walk home. While I'm walking, I take out the flyer and read it. It advertised an event at the park, a concert featuring small, local bands. It starts at 6 and they sell food there, but you're welcome to bring a picnic dinner.

I flip the flyer over and see what Brendon wrote in a messy handwriting.

My band is the second one playing, 6:15.

He also included his phone number, which I type into my phone. I send him a text, 'hey it's Lavender'. He doesn't respond, so I assume he's getting ready with his band. When I arrive at my house, I heat up some chicken soup and put it in a thermos. I grab a granola bar, apple, and water bottle too. I put my dinner into a small picnic basket. I find a folding chair and put the carrying strap over my shoulder, I carry the picnic basket and head out, towards the park.

I get there at 6:10, missing the majority of the first band's preformance. I find a spot towards the front and set up my chair.

"Next, please welcome Panic! At The Disco." A skinny man annonces. Brendon and his band step on the stage and start playing. They preform three songs, then the next band goes up. I put the remainder of my dinner back in the basket, fold up my chair, and go to find Brendon.

I find him at a table with a sign reading 'Panic! At The Disco. CDS: $10 T-Shirts: $15'. I pick up one of the red cds and look it over.

"A fever you can't sweat out," I read aloud.

"Yep. 10 dollars," the cute fluffy haired band member states.

"Hey Lavender," Brendon says.

"Hi Brendon."

"You guys know each other?" the fluff ball interjects.

"Yes, Ryan, we do," Brendon says.

"I'll take a cd," I say, "what songs were you guys playing?" I hand Ryan two five dollar bills and he hands me a cd.

"We played I Write Sins Not Tragedies, Camisado, and Time To Dance," Brendon says. "Wanna hang out over here with us until the event is over?"

"Sure," I smile and set my chair back up. "So you guys already have a record deal?"

"Yep. All thanks to Ryan over here." The three of us make conversation until 9:30, when the event is over. I say goodbye to Ryan and Brendon and start my walk back home. I walk everywhere because it's a small town and almost everything is walking distance from my house.

I put my pajamas on and climb into bed, pulling my blankets up to give me warmth. I turn off my lamp and check my phone. I have a message from Brendon. 'wanna get coffee sometime?' I reply with a 'sure :)'. A badink lets me know that I have another message, so I turn my phone back on. 'yay! gn cutie'. I roll my eyes and reply, 'gn'. I turn off my phone and fall asleep with a smile on my face.