The Irony of Your Perfection (An Asking Alexandria Fan Fiction)

Chapter Seven

I walk back home and sit on my bed. My hand shakes as I dial his number.

Part of me is praying that he won’t pick up, but I’ve got no such luck.

“Hello?”

And then my mouth is dry and I don’t know what to say.

“Joe?” I force out. “It’s Az.”

There’s a short silence, and then Joe speaks.

“Oh,” he says hesitantly.

I clear my throat. “Danny said you wanted to talk to me earlier.”

“I thought I should explain some things,” says Joe.

“Yeah, good idea,” I say.

“There was kind of another girl,” he says, and my heart drops to the floor.

“So I take it you’re not coming back, then,” I say.

Joe dodges my question, something I realize he did nearly every day of those happy two years.

“I hope we can still be friends,” he says.

I hang up, head downstairs and crack open a beer.

When I’m on my second beer, the doorbell rings. I groan, put down my drink and walk over to the door.

I’m surprised to see Danny standing on the steps.

He looks at me for a moment through the black hair that’s falling over his eyes, and then he pushes past me and sits down on my couch.

“Where’s the bass?” he asks, glancing up at me as I sit down beside him.

“You don’t need to help me anymore, you know. Sam’s taking care of it,” I say, even though I really want him to stay.

“No, I like doing it,” he says. “I’m learning just as much as you are.”

I pause, and then I nod slowly. “Okay. I’ll go get it, then.”

I stand up and Danny stands up, too. He follows me up the stairs and into my room.

I walk to the corner of my room and dig the bass out of my closet. I lean it against the wall and turn to look at Danny.

He’s leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed; his blue-green eyes follow my every move.

The hungry way he’s looking at me clearly displays his dangerous intentions.

I’m not sure if I should be scared or attracted. Briefly I wonder if he remembers the night of the party; I kind of want to ask him about it, but I’m not sure where that would take me.

I clear my throat and pick up the bass. “Got it,” I say awkwardly.

Danny nods and we head back downstairs.

***

Danny’s come by every day for the past three days to help me with the bass.

I often like to think about the way he quietly glances over at me when I’m arranging my fingers on the strings, sometimes giving me a small smile.

But then I’m scared because thinking about it makes my heart beat fast, just like it did with Joe.

I’m getting ready for another party. I’ve been feeling like shit lately and I really don’t know any other way of coping. I suppose it’s almost okay to drink it away though, because it works and the guys do it and they’re fine.

I’m touching up my makeup when all of the sudden my phone rings; it’s a number I don’t recognize.

“Who’s this?” I ask.