Meet On The Ledge || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 9

    Before we walked into the house, Jake unclasped his hand from mine. My fingers were still tingling, but the emptiness was evident. "Finally, now hurry, I'm hungry!" Josh exclaimed like he was a mixture between a child and a stern parent. We ate breakfast in silence, eyes focused on the food. When we were done, I went up to Ronnie's room, settling in. I put my head on the pillow to search for the smell of Jake, but what I found was the smell of laundry detergent. The ceiling turned into field of flowers and before I could catch myself, I dozed off.

    A knock on the door woke me up. I groaned, letting the person know I didn't want to wake up. "Wake up!" I heard Josh whisper yell.

    "Mmm no." I spoke groggily.
   
    "I have some news for you. Good news, really good news." My ears perked up like a puppy and I sat up, resting my against the headboard.

    "What could this ever be Joshua?" I said, rubbing my eyes.

    "Mom and Dad booked a hotel for the night in the city, soooo..."

    "Josh no."

    "Why not?"

    "What if they found out? They would think it's because I'm staying here. I don't want Karen or Kelly thinking of me in a bad light." I said

    "Okay (1) you are their second daughter, (2) it'll be so fun!" He practically screamed the last part giddily.

    "How many people?" I asked.

    "I don't know, it's a party. We have to loosen up a little." He joked with me, shaking my shoulders. We talked about the party for the few hours and finally decided it would be a better idea if the party revolved around the backyard and not the actual house.

    "Oooh and we can make a fire! Then it will be more like a bonfire, I can wear my favorite sweater!" I was getting excited. Josh shook his head at me. "What?"

    "You are not wearing a sweater to my party. You are going to wear cool clothes, I demand it." I didn't get why he wanted me to wear something different, it was fall, it was getting cold. All I wanted was to drink a few beers and listen to good music, but it was obvious Josh had a different idea. As we continued talking about it, Sam walked in the room and laid on the bed beside me, looking down at Josh laying on the floor.

    "Everything good with Carm?" I asked, Sammy nodded. "Well did you hear what you're idiot of a brother has come up with for tonight?" We stayed in Ronnie's room, explaining everything that would happen. I said that I would buy the beer for us because none of the others looked old enough and my fake ID beat all of theirs.

    "Wait you guys, where's Jake?" I asked.

    "Uhhh, I think he said he was going to Hannah's." Josh responded.

    "Oh okay." I said quickly.

    "Wha-" Sam started, but I cut him off.

    "I should probably go to the store right now, before it closes. We don't want a party without beer."

    "Yeah, I guess.." Sammy trailed off.

    "Josh can you drive me?" I asked. He nodded and we got up from the bed, making our way to the car.

    Driving with Josh I had forgotten that he was a sensible driver, I love it when Karen gets them mixed up. I mean Jake was the one that totaled their old car. Josh cruised down the street, playing a mirage of songs while doing these weird little chant things. We got to the store and I moved my fake ID to where my student ID was. "Okay there's how many of us? You, me, Sam, Danny, Jake, Carmen, and Kenz? So 7?"

"Hannah too, Mags." He said.

"Right.. Right 8.. Okay, I will be back soon, don't do something stupid." I told Josh.

    I looked through the store, grabbing three 30s of pabst and the biggest handle of José Cuervo I could find. The people in the store knew me by now, so I was never carded, unlike Josh, who's bendable ID had been confiscated. "Have a nice night!" I yelled to Michelle, the girl behind the register, as I walked out. I looked to Josh, sitting in the parking lot. He was singing something with the windows down, I laughed at how cute he looked.

As soon as we got back to the house, we put the alcohol in the fridge and I went upstairs to get ready. I looked at myself in the mirror after I showered. I looked a bit tired, but okay enough not need much makeup. I hate makeup. I let my light brown, balayaged hair air dry. It was normally straight, but I liked the curves my hair had naturally. I put on my minimalist makeup, making sure my cheeks weren't too naturally red and went to look for clothes. Josh had told me not to wear boring clothes, so I looked through my bag trying to find something he would deem acceptable. It would be cold outside and I couldn't find anything particularly cute for a bonfire. I pulled out a pair of Levi's that sat rather well on my body, a red long sleeve blouse with white polka dots that tied in the middle with one string (leaving most of my stomach and chest exposed), and my Jack Purcell converse. I looked at myself, liking (for once) what I see. I looked in my bag again pulling out a couple different gold necklaces to layer on my neck. I slid on my middle finger a simple ring and decided that was enough. No earrings or bracelets for today. I put a ponytail holder on my wrist as Sammy's music started to play downstairs.