Going Nowhere

by K. M. Galvin

  “You’ll have to give me a list of your stops so I can come see you. This is so fantastic guys, I’m excited for you!”

  “You have to come out with us this weekend. We’re going to Shenanigan’s on Friday night to celebrate. Whole gang is going to be there. You can meet Blake’s Lindsey.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “You gonna be our groupie, Marisol?” Trent teased as he sat down on the couch so close to me he was practically on top of me.

  “I’m already a groupie for so many bands, I don’t know if I can fit in another.” I said apologetically.

  “What if, which ever festival you plan to come to, we get you a free ticket and maybe a backstage pass to our stage?”

  “Then I guess you have a new groupie.” Yes, I was easily bought when music was involved.

  “Alright, Rock Star, Marisol has some lessons from the banjo master to get to.” Declan stood and held out a hand to haul me off the couch.

  “You’ve never played an instrument before, Mars?” Trent asked, stretching out of the space we just vacated. I didn’t comment on yet another nickname. I felt honored that they liked me enough to give me one.

  “Nope! But I have logged a lot of hours on Guitar Hero.” At that all the guys stopped what they were doing and gave me a long look of disbelief. Obviously, I made a huge mistake. “What?”

  “That’s just…wrong. I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” Trent said, shaking his head.

  “Dec, please, God, go teach the woman to play a real instrument so she can understand the difference.” Blake said, jumping on Trent’s legs, forcing him to move them so he could sit comfortably.

  “Come on, Mars.” Declan said, taking my hand and leading me out to the garage where yet another couch was set up.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  An hour later I glared at Declan’s banjo that he took out of my hands before I chucked it across the room.

  “I suck!” I growled at the instrument.

  “Dude, it’s your first day, what did you think was going to happen?”

  “I don’t know! Maybe I should start off with another instrument first, this is way harder than I thought.”

  “That might be a good idea; the banjo is a difficult instrument to master. Only an elite few can really play it.” He said, smirking and running a hand over the instrument. I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Maybe I’m just not cut out to be a musician, my sausage fingers can barely make the notes.” I looked down at my hands.

  “That’s true, no offense, but those things are tiny. You have toddler fingers.”

  “Man!” I groaned, leaning back and throwing an arm over my eyes. “There goes my music career.”

  “Jase said you have a nice singing voice.” He was trying to console me.

  “When did Jase tell you that?” I sneaked a peek at him, curious now that they apparently had been talking about me.

  “He called me last night after y’all blew up at each other.”

  “Hmm, and what did he have to say?” I said shortly.

  “Are you mad he called me?” He asked nervously.

  “Nope.” I mouth popped on the “p.”

  He looked at me skeptically before he continued, “He just said that things got out of hand quickly and he didn’t want to lose your friendship. He likes you, Mars.”

  “I like him too and we’re fine now.” I said simply, hoping he would drop it.

  I checked my phone and saw that I had about forty minutes until I promised to be at Emily’s house. I sent a quick text asking if she wanted me to pick up a pizza.

  Yes, thank you Jesus, you read my mind!

  I laughed at her response and then headed inside for some quiet to order one. I hung up and then headed back out to where the guys are.

  “Hey guys, I’m going to head out.” I said.

  “You’re leaving already, Mars?” Trent asked, pouting. I walked over and gave him a hug.

  “Stop, ya big baby, I’ll be back.”

  “See ya, Mars Attack!” Blake said, holding his hand out for a high five, I smacked my palm into it.

  I walked over to Declan and hugged him, “Thanks for trying; I might pick up the guitar before I come back to the banjo. Especially now since you’ll be preparing for your big, awesome tour, Superstar.” He squeezed me back.

  “You’re coming on Friday?” He whispered into my ear, I leaned back, smiled and nodded yes.

  “See y’all Friday!” I waved over my back as I disappeared back into the house and left through the front door.

  When I walked through Emily’s front door, I could hear the yelling and the giggling.

  “Hello?” I called out.

  “Mari!” Mikey bellowed from somewhere in the house and when I heard little feet slapping against the hardwood I braced myself for his attack so I wouldn’t drop the pizza. Sure enough, he came barreling around the corner and launched himself at my legs. “Hi!”

  “Hey, Little Man! Where’s your mom?” I walked over to the kitchen counter to set the pizza down; it was awkward though with the little monkey still attached to my leg.

  “She’s in her room. Come on, I’ll show you.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hall way to the last bedroom on the left. I walked in and paused, trying not to laugh. Emily was sitting on her floor; she was flushed and muttering to herself. It looked like her closet exploded all around her.

  “Having fun?” I asked innocently.

  “No. Get over here and help me. I don’t know what I’m doing.” I walked over and sat on her bed next to her suitcase. Mikey crawled up next to me and sat down, imitating my position on the bed. I smiled down at him.

  “What do you need help with?” I said, turning my attention back to her.

  “I have nothing to wear. I need to be professional, but also not look like a damn suit at a bar and I have nothing!” She wailed throwing her hands up in the air and letting them collapse into her lap. She looked so pitiful.

  “Oooh, mommy said a bad word!” Mikey said.

  “Yes, mommy did. But we won’t repeat it right?”

  “Damn!” Mikey yelled.

  “Mikey what did I just say?” I asked, trying not to laugh. He immediately stood up on the bed and started jumping around.

  “Damn, damn, damn! Mommy said damn! Mikey said damn!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

  “Mikey, get off the bed. And if you repeat that word again, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap!” Emily said in such a mom voice, that even I straightened to attention. Mikey sat down on the bed again and zipped his mouth shut. “Marisol, please help me.”

  I crawled off the bed and joined her on the floor and began searching threw her clothes. “I’m warning you, I am no fashionista.”

  “Yeah, well my fashion sense is limited to yoga pants and Nike’s, so I guarantee you’re a step up.” She said.

  “Hmm, we’ll see.” For the next twenty minutes we dug threw all of her clothes and came up with at least two work outfits and then some travelling clothes. The work outfits were very cute. Tight fitting slacks with cute blouses, we paired them both with some funky jewelry and some wedge heels.

  “Mommy, I’m hungry.” Mikey said. He’d been so quiet, just watching us that I sadly forgot he was there.

  “Oh! Shi-uh-take mushrooms! I forgot about the pizza!” I jumped up and walked back to the kitchen. “Come on, let’s get you fed. Em, you want me to fix you a plate?”

  “Yes, you’re a godsend. I’ll be there in a sec, I’m going to throw all of this in my suitcase.”

  I had Mikey sit at the table, while I cut up the pizza to a more manageable size for a four year old and poured him a glass of milk. When he was happily stuffing his face, I searched through her fridge for some salad fixings and noticed how bare the fridge was.

  “Oh yeah, I was going to tell you, I’m leaving some money if you want to go grab some groceries tomorrow.” Emily said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing her plate of
pizza.

  “Sure. How’s that sound, Mikey? Wanna go grocery shopping tomorrow?” I asked, pulling out a bag of spinach and some salad dressing. I fixed us a bowl and sat down at the table with them.

  “Yeah! Yeah! I love the food store.” He grinned at me, bouncing in his seat, with pizza sauce smeared all over his hands, face, and clothes.

  “How did that happen so fast?” I asked, indicating the little pizza face.

  “Welcome to the world of little children. Oh and tomorrow should be an extra special experience. You’re about to get a crash course in life with Mikey.” Emily said, smiling at me around a mouthful of food.

  “Uh-oh, should I be scared?” I asked warily.

  “Yes.”

  “Gee, thanks Emily. That’s encouraging.” I said sarcastically. She just shrugged and continued eating.

  “Done! Mommy I’m done! I ate it all!” He said proudly and then let out a huge burp.

  “Geez, milk breath, thanks a lot.” I said laughing, waving my hand in front of my face to diffuse the stink.

  “’Scuse me!” he said giggling.

  “You’re a big boy, Mikey, go put your plate in the trash and go strip in the bathroom. You need a bath.” Emily said, watching her son run to do what she said. “I swear he only has two speeds. Fast and asleep.”

  “Want me to give him a bath? You still have to go over some stuff for tomorrow, right?”

  “Oh my god, would you?” She asked in awe.

  “That’s what I’m here for.” I said, gathering our plates.

  “I think I’m in love with you, let’s get married Marisol.

  “Best offer I’ve had all year!” I called out to her as I made me way to the bathroom. “Mikey? Where’d you go buddy?” I called out to him when I didn’t see him in the bathroom. I leaned over and began running the water.

  “Here!” His naked little body slammed into mine and almost knocked me into the bathtub.

  “Whoa, whoa, no baths for me. I’m a shower kind of girl.” I laughed.

  “Can we have music? Mommy likes to play music when she showers.” He asked, sitting Indian style on the floor while we waited for the tub to fill.

  “Sure! I like that idea. Want to grab one toy from your room to play with?”

  “Yeah!” While he took off to his room, I located an IPod/radio player up on the shelf above the toilet. I found some Beatles and grinned. My dad used to play the Beatles when he bathed us when we were little. Scrolling onto “Yellow Submarine,” I grabbed a towel and got the shampoo ready.

  “We’re all set, Mikey! Let’s go!” I called to him.

  “Captain America needs a bath too.” Mikey said when he came back into the bathroom. I lifted his little, wiggly body into the tub and let him play a little, while I sang along with the music. Surprisingly, Mikey knew the words and we both began belting out the words while I got his hair all sudsy. I shaped his wavy black hair into a Mohawk and giggled at the little naked punk rocker.

  “You look cool, dude.” I told him.

  “I do?” He asked excitedly, his face lighting up.

  “Yep, you have an awesome Mohawk right now.”

  “I do?” He smiled at me and felt the tips of his hair. “Wow, I do! Mommy! I have a Mohawk!” He yelled.

  “Wow, that’s pretty cool!” Emily said, I turned around and smiled at her. She came in and sat down on the floor with me. Just then, my favorite Beatles song came on, and we call began singing the chorus to “Hey Jude.” The moment had me smiling so hard, my cheeks hurt. Then Emily’s terrible voice had me cracking up.

  “What’s so funny?” Emily asked, laughing at me because I was in full on snort mode.

  “You suck at singing. Like so bad!” I gasped out.

  “Shut up!” She laughed, flinging some of the soapy water at me.

  “You sound like a dying whale!” I cackled and flung some water back at her.

  “You sound like a constipated pig!” She squealed, flinging more water at me. At this point, Mikey was shrieking and splashing around so much that the whole floor got soaked.

  And that was how Jason found us, laughing like hyenas, completely soaked through to our skin.

  “Uncle Jase!” Mikey squealed, jumping to his feet and promptly slipped and fell back in to the tub, splashing a tidal wave of water over the side of the tub.

  “Mikey, stay seated!” Emily scolded.

  “You guys look ridiculous.” He smiled down at me.

  “We do huh?” I sent Emily a sly look and then flicked my eyes at Jason. She gave a small nod and smiled slightly. Good, we were in agreement.

  “You do. Like a bunch of drowned rats.” He laughed, picking up a strand of my hair and letting it flop down in front of my face.

  “Interesting.” I drawled. “Jase, come here, I have to tell you something.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and tried to look flirty, which was hard since my mascara had run down my face and I probably looked like a rabid raccoon. He grinned and squatted down next to me, hands clasped between his legs.

  “What’s that, Crazy?” He said softly, still smiling, and I felt bad for what I was about to do. For about a millisecond. I locked eyes with Emily and we both grinned and began splashing him. He shouted and fell down on his butt, drenched.

  “You probably shouldn’t insult us when we’re near weapons.” I smirked at him. He just looked at me and I could actually see this gleam come into his eyes. “Uh, Jason?” I started to scoot near Emily, who was still smirking at her brother. “Emily-“ I wasn’t able to finish because Jason grabbed me under my arms pits and pulled me onto him and began to tickle torture me.

  “Nobody likes a gloater, Mari.” He said, laughing as I squirmed and gasped for air between squeals.

  “Stop! Jason, stop! Emily, do something!” I gasped. I hated being tickled, I almost always peed my pants.

  “Emily is a smart girl and knows not to intervene. You on the other hand…” His gripped tightened as I bucked. I tried to not think about how I was completely flush against him and how good it felt.

  “Jason stop! I’m going to pee all over you!” I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face. He topped tickling immediately and I just lay prone across his lap, staring at his incredulous face.

  “You wouldn’t dare.” He gasped, scandalized.

  “I would. I would so dare.” I huffed, flailing about trying to sit up. He helped me to my feet and then gave Emily a hand up. “Ugh what a mess!” I said, looking around the small bathroom.

  “Come on, my love, let’s get you dried off and into some jammies.” Emily said, grabbing her son up into a towel. “Uncle Jason and Marisol need to clean up the bathroom.” She smirked at us as she sidled by us.

  “Hey! That’s not fair!” I yelled at her back.

  “Too bad, so sad!” She called back.

  “That’s it! Our engagement is off!” I yelled at her, smiling when she barked out a laugh. I turned back to Jason and took one of the towels he had grabbed from the bathroom closet. “I was going to marry your sister, but now that I know she’s a traitor, I no longer believe we’re soul mates.”

  “Marriage huh? You guys move pretty fast.” He sniggered.

  “Yeah well you Scotts are sneaky.” I grinned at him; he looked pretty funny on his hands and knees soaking up the flood. Then again I was doing the same thing so joke was on me too.

  “Got to you, did we?” I focused on wiping up the floor because I could feel myself beginning to blush.

  “Yeah, you guys got me.” I agreed. He didn’t say anything and I didn’t turn around realizing how that could be taken. We finished cleaning up the bathroom in silence and I stood up, arching my back and slapped off the music. “Hey Em!” I called out to her, gathering the wet towels.

  “Yeah?!” She called from Mikey’s room.

  “You have anything I could borrow?”

  “Nothing clean!” She said apologetically.

  “Sweet.” I sighed at Jason and took the wet towel
s from him. “I’m drenched and so are you.”

  “Come on, I have some clothes stashed here for when I stay over.” I followed him out to the hallway, stopping to throw the towels into the hamper, and went into the only room I hadn’t been in yet. He led me over to a dresser and grabbed a shirt and some sweatpants. “They’re going to be big on you.”

  “It’s fine, I just need something dry to get home in.” I took the clothes from him.

  “You’re leaving now?” He asked, his smile slipping a little.

  “No, I’m going to hang out for a little. You just got here and I still have some stuff to go over with Em. Plus The Office is on tonight so we’ll consider this your intro to the show.”

  “Awesome!” He said and began unbuttoning his shirt. Oh holy hellcats, would you look at that.

  “Uh, what are you doing?” I squeaked.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” He said mockingly.

  “Stripping.” I said to his pecs.

  “Hey, my eyes are up here. You really need to stop objectifying me, Marisol.” He mocked, shrugging off his shirt. I jerked my gaze away from his well-defined chest. It was tan and muscly and I’m pretty sure I glimpsed a tattoo. “I’m getting out of these wet clothes.”

  “You can’t change in here!” I protested.

  “And why is that?” He asked.

  “Because I’m in here!”

  “Wow, Sherlock, nothing gets passed you!” He sneered at me. I smacked his arm.

  “Shut up! I don’t want to see your naked bod.”

  “Afraid you’ll jump me in a haze of lust?” He asked, one side of his mouth curling up into a smirk.

  “God, you are so arrogant.” I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I don’t care. Just turn around, I don’t want to go blind.” I waited until he turned around and then I turned my back to and made quick work of changing. Regrettably I had to go without panties and a bra, but I didn’t need the chaffing. “You better not be looking, perv.”

  “I’m not, don’t worry, prude.” I heard some rustling behind me, and then the sounds stopped.