Heidi decided not to live in a dorm on campus, but to live in our house. After she got some money and a job, she thought maybe she would spend a semester at school. I was glad that she wanted to live in our house. We got to chill all the time, and it was just like it used to be in New York.
“So what are you doing tonight, Heidi?” I asked, flopped on her bed.
“I think I’m going to one of the shows at school.”
“What kind of show?”
“Well, the Performing Arts Department kids write plays and put them on sometimes, and then there’s the coffe houses... there’s bands and all that good stuff,” she explained, pulling a white, gauzy hippie shirt over her head.
“Sounds fun,” I murmured, my face in her pillow.
“It is,” she pulled on a long skirt.
“What are you doing tonight?” Heidi asked.
“Nothing,” I said, my voice still muffled.
“You can come with me if you want,” she offered.
“Yea right,” I mumbled into the pillow.
“I mean it.”
“Don’t I have to be a student there?” I asked, taking my face out of the pillow.
“Nope.”
“Can I really go?” I asked, gettin excited.
“Yep. Go get dressed.”
I was suddenly hyper, and so I jogged into my room. I pulled my red-with-gold-dragons-Chinese-style dress out of the closet. I rummaged though there and found the matching purse and shoes. As I was putting my clothes on, the phone rang. Heidi picked it up I guess because after about thirty seconds she called me. I brought my make-up so that I could put it on in the mirror in my mother’s room. “Hello?”
“Robinson?”
“Tay?!” I asked excitedly, pausing in swiping bright red lipstick across my mouth. “How are you?”
“I’m pretty good. We’re in San Fransisco.”
“Cool.”
“So how are you?”
“I’m all right I guess. Tonight Heidi is taking me to one of her little college shows.”
“Cool. You’d better not fall for some college boy...” he teased.
“I’ll try not to.”
“What do you mean, you’ll try?”
“All right, all right, I won’t,” I laughed.
“Damn straight.”
“And you’d better not be kicking it to any thirteen year olds.”
He laughed. Heidi called my name from the hallway. “Be there in a sec,” I called back. “Taylor, I have to leave now. When are you guys coming back home?”
Tay sighed. I could picture him sitting in a hotel room, and at this question, he rubbed his forehead and looked doubtful. “I don’t know...”
“Probably not for a while, right?”
“No,” he said, his voice frowning.
“That’s okay, hun, don’t stress,” I said, shrugging off a little of my disappointment. “I have to go now, but send your family my love.”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
I twisted my hair up and stuck bright red chopsticks through it. I returned to my room, gathered a jacket, purse, and some gloves, and bounced down the stairs where Heidi was waiting for me. “Are we driving?” I asked.
“My friend Alise is picking us up.”
“Soon?”
“Yea, in like two minutes.”
“Where are we going?”
“To one of the music shows I think,” she shrugged, “Alise’s brother is in the band.”
“Cool.”
Heidi and I waited around until Alise pulled up in an old blue car. I sat in the back, feeling inexperienced and young. Heidi and Alise talked about their professors and their roommates and all that stuff that I don’t really know about. Alise seemed like a nice person. She was fair-haired and had a friendly voice. We pulled up to this old cement-looking building with only one or two windows. There were about fifteen cars in the parking lot. One lone street lamp flickered above it. The building’s door was in the back. We entered into this room where a bunch of kids ranging from three to six years older than me were standing around sipping coffee from a little table where some students were selling refreshments. Heidi, Alise, and I paid a nominal cover fee and then went inside to find some seats. A thin boy steped on the “stage” (which was really just a section of the floor with instruments on it). He cleared his throat, and introduced the band. I missed what the name of it was because people started yelling as soon as he said it. The lights came back on brightly as the band came out. Each of the five guys assembled himself at his instrument. On the fourth click of the drummer’s drumsticks, they burst into song. It was an upbeat punk-type song.
“Which one is her brother?” I had to shout at Heidi because it was very loud in there.
“The drummer. His name’s Oscar. He’s in one of my classes.”
I nodded. People started to get rowdy, and the crowd developed a mosh pit. Heidi, Alise, and I didn’t really want to be a part of that at the time, and so we moved over against the wall. “Alise,” I called, “your brother’s band is good!”
“Thanks, but it’s not my brother’s band. It’s David’s,” she pointed to the bass player who was strumming mightily.
I nodded again, observing the band members. The drummer, Oscar, was short (I could tell even though he was sitting), had dark blond hair, and looked to be a nice guy. The guitar player (I didn’t know his name) was tall, had brown hair with the tips dyed bright red, and kind of looked like a stoner. This bass player, David, had brown hair with the tips dyed blue, wore a backwards hat, and looked as if he would be a little bit arrogant. There was also a guy running some turntables in the backround. He had a shaved head and thin-framed glasses.
“Want some coffee?” Heidi asked me.
“No thanks,” I shook my head.
“Alise wants some, so we’re going over there,” she pointed.
“I’ll come too,” I said, not wanting to be left alone among all these older people.
We chilled around the coffe table for a few minutes, and then Heidi and Alise brought me over to some of their friends. I looked on as they talked. Sooner or later, the band’s set was over. The thin boy came back out on stage for one last great appluase, and then he started to introduce a band that would be playing next. “I have to go talk to my brother, wanna come?” Alise asked.
“Sure,” Heidi shrugged. I followed her, of course. The place where this whole thing was being held was a firehouse hall. It was made up of two large rooms, one of which was used for the actual people, and the other was where the band kept all their stuff. We went into this other room where the members of the band were hanging around. David was wiping his face with a towel, Oscar was glugging some water, the guitarist was putting away his guitar, etc.
“Hey, Alise,” they said as we walked in.
“Hi,” as she walked toward her brother she said, “This is Heidi. And that’s her friend Tayler.”
“Hi,” they said.
“Hi,” Heidi and I waved.
I felt as if I was meeting rockstars. I was all nervous and excited. Then something occurred to me... I’m dating a rock star. Dating a rock star? That sounded weird even to me. Who would believe I was dating a super star? Not even me.
“I’m Dave,” he said, sticking out his hand for us to shake. “And that’s Travis,” he pointed to the guitar player. We waved to him. “That’s Oscar. You probably know him,” Dave pointed to Oscar, who was now arguing with Alise. “And last but not least, that’s D.J. Muffled,” Dave pointed to the guy who had been at the turntables.
“D.J. Muffled?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Yea.”
“That’s his real name?”
“Not the one my mother gave me at birth, but it will suffice, don’t you think?” D.J. Muffled explained.
“I like it,” I nodded.
“I’m Heidi,” she introduced.
“And I’m Tayler,” I smiled.
“Are you guys friends with her?” Dave leaned over, pointing with his thumb at Alise.
“I am,” Heidi replied.
“I just met her,” I explained.
He turned to Heidi, “I’m sure she’s a great kid and all, but damn is she annoying when it comes to that car! After every show she comes back here and argues with Oscar about the damn thing, and it’s not even hers! Watch them,” he pointed to Oscar and Alise, “In about thirty seconds she’ll start yelling, and the Oscar will, and then the whole band will egg them on. Then one or the other will back down.”
Sure enough, just as he finished speaking, Alise yelled, “Dammit, I need to drive them home!”
“I don’t care, get a ride. Travis and I are going to a party,” Oscar yelled.
“So you get a ride!” Alise cried back.
“It’s my damn car! Mom and Dad bought it for me before you even thought about driving!”
“That’s so not true. We’re supposed to share it.”
“It’s my car. They would have bought you one, but you just had to go to Albuquerque with all your friends last summer.”
“Whatever, Oscar,” she yelled.
“Don’t ‘whatever’ me!” Oscar screamed.
“You tell her,” Travis laughed, urging on the fight, as Dave had just said they would.
“You can’t have the damn car, okay!” Oscar hollered.
“Sing it sistah!” D.J. Muffled called.
“I told you,” Dave whispered. I couldn’t resist giggling.
“But how are they going to get home?” Alise pointed in our direction.
“Where do you live?” Travis asked.
“Over by the middle school,” I explained.
“I can take you home,” he said, shrugging.
“But-” Alise protested, wanting to have the car.
“It’s no problem for Travis to take them,” Oscar grinned, reaching for the keys from Alise’s hand. She handed them over reluctantly.
“Let’s boogie,” Travis said, standing up with his guitar case in hand. “David is coming, too,” he informed Heidi as he walked by her.
“Alise, are you coming?” Heidi asked when she noticed Alise not following us.
“Oscar can take me home,” Alise pointed to her brother. Oscar scowled.
Heidi, Travis, Dave, and I proceeded to an old, broken, black car behind the building. We all climbed in (Heidi and I in the back seat) and Travis shot out the parking lot, tires screeching. Dave and Travis talked between themselves for a while, but then Dave turned in his seat and said, “So, what’s up, kids?”
Heidi and I both just shrugged without saying much. Then, Heidi said, “You guys were good tonight.”
“Thanks,” Travis said, looking in the rear-view mirror.
“What’s your name?” Dave asked her.
“Heidi.”
“What about the melancholy one?” Dave pointed to me. By that point, I was tired, and I could feel another one of my headaches coming on, and so I was simply looking out the window.
I realized that Dave was talking about me, and so I turned to him. I smiled shyly, “I’m Tayler.”
“What’s the matter?”
I just kind of shrugged in response.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
“Usually I do. I have a headache,” I said, still feeling shy.
“You don’t go to the University, do you?” he said doubtfully.
I couldn’t help giggling, “Nope.”
“Where do you go?”
“The high school,” I informed him.
“How old are you?” Travis seemed surprised.
“Sixteen... why do I look older?” I struck a seductive pose (not that he could see me while driving) and lowered my voice to sound sexy.
“Not really,” he shrugged.
“Oh, thanks a lot!” I huffed, acting more insulted than I was.
Dave, Heidi, and Travis got a good laugh out of that one. Pretending to pout, I crossed my arms and acted sullen.
“Make a left,” I ordered when we got to my street. Travis’s tires squealed as he sped around the corner. “Think it’s about time you got new tires, champ?” I teased.
Travis scowled at me. He turned to Dave, “You called her the quiet one?”
