AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Cindy
Itwasahotand humid afternoon on the beach. My girlfriend Angie was sunbathing with me, her neon blue, leopard print bikini hugged her perfect figure. I laid beside her, wearing the bikini I bought at the last minute–neon pink with black polka dots. Angie’s long blonde hair was pulled back with a banana clip, and the bright sun reflected off her pink shades. She tapped her foot to the beat of “Walk Like an Egyptian” from the boom box radio wedged in the sand between our towels.
I loved Angie. We went through grade school and high school together, finishing up our first year of college at George Mason. We were like two puzzle pieces that fit together. She was the outgoing type, and I was the miss home-body. Angie was very popular in high school and made friends easily. She also had much more experience than me when it came to guys.
We both lived in the same preppie neighborhood and were spoiled by our wealthy parents. My father worked as a salesman in the new wave technology business of fax machines, copiers, printers and other cool gadgets. My older brother, Tommy, and I never had to worry about anything because we were handed anything we wanted from our parents. He was a few years older than me and still hung out with his lame friends from high school.
My dad gave me a pager, which was the most awesome gadget ever invented. It was a little square box the size of a zippo lighter and it started vibrating on the beach towel beside me. I picked it up and looked at the little screen displaying a ten-digit phone number.
“It’s Tommy,” I said and stood up, wiping sand off my butt. “I need to go find a pay phone to call him back.”
Angie blew a big pink bubble with her chewing gum then it popped, “Oh, Cin, really? I thought we had a few more hours to hang on the beach together?”
“I’ll just tell Tommy we’ll meet him later. He’s going to that bar Stingrays tonight. I’m supposed to with go him and Kelly.”
Angie sighed, her foot stopped tapping to the Bangles song. She lifted her shades up over her forehead. Her eyes squinted from the sunlight as she looked up at me, “Your brother is an asshole. Why do you have to go with him? You and I can just go to some other bar or find something much more fun to do.”
I knew Angie didn’t like Tommy but tolerated him because she was my best friend. He dropped out of college in his second year and really didn’t care about his own future. He lived for today and didn’t think about what would happen tomorrow. Since my parents adored him, they didn’t push him to better himself. Tommy was gifted with the good combination of my parents’ looks, where as I felt just, well, plain. I had long dark brown hair that I didn’t really spend too much time on like most girls with curling irons, crimpers, and hairspray. I focused more on my brain than my looks—and education was much more important to me.
“I’m sorry Ang . . . I know you and Tommy don’t get along. But my parents worry too much and pressured Tommy into watching over me while we’re here at the beach.”
Later that night, we rode with Tommy and his girlfriend, Kelly, to Stingrays. Tommy parked the car and turned around to look at me and Angie sitting in the back seat, “Don’t embarrass me, Cin. The only reason I brought you and Angie along is because I promised Mom and Dad that I’d make sure you stayed out of trouble.”
Angie pulled a cigarette out of her purse and flicked her lighter. Tommy reached out and snatched it from her mouth. He smashed it in his hands, tobacco spilling onto the car seat.
“Hey!” Angie shouted.
“Smoke it outside or in the bar. Not in the car, Ang!” Tommy barked back.
It was going to be a long night and I was not in the mood to hear Tommy and Angie badger each other. I rolled my eyes and climbed out of the back seat of Tommy’s Chevy Malibu before anyone else did. The moment I shut the car door, the humid and sticky air clung to my body. I gathered my hair up and off the nape of my neck and fanned myself. Kelly has just finished off a joint with Tommy on the drive there and she giggled, stumbling out of the passenger side of the car.
Angie climbed out of her side of the car and walked around to whisper in my ear. “Tommy is totally un-cool, Cin. You deserve a better brother than the one you got stuck with.” Then she pulled out a new cigarette from her purse and lit it.
The sign for Stingrays Nightclub glowed in neon blue above the doorway as Angie and I followed Tommy and Kelly inside. Poison’s new song “Cry Tough” blared loudly within the club. The place was small and narrow and I felt swallowed up by the large crowd. As I walked through a haze of cigarette smoke, I saw the neon beer signs hanging behind the bar. A set of drums and several guitars on stands sat on a stage several yards in front of us. A printed flyer tacked to a corkboard and taped on the walls showcased the band who was headlining to play that night. The flyer showed a black and white photo of the band called Steel Dragon written in gothic themed letters above it.
I turned to look behind me searching for Angie as more crowds of people walked through the entranceway, pushing me. I reached out for Tommy pulling on the back of his T-shirt, “Wait for me and Angie!”
He spun around, his arm still draped over Kelly, “It’s too packed in here to babysit the two of you!” he barked as loud as he could over the loud music. He turned away and sauntered through the crowded bar with Kelly. Leaving me standing there. Alone.
“Cin! I got us some beers!” Angie shouted as she appeared out of nowhere. Thank goodness! She handed me a bottle. “Oh my god, the lead singer of Steel Dragon totally winked at me! I hope you won’t hate me, but I really wanna go hang out with him and the band tonight. It would be a fucking blast! ” Angie’s eyes were wide and bright like she was going to be famous for giving some guy in a band a blow job after the show.
But I didn’t want to be lame and ruin her night. “Ok, Ang. I just wanna have a good time and not get into any trouble, but I will be by your side all night.”
We weaved through the thick crowd of long hair, torn jeans, and neon clothing. Beside the stage was a long dark hallway. I assumed it led to the bathrooms and a private room for the performing band.
Angie was suddenly several paces in front of me, and disappeared. I hurried as fast as I could, weaving through people toward the dark hallway. It was very narrow, and my eyesight had to adjust to the sudden darkness in contrast to the bright neon lights. A man’s leg, wearing stone-washed torn jeans shot out in front of me, his boot thumping against the wall, blocking my path.
“You lost, babe?” I looked to the sound of a deep voice. He was sitting on a wooden chair to my right. I couldn’t make out his face, but his hair appeared to be long, just past his shoulders. And he sounded cocky.
“Uh. No. I’m trying to find my friend. She came this way.”
“You shouldn’t go back there. Not alone anyway.”
“How is that even your business?” Now I was ticked off. But he didn’t move his leg, and it brushed against my hip.
He stood up and stepped closer to me. He was so tall! I couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but I could see a square jaw. I noticed a dark spot on his bicep that appeared to be a tattoo. “Your friend’s in the room backstage with Zeek. He’s the singer in my band.” That’s when I recognized him, from that photo on the Steel Dragon flyer. He offered his hand to me. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
