Landon sat bolt upright in bed, glancing at his alarm clock- disoriented. His vision blurred with the groggy eyes of a night gone on much too long. Landon blinked back the salt in his eyes and allowed himself time to adjust to the surrounding room.
“How long have I been sleeping?”
He glances at his digital alarm clock, the panel blinking with bright red numbers indicating 4:05 p.m. He’d been sleeping for over 12 hours. The last moment he remembered from the night before was polishing off a bottle of Jack Daniels while playing Fortnight with his two friends.
“Shit” he breathes to no one in particular. “I missed class again. David is going to kill me, for sure.” Just as Landon breathes his last word, there are four loud bangs coming from his apartment door. Landon throws on the closest t-shirt he has and flies down the steps. He swings open the door to see David standing there, eyes slit looking annoyed and ready to admonish every fuck up he’s ever witness Landon have. David pushed past Landon and be-lined straight for the kitchen. Landon paused for a moment, contemplating whether to bitch David out or wait to hear what he had to say. Landon chose the latter and followed David into the kitchen.
“Speak of the Devil.”
“Did you rub your lamp three times and wish for me to come and jerk you off?” David replied with a smirk.
“No asshole. I’m just wondering exactly why you feel obligated to walk into my apartment like you’re the one who pays bills around here.”
“Sorry, ‘pay’…’bills’? Did you just say pay bills to me? As if you do that! When’s the last time you paid a fucking bill Landon? Be for-fucking-real.” David’s eyes were seething with discontent.
Landon and David stare at each other for a few moments and then both burst into laughter. This is how their relationship goes. They both pretend to hate each other when in reality there is nothing but brotherly love between the two of them.
“Besides, you missed a really good lecture today. I don’t understand why you pay for college if you can’t even show up to class, ever. You missed a seriously epic, mind-bending lecture about the explosion of synth use in modern rock music. Like the one class you shouldn’t have missed considering you have a meeting in three days with Vinnie Stark and everyone knows that Vinnie’s favorite instrument is the synth. You might as well roll over and play dead at this point.”
Landon thought about what David said, he just didn’t care. Most of Landon’s time has been spent worrying about what might happen in his relationship with Cali once Banish Me Immortal starts to lift off into the mainstream. He had read the horror stories about love gone wrong; while he hoped and prayed that would never happen, he was preparing himself for the worst. After all, it was only three days until he spoke with Vinnie about the necessary business deals. Vinnie Stark is the C.E.O. of Sumrina Records. A mega-famous record company that employs deals with bands in the prog rock and metal-core music scenes, right up Banish Me Immortal’s alley. Always heavier music. Always horns and fishnets.
David helped himself to the kitchen, walking straight in and pouring himself a mug of coffee. He then went over to the freezer and found himself some Bailey’s, pouring himself a healthy amount to top his coffee off. As healthy as alcohol and coffee can be. David side-eyed his friend as he poured. “Typical,’ he scoffed. “You want all the reward without the work. It’s getting ridiculous. Like realistically do you expect me to be the one to put all the science-y bits together for us? Kiz is going to be pissed to hear about this too. He’s been riding me about finding a keyboardist for the next album after we land the deal with Stark. I’m wondering if you’re even interested in the deal anymore, honestly. It’s been one month and I am the only one putting in the thought-work to develop this new album. We are taking the music theory and history class for a reason. Seriously Landon. What’s going on with you?”
“You can’t just give me a fucking break today can you?”
“No. I can’t. Especially with this. Just tell me what’s up. I mean seriously, man. You have three bottles of Jack in your recycling and it’s been a week and a half since I’ve been here. You disposed of your recycling the last time I was here, I might add.”
“Alright dude. I’ll spill.”
“Get to talking, mother fucker. I ain’t got all day.” David smirked and gave Landon a mischievous look.
“Time is all you got considering you’re unemployed. But seriously, it’s Cali man. We’ve been fighting a lot lately and I’m worried about what might happen between the two of us when Banish starts to lift. She’s not exactly interested in the entertainment industry. I mean for Christ’s sake, she wants to be a fucking nurse. How is that supposed to work? A successful musician and a nurse? Never heard of such a thing in my life.”
“Man, you’ve been bugging out about that? Maybe you and Cali aren’t meant to stay together into the future, you know? Sometimes relationships just run their course. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“I get that. I really do. But unfortunately for me I have never in my life been more attracted to a girl or been more in love. Even when I was dating Sereena there was never that spark people always talk about having when you’re in love. With Cali it’s different. Things flow easily with us, we fucking soul share for Christ’s sake. How am I supposed to top that? Are you trying to tell me that this is it? One and done, because I chose the path I did, I’m destined to have a mediocre relationship with a mediocre girl because Cali can’t come up with us?”
“Man, shut entirely the fuck up. You’re not ‘one and done’ or what the fuck ever. Think about all the hot ass models and musician babes we’re going to be introduced to. Doesn’t the thought of that interest you? Even slightly?”
“It’s not that the idea of it doesn’t interest me.” Landon shook his head slightly, contemplating exactly how to phrase the next sentence. He took a drag of the joint he just finished rolling, then continued. “It’s that my body doesn’t respond to other women the way it responds to her man. Those butterflies and shit people are always talking about, that’s what I feel when I’m with her, man. We broke up for like a month a year ago and I couldn’t even eat dude. I ended up hospitalized. How the fuck am I supposed to navigate the stress of being famous without her by my side?”
David sat down on the other side of the table, he leaned across and grabbed the joint out of Landon’s hand. “Be for-fucking-real you bat-shit crazy dramatization of a man. She’s one chick in a sea of inexplicably beautiful debutantes. You got yourself way too caught up with her. I told you not to start taking that relationship too seriously. It’s the end of bachelorhood as we know it once you start taking a bitch too seriously.”
“Call her a bitch again and you’re getting hit in the face.” Landon’s voice raised an octave higher as he sat bolt upright in his chair. The one thing he couldn’t stand about his friend was how callous and uncaring he could be when it came to women. Sometimes he wondered if David was really just gay and didn’t think his true identity fit with the image he kept trying to sell. Landon and Kiz talked about this constantly when David wasn’t around. Kiz (their drummer) recognized the warning signs when David was still in highschool. Kiz mentioned to Landon on multiple occasions that David was always incredibly disrespectful to his girlfriends and he always had multiple he’d trash behind their backs. Landon eyed his friend long and hard before continuing. “Besides, you don’t know shit about relationships considering you’re in-and-out of one every 3 weeks.”
“Touche, Mr. Smart Pants. However, I detest that statement. I’d say,” David smirked, “I’m really good at relationships considering I have had so many. All of which, I might add, end because I want them to. Not the other way around.” David puffed his chest out a little bit and added some suave into his tone. “I would say I am a professional dater at this point.”
“And you say I’m dramatic? Get fucked. Also, where the fuck has Kiz been? We haven’t practiced together in like three weeks.”
“Ah, yes. Kiz. He’s in London visiting family. I’m surprised he forgot to tell you about it.”
Landon’s mouth turned up in an incredulous grin. “How the fuck does he tell you this kind of shit before he tells me? Wild. Absolutely bonkers.” Landon got up from his seat with the joint hanging in his mouth. He walked over to the counter and poured himself another cup of coffee, sans Bailey’s this time.
“No more booze?” David looked at Landon with puppy dog eyes and pouted his lips. “Pity.”
“Seriously will you get the fuck out of my house. I’m so tired of seeing you here when I just wake up. Also, stop drinking all my alcohol.”
“I took only one shot this time. Give me credit where it’s due, spank you very much. Besides, there are whores to bed this afternoon so I will be seeing you tomorrow bright and early for our History of Music class. Seriously, make sure you make it. It’s not like you can’t go high or anything. But for real, I’ll head out now. I can see you are actually in a difficult mood today. My spicy conversation clearly did not help the cause in any way, shape, or form. So, with that being said, I bid you adieu.”
As David was walking out of the apartment, Landon threw the closest object he could find at him. David snickered as he slipped out the door. A Keltin Magazine smacking the wall and sliding down to the floor behind him. Landon got to his feet and picked up the magazine, looking intently at the cover. January’s edition had the Black Swans on the cover. Landon’s current favorite nu-metal band. As he looked at the cover, he started to imagine what it would be like when (not IF) Banish Me Immortal scored their first Keltin cover shoot.
Behind the door Landon heard David yell “Seriously though, you couldn’t muster a fucking shower or something? Also what the fuck is soul-sharing? Pussy.”
Landon winced at the insult: “Probably the most badass thing ever,” he said out loud to himself, continuing his fantasy thoughts about Keltin Magazine. He strode back up to the counter and poured himself yet another cup of coffee after devouring his second one. He looked down and realized that his Avenged Sevenfold shirt was the culprit. Whiskey and sweat stains all over it from the night before. “I chose the wrong shirt. Looks like I grabbed the pre-game Jersey instead.” Landon went back into his room to change, coming back into the kitchen he muttered to himself: “I’m surprised that mother fucker didn’t start crushing up coke on my table or something.”
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