TAPE ONE / SIDE B .

“Oh.” Jesse adjusted his position so he was propped up on his elbows, stuck in a weird limbo between sitting and laying down. Oh. Why was that always his go-to response? Oh. Like if the sky were to open up and a fleet of alien spaceships landed directly in front of him, weapons at the ready, the only substantial verbal response he could offer would be that one singular vowel as he stared at them slack-jawed. Not “please don’t kill me!” or “I mean no harm!” or “sure, I’ll show you where the nuclear weapons are!” – just “oh.” “Everyone’s too loud,” he said after a pause. “And every party is the same, you know. Like, same people different faces. Sometimes it feels like I’m just, like, living the same night over and over again. But,” he hesitated, tugging at a strand of hair that had wriggled its way free from the others. “I don’t know. Might just be me. What about you?” He nodded in her direction then, finally sitting up completely as the bed springs squealed in protest. “Hiding from someone? Ran into an ex?”

    as he continued to speak, the girl was quite shocked to hear his words. most guys their age would disagree with him and not only that, but she was sort of relieved she wasn’t the only one who shared those sentiments. “uh, no. i feel the same exact way. it’s like this everywhere. new town, but the same people just different names. “ his next words provoked a small laugh to leave her lips. “no, not at all. i’m not really from around here. though, i guess i’m not really from anywhere.” she paused, soon realizing how morbid she sounded. “military family, y’know? my dad gets sent all around.” jess was quick to add. “i’m jessica by the way. jessica davis. i just moved here last week. i met some girls and they invited me, but i don’t know why i even came. this isn’t really my scene anymore.”

          there’s no denying that the girl before him is… well, nothing short of attractive, really. she’s a far cry from any of the girls in school—but that’s a good thing. she’s better than all of them, that much he can tell. “in about ten seconds, i assure you that our teacher will be so distracted it won’t be hard to sneak out. what do you say you and me go grab something to eat instead of wasting our time here?”

          “tempting offer.” she replied in a hushed tone, allowing herself to consider his proposal. she’d moved schools not only because her father had been relocated, but because she wanted a change from who she’d been in the past. this was her fresh start. did she really want to start skipping class on her first day? though, technically she wouldn’t be skipping because she showed up or at least that’s what she rationalized. it didn’t take long for jess to talk herself into accepting. “i think i’ll take you up on that. i’ve had a long day of figuring out this school and i am hungry.” a grin spread on her lips as the contents on her desk were put away back into her backpack. “lead the way.”

          it goes without saying that charlie loves his job. but it’s rare that people treat him like he’s human anymore, and when jessica asks him about whether or not being interviewed was uncomfortable for him, he’s surprised. not the kind where he nearly chokes on his water or spits it out, no. the pleasant kind, where you can’t help but smile. 

         “the first few times,” he says after swallowing a gulp and wiping his mouth with the back of his palm. “i think i’ve kind of grown used to it. desensitized, even, but yeah. it can be pretty annoying.” he bites his lip and nods. “what about you? does it get tiring… doing, uh. this?” he gestures to her work.

        “right.” she almost felt silly for even asking. of course he was used to the prying eyes of the public. he had been in the spotlight for a while. her situation had been nothing like his either. “that sounds... that sounds pretty bad. i’m sorry you feel that way.” she said, her words dripping honesty as chocolate hues found his honey toned ones. 

     “me?” an eyebrow raised, a small smile forming on her lips. “this is my first day and my first job so i don’t have much to compare it to.” brown locks cascaded down her back as she brushed her hair back behind her ear. her mind couldn’t help but wander why he was interested. “it isn’t so bad.” truthfully it hadn’t been as tedious as she expected. “compare to yours it probably sucks though.” jess was only half-joking, a small giggle escaping plump dark lips.

Cigarette still held between his teeth, Jesse shoved his way through the mass of gyrating bodies, a bony elbow burrowing its way between ribcages without a shred of remorse. He could see his escape: an open room at the end of a dimly lit hall, straight across from the bathroom. Two people had been fucking in it earlier (or so he assumed – either that or someone was being murdered), and Jesse had spent an agonizing thirty minutes pacing the length of the party until two people stumbled out, both wearing sheepish smiles that he hated them for. “For fucks sake,” he mumbled once his hand grasped the handle, throwing the door open with so much force it hit the adjacent wall with an earsplitting crack. But he ignored this, instead collapsing on the end of the bed with a heavy sigh. It wasn’t until he opened his eyes again that he realized he wasn’t alone. “God dammit. Are you, like, waiting on someone?” He asked, eyes still adjusting to the darkness. “Fucking… Black-Swanning me. I can’t see shit, dude. Come into the light. Jesus said that, right? Or.. – fuck, I don’t know.”

    parties were still a trigger for jessica. she hadn’t quite known why she forced herself to attend this one. it wasn’t like she was really in the mood to rage. the furthest thing from that actually. so she came to the conclusion she had only showed up because she could. in spite of everything that was taken from her, she still had the will to prove to herself that she could do anything. however, once she had step foot in the house the only thing she wanted to do was be alone. she truly had no interest in mingling or getting shit faced wasted as a past jessica would have. that had been another lifetime-- another jessica. she was deep in thought when a mess of blonde hair behind a cloud of smoke entered the room. she remained silent as she watched him stumble on to the bed-- a decision she assumed he would regret given where they were. “I’m not waiting on someone. I just wanted some peace and quiet.” with a roll of brown hues, she took a step forward to reveal herself. “i don’t know. i don’t make it my business to quote the bible.” she frowned. “why are you here anyway? shouldn’t you be out there living it up or whatever?”

          ❝ Look. My job is to make sure that you listen to the tapes ‘n’ pass them on. I’m not running a Q&A here. I can’t answer everything you’re curious about. ❞

       “ what if i refuse to listen to the tapes until you answer my questions, tony? what kind of sick fucking game are we playing here? ”

open to: females, males

          if marcus had a choice, he wouldn’t be here. he’d be at home playing video games, or out in the field playing football or lacrosse or something. anything but this. anything but math. but that’s the whole point of remedial maths, though—you suck at it enough, you have to make up for all the sucking. 

          marcus is only half-paying attention to the after school teacher. he turns to the person next to him as he sips on his drink and asks, “so what are you doing here? failed freakin’ basic algebra, too?”

        new school. new town. same shitty math class. what was it with all the math teachers that made them all utterly boring? was it in their contracts that they all had to be buzzkills? she was almost half asleep when the person next to her decided to start a conversation. thankfully, since snoring wasn’t a hot look. 

“ you could say that. i move around so much i hardly have time to learn anything.” she shrugged. it wasn’t until they made eye contact that she noticed how attractive he was. if it weren’t for the fact she had sworn off dating, she would definitely be all over that.