#ksummers

It was thirty minutes until their set. Martian Haze's first performance if 2023. They'd been a band for years now with no real success to show for it. Even this gig was unpaid, but it was for a good cause and gave them publicity. Though, honestly, Jay just did it because he loved making music with his bandmates.

Martian Haze couldn't be called consistent in their production, but in tradition they never failed. Their warm up ritual was tried and true, starting with a bottle of something; strong and always shared. Jay was big on his mantras, too, and forced his friends to join in with him every time.

"We are Martian Haze. We are talented. We are amazing. We are not going to fuck this up."

For a charity event, it'd been a wild night. Things with the band actually went well. It was just his personal life that'd turned to shit after running into India, then corralling his mother and her drunk, bridge club friends. He drove them all home earlier in the night, nearly as drunk as they were, but Jay was the designated drunk driver.

Back at the community center, he didn't plan to stay long but noticed earlier in the night Kaden would probably need a ride, too. They were just friends, there'd never been a question in Jay's head about that, but he did more for her than most of his actual girlfriends. Jay didn't really know why, and of course didn't think too much about it.

"Yeah... I guess I see it... You and the dog do look a little alike. What's her name again, and are you sure I can't convince you to name her Jay?"

The cotton mouth was in full affect, and the water Jay had fished out of his backseat wasn't doing it. "I need a slushie.." He said aloud but mostly as a mental note to himself to to peel out of the parking lot the second they finished their blunt to hit up the slushie shack. The frozen treats were great with an alcoholic topper, but it was too early in the day for that. Wasn't it?

At first, Jay just sort of shrugged at Kaden's question. Was it what he wanted? Maybe. The boat part was. His parents had money, but his father never gave him any, and his mom bailed him out of too much shit to afford a boat on top of it. There were definitely perks to an arrangement with Sharon, and it wasn't like he was seriously dating anyone, anyway. After India he'd sworn off serious relationships. He didn't want to fuck up and ruin anyone else. Jay carried enough guilt for the shit way he'd treated his ex and didn't want to add anymore when he knew he couldn't be better for anyone else.

As Kaden continued to make her points, her motivations completely unbeknownst to Jay, his mind flip flopped back and forth. "I mean... I want the boat... and she has a condo in Malibu... and she'd never keep me from the band, no... no! She loves the band, man. She's the one who bought all those t-shirts last fall at the fun fest. She even said my face should be on the fro- oh. Oh... no, no... you're right. She definitely would... okay, okay. No shacking up with Sharon, but... speaking of shacks... we should get slushies. This cotton mouth-sa bitch."