At the mansion
„Hold on, I'll take the call", Flea says to John who was just about to jump up. They are rehearsing in the hall. The first local concerts are up in just a few days and they are booked for some TV shows with live performances.
Flea holds the phone to his hand and looks to John and the guys. Chad is still sitting behind his drum set, Anthony is leaning on the mic stand and John got comfortable on the floor with his guitar in his lap.
There's also MJ and Anna sitting on the couch. It's a rainy day, so they don't have much to do.
Anna is excited to still be around. John had dared to tell their mom and surprisingly she was fine with Anna staying just a little longer. In fact, she insisted on it. She had been worried about their relationship and thought this visit might help them bond as siblings. John's mom probably didn't know what was going on in Los Angeles, or she was closing her eyes from it. At least, that's what John thought.
„It's Stone", Flea says. „I'll put him on speaker."
„Hey yo, I'm speaking to the bunch. How are things going?", Stone says.
Flea explains to him the Chilis were just jamming and getting ready to hit the stage again. Stone gets excited about that. He can't wait to show the world the music his band has made.
They talk about playing shows together in Los Angeles. Maybe book some small venues. Maybe play one or two songs together.
„Sounds rad", Chad yells from the back and hits the drums to greet the Pearl Jam guys.
„What are you up to?", Flea asks.
„Oh, we just wrapped up our first video. And that was so much fun. That production studio really rocks. We loved working with Sam. You know her, right?", Stone asks, absolutely clueless about Sam and John. Really, he hadn't attended that notorious party and usually wasn't into the gossip stories.
John stares to his guitar strings and fiddles on them. He doesn't want anyone to see his expression. Flea can't help but watch him in concern.
„Yeah, we've worked with her", Flea answers. He hopes this topic is through now.
„She's showed us... what's it called? Downtown? With the Pier and all", Stone says and suddenly chuckles after his band had corrected him. „Sorry, Dogtown."
„I bet you mean that, yeah", Flea says and laughs.
„And let me tell you a secret", Stone says and lowers his voice. „I think Ed is crushing on her really hard."
Flea turns pale all of a sudden. Everyone is looking to John, even Anna. Anna knows that John loves that girl. She feels so sorry for his brother. And John doesn't know how to handle that situation. So he just puts his guitar down and walks outside to the backyard.
„Did I say something wrong?", Stone suddenly says on the other end of the line. There's voices in the background. Flea can only guess it's Eddie. „Oh, I didn't.... I'm sorry."
Flea puts the speaker out and tells him that they need to get back to work and that they will hang out soon.
Anthony sighs. „This is not cool", he says and looks to MJ. „Did you know about that?"
MJ gets upset. „Don't you ever listen to me at all?", she says. „I told you I haven't heard from her for days. And why do you assume that there's something going on between Sam and Ed? A girl can't always control which guys crush on her and which don't. And most of all, a girl's not always the bad guy." MJ pauses and sighs. „Literally."
„Call her", Tony insists. MJ is quite sure Tony has not listened to what she just said. But she's familiar with this behavior already.
„Really? I don't even know where she's at."
„Call her work then. It's a weekday. She's probably there"
MJ nods. „Fine. And you go look for John"
Anthony puts his long hair together in a ponytail. He does that when things are getting serious. He takes Flea with him.
They find a smoking John sitting on the grass in the backyard. John looks up to them.
He doesn't want to be the subject of discussion and he doesn't want his friends to be concerned about him. It was a thing between him and Sam. Actually, it was a closed chapter. What if Sam and Ed were a thing? It was none of his business anymore.
„I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm fine", he tries to tell them.
„You're allowed to react that way. She's your girl", Tony tells him.
John raises his brows. „She's not my girl", he says. „At least not any longer. And that's okay."
Tony sighs. „Yeah, right."
Flea looks to Tony. He thinks that's really not the way to talk to John right now. Whenever people talk down to John like that, he would just close up completely. That was not the way to handle this. They needed to get the worries out of John's head.
„It's probably nothing. I mean, her and Eddie", Flea tries to appease him.
„I don't fucking care", John mumbles.
MJ comes walking up to them. She's sure she has some good news to cheer John up when she says „She's staying with a work colleague. We don't need to worry."
John looks up to her. Apparently that was not what he wanted to hear now at all. He's pissed, even more than before. And it gets him angry that he cares. „A work colleague? Don't tell me it's Zack."
MJ turns red and nods. She realizes she should've shut up about it. She knew Sam would never hook up with Zack. But she also knew Zack wished it would happen. And people might get the wrong idea about them.
„I can't believe this", John says and chuckles bitterly. „I'm sitting here, fucking gloomy and shit. And she's out there, having the time of her life, fucking around town. How could I be so stupid?"
„How dare you? She would never do that", MJ says and raises her voice on John. „And even if she was fucking around. It's none of your business. You let her go, asshole."
„Asshole? You don't know nothing", John mumbles.
„I know everyone is treating you like a sheep in here. But you need to man up and talk to her", MJ says. „God damnit."
„Leave me alone, everyone", John says.
MJ is tempted to say something but she gets pulled away by her boyfriend Tony.
Everyone walks back in. But MJ hesitates. She gets off Tony's arm and walks back to John. "All I'm trying to tell to you is that Sam is a free girl now. You should go see her before Ed tries to charm her."
John knits his brows and gives her a dark smile. "You know what to say to a man that's literally on the ground, don't you?"
"I'm sorry, but that man knows how to play his cards. But I also know that Sam loves you so bad. You guys are gonna waste this."
John pulls on his cigarette. He's angry with MJ but at the same time he's glad she's there. She's his only connection to Sam. And probably the only one who really knows how to fix this.
"But why do I need to make the first step? Aren't you two about emancipation?", he says with a smirk and thinks it's a way to get the fun back into this conversation. Obviously, he fails.
MJ rolls her eyes. They always get to hear things like that. "You need to make the first step because you hurt her. And not the other way around."
