The Poet

1

Giana - Midnight

Hi.
Hello.
Hey.
I'm not so sure what to say.
Except when I see your face, it makes my pain go away
But I can't start like that.
You don't know me like that.
We aren't even homies, and that's wack.

"Ugh! NO! NO! NO! What the hell, G?!" I say, tossing my crumpled-up paper in the trash bin next to my bed.  My name is Giana Sloan, and I am an aspiring something. I aspire to be many things these days, and right now, my fixation is on music and poetry. I'm 25 years old, and I moved to California from Texas about four months ago to try my hand at figuring out where I fit in with this art stuff. I love to write and sing, and occasionally I paint my feelings. My mind is always on go mode, and my imagination is out of this world. I have so many ideas, but I don't know how to do half the stuff I see in my mind, so now I'm on a quest to learn how. I started writing when I was in elementary school. I remember it like it was yesterday day, sadly. I wrote my first poem to a boy I liked named Malcolm. It read:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Hey Malcolm! I'm Giana!
I really like you!
I'm a pretty cool girl, and I'm really funny
What do you say about being my honey?

Safe to say, he didn't want to be my honey. I watched him laugh at my poem, rip it up, and throw it away like I didn't just put my heart on paper. I've had trust issues ever since that day, anyway, back to the backstory. I thought moving would inspire me to write more and get my creative juices flowing, but I've been here for a bit, and I don't have much. Well, I have my annoying neighbor that plays his music super loud at all hours of the day and night, but that inspires my rage. Like right now, it's dumb late at night, and he's playing trap rock beats. I have a headache from all the thinking and then this! I get up, throw on my robe, and walk out my door to his. I knock loudly and wait when I hear the music turn off. The locks turn, and the door opens and reveals a very handsome man. He's pretty tall, I'd say about 6 ft, with hazel eyes, and lightly tanned skin. I find myself forgetting what I knocked on his door for as I scan his features.

"Yo?" He says, waving his hand in my face knocking me out of my stupor. "Damn, I am so sorry! I came over to ask if you could keep your music down just a tad. I'm trying to get through a really tough project, and your music is very distracting." I said, blushing as I spoke. He gives me a once-over and closes the door. RUDE! I gather myself and knock on his door. He opens it with an exhausted look on his face. "Excuse you! That was rude and uncalled for!" I say matter of factly. "Look, tell your mom that I'll keep my music down so I don't interrupt your homework time, okay?" He says, patting my head and closing his door again. That ASSHOLE!

I knock again with a bit more anger this time. He answers, looking super annoyed. "I may be small, but I'll have you know that I am an ADULT, sir! I also do not appreciate you closing the door in my face when I am NOT done having a conversation with you!" I finish with my chest heaving and my face hot. He blinks three times slowly and sort of in a mocking way. "Are you done now? I have work to do, and you're keeping me from it." He says with a sarcastic smile. I roll my eyes and walk back to my door. "It was nice meeting you, crazy neighbor!" He shouts down the hall. I turn and flip him off as I walk into my apartment. This is exactly why I should have stayed in Texas. As soon as I plopped down in my bed, his music came blasting through my walls, and then I heard his voice seemingly louder, somehow singing along to the song. I grab my pillow and scream into it, kicking my mattress in pure frustration. It was around 6 a.m when the music stopped, and my alarm went off. I got up to get ready for my day as usual and headed out the door.

Giana - 5:45 p.m

I'm walking around working on my last rounds of taking orders and serving customers before I clock out. "Sloan! Boss needs you in the back." my coworker says to me as I'm picking up orders. I take the food to the tables and then head to the back office to see what my boss needs. I knock on the door and wait for a response. "Come in!" My boss says cheerfully. I walk in and close the door behind me. "You wanted to see me?" I ask, taking a seat in front of her desk. "Oh! Yes! Do you mind closing the store tonight?" she asks hesitantly. "I would love to, but I have tons of homework to do, and I have class tonight," I say, lying a bit. I mean, I do have lots of homework to do, but I'd rather not stay at this creepy ass restaurant on a Friday. "Damn, do you mind asking Benny to come and see me?" She asked. I nodded and walked back onto the floor. Passing by the locker room, I yell to my coworker Benny to see the boss and go on with the rest of my shift. After clearing my tables, I take a break as the evening rush slowly pours in. I was cleaning my last booth when loud laughter came from by the door. "Yo, Sloan! Can you take them? I'm clocking out at the moment for lunch." Benny asks with sad eyes. "Yeah, man, no problem. Just give me two seconds to finish this booth." I say, wiping out the seats. I turn to put my cleaning stuff back in the back. I walk up front to take the orders of the seated guests in my section. "Good evening, everyone! My name is Sloan, and I will be your server tonight. What can I get started for you?" I say, getting my pen and pad ready and not paying attention to who is seated in the booth. "Hey, crazy neighbor." I look up and see that it's my annoying neighbor. "Oh, so this is the girl you were telling us about earlier, Raf?" One of the guys said, eyeing me. "Yeah, man. Isn't she adorable?" He laughs. "I pictured her to be taller." The other guy said. "Are we done discussing my features so I can take your orders?" I say, rolling my eyes.

I take their orders and get their drinks to them as fast as I can. "Here are your drinks. Your appetizers will be out shortly. Enjoy!" I say, dashing away until I am grabbed softly by the hand. "Thank you." says the nuisance of a neighbor. "My pleasure," I say with a smile because excellent customer service is everything. After getting them their food and more drinks, I ask if there's anything else they want. They all say no, and I go and grab their check. I come back, put the book down, and wait as they all gather their cards and give them to me to take. After I make the charges for the meals, I take them back their cards and get ready to clock out. Slowly everyone leaves from the table except my annoying neighbor. I go clear the table as he sits on his phone, finishing his fourth shot of whiskey. "Sorry, I'll get out of your way in a second. I'm getting an Uber." He says scooting out of the seat.

"If you give me 10 minutes, I can take you home. I mean, we are neighbors or whatever." I say with a small smile on my lips. "Okay, cool. Thank you." He says as he gets up, places money on the table for a tip, and then heads to the bathroom. Damn, his eyes got me, not gonna lie. They were the prettiest shade of blue I had ever seen. I finished cleaning the table, and then I clocked out. "Night Ben!" I call out to the back after getting my food from the window. As I'm walking out the doors, I see my Mr. Blue Eyes sitting on the curb. "Ready?"

I ask. "Yeah, I'm ready." He says, patting himself down. "Damn, man! Somebody stole my lighter!" He exclaims, walking behind me to my car. "I have one if you need it," I say, unlocking the doors and getting in. I start the car as he gets in and he looks at me puzzled. "No, these seats are not custom made. Yes, I can see over the steering wheel just fine, thank you. And no, I don't mind that you smoke in here. It's my car. I do what I want." I say, closing my door, handing him the lighter, and leaving the parking lot. The ride home was silent.

Not like super weird silence but not comfortable either. We smoked together, so I guess that's why it wasn't weird. "Yo? Is your name really Sloan?" He asks randomly. I laugh a little, "No. Sloan is my last name. My name is Giana or GiGi. Whichever you prefer." He takes a hit. "Nah, you need something cooler if we're gonna be friends." He said, passing the blunt to me as we pulled up to our apartment complex. "Who said we're going to be friends?" I laugh, taking a hit. He smacks his lips and looks at me. "I got it! Captain Sloan!" He says excitedly. "Why?" I laugh, choking on smoke. "Bro, you're so damn bossy. Why not?" He says, laughing and taking another hit. I park, and we chill and finish smoking out the car. "I'm Rafael Casal, by the way. Most people call me Raf or Rafa. Hispanic Jesus. Whatever." He says with his hand out, waiting for me to shake it. "Bro, WHAT?! I'm sure nobody calls you Hispanic Jesus!" I laugh out loud. We're both cracking up at the crazy ass name, and then I look at my phone. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have homework to do," I say, getting out of the car. "What are you studying?" Rafael asks, getting out and closing the car door. I lock my car as we walk into the building. "Surprisingly, I'm majoring in music theory and composition," I say proudly. "Oh, okay, cool. Where's your heart at?" He asks as we walk up the stairs to our floor. "I mean, I love to write mostly, but I also love music," I say as we reach my door. "What do you write? Also, how you gonna like music but be mad about mine being up?" He asks. I laugh and say, "Easy. Your shit is too loud for no reason." I say, unlocking my front door. "Yeah, whatever you know, my shit is fire. I'll let you go, though. Maybe we can talk some more about your passions later?" He says. "I'm down," I say, walking inside. "Thanks again for the ride." He says. "No problem." I wave goodbye, do some work and get ready for bed. It's been a long day.