Freak

Chapter 6

"We better take backroads if we can. I don't want my friends following us. I mean love them but they were definitely getting a little too intense back there."
Gareth nodded and gestured up ahead towards a clearing in the trees.
"There's a road over that hill that leads back to areas like where me and Eddie live. You know...the anti-suburbs."
I nodded and squinted up at the sun contemplating what I was really about to do.
"Okay. Let's take it then."
Gareth grinned and took a hand off the wheel to put his hand on the stick shift.
"You got it. Might wanna hold onto something though cuz that hill is not a smooth ride."
I nodded and braced myself as he whipped the car off the main road and raced up the hill. It was kinda fun if I'm being honest and the way down was even more exciting. It felt like a weird rollercoaster and when we finally hit the dirt road on the other side I was fully smiling.
"Fun?"
I looked over at Gareth and nodded.
"Yeah. Weirdly."
He smirked and faced the road as we sped along.
"No one uses this road during school hours so we could go 80 if we wanted to," Gareth assured me.
"Damn. Well...let's do it then."
"I mean I'm down but I'd prefer not to accidentally kill you before we even get to where we need to go."
I shrugged and sat back in my seat.
"Fair enough. But if we're gonna be in the car longer I'll be forced to interrogate you for my own personal entertainment."
Gareth laughed and looked over at me.
"Oh so you're a cop now? You were just egging me on to break the law by at least 30+ miles."
"1) you have no proof
2) I'm boredddd and we're about to discuss some serious shit when we get to our final destination so I'd kinda like some fun time before then. Sooo spill your guts Emerson. I'm listening."
He raised an eyebrow and looked like he was considering it.
"Hmm. How about...I give you a fact about me and then you give me one about you. That way it's fair and if you end up being a douchebag I can extort your secrets the way you'll be trying to extort mine," Gareth finally said.
"...yeah okay. You first though."
He snorted and tilted his head as he thought about it.
"Okay ummm...I'm in a band. We call it Corroded Coffin and it's pretty heavy metal shit."
I nodded mildly impressed.
"So that's why Ms. Lewis looked at you two on my first day and called you music enthusiasts?"
Gareth paused and then nodded.
"Ohh yeah I forgot about that. I mean Corroded Coffin's been around since our middle school days so I doubt anyone would be able to forget about us even if they wanted to."
I laughed and pressed him for more information.
"Hey that just means you have a great marketing team. So wait is it a cover band or do you guys write your own music?"
"Started out as a cover band but we wrote our first original for the 8th grade talent show. Pretty sure it was called "Sheet Metal" or something. Probably just a combination of whatever we thought was super edgy at the time."
"8th grade and writing your own music? Damn. Wish I had that kind of motivation as an 8th grader."
Gareth shook his head, "Uh no that's the thing: we only had motivation to write music. Our school work suffered all fucking year for it sooo definitely thank your 8th grade self for not being like us."
I nodded and settled back into my seat, tucking my legs up under me.
"Noted. Do you guys write all your stuff now?"
"Yup. When we get booked for gigs it's usually covers people want but sometimes we get lucky and bang out some of our own material before the drunks at the bar get pissy and start throwing fries."
"Ahh got it. Well that sounds fun though, even with the drunken fry throwers. Do you guys sell merch or anything? Can I mercilessly harass you at all your venues and fangirl obnoxiously until people are forced to watch you play?"
Gareth laughed and shook his head vigorously.
"No and absolutely not. We want people to actually like us. Fan girls are never the thing people like."
"Aw fuck off Emerson. All your favorite metal bands wouldn't be half as popular without fan girls boosting their shit."
"Huh. I guess you're right...fine then. You may fangirl if you ever figure out where we're performing."
"When's the next gig?"
"Next Tuesday actually. But I'm not telling you the venue."
"Let me guess: The Hideout at...I wanna say 7:00? 7:30 maybe?"
Gareth's mouth dropped open and he fully turned to look at me in his seat.
"Are you stalking me or something, new girl?"
I laughed.
"Don't flatter yourself. I've been here since the summer so I've made my way around town at this point. The Hideout's the only place in town that let's amateurs play apparently and the 7:00pm - 8:00pm crowds are low on Tuesdays there so that's usually when they let bands play. Ya know...in case they're shit."