Still Take You Home// Alex Turner

2

Fiona experienced the worst awakening she has ever had, featuring a headache capable of induce her to pull her hair and a sense of nausea, that could have been halted just by eating something, but at the same time, even the idea of putting something in her stomach, made her puke.
She still needed to clean her house: throw all the rubbish, clean all the alcohol spots and take off all the underwear left in the pool. Her parents were uninformed about the party and of course she didn't want them to find out by slipping on somebody's vomit.
She tried to drag herself out of bed, but she simply couldn't stand up; luckily with a phone call, the mess was no longer her problem, but the cleaning lady's, who received an extra money to not say anything to her parents.

Alex woke up at lunchtime, when her mother threw him out of bed, still upset by his irresponsibility of the night before. «At least did you have fun?» she asked him.
He couldn't help it by smile, at the thought of Fiona kissing him; the party was nothing compared to that. «A lot.»
«I'm happy for you,» she smiled back. «just tell your father you're sorry, he got really worried last night.»
«I will.» Alex nodded.
Penny, Alex's mother, got up from the table, to grasp the salt from the cabinet. «I don't know why you insisted so much on going to this party,» she said getting on her tiptoe. «don't you have your first gig tonight? You look dead, how much have you slept?»
Suddenly Alex remembered about the gig, but mostly, about the fact that Fiona would have been there, or at least, she said she would have had.
He got up making her mother get scared. «I have to go.» he announced.
«What? Where? You haven't finished your food yet.» his mother complained, but he didn't listen.

He left his house and walked straight to Matt's, just at the end of the road. He quickly rang the doorbell and from outside, he could hear Clive, Matt's father. «Who decided to bother me during lunch?» he said. Once he opened the door, his expression didn't leave his face. «Oh Alex, it's you. Matthew, get your arse here.» he shouted.
He left and no long after, his son arrived. «What?» he asked.
«I wrote a song last night and I wanna play it tonight.» Alex said.
Matt raised an eyebrow. «Are you crazy? Why?» he asked.
«I just need to,» Alex insisted. «we have to call Jamie and Andy too.»
«You really think Jamie will interrupt launch because you said so?»
«You're right,» Alex nodded. «just Andy.»
The two friends went to Andy's house, who luckily finished lunch, and was able to join them in a last minute rehears. They all picked up their instruments, turn on the amplifiers and were ready to play. «So basically she kissed you and you wrote a song about her?» Andy asked Alex, after he told them what happened after they left. «Have you got any idea of how many blokes she kissed? And do you really think you can impress her with a song? Will she even be there tonight?»
«Listen, I wanna play this song tonight, I'll teach it to Cookie after, but please just do me the favour to learn it.» Alex begged them.
«But if we make some mistakes it's all your fault.» Andy warned him.

Just when the headache left Fiona's head, she received a call, from her friend Julia. «Remember there is the gig tonight.» she said.
Fiona frowned confused. «Gig? What- shit, I forgot.»
«Well, you still got two hours to get ready,» she said. «I'll come by and pick you up.»
Fiona stopped her before she could hang up. «Wait, what are you gonna wear?»
«That skirt I bought when I went to the States and the black tank top.» she said.

The first thing Fiona did, was a long bath, thinking about what she should have worn: she felt like shorts and a t-shirt were too casual, but maybe a skirt was too dangerous to go out at night.
With a CD by The White Stripes and a towel around her body, Fiona started choosing her clothes for the night, throwing them on her bed.
After trying six different outfits, she opted for a green dress, with a pair of fishnet underneath. She wasn't used to wear makeup, but that night, she felt like she should have done something more; she put her usual mascara, blush and lipgloss and added a black eyeliner on her waterline. She left her hair naturally straight and drowned herself with perfume.

Julia arrived weirdly on time and after checking if she had everything with her, Fiona left her house to approach Julia's white Nissan Micra.
Fiona opened the door and let herself sit on the passenger seat; Julia was laying a CD by the NSYNC. «So when will the album come out?» she asked her.
Fiona wasn't a fan of the NSYNC at all, but Julia would talk about it every single day and Fiona just needed something to start the conversation.
«Soon, they're just on a six months hiatus.» she said, driving off my street.
«It been seven months, love.» Fiona said.
«Just give 'em some time.» she said slightly irritated.

Alex was nervous, but not because he had to perform in front of people, but because of Fiona, just her presence made him nervous.
Jamie had just learned Ravey Ravey Ravey Club, and Andy was still angry about the last minute change, but it might have been the anxiety of the moment; on the other hand, Matt seemed pretty ready, with his sticks held securely un his hands and adrenaline pumping his heart.