Think of the Devil

Twelve

"Hey! There you are!"

Jane heard the voice more in her head than she did with her ears. She turned to see the guy she'd met behind the store as he started towards her. Even she had to admit he looked good, better than he had that afternoon, but maybe it was just the atmosphere. He wore a sleeveless band t-shirt, exposing a few tattoos littered along his slim arms, and ripped jeans. His long wavy hair was pushed back but still tried to hang around the edges of his face. He approached her with open arms, and she didn't want to be rude, so she gave him a quick hug and they made their way towards the bar.

The club felt a bit like a CBGB rip off, at least from what Jane remembered from the pictures she'd seen. Stickers and graffiti of all sorts plastered the brick walls, with a few full-size posters for old punk bands or horror movies that were tacked up a little too neatly. The stage in the corner was just big enough for the band to stand on, not that it was treated as an official boundary. The audience and the band members both seemed to dance back and forth, blurring the line of who was actually performing. The bar was tended by only two people, which caused a bit of a line, but she had been used to that. All together, it felt oh-so familiar to her.

The people inside the club almost looked right, but a lot of their boots were too shiny and their clothes might as well still had the tags on. Overall it didn't matter to Jane, who hadn't been a part of this scene in quite some time. It still gave her some smug satisfaction, though. The music scene she'd left behind in California felt much more authentic than this one in New York. Although in fairness, they were in Chelsea. But it still excited her to know shows like this hung around.

He told her how great she looked as he bought her a drink, and he thought about it even more. That was always one of the strangest sensations Jane could remember: being able to see herself through someone else's eyes. He couldn't stop staring, so she essentially had a mirror to check how she looked. She thought she'd done alright, even if she couldn't show as much skin as the rest of the girls. She'd worn a pair of jeans with tears in the knees and steel-toe boots, daring to wear just a cropped tank top underneath an old Dickie's jacket adorned with her own pins and patches. 

The set was coming to an end by the time they got their beers, but the noise didn't die down for Jane. Hundreds of people crammed inside the club for this show, and she could hear every one of their thoughts mixed in with their chattering. But she'd pregamed a bit at the apartment, anticipating the noise, and Matt's expensive vodka was doing just the trick. She felt comfortable, even amongst the crowd, just like she had when she was younger. After enough drinks, they all sounded like static from a radio. When the music started up again, it would overpower them anyway.

"I think Piper is in the back." The guy leaned in so she could hear him, not knowing it wasn't necessary. "If you don't mind, we can just hang out until she comes out again."

"Why would I mind?" she asked.

He sort of smiled at her, taking it more as a flirt than an honest question. "You know, it's cool I finally get a chance to hang out with you. I've been wanting to ask for a while to be honest." (I never really thought you'd say yes.)

Jane could appreciate the sentiment. She even considered that in another time, she might've followed this path to see where it led. He was cute in a dorky sort of way, and he'd always been nice when she'd seen him at the shop. If they were back in California, this "hang out" probably would've happened sooner. But here and now, she felt too jaded to give this guy the chance he deserved. She didn't think she had the emotional capacity, not after everything that happened in the last few months. Besides, with all the responsibilities she had and the secrets she had to keep, she wouldn't be the best partner anyway.

She tried to adopt a more casual tone. "Wow, I hope I can live up to the hype. Trust me, I'm not half as fun as Piper."

"Somehow I doubt that," he said. "I will say, you've always been a bit more mysterious. I feel like I know her pretty well. I don't know anything about you." (I'd like to.)