Opening Day

Chapter 17: Jonesy & Max

Jonesy watched the stars in the clear night sky. It was a beautiful night, despite everything that had happened, this late October Friday weather had been perfect. Thinking about the bigger picture had been a coping mechanism for Jonesy since she was ten years old. If something embarrassing or stressful threatened to overwhelm her, she tried to "pull out," as she put it. She thought about how she was just one small human being in a state, in a country, on the planet earth, in the solar system, in the galaxy, in the wider universe. The stars in the sky and the infinite vastness of space didn't care about what she was going through. Her problems were so small, so meaningless in the face of eternity. She would lose herself in that endless sea of creation and suddenly things wouldn't seem so bad. Everything would just feel so ephemeral to her and it would give her a strange sense of comfort. A relief. Knowing that time would pass and the knots in her stomach would someday be a distant memory, or forgotten altogether.

Clang, clang, clang.

Max's steps up the metal ladder alerted Jonesy to his return. Jonesy lifted herself to greet him. She had been lying on the battered and beaten old couch that the two of them had brought onto the roof of Popcorn Video last summer. They had seen it in a movie (or show?) once and thought it would be dope as fuck to have a couch on the roof. They could hang out or bring girls up there, it would be like their own private clubhouse. They had found a good, comfortable, and appropriately weathered couch, but when they had managed to get it behind the video store they were confronted with the reality of the situation. The logistics of getting a couch up a small metal ladder had not occurred to them. Jonesy and Max are many things, and stubborn is absolutely one of them. Working in tandem and with many setbacks the couch had been delivered to its rooftop resting place. It was all worth it in the end. It was, in fact, dope as fuck to have a couch on the roof of the video store. They didn't manage to get any girls to join them, but they did smoke a metric fuck ton of weed up there and eat lunch sometimes.

Max held in his hand a six-pack of PBR and two bags of Munchos to snack on. Jonesy made room for him on the couch as he set down the provisions, cracking open a couple of cans for Jonesy and himself. He handed her the can and she took a few chugs before setting it down and laying her head on Max's lap, eyes to the stars once again. Max drank his beer and sighed, looking out past the street at the town lights in the distance.

"Oh!" Max snapped his fingers, "I almost forgot!"

He dug around the back of his jeans and pulled out Jonesy's cap. He put it on her face, she laughed and gave it a kiss.

"Hello, beautiful!" She sat up straight and placed it ceremoniously on her head.

Jonesy swung around, replacing her head with her legs across Max's lap. She took another couple drinks from her beer and sighed.

"So..." Jonesy started.

"So..." Max offered.

The two of them looked at their beers, fascinated by nothing. They had never been through something like this before, between the two of them. Neither of them knew quite where to begin. So, they began where all good reconciliations should start. They both looked up from their beers, catching each other's eyes.

"I'm sorry, dude." They said in unison.

"No, I'm sorry!" Again, at the same time.

"Jonesy..."

"Max!"

"No, dude, I'm so sorry about the Gina thing. That was fucked up, I should've told you..."

"I'm sorry I freaked out!"

"You had every right to freak out!"

"Yeah, haha." Jonesy took another drink, finishing off her can.