eternal sunshine

𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓔:𝓦𝓞𝓡𝓡𝓨 𝓦𝓘𝓣𝓗𝓞𝓤𝓣 𝓔𝓝𝓓

     Odessa had left early in the morning for JD's house. The Bermúdez residence was a beautiful green two-story house. The porch was adorned with rose bushes that Adriana Bermúdez-Montoya, JD's mother, maintained. There was never a dull moment in that house as Adriana and her husband, Emilio Montoya, had 6 kids apart from JD and his stepfather had allowed JD to build a recording studio in their backyard. It was a very retro studio with a limited amount of the newest technology, JD constantly said he liked the more retro look which annoyed Leo and Skylar as they always needed to bring their laptops to produce some of their songs. A few were done the way songs used to be produced before the advancement of technology. JD stated he preferred that method better, and stated it was more authentic to the music industry. Meanwhile, Skylar and Leo believed JD (and Odessa) needed to get with the times and adapt fully to the 21st century. Neither had social media, what 17-year-old in this day and age didn't have Instagram? Neither had a need for it, especially not Odessa.

"Jesus, Odessa, do you sleep?" questioned the tall, tan brunette as he looked at the pages upon pages of lyrics, melodies, and music notes. The girl took a sip from her coffee before answering.

"No, not really. Especially not lately. I've been having nightmares." Odessa told JD everything, maybe more than she did Skylar. The two first met three months into kindergarten. JD had just moved from Puerto Rico and was not only learning to read and write but learning a new language on top of that. His mother had only ever spoken to him in Spanish and had no need to speak English. Odessa despite being behind everyone else because of her dyslexia tried to help him. Imagine her surprise when she found out he too had dyslexia. Jordan was new in their lives and she wasn't as fluent in Spanish yet so communicating with JD was hard but they managed.

     "What kind of nightmares, Dessa?" He was worried, so very worried.

"I don't know. I can't remember them in full detail not that I've been able to in the past. Some happen so fast that it's hard to remember what happens. But I always wake up feeling cold and it's hard to fall asleep again. Oh, some do have monsters but that's normal in nightmares, right? There's nothing special about them," she picked up her white 1964 ES-335 Gibson Alpine from the rack of guitars and basses. "Why do you seem so worried, JD?" She sat on the couch plugging the phono cable into the guitars jack.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head to push away the questions that were flooding his mind, "I just need my lead guitarist in a clear head space. What the hell does this say?" He questioned showing her the page and pointing to a word that seemed more like a scribble than anything in the English language.

She laughed, "Fuck, I don't know, JD. Wish I could tell you. Uh," she turned on the amp and started strumming various cords until she found the ones she thought best fit the lyrics she had so far. "You were on my mind all the time/ Fell into a distraction with you, maybe once or twice/ Planning out a future for two/ What I'd do in a room all alone, only me and you/ You always lie when it's convenient/ Guess you didn't mean it, but I'd still repeat it," she stopped strumming turning to JD, "It's convenient."

     "Dude, that's not even close to what that looks like," he laughed turning the page to see if his brain would read it better that way. It didn't. "Does dyslexia get worse with time like uh? Fuck my brain isn't awake yet. Seriously do you not sleep? I get nightmares too but I still have to sleep. I need another cup of coffee," JD pushed the rolling chair back from the mixing board standing up. He had nightmares too? He never mentioned them to her.

     "Bring me one too." He pointed to the half-full cup of coffee on the table.

     "Are you insane? I'm not pumping you with more coffee."

    "You do know since we have ADHD caffeine doesn't affect us the way it does others," she informed, he rolled his eyes.

     "I am aware of how our brains our wired, Dessa, but excessive caffeine can actually make it all worse. So no."

     "Decaf?" she suggested. She was going to get a cup of coffee one way or another. Her therapist consistently tells her to quit coffee and caffeine altogether because as someone with ADHD she's prone to anxiety and the caffeine can make it worse as it is a stimulant even if to the ADHD-wired brain it can have different effects.

     A groan escaped JD's lips and he began to make his way out the studio. "So was that a yes on the decaf?!"

     "You better not make me regret getting you more coffee, Odessa," he spoke just before closing the door. She smiled content with it. Adriana kept the strongest brand of Puerto Rican coffee in their home at all times and she never drank anything other than that but she kept a jar of decaf for Odessa whenever JD decided to cut her off from the strong stuff. Odessa always hated that he did that but deep down she appreciated it because she knew it was keeping her from going off the rails.

     "Morning, Dessie." Odessa looked up at the blonde smiling.

     "Morning, Sky." The blue eyes scanned the table in front of her friend.

     "Did you write all this?" Odessa nodded as Skylar took a seat next to her.

     "Some are just thoughts or concepts they're not complete songs and others aren't lyrics at all but riffs and rhythms."

"Sweetheart, have you slept?"

     "Why does everyone ask me that? Do I look half dead or something?" Odessa questioned.

     "No," Skylar replied at the same time JD chimed in with a yes. He had just come back with two coffee mugs in one hand when he heard Odessa's question as he opened the door. "Stop being an asshole, JD."

     "She asked a question, I simply provided an answer." He handed Odessa the Chip mug his mother bought on their trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, he was visiting a friend from camp as he had told his friends when he mentioned that Disney World hadn't been their original reason for going. "I am a truth teller one hundred percent of the time," he brought the Stitch mug to his lips. Odessa and Skylar looked at each other.

     "Gas," they spoke in unison making the boy glare at them.

     "Let's just continue this album for like an hour then rehearsal for our show in two days. I'm sure the love birds will be here soon," he gagged. Don't get him wrong he liked how happy Leo and Ellie were together. They finally started dating after years of liking each other which the group couldn't be happier about as it was torture to see the longing glances and looks of passion constantly exchanged between Leo and Ellie. But sometimes they never got anything done as a band because the two were quite often in their own world of love and desire. Other times when they couldn't get anything done was because Odessa was in her own world; fixated on the things happening within her mind and around her that only she seemed to notice. For that past few months, all her friends had been very worried about her. JD even more so but there was only so much he could help with at the moment.