The Mortician's Daughter

These Lyrics Heard A Thousand Times

I followed Andy to his car, not bothering to call my mom and tell her where I was going. She knew Andy. She also knew I would be  home by curfew, whether it was the set curfew or not. Andy and I got in the car and before he started the car, he looked at me. "Scarlette?" he whispered, putting his hand on the center console.

I kept looking down at my black skinny jeans. "Yeah," I replied, not wanting to look at him.

"Look at me. Please?" he begged, putting his hand on my pale skin and turning my face to look at him.

I blushed. Now that I was looking into his eyes, I saw that he was not looking into mine. I looked away. He frowned. "No. Look at me." he said.

I obeyed. He leaned close to me and gave me a quick kiss. I smiled and blushed. He let go of my face and I looked back down. He put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car roared to life. He drove out of the small town and into another one. We entered a neighborhood and I looked around. I recognized the town, because my dad's building was here, but the neighborhood was new to me. Andy pulled up to a house and parked by the curb. We got out and Andy grabbed his large box.

I looked at him. "Makeup?" I asked, smiling a little.

"Corpse paint. For our shows." he corrected me, smiling back.

We walked up to the door. Andy just walked in. I walked in behind him. "Sit over there or something. I don't know. The guys--and girl won't be here for another hour. You like my house? It isn't as cool as yours, but..."

I sat on the couch. Andy put his box down on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen. I heard a fridge open and close. He returned with two sodas. He handed me one, then took it back and opened it. He set his down on the coffee table. I didn't drink mine.

"Why aren't you enjoying your soda?" he asked, looking slightly hurt.

"I kinda wanted to scream with you a little, if that's alright. Every screamer knows not to drink soda before screaming." I said, looking away as I spoke.

"You want to scream with me?" Andy said, suddenly really interested in me.

 I nodded. I looked back at him. He put his arm around me and started to kiss me. We heard a door open and slam, followed by someone clearing their throat. We stopped and looked up. One member of the band, already adorned with corpse paint galore, stood by the front door. "Hey, Ashley." Andy said casually, as if we had not just been kissing.

Ashley rolled her eyes and smiled. "Hey Andy. And..you?"

"Scarlette. The mortician's daughter." I said, knowing she would instantly hate me. I didnt care anymore.

"No way! You're this famed 'mortician's daughter'?" Ashley exclaimed, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

"Yup. That's me." I said with a smile.

We sat in silence for a little before Andy got up. He sat at his coffee table and opened the box. It expanded into many drawers and compartments. There was even a mirror. He began applying makeup to his face while I talked to Ashley.

The door opened again. We all looked up, except for Andy, who was absorbed in his makeup. Ashley smiled. I smiled too. I recognized this guy by his guitar. It was Jinxx. "Hey Jinxx." Ashley said, waving a little.

Jinxx frowned. "Who's the chick? We have enough girls in this band already."

Ashley gave him a glare. "This is Scarlette. The mortician's daughter."

Jinxx suddenly acted very nice and smiled. He sat down next to Andy and proceeded to do his makeup. He didn't talk to me or Ashley. He did, however, crack jokes with Andy. I laughed quietly at one every so often. Jinxx glared. I whispered to Ashley, "Has Jinxx always been an ass?"

She looked at him, then back at me. "He's just cranky because he can't stand having girls in the band."

I rolled my eyes and Ashley agreed. The door opened. "Hi everyone!" another guy said.

"Hey Christian." Andy said, finally noticing someone who walked through the door.

He stood up and faced me. "What do you think?" he asked, motioning to his makeup.

I smiled. "Looks sexy." I replied.

"Good." he said, looking at Christian.

Finally, the last member of the band, Jake, arrived. He didn't say anything, he just sat on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "Shall we get to rehearsal, then?" Andy asked.

Ashley nodded, as did everyone else. "Follow me." Ashley said.

We walked to a door and Ashley opened it. She was just about to go down a flight of stairs when Andy stopped her. "Dude. This is my house. I'll be giving the tours, thank you very much!"

Everyone laughed, including me. Andy led the band down the stairs into his basement. There were drums down there, as well as a microphone set up and other instruments for everyone else in the band except Jinxx, who carried his guitar in his hand. Andy pointed me to a chair and I sat. The band took their places and they opened with one of my favorites, Sweet Blasphemy.

Then, they played Knives and Pens. It was an amazing thing to see live from this close. Andy took a break and drank some water, as did Ashley and Jinxx, who did backup vocals with Andy. Christian put his drumsticks down. We all talked for fifteen minutes or so before the band got back up and started again. They started Perfect Weapon, but Andy stumbled on the lyrics.

"C'mon dude! Seriously?" Jinxx complained.

"I-I'm sorry!" Andy stuttered, blushing and moving his hair out of his face with his hand.

"You've heard these lyrics a thousand times, Andy. Try not to fuck up, please." Jinxx said.

"Lyrics heard a thousand times...That gives me an idea. Jinxx, you're gonna need to play the guitar when I figure out these new lyrics." Andy said, suddenly perking up.

"Oh no! Not another idea!" Ashley said sarcastically.

Andy grabbed his notebook and began writing. He didn't sing anything. He just wrote. Occasionally, he looked up at me. He smiled when I caught him looking at me. He wrote more. Finally, he stood up. He handed me his notebook and he began singing.

"I open my lungs, dear. I sing this song at funerals, no rush. These lyrics heard a thousand times. just plush."

That was all he had written. That was all he sang. I smiled. "It's beautiful."