Since You Found Me Out (Josh Dun)

Chapter 3

"Wanna be friends?" The dude giggles and i can't help but laugh. "What is this?" I ask him, "kindergarten?" He looks at the people behind me in the couch. "I would probably say so," he laughs. And I look in the same direction finding four people screaming over a game on Emily's little sisters Game Boy. I can't help but smile up at him and unknown forces makes me want to ask him another question. Exactly what question does not matter. "How do you know Emily?"
"Parents friends daughter thing," he explains. "We were close when we were younger, but we started hanging out again about a year ago."

Somehow this charming guy manages to make me jealous. Being a part of Emily's childhood is something i would give up my left hand for.

He clears his throat. "You didn't really answer me," he reminds me. I raise my eyebrows. "On whether or not i want to be your friend?" He does little nods. "As long as we're not kissing at the end of the night," I tell him. I've had bad experience with that. He shakes my hand. "Promise."

"So that guy isn't your boyfriend?" He adds with real curiosity that convinces me he's not trying to get in my pants but has to figure out if he's gonna get beat trying. He's pointing at Lou, chatting with someone in the hallway. "Long time friends," I assure him. I don't make a scene or act surprised. It's not the first time that we've been mistaken for a couple and i know it won't be the last either. Lou has a girlfriend from out of state. The kind of girl who has read the communist agenda and plays harmonica. Like most of our friends Lou and i have a very loving relationship, but of course it would be hard for a stranger to tell that it's more like family than sweethearts. Josh' kind seems to value their personal space. they do handshakes or fist bumps instead of hugs and kisses. He nods and continue small talking. "What do you do?" 

"I'm a junior," I tell him and suddenly I'm afraid that he's way older than me and I'll seem like a kid. I mean, he does have a sleeve tattoo. "I want to make films, but right now I'm just writing." He looks surprised. "That's sick," he nods. "What are you writing?"

"Nothing much, really. I've been doing some small sketches with Emily for a year or something, but none of us have come up with something really huge. If you want to make a great film it will take a great idea or story." His mouth has already opened but i can't stop talking. "So, yeah." I smile.
 "That's what I'm waiting for right now. An idea." He smiles back. "An idea," he repeats. Everyone around us are dancing, screaming or singing and i have to lean in closer to his face while he yells, if i want to hear what he's saying. "To the 43 dead." He raises his beer. "And the 130 wounded," I add. "And to not giving a fuck!" He smiles and i cling my can with his. "Cheers, Josh." I yell.

We drink and talk and drink and talk and when my black g-shock watch tells me it's around 11PM, I am beyond tipsy and sitting by Emily's bathroom sink and Josh is standing in front of me, brushing his teeth with a strangers toothbrush while looking into the mirror. I don't know exactly why he's doing that or why people are sitting in the bathtub passing a cigar, but i know my clothes will smell tomorrow and my mom will  smirk and make some cheesy comment. Like everyone else at the party, Josh is fucking wasted. "Hey." He looks at me instead of his reflection. "What doyou do?" My pronunciation is blurry, but he manages to hear what I'm saying over the people talking in the bathtub. They have stripped down to their underwear and t-shirts and for some reason the water has a milky kind of color. "Brush my teeth," he answers and i giggle like some school girl. Some really drunk school girl. "No," i explain. "Like, i make films. What do you do?" Josh put more toothpaste onto the blue toothbrush and hands the tube to me. He steps closer so he's standing right before the sink furniture and between my legs. He has toothpaste all over his mouth but in my condition i manage to find it oddly adorable. "I drum," he explains and I'm honestly not surprised. "What do you drum?"
"Whatever's fun." His stare is intense but he's smiling with all of his face. I'm pretty sure my mascara is smudged and my hair is flat but somehow i feel very fantastic. "So, you'd drum me?"
"Was that a very sexual pick up line-" He asks. "Or a very narcissistic joke?"
"What? I'm Narcissus himself!" Josh finally grabs a towel and dries his mouth. From my nice spot next to the sink, i can tell he smells like mint and sweat. I wonder if that's what he taste like...

"That's about it," he smiles. "I'm simple." I still have the toothpaste in my hands. The alcohol has kicked in and so has my courage. "Then what's this?" my hand runs over the plastic wrapping on his right arm. "Did you wrap it up so you had a snack for later, or?"
"Stop!" He giggles uncontrollably. "It's a tattoo. Duh!" He hums and I'm relieved he's finally gonna tell me about the piece of skin I've been thinking about all night. But he doesn't, so after having him stare into my eyes for a minute or two, i ask him. "What is it?" I know i sound impatient, but I'm to drunk to cover it up. He doesn't brake the eye contact. He has had way to much to drink to have his eyes keep in focus on mine and he actually looks kind of dead. "A tree." He says flatly.

"A tree? Seriously?" This grown up dude covered his whole arm with a permanent drawing of a fucking tree. "Can i see it?" and more importantly -will i be able to hold in my laugh? In an aggressive move, he rips off all the plastic in one piece and his tattoo design appears. He turns his side to me and flexes his arm. To my concern, I'm surprisingly turned on by that. It is in fact a tree, but surprisingly it has a lot of other elements. Only parts of the skin is colored completely. "It still needs a to or three rounds of coloring," he explains as if he's reading my mind. The trunk starts at his wrist and moves all the way up to his upper arm where the branches are still missing their green leaves. Where the crown of the tree stops, a blue background with a bright sun looking cosmic swirl in the middle. It's placed directly on top of his deltoid muscle. I stroke the piece with my fingers as carefully as i can after having seven beers. Fortunately, he doesn't growl in pain. "It kind of looks like something i drew when i was little." I accidentally insulted what's going to be on josh' arm for the rest of his life, but he just laughs. "Oh my," he jokes. "You really must have been an awful drawer."