Face the Music, Melody

3

Clyde and Clarence seemed to be pitted on keeping me stuck in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Why? I don't know.

Clarence promised me he planned to buy me a ticket when I asked about it, but he never lived up to his promise. I'd spent another two days in Boise making friends with Marry and hitting the town with her during her engagement celebration, avoiding the library and also therefor my inevitably blown up email. If I blew off my email, though, I blew off my chances of booking my own flight seeing as Clyde planned on making sure no one in town would purchase one to head to Chicago ever again.

Marry said she wanted to keep me in town until her wedding, which was all too true when it came to crazy bridezilla who wouldn't stop until I'd learned all about something resembling style. Clarence said he wanted to keep me in town until I'd eaten every potato-based dish he knew how to make, which I trusted him whole heartedly when he said was a lot. Clyde said he wanted to keep me in town until I'd died, which I found rather morbid. Aegina said she wanted to keep me in town until I realised it was where I belonged, where I wanted to stay. Aegina was craziest of them all when it came to her misplaced opinions. For some reason, none of those felt like anything more than wishes, certainly not wants.

I, however, knew precisely what I wanted in life. I wanted to go back to Chicago. I'd get my career back on track. I'd rent out an apartment with one of my old friends or maybe just Mia, claiming that the near self-loss I'd experienced had sent me into emotional turmoil and I was going through an anxiety-inflicted midlife crisis. I'd probably end up married to the widow who sat in table 3 daily and never brought a girlfriend but instead poured his heart out in witty statements aimed to the bartender and I. He was handsome, he flirted now and again, he had a steady job as a lawyer. I'd do well. I didn't love him, and I'd probably never really would, either... Yet, I'd do well, so that was what I wanted. Right?

Right.

So why was I still in Blackfoot? I'd spent my vacation time I'd saved up for three years by now, and chances are if I ever made it back to Chicago, I'd be far from my old life. I'd have one less job, apartment, relationship. So why was I still backed-up in Blackfoot? I knew he longer I spent convincing myself it was Clarence and Clyde's fault the less I'd trust myself and the more child-like I'd become. We all knew I was childish enough already.

Mia'd have my head for this. Well, she'd already have my head for a lot of things. I wanted to focus on best-friend etiquette-school Mia today, though, not angry-faced demon-witch Mia who I'd left in Illinois. I hoped she'd understand that to me, Idaho seemed to be a kind of hell, and when the apocalypse made me into a zombie, they'd better treat me like I'm in heaven before, you know, I started ripping out people's vital organs. Mia'd rip out my liver before I could eat her brain, though.

"Back from limbo?" Marry inquires, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Yes, Marry." I laugh.

"Good, because I need big time help, girlie." Marry snorts, whipping around, hands on her hips. She gestures to the store around her, laughing. For once, it's not straight out of the front page of one of her bridal magazines, but instead a gaming store.

"What have we here?" I ask in return, quirking my eyebrow.

"Something you'll never tell my sweet little Jasper." Marry squealed, pinching my cheeks in joy. I rolled my eyes. Marry was an insane nerd. She'd never hide her gaming addiction from her future husband. I could tell that Jasper was your average impeccable romance-nobel side character chap, though. He wouldn't have any problems with a wife who could kick his butt at Call of Duty and clean the oven, dancing waltz simultaneously.