Misery Loves Company

Track 22: The Iron Barrel

Author's note: No, this is not another accidental publishing situation. It's a SURPRISE UPDATE! YAY!

Misery Loves Company

By: theinkslingerr

Track 22: The Iron Barrel

I peered out of my bedroom window at the black range rover idling in front of my house and went into panic mode.

It turned out that my "chauffeur" for the night would not be an old dude named Smithers, but a 20-something roadie named Sahil. Rocco had texted me a picture of Sahil and the car he'd be driving so I wouldn't get kidnapped.

Rocco not wanting me to get kidnapped was sweet and all, but this whole thing was turning into a disaster, because I had nothing to wear.

I turned to survey the room, standing in nothing but jeans and a bra. Hair products, clothes, and accessories littered the floor, simulating an explosion of epic proportions. I cringed at the giant mess I'd made. There was a bra hanging over my lamp and leggings dangled from the ceiling fan.

Why were all my shirts dirty? I pulled at my hair in sheer frustration. If I had known the green flannel I'd worn to school was the last of its kind, I would've dodged those condoms like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. Now I had nothing but pants, and a roadie that was far too kind waiting outside.

Something had to turn up. I just wasn't looking hard enough!

In my mad dash to ransack my dresser for the third time, I hip-checked a bedside table, and knocked my notebook of poems and lyrics to the ground. I picked it up slowly, remembering the strange moment I'd shared with Josh after lunch.

At the sound of the bell, Sienna had said her goodbyes, making Enid and I promise to hang out soon. Then I trudged to economics, sort of hiding behind Enid the whole way. Choosing a seat near the back of the classroom, I put my head down and listened to people talk about me like I wasn't there. Between pouring chocolate milk on Josh, Misery Loves Company, and the condom incident in the hallway with Jessica, I was proving to be a constant source of entertainment, so my classmates couldn't help but gossip.

Honestly, if all of this was happening to someone else, I'd probably be gossiping too.

Peeking over at Enid, I was surprised to see her twirling a strand of hair around her finger. After a few seconds she turned to look at me, only to look away when our eyes met. She waved off a bunch of people wanting to know which Blue Vendetta member had won the date, and just sat there staring at the top of her desk. Was she tired of bragging about the show's success already?

The final bell rang and I sat up, knocking my book of lyrics off my desk. It landed on the floor face-up, open to a particularly embarrassing set of lyrics, so I quickly leaned down to pick it up. A pale hand beat me to it. I watched Josh stare at the words on the page then glance up at me, expression unreadable. My cheeks heated and I snatched the notebook from him and slipped it under the rest of my books. He opened his mouth then closed it, pressing his tongue against his gap in that nervous habit.

"Alright everybody," Mrs. Mayer boomed. "Take your seats! And Jessica, so glad you decided to join us."

Jessica waltzed into the classroom and smirked at me, taking her usual seat by anyone smart enough to get her a good grade on the work they did for her.

Josh's eyes followed Jessica until she sat down then flickered back over to me. He opened his mouth again, but Mrs. Mayer interrupted and told him to take a seat.

For the rest of the class I wondered what he'd wanted to say.

I shook my head and tossed the notebook on my bed, rummaging through my dresser like a raccoon in a dumpster. Jeans, leggings, adult batman onesie, more jeans.

Wait.

I pulled at the corner of something lodged behind the dresser and fell back, taking it with me. I glanced at the article of clothing in my hand and rejoiced in the fact that it was a shirt. An actual shirt! And it smelled OK too. It had probably fallen behind the dresser just recently. It was when I stretched it out that my heart sank down into my stomach.

It was a Hazardous Materials band tee.

I still remembered Rocco's strong reaction to them in the car, and I sat there wishing it'd morph into something else.

Wait, this is Rocco, I thought suddenly. He wouldn't care about something like this, right? It's just a shirt. In fact, I wondered why I cared? It didn't matter if he liked the band on my t-shirt or not. Shaking my head, at my own neurosis, I slipped it over my bra, put on eyeliner, and grabbed Rocco's jacket from the closet.

I slid into the range rover out of breath. "Sorry for making you wait!"

"Hey, no problem," Sahil replied with a huge smile. He had dark curls stuffed under a beanie and a trendy hipster beard. He took one look at my shirt and high-fived me. "You're a Hazmat fan? I like you already. You've definitely got balls wearing it though. That's one band that gets no love from BV."

I gulped, wondering how crazy Sahil would think I was if I asked him to stop somewhere so I could buy a new shirt.

~~~

"Go in through the side door while I park. Just knock and security will look through the peep hole and let you in," Sahil instructed through the range rover's window.

I nodded then turned around to get my first glimpse of the Iron Barrel. It would be my first concert at the intimate venue, but I'd heard great things. Walking toward it, I admired the warehouse-like design and the colorful graffiti tattooing the walls. A large drawing of a silver barrel decorated the front, giving the building a vintage grunge vibe. Google had shown me the inside was standing room only and that a second level containing a bar wrapped around the stage.

That made me wonder if Dom would be OK.

The disaster in Boston still came to mind easily.

As I passed the long line, I heard snippets of people's conversations. Since the location of the pop-up hadn't been advertised, people were on their phones calling, texting, and Facetiming the location to their friends. Just as I was feeling guilty about not having to wait in line and getting special treatment, I heard a male voice say, "Man, I hope Dom doesn't take his shirt off. It's so distrac- I mean, annoying when he does that."

I spun around to see a fidgeting blond boy.

"Give it up, Brad," the girl next to him answered with a sigh.

BradLuvsBlueVendettaInANotGayWay immediately popped into my head. How many times had I seen that username in the comments? I tried to stifle a laugh. No way! It couldn't be the same Brad.

The boy's brown eyes caught mine, widening as recognition dawned on him. "H-hey! Aren't you Misery?"

Those four words ignited a fire of awareness that spread up and down the line in seconds, and before I knew what was going on, hundreds of people descended on me like piranhas during feeding time.

~~~

Author's note: Uh-oh! Brad got her y'all! XD I thought it'd be funny to have one of the regulars from the comments section at the show. I feel like Brad is becoming a running joke.

What do think Josh wanted to say to Miz before class started?

Do you think Rocco will notice/say anything about her wearing the shirt of a band he doesn't like to his concert?

I'm gonna try to get another update up on Saturday, but I don't know if I'll be able to. I'm poised to have another super busy weekend. I'll try my best to get it up, but if not hopefully this one will soften the blow.

Thanks for reading! Please VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE.