Anywhere With You • {J.C.}

||Four|Hard To Explain||

"I missed the last bus, I'll take the next train
I'll try, but you see, it's hard to explain."
-Hard To Explain

"I'm hungry." Harlow spoke with a sigh, watching as Julian shuffled through the middle row of records. They had been there for two hours and Julian had only managed to make it to the center section in the store.

There were some autobiographies in the back and some posters at the front. While Julian browsed explicitly through the records, Harlow found herself wandering around, hoping to find something to keep occupied in the meantime until he was ready to leave.

"Look." Julian smirked, holding up an album cover. She snarled at the sight—a 50's-esque cartoon painting of a man resembling an older Ray Liotta with a creepy smile. That wasn't even the worst of it; he was holding what looked to be a squirrel made as a hair trimmer against his face—the animal raking it's teeth along the man's cheek, leaving behind a bloody trail. It was then Harlow noticed the title—The Mothers of Invention; Weasels Ripped My Flesh. 

"Wow." Harlow spoke monotoned—her eyes wide and filled with some fear from the image. Julian laughed at her response.

"So, what are you in the mood for?"

"Well, I was in the mood for pizza... after I saw that... I don't know now."

"By the time we walk around the block, I'm sure the nausea'll pass." Julian put the record back in it's place, readjusting his backwards baseball cap before clearing his throat. "C'mon, let's go."

"You're- you're not gonna buy one?"

"Nah, I was just lookin'."

Harlow scoffed, following it up with a chuckle. "You mean we've been here for two hours and you're not gonna buy anything?"

"I just like coming here." He shrugged; hands in his ripped jean pockets. He looked a little different outside of school—he was wearing a cap and a leather jacket over a concert tee. The hat... it made all the difference.

They ate outside the local pizzeria—the same place Harlow had worked all summer to buy her '88 Camry.

The pizza was on the house, the drinks however were not, but Julian insisted on buying those. If Harlow didn't know any better, she could swear it felt like a "date," which was something she hadn't really been on in a long time. The thought made her question Julian's "love life," she had never asked before but suddenly, her interest was piqued.

"Does this feel kinda like a date to you?" Harlow took a sip of beer, watching Julian stuff a mouthful of pepperoni pizza into his mouth. He nearly choked—having to quickly reach for the napkin to rid the grease on his lips. She realized the question had made him uncomfortable, causing her to backtrack. "I'm just sayin,' you know. I haven't been on a date in so long, I've forgotten what it's like."

"Well, it's definitely not like this." Julian snickered in huffs. "At least, not with me. If it were a date, I would've taken you somewhere nice. Not this place."

"What's wrong with Tom's Pizzeria?" Harlow retorted sarcastically. Everything was wrong with that place; the overpriced food and drinks, not to mention the rude staff that Harlow had once been apart of. She was glad to finally be free from that place, but mostly because it had robbed her every weekend. It was the job she dreaded the most; her other employment a "bus-girl" for a bar and grill. Harlow enjoyed that job the most, mainly because she raked in the most money in tips.

"So when was the last time you dated someone? Or... have you ever dated?" Harlow pried; finding herself genuinely curious. Julian never talked about dating and Harlow never spoke much of Alex. They were typically too busy discussing other things—which bar to go to, who's house to throw a party at and how pi ( or "π" ) is relevant to infinity—simply ridiculous opinions about nothing.

"Have I dated? You mean... have I ever been laid?" Julian strained with a disingenuous laugh.

"No, I know you've been laid." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, have you ever dated someone? You know, had a girlfriend or, whatever."

"Well, yeah. Just because you don't see me with a girl right now doesn't mean I've never had one. Relationships are just... too much. It's too much to deal with. You know, I jus- I never do anything right. It's like... I'm not good enough." Julian shook his head, rubbing his forehead with a contorted facial expression. He seemed to be having a hard time discussing his feelings on the matter. "It's hard to explain." He finished curtly.

"So you're opposed to dating?"

"Pretty much, yeah." He chuckled. "I mean, maybe if the right girl came along. I'm just not ready. I don't really wanna be tied to one chick anyway, so... it all works out."

Silence fell over the pair—Harlow downing her second beer. Julian cleared his throat; his tongue tailing across his top teeth.

"So what about you and Alex? How long you guys been together?" He tried to seem interested, but truthfully, Julian was anything but. He didn't care Harlow had a boyfriend, nor did he care how long she had been exclusively taking his dick. It didn't matter—Harlow was only a friend. It didn't help that Julian hated Alex; a guy he had never met, but knew he hated just from the tales he had heard—the rumors that were most likely true.

"Almost two years. It doesn't really seem that long, but... I had just turned sixteen when we met. He was twenty."

"How'd you guys meet?" The question came out of nowhere. Julian wasn't sure why he had asked her that, but he had.

"He was a bartender at the bar and grill I worked for a couple summers ago. They let you serve drinks if you're eighteen, you don't have to be twenty-one."

"I should really look into that." Julian mumbled, taking another drink of beer.

Harlow laughed. "You really should. You'd be good at it."

"You 'bout ready?"

"I don't know. I don't really wanna go home right now."

Julian stood from the steel mesh table; his eyes narrowed quizzically at Harlow who was now finishing up his drink he was about to leave behind. "Who said anything about goin' home?"

"Wh- where are we going? What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, maybe go to the park or something? I have no idea, I'm just kinda... goin' with the flow. I don't have anywhere to be, so anywhere's fine."