Keep the Change, You Filthy Animal

Chapter 14

Jack.

-

I was worried about Alex. The only other time I’d seen him look so panicked and upset was when I told him I knew that he liked me. At least THAT was in my control. He didn’t even tell me what this was about.

I tried my best to push the thought from my mind for one reason, and one reason only. WE GOT THE SONGS! As we drove back to Rian’s parents’ house we blasted Enema of the State by blink-182, newfound power and hope surging through our bodies.

“What’s My Age Again?” came on and Rian cranked the volume as I sang along at the top of my lungs. “This is the best one on the album,” Rian shouted. I nodded my head in agreement.

Alex, however, scoffed. “NO! The Party Song all the fucking way!” I shot the volume all the way up and covered my ears.

“Sorry, WHAT? What was that? I can’t hear you and your stupid musical misconceptions over the BEST BLINK SONG EVER!” Alex cackled and opened his window as we pulled onto Rian’s street, singing the words.

I felt like I was with three best friends I’d known my entire life. Even though it was actually one almost-homeless guy I met wearing purple face paint who almost got his brains blown out (who was now my…what? Boyfriend?), his roommate, and a random music store dude I met a few days ago.

Rian cruised into the driveway, we hopped out of the truck and ran inside, grabbed the box of Oreos, and booked it to the basement.

“Yo, Lex, lemme see that!” I said as he tossed me the notebook. I skimmed through, looking for catchy lyrics. “Ok, seriously, did you finish ONE of these songs?” Alex just chuckled and let me read.

Finally, I flipped to a page with enough lyrics for a 3-ish minute long song. There were chords and everything written in. How convenient. “What about this?” I called to the guys, who were talking quietly around three beers and the Oreos. Rian threw a cookie at my head and they all crowded around me.

“This is…really good, Alex!” said Zack. Alex hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“Dude, don’t act so surprised,” he said. “Alright, let’s do it!”

I picked up my old-new guitar and plugged it in. Alex plugged in his microphone. Rian tried to find a pair of not-broken drumsticks. Zack sat there, bass in his lap, and studied the music. I felt like Eye of the Tiger needed to be playing every time we set up just to up the intensity.

“One, two… one, two, three, four,” Rian shouted. I began the intro roughly. VERY roughly.

“Lights out, I still feel the rain, these images that fill my head still keep my fingers from making mistakes, tell my voice what it takes to speak up, speak up and keep my conscience clean when I wake.”

The four of us played through the song slowly and badly until we got to the bridge, laughing hysterically at our apparent suckishness the entire way. At the bridge, Alex made a serious face and held a finger to his lips, quieting our overall volume. In the background I faintly heard Rian’s dad yell, “That’s better!”