Until It Sleeps

3

The metalli-mansion really wasn't much, but the apartment shared by Ms. Lavender Rosita Del Rio and Ms. Cleone Delene Fox was even less. It was a two-bedroom apartment in Oakland, and they were lucky that's all they needed. Lavender worked as an auto mechanic's apprentice, and Cleo was a waitress. Neither one of them made as money as they would've liked, but there were only so many opportunities. They had a kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, and a living room. The entire place needed renovations, but it was completely out of Cleo and Lavender's budget. It didn't matter much, they were content, and most nights were spent with the boys. There wasn't really much else for them to do other than hanging out. Cleo worked an early shift that morning and the shop was closed on Sundays, so Lavender had off. Naturally, they just decided to drive over to the house. The car was shared by both girls, it took them a good few months to save up for one. It was a 1973 Dodge Duster, and it was absolute shit. It wasn't pretty, it smelled like mothballs, and it had a tendency to break down about once a week. If Lavender didn't know how to fix the various problems quickly, the old car definitely would have been a bigger problem.

Cleo had just got home from her early morning shift. Lavender was sitting on the couch, watching the news and strumming her acoustic guitar. The previous night wasn't very eventful, but Cleo wanted to get answers out of Lavender.

"Hey Lav, what's up with you and Lars?" Cleo asked. She had mentioned it a few times before, but Lavender was good at avoiding the subject.

"What are you talking about?" Lavender responded. There was no way that she even thought Cleo believed her naivety.

"Cut the bullshit" Cleo responded.

"I mean, I guess we're together. I don't know yet, I really like him and he's really sweet but I don't want to screw anything up." She explained.

"Dude that's so stupid, you're twenty-one, you don't have to worry about dumb ass drama or shit if you wanna date someone," Cleo said. Lavender sighed.

"Let's go do something" Lavender changed the subject, but Cleo was satisfied with the conversation. It was more than she had admitted before.

"Let's just go to the guys' house, they're probably just waking up," Cleo said. She was still in her dress and apron for work but didn't care to get changed. Of course, there really wasn't anyone there she was trying to impress, with the exception of James. She knew that her uniform would get her some attention from him, but she'd never admit that. Lavender put shoes on, not bothering to even change out of her pajamas. She grabbed the keys and started out the door, Cleo following close behind. It was a rainy morning, the skies were grey and the air was cool. The drive went quick, traffic coming out of the city wasn't too bad. They arrived within fifteen minutes of their departure, completely unannounced.

"Hello," Cleo said as she entered the house.

The door was unlocked, as usual, and Lars was sitting on the couch. The rest of the guys were unseen, but assumably somewhere within the house. As soon as Lars's eyes reached Lavender, his face visibly lit up. Whatever he was watching was now irrelevant.

"Hey Lavender," He said. Lavender smiled, Cleo rolled her eyes.

"I feel real appreciated right now, Lars," Cleo said sarcastically. She turned and walked down the hall. "I'm gonna go find Cliff".

"Oh, whatever" Lars laughed. Cleo left Lavender and Lars alone, which was totally doing them a favor. The house wasn't very big, but it was proving to be surprisingly difficult for Cleo to find anyone. To be fair, any one of them could be fast asleep and hungover. She ducked her head into Cliff room, but it vacant. He was most likely out grocery shopping. As she was leaving Cliff's room, she turned and ran directly into a drowsy James.

"Whoa, sorry Cleo" James rubbed his eyes. He was clad in only a loose pair of gray sweatpants, a plain white t-shirt, and only one sock. "Nice outfit," He remarked after glancing down at her.

"I came like straight from work, also it's like one in the afternoon, how late did you stay up drinking last night?" She asked.

"Actually not that late" He answered. Of course, he had tried to go to sleep last night, but his mind just simply could not stop its focus on Cleo.

"Yeah, sure" She replied. James was silent for a few moments. Cleo wasn't entirely sure why, but he seemed like he was trying to regain his composure.

"Hey, I think Kirk and Cliff are out right now. Do you wanna go do something?" He asked.

"Like what?" She asked.

"I don't know, let's go to a record store or something. I'm bored" He said.

"I'm in, Lars and Lavender are probably making out on the couch right now, so I'd like to get out of here anyway. You might wanna put on two socks though" Cleo agreed. James walked back down into his room and retrieved a sock. Cleo went to grab her jacket.

"Hey, James and I are gonna go out shopping, be sure to use protection," Cleo said obnoxiously as she entered the room. Lars and Lavender were sitting uncomfortably on either end of the couch, but it was obvious that seconds ago, they were much closer.

"You're so annoying" Lavender complained.

"You can cut the bullshit around me guys, I'm not an asshole," Cleo said with a grin on her face. Lars looked as if he was about to say something, but James entered the room. He was wearing his old worn pair of white sneakers, but was still wearing the same sweatpants and t-shirt that he had assumably slept in.

"Ready to go?" James stood there, holding a pair of keys in his hand.

"Have fun on your date" Lavender yelled before Cleo could respond.

"Right back at ya" Cleo laughed. James made his way toward the door, and as soon as he was out of sight, Lars pulled Lavender close to him again.

"See ya, Cleo," Lars said. Cleo walked out the door. The rain had picked up a bit since Cleo and Lavender arrived, but it wasn't too bad.

Cleo thought James was the hottest thing she'd ever seen. Of course, she didn't want to act upon this persistent crush of hers, she would never do anything to cause problems within Cliff's band, but it seemed as if James was taking it upon himself to act. She wasn't entirely sure of how Cliff was going to react, he did get protective sometimes, but it was from a place of love. The Burtons were a second family for her.

James unlocked the car, allowing Cleo to open the door.

"So, where are we going?" Cleo asked, already fiddling with the radio.

"Um, there's this record store in the city we could go to" He suggested.

"The city as in San Francisco?" She asked, browsing through the cassettes James kept in his glove compartment.

"Yeah, it's only like forty-five minutes away, we'll be fine" James reassured her.

"Whatever" Cleo said before choosing a Diamond Head Lightning to the Nations cassette.

    "Good choice," James said.

The drive wasn't very eventful, it mostly consisted of Cleo and James singing rather obnoxiously and a few arguments regarding music. The more time he spent with her, the more James found himself falling deeper into his obsession. Not that Cleo wasn't feeling exactly the same.