Hell Has A New Name

8

When they pulled into the party Juice had to fight the urge to put the car in reverse. Everyone was so young, he was pushing thirty now despite his childish features. He tried to remember being that young and careless about everything. He didn't seem to have many of those memories, he couldn't remember a time that he wasn't on the run, or looking over his shoulder, or hiding in the dark. He didn't fit in with these kids, he was a criminal. He had done terrible things, things that still gave him nightmares. He had experiences these kids would never have, if they were lucky.

Amber startled him, tapping on his window.
Her features were soft, she looked so happy. He hated himself for knowing he'd be a black spot of misery on her memory.

"Hey you!" She waved at him through the glass. "You coming? No ones gonna bite you."

He took a deep breath and opened the car door. His arm was wrapped in the bandage from the tattoo shop, he saw her eyes studying the visible ones.
She lifted his sleeve a little, fingers tracing over his bicep.
"Stoner... death... wait... does that say... cheese? As in cheddar? Swiss? What's your flavor?" She laughed harder when he blushed.

"I was young and stupid. Don't worry about it." He tried to hide his annoyance but he knew he wasn't doing a good job. It was a dumb tattoo, the guys had given him plenty of shit about it.

She chewed the inside of her cheek for a second before speaking again. "Didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry if that's a sore spot. We all have stuff like that. I uh... I ended up with a sour reputation at my old university. Had a real bad night at a party, if you get what I mean. He talked a big game the next day, everyone from my close circle treated me like crap afterwards. So I finished that semester and transferred here. I applied to so many schools, this one sent me the acceptance letter first so I packed my shit and moved down."

She knew she didn't have to tell him anything, could have just left it at sorry. But she felt like whatever it was that was bothering him, probably had something to do with this road trip he was on. He probably needed a friend, even if just for a little while.

He was looking at her kind of like she was crazy, surprised that she'd shared any of that with him. It did help ease the tension a little inside him.

"I'm sorry someone did that to you. You seem to be doing well now." He tried to smile and lighten the mood. He refused to ruin her night, he already knew being associated with her could ruin her life.

"Anything I should know about your friends? They aren't going to think it's weird, you showing up with me?" He sounded skeptical, he knew he didn't look like the rest of them. They'd be young, dressed in whatever was trendy, talking about things he didn't relate to. His world was so different, he didn't belong around a group of kids.

"Well, they all like music, like a lot. We usually jam around the fire. We're all legal drinking age, the semester just ended so that's important. There will probably be lots of booze. Nothing else really comes to mind. How old are you anyway? You act like you're some creepy old man but you can't be that much older than us." She sounded amused by the idea. He rolled his eyes, she probably had thoughts of him being a sparkly vampire pushing 180 or something now.

"Just turned thirty. So yeah, this life -he gestured around at the group in front of them- was a long time ago for me. At least it feels that way, ya know?"

She nodded understanding. "Well you're not that old, you'll fit in fine." She rubbed his arm as the approaches the group.

"Hey guys! This is Michael." She waved and pointed at him, he waved and nodded.

"Hey man, you want a beer or something?" Some guy with sun bleached blonde shaggy hair asked. Juice thought he kinda reminded him of Jax, when Jax was still human and not a revenge hungry power monster.