𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙽 ✩ ɢʀᴜɴɢᴇ

𝚟𝚒. 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝

The neighbors were ready to send in a complaint. Alex and Charlie played Facelift so often and so loud that you'd think they thought each play of the record would be their last. Luckily, the neighbors were able to appreciate the music; just not at 3 a.m. on work nights. The girls were understanding of that and promised to keep it down so they wouldn't get kicked to the curb.

Friday was an awful day at work. Alex felt she almost died a few times there, kept alive only by her will to make it to the party. She thought about it constantly in order to find the motivation to keep moving those stupid boxes. It helped for a while, but when the thought of the party itself stopped helping, she tried to think of other things that made her happy. Charlie, new flannel shirts, Facelift, hot cocoa, Stone, nice cars, the Alice In Chains guys, the way her feet felt in her boots, Jeff, all her friends, really...

"Any closer to quitting?" Jo asked in a half-kidding half-serious tone.

"Yes, oh my God. The only reason I haven't taken one of these boxes and bashed my head in with it is this party I'm going to later."

"You're lucky, in that case. I have literally nothing to look forward to. Unless you count the delicious dinner of instant mashed potatoes that awaits me."

Alex blinked as she remembered Sean telling her to bring as many people as possible to the party. "Hey, why don't you come with me?"

"What? Me?"

"Yeah, who else?" Alex laughed, looking around. None of their coworkers were even in earshot.

"Would that be okay though? Whose party is it?"

"Some friends of mine. They just put out an album, so they're throwing a party to celebrate."

"Your friends have an album out?"

"Uh huh. Alice In Chains. My cousin's the drummer, he's how I met the rest of the band."

"You're related to the drummer of Alice In Chains? Wow, I feel like I have connections," Jo teased. Alex couldn't help but laugh again at the thought that anyone would consider knowing her a good thing.

"Hell yeah, you do. So what do you say?"

"Well...I don't have anything nice to wear. This is probably my best outfit," she said, looking down at what she was wearing.

"Dude, that's fine. I'm just gonna wear this." Alex gestured to her own clothing. "I might change shirts, but that'll be about it."

Jo agreed to go with her after a little more reassurance from Alex. So they spent the next few hours in a more gleeful state of mind, Jo finally having something to really look forward to. She had lots of questions about the party and the band, sounding a lot like what Alex imagined an overprotective or generally caring mother would. What time will it be over? What are the guys in the band like? Who else is gonna be there? Alex didn't even know how to answer some of her questions.

As their shifts drew to a close, Alex began to realize she really couldn't put Jo through the hour-and-a-half walk to the apartment. So she looked in her boots and under the counters for loose change until she'd scrounged up enough to cover their bus fares. Then the time to punch out came around and Alex made sure to grab one of the old rolls of duct tape on their way out.