Cacophony

4: f l o w e r

Can't explain it, it was something to see. Can't contain something ethereal.

Sydney was finally loosening up around Chris's friends as they hung out in the kitchen eating pancakes. Kim had showed up eventually and joined them in the kitchen. They were all talking and laughing easily, and although she didn't speak much, it didn't stop anyone from including her in their conversation. Nobody asked her a ton of questions, which she appreciated. With Chris's very attentive help, she had become quite the professional on the griddle once they all finished eating an unsettling amount of pancakes. It only took three tries before she managed to not set the griddle on fire.
"Alright. We cooked, you guys can clean." Chris said quickly, grabbing Sydney's arm and leading her from the kitchen.
"Hey! You didn't do shit, you made Sydney do it!" Xana objected.
"I was teaching her... besides, we have work to do! Sorry!" He called over his shoulder as they bolted from the room laughing.
"You chode!" They heard her yell, but it only made Chris laugh harder.
Kim followed them into the music room along with Jeff and Stone. Sydney almost felt guilty that Xana and Andy were left with the dishes, but Chris was right. She still had work to do. The guys messed around on their guitars and some of the equipment that Syd had already finished while she continued to work. Stone eventually came and sat near her.
"So how did you land the Soundgarden roadie job? There was probably a ton of applicants."
"Actually, the interviews got delayed for a few hours. I was one of two who stuck around." She kept her answers simple, not wanting to tell him how she had acted with Susan Silver.
"So persistence won, huh?"
"Sure." She muttered, only giving him a quick glance and an even quicker smile.
He narrowed his eyes a little, a smile playing over his lips. She looked too young, too pure for the Seattle music scene.
"Do you plan on traveling to shows with them?" He asked.
"Yeah... that's the job." She automated, focusing on her work.
"What do you think of Soundgarden?"
There wasn't an immediate reply as she finished assembling one amp and then reached for another. It surprised him at how easily she lifted it, her scrawny figure obviously misleading.
"I think they're phenomenal."
"You're not wrong!" He agreed.
She was now removing the last screw from the cabinet, working quickly. He shook his head, smiling still. No matter how many questions he asked her, there was no pulling her focus from what she was doing. Her blonde curls were fastened in a messy pile atop her head, held in place with a pencil, and there was still a smudge of flour across her freckled nose that they had all somehow silently agreed to not tell her about.
"Did you learn how to do this stuff in school?" He motioned to the amp that she now had completely pulled in to pieces.
"Um... kind of? Not really... mostly I learned by helping my dad set up for shows at the bar he worked at."
He raised his eyebrows, this being the most words he'd heard her say since he'd met her.
"Was it an all ages venue?"
"....no." She glanced over at him, tossing him a quick, shy smile.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-one." She answered, not looking up again.
"Really?!"
"Mm-hm."
Stone narrowed his eyes at her again, though she didn't see it. There was no way she was twenty- one. He decided not to press the matter, however, as Jeff asked him a question and drew his focus away from her.
Sydney was relieved to no longer be in his spotlight. He seemed really nice, but she was a terrible liar. When he asked her how old she was, it felt like the whole room had stopped to wait for her answer. She knew that was probably just her paranoid head imagining it, but lying about her age seemed a lot harder around these people than it had been back home. Mostly because she knew the people back home well, and they always had let her fake ID slide.
Andy and Xana joined them later, and the room was full. Everyone was talking over each other, laughing and joking while they played. Sydney could feel the sense of closeness within this group of people that felt so welcoming and inclusive. They had accepted her as she was so far, despite how awkward as she had been. Even Kim, who had spent the night before listening to some of her thoughts, hadn't seemed put off by her.
Sydney had just started to pack everything away when a nice, upbeat tune reached her ears out of the noise of the room. Looking around, her eyes landed on Chris and Andy as they sang and played together a song she had never heard before.
Yeah, island of summer.
From my dream I'll find you before I wake,
Before I wake,
Before I wake
Sydney listened, entranced. This sounded nothing like his performance the previous day. There was nothing heavy about this song. Instead it was light and melodic, their voices bouncing off one another easily. Smiling as she watched Chris, she marveled at the obvious talent harbored within him and Andy. She wondered what it would be like to be that good at something.
Stone smiled as he looked back at Sydney and followed her gaze. Suddenly he realized exactly what it took to get her attention. Her hands were paused at the clasps of a guitar case, and her lips were slightly parted as she watched Chris sing. He elbowed Jeff, and when Jeff saw Sydney they both smiled at each other knowingly.
When the song finished, Sydney snapped out of it. Chris caught her eye for a moment, and she blushed before clasping the case and dusting off her hands on her jeans. She checked to make sure each instrument was labeled, locked and stored with their proper snakes, pedals and other various equipment. The only person's equipment she needed to familiarize with now were Matt's drums. She had hardly any experience with drum maintenance, but she was eager to learn and confident that she could figure it out. As she gathered the extensive notes she had written throughout the evening, Chris's tall figure approached.
"Hi." He greeted.
"Hi." She returned, offering him a quick smile.
Those eyes of his would be the death of her.
"Are you all finished?"
"Uh, yeah. I wrote down a second copy for you guys to keep that explains my labeling system, just in case."
"Thank you." He said, taking the paper from her.
His fingers brushed against hers as he did so, and her breath hitched in her throat. Managing a quick nod of her head, she shoved her hands quickly in her pockets before realizing that she had things to carry out to her truck. Gathering her pages awkwardly, she forced herself to look up at him.
"It's late. I should get home."
"Oh, yeah. Right. I'll walk you out."
"Um, thanks. That's nice of you."
Chris followed her from the room, smirking as almost everyone bid a loud goodbye to Sydney and she responded with shy waves. They all liked her, and so did he. She fit so well in to his world that he'd barely even noticed that there was someone new amongst them. This was surprising to him, given the way she looked. He knew better than to judge a book by its cover, but that was hard to do with Sydney. She was so beautiful... but she didn't even seem to notice that about herself. Each time she had entered a room, each time she had spoken... everyone stopped to stare. This young woman had a sort of commanding presence about her that radiated throughout every space she occupied, yet she was oblivious to that power. Instead, she seemed reluctant to have any attention on her whatsoever. It was clear that she didn't do well with strangers, but she had held her own throughout the night.
Just then the phone rang. Chris picked up the receiver off of the counter top, being the only one who lived there that was in the proximity to answer.
"Hello?" He greeted.
After a moment he got quiet, throwing Sydney a strange glance.
"Hey Sue."
Sydney forced a smile at the reminder that this perfect man had a girlfriend. Of course he did. Why wouldn't he? He was gorgeous, kind, down to earth, and he was talented beyond belief. Why would a man like him ever have to worry about being single?
"The guys all brought their gear to the house so that Sydney could get our shit cleaned and organized. She's about to head home."
Sydney quietly disappeared out of the house as Chris continued his talk with Susan on the telephone. Once she got sight of her truck she breathed a sigh of relief. That was her safe space. Placing her keys into the ignition, her engine roared to life.
When she got home she did a quick body rinse in the shower and changed into a pair of shorts and a loose tank. It was a warm night, and Liz was still at work. She opened all the windows, letting the cool evening breeze into the small space. The phone rang just then. Expecting it to be Liz, she was surprised when Chris's greeting reached her ears from the other line.
"Did I forget something?" She asked, worried.
"Nope. I just didn't get to say goodbye... and I wanted to make sure you got home safe." He responded quietly.
"Oh. Uh, yeah I'm here. Sorry, you were just busy and I didn't want to bother you."
"You could never bother me."
Sydney scoffed. He said that so confidently, even though he barely knew her.
"I'll try harder next time then." She smiled, and she heard him laugh.
"I can't wait."
There was silence then as she slid to the floor and twirled the phone cord between her fingers.
"You had a ukulele in the truck today. Do you play?" He asked eventually.
"Yeah." She responded, surprised. "I've had it since I was a little girl. My dad's friend gave it to me, the same friend who owned the bar we worked at."
"Will you play me something?"
"Next time I see you maybe."
"Maybe? Only maybe?"
"Mmhmm. If you're really lucky."
She heard him chuckle and it made her smile.
"I told Sue you came by today. She said she will pay you for your time."
"You didn't have to do that." She said, feeling nervous.
She hadn't been asked to work today, she had volunteered. Mostly because the state of their equipment made her cringe, and she couldn't stand to let it all sit like that any longer. Having clean equipment from the get go minimized the work she would have to do on the day of a show.
"It's alright. You put in hours and earned it. She told me she would be calling you tomorrow to get you set up on a payroll."
"Thank you." She said quietly.
"She got a kick out of you yelling at the guy who left his drink on the speaker last night."
"Yeah, well as a stage hand he should have fucking known better." She remembered sourly.
Chris laughed again.
"I'll try to remember to be mindful of where I set my drinks from now on."
"You better... unless you're ready to pay me overtime to replace fried parts."
This time she laughed with him when he laughed. They quieted after awhile, sitting in comfortable silence. Sydney reached into the kitchen junk drawer above her head and dug out Liz's cigarettes and a lighter. She then felt around for the ashtray on the counter which she brought down to the floor. It wasn't often that she smoked, but it had been an eventful couple of days.
"So... tell me something about you."
"What do you mean?" She asked, exhaling the thick smoke.
"I don't know. Something I don't already know?"
"You know, I've barely known you for 48 hours and I feel like I've spilled my guts out to you. It's your turn."
"My turn?!"
"Yep. Tell me about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"Hmm... did you grow up here?" She asked thoughtfully.
"Yes. Born and raised." He answered.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"I have two brothers and three sisters."
"Really?" She asked, surprised. "Let me guess... you're the youngest?"
"Almost. Second youngest."
She could hear his smile through the phone, and could practically see it in her mind. It was a beautiful thing, his smile.
She asked him questions about himself and he answered them honestly. Even when she asked about his dad, he told her how hard the man had been on him and his siblings. It made her feel sad, picturing a young Chris suffering at the hands of his own father. Her father hadn't been the best man, and he raised her with a heavy hand and a quick temper... but it hadn't been all bad. She still had fond memories of him. Even the bad memories were better than the nearly nonexistent ones she had of her mother.
As they talked well in to the late hours of the night, Sydney wasn't sure at which point she fell asleep. All she knew was that the next thing she remembered was Liz poking her shoulder incessantly, waking her.
"Sydney!" She hissed. "What the hell are you doing? Who are you talking to?"
Jerking awake and taking in her surroundings, she realized she was still sitting on the kitchen floor. She was leaned up against the cupboards with the phone falling off her shoulder.
"What? Hey. Did you just get in?" She mumbled, sitting up and cradling the phone in her hands.
"Yeah. My shift ran late, emergency was swamped tonight. Hang up the phone, weirdo."
As Liz rose to her feet and made her way towards their bathroom, she placed the receiver against her ear. She smiled as she heard the sounds of deep breathing that told her Chris had fallen asleep as well. Despite the obvious ache in her neck, she felt happy. Hanging up the phone after a few moments of listening to him sleep, she rose and stretched before making her way to her cot. With the memory of his mesmerizing eyes, she drifted quickly back to sleep.