Flame and Leah

“Maybe it’s intimidation,” Dylan said as they entered the cramped, loud club. “Maybe girls see me with you two, and they assume I’m taken.”

Nodding in mock agreement, Leah gave him a somber expression. “That must be it,” she said, trying to look earnest. Then she smiled at her best friend and let go of the arm she was holding on to. “If you want, we’ll ditch you so you can go talk to the dozens of girls just waiting to find you alone.”

Dylan pretended to consider this, and then put his arm around Leah’s shoulder. “But what if some totally hot girl sees me and thinks I’m out of her league?” he continued with a grin. “At least if I have some ugly girl like you nearby, they’ll know they have a shot.”

Pulling herself from Dylan’s embrace, Leah feigned appall and lightly punched him on the arm. She knew this was all a joke; the truth was, her best friend had had a lifelong crush on her. Leah, with her soft short black hair, huge round green eyes, gorgeous features, and amazing body, was the epitome of many a boy’s dream girl.

Sometimes, Leah wished that she felt for Dylan the way he felt for her. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t, even to herself. He was attractive to her, at least in a goofy way, with his tall slender frame, piercings in his eyebrow and lip, and a mop of bleached blond hair; he was funny, if a little self-deprecating; he and Leah had the same taste in movies, television and music; but mostly, he was the sweetest guy she knew. Still, Leah had never been able to look at Dylan as more than a friend.

“I’m going to puke,” Callie told Leah and Dylan. The final member of their threesome, Callie had little patience for anything that didn’t revolve around her, guys she was interested in, or music. Attractive in an eccentric way, Callie dressed extreme, streaked her hair with fire engine red highlights, and used vulgarity as a form of flirtation. In the social scene they hung out in, her methods worked pretty well to gain the attention of guys. “Either you two should do it, or you need to stop putting on this annoying fucking skit,” she said. She looked around the club carefully.

Leah rolled her eyes at Dylan. They were both accustomed to Callie’s blunt offensiveness; they knew she didn’t mean anything by it. The three of them had been best friends since sixth grade. They had originally came together because of the music they listened to, and they had stuck together over the years.

“There he is,” Callie said, grabbing Leah’s arm and raising her chin in the direction of the stage. “That’s Chuck. The one setting up the drums.”
Leah followed Callie’s gaze to find a tall, sweaty guy with a coiled snake tattooed on his neck and a mohowk. “Not bad,” Leah said, but then she stopped. Beside Chuck stood another guy putting together a mic set. His short intentionally-messy hair was dyed dark blue, his muscular arms were sleeved in tattoos, and his sharp features were accentuated by his long, thick sideburns and the streams of sweat pouring down his face from the glaring lights above him. “Who’s that next to him?” she asked, trying to keep her voice normal.

“Forget it,” Callie said flatly. “That’s Flame, the singer. Totally out of your league.”

Leah felt her heart drop into her stomach. She didn’t know why Callie could be so mean to her sometimes. “Do you know him?” she finally responded, trying to pretend she hadn’t been affected by the unnecessary and cruel remark.

Rolling her eyes, Callie looked at Leah. “I haven’t fucked him, if that’s what you’re getting at,” she said crossly. “I haven’t fucked every member of every band in North Carolina, despite what you might think of me.”

Leah just shook her head. Callie had a knack for twisting what people said to her and responding badly to it. “I just asked if you know him,” she replied.
Dylan watched the exchange uncomfortably. While he loved Callie like a sister, he never understood why she could be so nasty to Leah, who was never anything but agreeable with her. She claimed that Leah was her best friend, but she insisted on treating her like dirt an awful lot of the time. “Alright, I admit it,” he interrupted, trying to break up the unpleasantness. “I fucked him. The drummer too.”

Smiling at his attempt to lighten the mood, Leah touched Dylan’s hand lightly and gave him an appreciative glance. “Well, are you going to talk to Chuck?” she asked Callie, trying to take advantage of the change of conversation topic.

Shaking her head and looking at Leah like she was stupid, Callie sighed as if she were exhausted by having to explain things. “I’m not just going to walk up to him,” she said, as if doing so was the most ludicrous idea she’d ever heard of. “I’m going to go outside to relax first.” She patted the black army-surplus bag she was holding to help them understand she had alcohol with her. “Any takers?” she asked and walked out without waiting for a reply.

Leah frowned at Callie’s disappearing figure, but as soon as she turned around to say something to Dylan, she bumped into someone. “Oh, shit. Sorry,” she apologized as she watched a beer bottle crash to the floor and smash. “Oh God,” she said, unable to find any other word, when she noticed that she had just accidentally assaulted the guy she had been admiring earlier.

“Not a big deal,” Flame smiled at her, wiping some spilt beer off his colorfully decorated arm. “It was a two dollar Bud. I think I’ll live.” He looked at Leah a little more closely, and his smile broadened.

Suddenly, before Leah could think of anything else to say, Chuck came up behind him. “We’re on in five,” he told Flame.

Looking back at Leah for a second, Flame bit his lip. “See you around?” he asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

Nodding dumbly, Leah forced herself to speak. “Sure. And sorry again.” She looked down at her beer-splattered Mary Janes as Flame walked towards the stage.

Dylan felt his stomach flop a little bit in disappointment as he watched the brief exchange between Leah and Flame. Deep down, he knew that she just didn’t feel about him the way he felt about her, but it still hurt to see her interested in somebody else. “Such a man,” Dylan joked, rolling his eyes. “Sleep with me and pretend like you’ve never seen me before.” As usual, he was using humor to try to push away the feelings of jealousy and dejection.

Smiling at Dylan, Leah felt a little guilty. Trying to push away her thoughts of the interaction she had just been a part of, she focused her bright eyes on her friend and smiled. “Smoke?” she asked. He smiled and nodded, following her to the other end of the club, to the outside smoking section.

-----

Callie was already outside, talking to big guy in a studded leather jacket, when Leah and Dylan came out. “This is Surge,” she told them. Her breath faintly smelled of Jack Daniel’s, but her demeanor was still normal. “Surge, this is Dylan and Leah.” Surge nodded at Dylan in a friendly way, and then smiled at Leah.

“Hi,” Leah said. She pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of the black zipped hoodie she wore over her short plaid skirt, fishnet stockings and white t-shirt. She handed one to Dylan and kept one for herself. Surge lit his Zippo and held out the flame for Leah to light her cigarette. “Thanks,” she said after she took a few short puffs to make sure it would burn on its own. She took a deep drag, holding the smoke in her lungs for a moment and then releasing it.

As Surge and Dylan began to make small talk, Callie took Leah by the wrist and led her to a corner. “Cover me,” she instructed as she pulled a small bottle out of her bag. Leah obligingly turned around nonchalantly to make sure no staffers were around to catch Callie’s underage consumption. She smoked her cigarette, glancing around slowly, and let her eyes fall on the doorway leading back into the club. She could see Flame on stage, testing his microphone. She smiled to herself as she felt her cheeks get warm with a little blush just from looking at him.

“Okay,” Callie said, cautiously tossing an empty bottle into a nearby trashcan. “Listen, I’m sorry about earlier; I’m just a little stressed. I got in a fight with my mother’s asshole boyfriend again before I left the house tonight.” She reached for Leah’s cigarette and took a drag before continuing. “Anyway, the singer, Flame, I’ve met him a few times. He’s seems fine; he’s only been here a couple months; but there’s always groupie girls all around him. You’re too innocent… and too good for someone like him.”

Leah smiled at Callie’s apology. She wished Callie would let anyone besides Leah and Dylan see this side of her sometimes; it was the reason they had stayed friends for the last six years. “Don’t worry about it,” she said sincerely. “Come on, give me another drag and we’ll go see the band play.”

-----

“Did you see that girl?” Flame asked Chuck when they were on stage. “She is unbelievable.” He adjusted the height of the mic stand, and looked at his friend for a response.

Chuck nodded as he tightened one of the cymbals on his drum set. “She was no joke,” he agreed. “I’ve seen her around; she’s friends with that chick, Callie, I was telling you about. So she’s probably in high school, too. You might want to find out how old she is before you get too into her; you don’t want to find out she’s jail bait too late.”

Turning away from Chuck to finish setting up, Flame thought about the mini-conversation he just had with Leah. That’s the kind of girl that could really fuck me up, he thought. In a good way. He smiled to himself. Although Flame was known for getting around, it was pretty rare for him to take such a liking so quickly. There was just something about this one…

-----

Leah had grabbed Dylan on the way back into the club and the two of them obediently followed Callie as she pushed her way to the front of the small crowd to be near the stage. She moved to the left side of the stage so she could have a better view of the drums and their owner. “This okay?” she called out to Leah over the din of nearby conversations. Leah nodded, trying not to be too obvious about looking at Flame standing in the middle of the stage, who was facing away from her to talk to Chuck. His worn t-shirt was already drenched with sweat from setting up the equipment, and it was easy to make out the muscles in his back.

As the music started, Leah, Dylan and Callie all relaxed and began having a good time together. Bouncing up and down to the driving beats, Leah got lost in one of her favorite feelings: being part of a crowd. She loved being surrounded by dozens of people, all taking part in something everyone enjoyed; she loved bodies knocking into each other in a friendly way, and people feeding off of each other’s energy. She was having such a good time that Leah stopped watching the band for a while and focused instead on the mosh pit forming in the middle of the crowd.

Finally looking up at the stage, Leah blushed when she realized Flame was openly staring at her. She met his eyes, and he smiled at her with a sort of sweet cockiness that sent a thrill through her body. She watched as he leaped around stage, screaming into the microphone, all the while barely taking his eyes off of her. As the song ended, he turned to the crowd.

“This next one,” Flame told the fans while wiping sweat off his forehead with his forearm, “this next one goes out to that girl, there.” He pointed at Leah, who looked shocked. “Yeah, you, the absolutely gorgeous girl who owes me a beer.” He smiled a little bit conceitedly at her once more before focusing on singing.

“Oh, my God,” Callie said into Leah’s ear. “I can’t believe he just did that.” She looked at Leah with a mix of jealousy of and happiness for her. “That was incredible,” she told Leah.

Leah didn’t know what to think. Of course, she was flattered; As far as she was concerned, Flame was one of the most attractive guys she’d ever seen. She stood there dumbfounded until after the song was over.

Before she the next song started, though, Flame made another comment from stage. “Hey, everyone,” he said, pointing at Leah again. “Do you guys think I should ask out that girl?” With the exception of a few annoyed looking girls up front, the crowd cheered loudly. “Well, beautiful,” he said with a smile, “would you like to get together sometime?” Leah had just nodded, embarrassed and complimented at the same time. “Good,” he said, looking a little bit relieved. “That would have been really fucking embarrassing if you had said no.” Leah laughed as the band started up again.

Turning Callie, Leah grabbed her hand. “I need a cigarette,” she told her with her eyes wide. “Please come with me.” Callie nodded, and she and Leah turned around to navigate their way through the crowd. That’s when Leah remembered that Dylan was standing behind her. He looked crestfallen, and Leah felt terrible. “Want to go out for a cigarette?” she asked meekly.

Looking at her with appreciation and sadness, Dylan just shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ll stay here and finish watching the band.” He smiled at her a little. “Besides, someone needs to stay inside in case any messages need to be relayed to you, right?” His joke fell flat, and he turned back to the stage quietly.

-----

“I feel so bad,” Leah told Callie when they were outside. “I feel so bad about Dylan because I feel so good about what just happened with Flame.” She couldn’t help but smile.

With the alcohol definitely affecting Callie’s balance and speech by now, she shook her head. “That’s stupid,” she said loudly. “It’s not your fault Dylan’s in love with you. And it’s not your fault that you’re not in love with him. And it’s not your fault that Flame wants to do you.”

A little dismayed by Callie’s last statement, Leah rolled her eyes. “Way to turn a sweet gesture into something dirty.”

Callie laughed for a moment. “You thought that was sweet?” she said, acting like Leah was naïve. “Leah, he’s a musician. And he’s hot as hell. Don’t be fooled into thinking he’s interested in much more than getting under that little plaid skirt.”

Trying not to let Callie know that her words affected her too much, Leah felt her stomach lurch a little. Callie could very well be right; Flame could just want to sleep with her. Suddenly, she felt very stupid for being so flattered by his actions on stage. Stomping on her cigarette butt, Leah started to head inside with Callie in tow, just as the band finished.

Dylan found the two of them pretty quickly. “Are we heading out, or is anything going on?” he asked, in a better mood than he’d been in a few minutes earlier. That made Leah happy.

“Shit, I haven’t even talked to Chuck yet,” Callie remembered. “I’ll find out if anything’s going on after this, and meet you two out front in a few minutes.” She wandered off towards the stage before they could reply.

Standing in awkward silence for a moment, Dylan spoke first. “Listen,” he said, not meeting Leah’s eyes, “You have nothing to feel bad about. You deserve to be happy, and I want you to be happy.” He smiled at her, and Leah wrapped her arms around Dylan’s neck for a big hug. “Thank you,” she told him as she pulled away. “I do love you.”

Peering over her shoulder, Dylan raised his chin a little. “I should probably go wait out front,” he said. “It looks like someone wants to talk you.” He smiled at her before turning and heading towards the front door.

Leah slowly turned around and found herself face to face with a sweaty, grimy Flame. “Hey,” he smiled, a little out of breath. “What’d you think of the show?”

Smiling back, Leah took notice that his eyes were nearly the same dark blue color as his hair. “It was great,” she said. “Especially the commentary.”

Leah couldn’t help but feel good; despite what Callie had said, Flame was looking as Leah with genuine excitement and interest in his eyes.

“So what is your name?” he asked.

Feeling goofy, Leah laughed. “Sorry, I’m Leah. You’re Flame, right?”

Nodding, he wiped a line of sweat off his face, pushing his hair back off his forehead as he did. “Listen, Leah, the band’s having a little party after this at our place – we share a house on Oakwood Terrace. Would you be interested in dropping by? You’re welcome to bring some friends. And I promise to shower as soon as I get home.” He grinned at her. “I must smell awful that this point.”

Biting her lip, Leah nodded. “That sounds good. The party – and the shower.”

Laughing, Flame examined Leah’s features carefully with his stare. “Well, your friend Callie knows where we live. So, see you there in, say, half an hour?” Leah just nodded.

-----

“That was smooth, dude,” Chuck said to Flame as they loaded the band’s van behind the club. “That chick totally ate it up.”

Flame grinned to himself. What he had done on stage had been a totally spur of the moment thing; he had actually been caught off guard when Leah noticed him staring at her. He hadn’t known what to do, so he just decided to dedicate a song to her.

“Unfortunately,” Chuck continued, “that’s the sort of thing you only get to do once in a long while. Chicks catch on, otherwise. I hope this one’s worth it.”

Smiling, Flame got energized. He lifted Chuck’s bass drum into the van before replying. “I’ve got this fucked up feeling that she’s beyond worth it,” he said. “I don’t know why, but this one seems like she’s going to turn out to be special.”

“For your sake, I hope so,” Chuck laughed. “Cause you seem gone already, and you don’t even know her.”