Girl Talk

Who: Thom and Isaac
When: early evening
Where: on the phone!

Isaac had talked to David. He'd also called the other guys in the band already, then called David back and was now ready to call Thom to relay The Plan. He flopped backwards onto his bed, the ever-present music playing in the background -- it was Clutch tonight, hard and funky -- and listened to his cell phone ring Thom's number. Gigs were always exciting, but he was already feeling that Need To Buckle Down sort of pressure. They had to get ready, which meant all the practice they could squeeze into the next few days.

Thom had actually half been expecting Isaac to call - after all, he'd left that hang up earlier on in the day. That said, it took him a few to pick up, since he was down in the basement, already practising. Talking to Leija had got him in the mood for stretching his fingers on his keyboard - he almost never used the piano upstairs any more. It didn't feel right - far too staid and boring. It was a mindset thing. He'd been in the middle of a random bit of jazz, just messing around really, when Isaac called and he eventually picked up. "My man - tell me you have a when and where for me," he greeted, skipping the 'hello', as per usual.

"Well you're in a damn rush, aren't you?" Isaac countered, laughing a bit. He figured Thom was down where he couldn't hear the phone well. He might've done better just to go over there, but dinner was soon, so this was easier anyway. "Maybe I just called to say what's up, ever think of that?" He paused and grinned and could almost hear the faint buzz of affectionate annoyance. At least that's what he hoped it was. "Sunday night, 'cause David's gotta work Saturday night. But Sunday night, his place -- you know he's got that big-ass backyard -- starting at seven, he said. Which means we'll have to be there at six to set up, probably. But he said he'd have a stereo set up too, so we don't have to play all night if we don't wanna."

"Oh, that works - and six won't be an issue.... Oh, dude, no. Sunday night - I'm gonna have to do some fast talking for this one. You know how mom has this thing about Sunday dinner and everything," Thom moaned, leaning back against the wall. Now, normally? Thom was a big champion of the Sunday dinner - the one time of the week when he and his mom actually made a point of sitting down together, for a meal, and catching up. Not that he advertised the fact, but Isaac knew him well enough that something had to be majorly important for Thom to skip that dinner. Obviously this party? Got on that very short list.

"Oh hell," Isaac said with a frown. He should've thought of that, in all honesty. "Well ... we could start late?" he suggested. "People will like us more when they're drunk, and you're usually done with that stuff by eight at the latest, right?" He would try his best to find a way around Thom having to cancel on his mom; he definitely knew it was important to the both of them. "Me and the guys could set up, we could hang out for a little while ... maybe start some rumors that you're banging groupies somewhere, and you could run on stage all triumphant-rockstar." He grinned a little.

"Man, do you actually know anyone who would by the tale that I'm off banging groupies," Thom laughed down the phone. "No, look, it's fine - I'll be there, I might just be running a little late. I'll... suggest we move it to lunch or something. I'll think of something - don't worry."

"I would buy that tale," Isaac joked, laughing with him. "And none of them know you half as well as I do. You could be a total pimp man, if you just put your mind to it. But I know, I know." He picked up something from his nightstand to fiddle with, one leg bouncing in time with the music. "Okay, late is no problem. I won't let Tyler tell jokes or anything, but we'll keep 'em entertained. We gonna do a practice tomorrow?"

"Yeah, practice tomorrow - same time, place and god, don't - stand up, that man cannot do," Thom laughed - a running joke. "And you'd buy that tale cos I'm obviously skirt chasing all the time, right? Talking of - you called her yet?" Thom asked, not feeling the need to define 'her' in the slightest.

"You're an utter horndog," he mused, grinning. But then Thom was asking about Jamie, and his stomach did that weird twist-thing again. "Not yet," he answered. "I've been kinda stalling, I guess. I did all the calling and stuff, ran into my friend Lulu ... came home ... stalled some more. But I will, tonight. I'll give her the details and stuff. I kinda doubt she'll feel at all ready to perform with us on Sunday, but still, maybe she can come over and --" hang out with me? "-- meet the guys."

"Lulu? Do I know her?" Thom asked, shifting - and knocking a pile of paper to the floor. Shit. He bent down to pick them up, trying to shuffle them up with one hand while he held the phone in the other. "Oh and David's good for random people turnign up, isn't he? Cos I kinda invited this girl I met in town today..." he added, absently.

"I dunno, she's a little younger. Short dark hair, uber cute, she's mostly deaf. But she said she still likes music if it's loud, so I'm hoping she'll come too ... wait, rewind, you voluntarily talked to a girl you don't know?" Isaac grinned to himself. "I'm pretty sure he won't care. Who is she?"

"Dude - is there a girl in this town you don't think is cute?" Thom laughed, putting the papers back down, but picking up the top one - a sheet of manuscript he'd been scribbling notes down on the other day. He sat back down at the keyboard and started absently playing through it with one hand. not bad, except... He looked round for a pencil. "Her name's Leija - like the princess, but spelt differently. She's only just arrived in town a few days back - gonna be a junior. I figured she could do with getting to know more people, so I suggested that she come long to the party."

"Man, I can't help having eyes, y'know?" he said, not sounding at all defensive. "We live in a town with hotness, it's a blessing. One you should enjoy more often. So Princess Leija, huh? New blood. Is she cute? Does she have a sister?" Now he was joking. Mostly. Isaac stretched out further and listened to Thom piddle around. The guy totally needed at least a girl to date and get him out of the house every now and then. He was turning into a monk.

He found a pencil and started scribbling, changing a couple of notes here and there before playing through the line again. Better. "Considering we just agreed that there isn't a girl in town who isn't cute in your opinion, then yes, I think we can safely agree that she is, in fact, cute. And no, she doesn't have a sister - she lives with her father and she has cousins, but they're back in Pennsylvania," Thom told him with an amused tone to his voice.

"See, I was asking for your opinion," Isaac countered with a laugh. "I have to occasionally make sure that you still have a pulse, man. ... unless you've been just a very musically-talented android this whole time. In which case, I'm totally pissed that you never told me." He smirked a bunch at the ceiling, one leg still bouncing to the beat of the music coming out of his computer. "That sounds good, by the way," he said as an aside.

"Oh? You actually want my opinion now, do you?" Thom joked, as if his opinion was usually worthless, which he knew was bullshit. "Oh, talking of, when am I getting my shirt back?" Since that had just occurred to him and he thought he'd slip it in before he forgot again. "Okay, yes, she's cute - kinda quirky. Easy to talk to though - we spent some time wandering round town this afternoon after I, like, literally walked into the girl," he chuckled. He smiled at Isaac's affirmation of the tune and mentally put it into the 'yes' pile. It'd need some more work - and lyrics, but maybe they could make something with it.

"Ah, once I wash it. I'll make mom iron it and everything, but when the car decided that it was an exploded toaster, I kinda got it dirty. So. It never actually made it to the date I was supposed to be on, but I'll get it back to you," he explained. Then yes, his mind went right back around to Girls. "That was smooth," he said with a chuckle. Still, he was genuinely pleased to hear that Thom got some for-real-girl-communication going on. "But that's cool if she still wanted to hang out with you. And she's coming to David's thing?"

"If you ever pick up the nervous-date thing again, you get to raid my wardrobe," Thom promised. "You gonna call date-chick again? Or do you only have eyes for Jamie now?" he asked, half joking because he'd known Isaac far too long to ask that question totally seriously. "And yes, I am, in fact, a total moron. Just that nobody else seems to have clued into this fact yet, thank god. And yeah, she seemed fine to put up with my presence. And she's promised to come to David's thing - as soon as I call her and tell her where it is," he added, slipping causally into conversation the fact that he'd got her number, knowing Isaac wouldn't be expecting that. Usually Thom needed girls to bludgeon him over the head before he'd show active interest, so number-swapping wasn't generally a thing that happened on first meetings.

"Yeah, I prolly will. Call Harper again. 'Cause she was nice, and I feel shitty that I had to cancel on her, and y'know ... I need something to do until Jamie realizes she's totally in love with me." Was that a terrible thing to say? He was an asshole. But at least he hadn't sounded really serious. "Nah, you're not a total moron. Maybe seventy percent." Then he paused. What? He probably should've assumed -- since he was the one making the arrangements and everything -- that Thom got her number to let her know when the party was, but still ... Generally, people with plan-questions got pointed in Isaac's direction. "God, she must be something else. Did she have to force her number on you, or did you ask for it?"

"I asked for it," Thom told him - and yes, possibly he did in fact sound a touch proud of himself. "No forcing involved at all."

"Well good on you, man," Isaac said, genuinely pleased. No teasing in that at all. "I hope she shows, and is cool and stuff. Because I know for sure that we're gonna rock everybody's faces off." Yes, life was definitely going well. There were new girls to get to know, new gigs to play, they were going into their senior year, Thom actually got a phone number. Now, if Kaysen would just be happy, Isaac's world would be complete. "So I guess I should call Jamie before I totally puss out," he said, amused.

"You could always play it cool and call tomorrow," Thom suggested, betting that he wouldn't. "And she'll show," Thom added with a quiet confidence. "She told me that she'd stand in the corner and fangirl us. There was screaming and throwing of bras mentioned," he added, waiting for a reaction to that particular bit of information.

It came in the form of a beat of silence and then Isaac cracking up. He could only imagine Thom's face when she'd laid that one on him. Nobody else could really tell, but he knew when his best friend was having a very quiet panic attack. There were very subtle facial tics you had to watch for. "Oh dude," he said, snickering. He'd had similar things said to him, but the fact she said that to Thom was just ... classic. "Think you got a keeper, there. We'll see if she holds to it."

"We'll see - and less of that. I got a number - it's not like I asked the girl for a date," Thom pointed out.

"It's still a step in the right direction," Isaac countered. "And you should. You need to go out. For stuff that isn't band-related." But that was as far as he'd push, really. Thom would do what Thom would do, and that was about that. "But y'know. Whatever. You broached the subject of a new guitar with your mom yet?" he asked, even though he knew Thom hadn't.

"I go out for stuff that isn't band-related!" Thom countered - though he couldn't actually think of what that could be off the top of his head. Shit. "And maybe - she seems nice. But you know I don't move that fast." He never had - having the strange notion of actually wanting to know the girls he dated. "And no, I haven't had a change to talk to mom. I was gonna bring it up on Sunday, but I'm thinking that might not be the best time. I'm gonna play it by ear. She'll probably say no, or not til my birthday, or something anyhow..."

Isaac rolled his eyes skyward. He and Thom didn't see eye to eye on that point at all. Isaac saw dating as a method of getting to know girls. Thom wanted to know their entire life history and opinions on everything and have five personal references before he'd even take them to a movie. It was crazy, but. What could he do? They'd tried and failed miserably at the double-date-that-was-blind-on-Thom's-side thing. That had been one pretty uncomfortable evening. "Okay. I'm still brainstorming about making cash, so don't give up hope."

"Never do, my man. Never do," Thom told him. "Look, go ring your girl - I'll talk to you tomorrow, k?" Thom said, checking his watch. Hmm, it was still within the time that he could call Leija. The only question was whether he should...

He chortled a little. "I wish," he said, referring to Jamie as being his. Which was fairly obvious. "Alright, man, take care. Don't work too hard." With a smirk, and in his usual abrupt way, Isaac closed his phone and stretched again. Now ... to begin really working up the nerve to call Jamie.