The Throw-Aways

The next morning, I woke up with the shakes. The terrible nightmares that my brain conjured up seemed to plague my thoughts and frazzle my nerves.

I had gone to check for my drawstring bag, but it wasn’t there. I had instantly started to freak out, but I couldn’t tell my dad. So now I sat at my desk under the Of Mice and Men poster. Austin’s stare seemed to bore down into my soul.

Great. Just great.

I had met my hero-finally! But I had run away from him. How foolish was I? Jake sat at my feet, grumbling his disapproval. His blindness often got him trapped in small spaces. More often than not, we would come home to find he had locked himself in the bathroom, accidentally bumping the door closed and stuck in the tiled room. Today, he was half awake by my feet under the desk.

“Hey bug, should I go back and search for it?” I asked him, carefully rubbing just above his nose. He sneezed back.

“I’ll take that as a no.” I sighed and tapped the pen in my hands. Without my note book, my thoughts seemed to be empty and my focus was lost. In a few minutes, I would have to help work The Three Meatballs. Although I had hoped for any solution to fixing this problem created last night, I arrived at no conclusion.

“Woof!” Jake barked and tried to stand up. I took his collar and dragged the fat pug out from under the desk where he bumped around the room until he found the door.

“Do you want to visit the restaurant?” I asked him, like he could respond. Dad sometimes let Jake come out and visit if there weren’t many customers. Besides, Jake liked riding shot gun and loved to listen to Motionless in White in the car.

I was fairly positive that he was an old metal rocker that had died and came decided to live a second life as pug, a very fat, lazy, and old pug that loved MIW, Suicide Silence, and Green Day.

Yes, my pug did like those bands.

As I mentioned going out of the house, the blind dog turned around to my voice and wiggled his curly tail. I threw on my nice shirt and jeans for the cold breeze blowing through town. The trees bent to the might gust.

After Jake ran into my leg three more times, his own way of making me go faster, I called my dad and asked him if I could bring in Jake. As I got the signature of approval, I took Jake on his leash and led him to the stairs. He promptly fell down half of them, got up, and sneezed with dignity.

I picked up his leash and walked him out to the car, shoving my phone in my pocket along the way. As we went into the garage, I had to pick Jake up and put him in the front seat. Normally I would’ve put him in the crate and buckled it down in the back seats, but honestly, it was a one minute drive to park in The Three Meatball’s parking lot along a deserted road at a slow speed.

“WOOF!” Jake barked loudly as I started some A-M-E-R-I-C-A on my phone, plugging it into the speakers. As I backed out, I patted my dog’s side affectionately. No matter what, I could always rely on him to pick the best songs.

Chris’s voice started the deep vocals as we went turned off the dirt road and onto Grandeur Street that led into town. I made sure to go extra slow so Jakey could enjoy the song longer.

When I was little and my mom and dad agreed to get me a dog for Christmas, we named him Jake after the song, Della and the Dealer. It was a classic country song that my dad loved. We all called him Jakey, and when I was only ten, I’d rhyme his nickname with anything that ended in “y”.

It was Della, and a dealer, and a dog named Jake, and a cat named Kalamazoo, left the city in a pick-up truck. Gonna make some dreams come true….

I thought the words to myself as the rockers blared through the speakers. Jake howled when they started to spell out America. I rubbed his head affectionately. It was funny to see him try and “sing” along.

The song finished, I had parked in the car behind the small diner. My dad’s pick up was next to my car. By the way my pug stood up and shook out his shedding hair all over the seat, I could tell he was excited.

I went to the passenger’s side and lifted the heavy dog out of the car. I blamed the customers for feeding Jake extra helpings from the table whenever he came to visit!

As soon as we got into the back entrance, I led him through the hallway past the kitchen and to the bar. My dad stood behind the register and looked down in surprise as Jake ran into his feet, yipping happily.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in!” My dad leaned down and patted Jake’s head, how sat down and sneezed again. It was like the dog’s own way of saying hello.

“Sorry, we came in the back door!” I laughed and put on an apron. I expected more customers to show up in the late afternoon, since it was Saturday. But even though I was excited for people to show up and try the great food, I had my eye on a particular customer to possibly look for.

Maybe even five….

“Hey R, can you go and clean tables?” My dad asked and passed me a rag. It wasn’t so much of a question as an order. I nodded and went out to the tables. In the corner, there was a dog bed for Jake to lay in. We had plenty of signs out front warning customers allergic to dogs that we allowed pets, just in case someone came in unknowingly.

I took a squirt bottle and started to work on the seven tables and bar scattered through the room. Jake went to bump against the wall at the front of the store. The wall was basically a large window with a seat for waiting customers to sit in. Since we didn’t get many customers to actually form a “line”, Jake liked to go and sit in the seat by the window and look out over the street our building faced. The occasional passerby would stop and coo at Jake from the window. Some of the residents would drop by for a quick drink and to sit with the pug who enjoyed all the attention.

So of the little kids even brought by bones for the dog too busy himself gnawing on. It was kind of cute to see the mom’s being dragged by their daughters or sons so that they could stop by and bring Jake a bone or treat.

See? This is why he’s fat! But, that’s just more flub to love! Pug haters beware: Jake will crush you under his love rolls and will happily lick you to death.

As I quietly laughed at my thoughts of Jake and sitting on someone, suffocating all haters, I felt my heart lighten. All the worries of last night were still there, but they seemed to be lifted for the moment.

“Woof, woof, woof!” Jake barked three times and continued to pant happily.. I burst out in giggles, earning an odd stare from my father. I knew what Jake was saying.

Haters. Gonna. Hate.

I guess I should take a lesson from my own dog. Who cares what others think? Just go for it! Nothing should stop you from doing what you love, or being who you truly are!

“Song requests?” My dad asked cheerily. I leaned over from wiping down a booth in the far corner near Jake’s. He was lounging at the bar, done with chores for the day. Lunch “rush” was coming up soon. I’m sure that meant that we would get someone passing through town to stop by. Hey, maybe Skars would come by with Nico? It was unlikely, but you never knew who you might see at The Three Meatballs!

“How about some A Day to Remember?” I asked. My dad nodded, gladly switching to his playlist with many ADTR songs on it. Ashton Skarsson was a proud fan of this band and didn’t care who opposed his music taste.

My Life for Hire started up. I could hear him softly whistle to the lyrics and as I glanced over from wiping the booth down, I saw him bob his head in time with it as he looked through his phone.

“Jake Da Pug, come here.” My dad whistled. Jake happily leaped off the seat. That one cushion seemed to be the one area that Jake actually managed to hop and off without falling, even with his all-encompassing blindness.

I finished with helping around the restaurant, it was four in the afternoon. A few customers had come and gone, bringing a little revenue to our pockets. In my boredom behind the counter, I took out a piece of paper and a pen. Jake had been sunbathing in the window seat, overlooking a few cars that puttered along the road. He pushed a pillow and was snoring on that cushion.

Looking down at the sketch, it was a cartoon image of my pug dog sitting in all his flabbiness squishing someone flat. A little speech bubble read Haters gonna hate. I don’t know why, but I had gotten this image in my head and just had the need to draw it out. It was the saying that had inspired the image and I just couldn’t forget it since this morning.

My dad walked out of the kitchen just in time as the door opened. I was successfully hidden behind the counter, but as the customers entered the room in a rowdy laughter, I moved to my phone that was plugged into the stereo system. Not all people enjoyed my dad and I’s music taste. Just as I was about to turn it off, I heard a voice speak up.

“Oh, you like A Day to Remember?” A man’s voice asked my fathered. He laughed quietly and I silently listened to the conversation. I guess through the variety of people talking that there was a big group my dad had just seated.

“Yes! My daughter and I love their music.” My dad responded happily. I slowly inched away from my phone, going to hide behind the counter. My dad was always good with guests. I usually liked to stay behind the counter and help cook, occasionally I would serve.

“I would’ve never guessed! We’re pretty big fans of them ourselves, as well as Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Slipknot, All Time Low, and others.” I could tell the man was a little nervous with the way he chuckled, but I had to tune them out and get back to any “work” I had.

“Oh really? I my daughter loves them! She also likes this one band…” My dad went to talk on, but I was automatically tuning them out. I could hear one of the guys fawn over Jake and my dog soaked up the attention. I moved into the kitchen, slipping away from the conversation and stuffing the drawing I had into my back pocket.

I went and checked the grill, making sure it was starting to warm up. Filling up a bowl of water, I was ready in case they wanted to try some pasta and I had to boil the liquid.

“Hey, R-girl! Can you come out here for a moment?” My dad’s voice drifted through the hallway into this room as he called for my attention. The song flipped on outside to a more dramatic instrumental playlist. I don’t know why my dad had the songs on there, but I still enjoyed it just the same.

“Yes, Dad?” I asked. He took my arm and pulled me into the main room.

“I want you to meet these people. I think you might know them.” His cheeky grin gave everything away. I looked up into the five men’s eyes.

Oh man, I knew them far more than my father would ever know.

At least, one man in particular.

Alan, Tino, Phil, Aaron, and Austin all looked up to me, smiling and waving. Jake was sitting happily by Aaron’s feet, wagging his tail. I grinned as waved to each one, but held up as I saw Austin sitting there. We locked eyes for a moment before I flinched away.

“You must be Raven!” Phil exclaimed. They all seemed so friendly and affable. I felt at ease in their presence, but Austin seemed to break that ease with glances to his ginger friend.

“Um, yeah.” I laughed a little. How had they known that….?

“We’ve heard a lot about you.” Tino joined in, sipping from a water glass my dad brought out. I shuffled my feet nervously, sending a passing glance to Austin. Had he told them? No, Austin hadn’t known my name before now.

“We ran into some other people here and they said that you were a fan.” Aaron interjected. Okay, I sighed in relief. They must’ve seen Skars, Dante, Nico, and Kk.

Oh man, how hard did Kylar West fangirl when she saw Alan? I would’ve paid to see the reaction.

“Oh, you must’ve met my friends. They’re pretty big fans of yours.” I smiled. Austin’s stare was making me nervous. I just needed to hide. Jake bumped into the table in excitement. He never jumped on people when he met new customers, but he did run into things more often.

“You’re pug is adorable. What’s his name?” Alan asked me. The ginger hair was swept sideways from the wind.

“Jake. He’s blind and diabetic.” I laughed uneasily, trying to hide how nervous I was. Alan smiled and ruffled Jake’s fur, earning a lick to the hand.

“He’s a little big…” Phil observed softly, just audible over the whirl of the fan.

“Hey, pug haters be warned: He will crush you under his love flub.” I used the line I thought of this morning.

This dramatic music in the background was really accurate to the mood.

The boys all laughed and grinned. Tino made a joke about Aaron crushing people under his own “love flub”, earning a punch to the shoulder.

“Hey, the more the merrier.” I gave Aaron a flashing grin, tucking a strand of black hair behind my ear nonchalantly. It was hard to stay calm and collected under Austin’s stare.

“So we met this girl with red hair on the streets and she said you were a really good piano player.” Austin turned his head to finally speak to me. My dad hovered in the background, obviously listening in. I stared him right in the eye as I spoke with my voice yet waiting to fracture.

“Oh, that must’ve been Skars. Yeah, she likes to over exaggerate sometimes. Hehe, I’m not that good.” I let out a shaky laugh and a small smile. Aaron just looked down at his menu as Alan glanced to Austin.

“Oh really? Well, you might have heard we were looking for a new keyboardist. If you’re interested, you should just ask.” Tino offered fondly.

“Yeah, that group we met earlier just went on and on about how awesome you were on the keys.” Alan laughed easily. My stomach dropped five feet to the floor. I was trying to find a plausible excuse to leave when my dad came to the rescue. Jake licked Austin’s hand, giving me time to break his stare and turn away when the waiter took orders.

I don’t know what I’d do without Jake.

Walking back towards the kitchen, I hid in the corner by the stove. My dad would be back anytime soon with the orders unless he decided to chat with the band. Oh geez, I couldn’t believe that I had just met Of Mice and Men, been asked to contact them about being the new member, and my friends had told them how good I was.

This nearly made me break apart.

Ten long minutes later, my dad came back in and handed me a list of the orders I had to make. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

“Hey, is everything okay? You look like you saw the Singing Specter!” He joked. I laughed nervously.

Yeah, I saw here. I looked in the mirror earlier this morning while brushing my teeth!

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Food will be ready in ten.” I told him. He let me go with a passing glance and went back to the front. I could hear Tino and Phil playing with Jake. My stomach still turned at the idea of playing the keyboard in front of the band I admired so much. But now, I had to worry about my disguise being ruined.

My world had been turned upside down.

Notes

So I added Jake into more of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed his funny little pug antics! :D Also, I added Jake to the character list under the summary so you can check him out. AND YES, HE IS REAL BECAUSE HE IS MY DOG AND HIS REAL NAME IS JAKE AND HE IS BLIND BECAUSE I HEAR HIM BUMP INTO THE WALLS DOWN THE HALL LIKE IT'S PINBALL!

Anyways.....I hope you liked the chapter and what will happen next!?!?!?!? What will Raven do?! What will Austin do?!?!

Keep reading and stay beautiful!