The Throw-Aways

The second time I entered the elevator, I had two new things with me.

First, I had a new arm with a new name. It was black and slightly thinner than the last one. A case to hold the arm and the tools that came with it were tucked under my robot fingers that gripped the handle.

Second, I had a smile. For the first time since my dog’s death, I had a true grin plastered on my face. It was like nothing had happened.

A ding announced the lobby’s floor. Stepping out, I was greeted by five shining faces.

“Hey, look who’s back.” Alan beamed. Distributing hugs to the band members like flowers on Valentine’s Day, we started towards the bus.

“So have you gotten a new name for this arm yet?” Tino asked me. Hauling my body up the steps, I went and threw the case back in my bunk. It plopped down with a muffled thud!

“Eternal. I think it’s fitting.” Sitting myself down, I crossed my legs on the couch and flexed the automatic fingers. Every movement was smooth and like a second nature.

“Beautiful.” Austin held my new hand, inspecting the glove. As the bus growled and snarled on the hard black tar road, our vehicle started towards home.

No, not California home, it was off to home-home. Back to Gold Ridge.

“I can’t believe it’s already December 24th…” Aaron trailed off. I nodded and smiled weakly. This was supposed to be spent with my dad, a day to catch up with how the restaurant was doing. As much as I loved the band, I still needed the dad-daughter time.

“Yeah, Christmas Eve.” I glanced towards the TV. I think the Peanut’s Christmas Special was on. I don’t know much. I was never one to watch Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the gang.

“So I finally got Kylar’s present.” Alan plunked down next to me and I bumped him playfully.

“What is it?” I questioned him. He grinned and opened up a picture on his phone.

“It’s a necklace. It has a little silver bird in the middle.” I gasped and awed at the beauty of it. It looked like something Kylar would wear and never take off.

“You nailed it, Ashby.” I chuckled lightly. His eyes lit up under the praise.

“I have it in my bags.” He smiled and ran to his bunk, like a kid chasing the ice cream truck. Kylar had already texted me his present. It was an I’m a Guitarist, So Your Argument is Invalid shirt for him. Apparently, she saw it at some Denver shop on a day trip down there and had to get it for him. It was pretty funny to see them worry about what one would get the other. This constant panic proved that the struggle was VERY real and VERY entertaining for third party watchers.

Of course, Christmas is all about giving and not getting, blah blah blah, helping others in the spirit of love, blah blah blah…. Don’t get me wrong-I’m all for that! I love helping others, especially around Christmas! All I’m thinking is that the band seems to take it to the extreme.

It’s like it all turned into a competition. It was a game of Secret Santa that turned into Who-Can-Give-The-Best-Present. Innocence turned to competition and of course, I was just sitting here and thinking that I had probably lost.

Seriously, who doesn’t want to look like that loser kid who gave a lame gift?

Anyways, I was assigned Tino’s gift and had found a new stick bag since his other one was falling apart, three sets of drum sticks, and a water bottle clip. See, the reason for the clip was that Tino was always complaining that he had no place to put his water and it would always fall off since he was ‘rocking out too hard’. In my long hour over the internet, I had stumbled upon a bottle clip that would be PERFECT for the drummer’s needs. It could latch onto the side of the floor tom and not get in his way or fall off.

Of course, we had just happened to pass the only store in the country where it was sold. The little building was called Off the Grid Bike Shop. Yep, I got my present in a bike shop, but this would work just as well.

As I sat on the couch, I pondered over who was my Secret Santa. I knew Alan had Aaron. The ginger had to come to me to get help with picking out a present for him.

It ended up being a bag of Doritos as tall as Aaron. I mean, who needs a bag of Doritos five by two by three feet? Well, apparently Aaron needs this. It’s his favorite snack food.

Yet, I had no clue to even a hint of who my Secret Santa was. I don’t think it was Austin….but maybe Mark? Our manager had joined in on the fun this year as well. It could be Phil, but I’m not so sure.

Either way, I don’t think I could be disappointed by these boys.

For the rest of the afternoon into the early evening, we entertained ourselves by playing a round of Extreme Monopoly and watching Christmas cartoons. It was petty entertainment, but it was holding our attention nonetheless.

“So are we ready to do Secret Santa gifts?” Aaron asked excitedly. We all bounced in our seats around the couch. Mark moved from the passenger’s seat in the front of the bus to an open seat beside Phil. We all grabbed our presents, each wrapped in colorful foil or paper. Phil’s had a little gold ribbon wrapped on it. Aaron’s was shoved in a bag.

Alan’s loomed in the corner like a sleeping giant. We gawked at it, but the ginger winked to me.

Tino, the tidiest of all of us, had his perfectly wrapped up. It was the cleanest fold of all of us. Mine was shoved in a bag with a cute green bow pasted to the side. It was the thought that counts, right?

“Okay, so the rules are the same as always. Say who it’s to and give the person your present.” Austin announced. He took a quick sip of Monster as I bit my lip in excitement. Our eyes flickered to one another, a silent question to who was going first.

“Since no one is talking, I’ll start us off.” I volunteered. Everyone cheered as I took the first brave step, setting the bar for the rest. Announcing that my Secret Santa was Tino, I gave him the bag. His hands eagerly tore through the paper and unraveled the secrets under the paper.

His eyes went wide at the sight. It was just what he needed. There was some nice drum sticks and the water bottle clip was the highlight. He hugged me tightly and went back to ogling the gifts. His mouth couldn’t even form the words. He couldn’t even!

“Okay, so my Secret Santa was Alan.” Tino handed the guitarist. The ginger delicately undid the wrapping and was met with the sight of a ginger cat fuzzy blanket, a cat shirt, and cat shoes.

Needless to say, the ginger princess that is obsessed with felines freaked out. Without warning, he stripped off his shirt and threw on the printed cat one. We all looked away and laughed.

“Like it Alan?” I teased. His head nodded vigorously and he passed on his Secret Santa. It was to Aaron and the man went over to the giant bag of chips that hunched in the corner. Cameras flashed out as we all took pictures as Aaron stood next to the bag of chips that was just as tall as he was.

So the cycle went on. Aaron gave Austin a set of all Disney movies, ever. It was huge and took up some room on the table. Austin gifted Mark with a new longboard and a helmet, since our manager loved that kind of stuff. My anticipation grew with every second. Mark gave Phil a set of new games and books, since Phil loved both books and games. I figured we’d be seeing new “Extreme” versions of these games in the near future.

Finally, my turn came. I was first up and last out. Apparently, Phil had picked my name out of Austin’s sweaty beanie twenty three days ago.

“Last but not least, I got Raven. Here you go!” He pushed me a large box wrapped in blue snowflake wrapping paper. Eager for my chance to open it, I ripped through the flimsy covering and opened a basic brown box. Inside was a beautiful set of books that included: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Fangirl, and The Complete Volume of Hawkeye. I was beyond happy that some of my favorite books (and one of my favorite superheros) were tucked into white wrapping paper. But that wasn’t all! Behind the stacked books was some printed pictures. They were on nice paper and put into frames as well. They weren’t the biggest things, but they were wonderful despite size.

One was of the entire band posed in a group shot. The picture was taken by Adam Elmakias. The next was of just Jake. It wasn’t anything special, but he was sleeping like he used to. His nose was tucked between his paws and his expression held traces of content. I nearly started to tear up at that one, but the next picture made me cover my mouth in astonishment.

Jake and I were curled together on the couch. The image perfectly described out friendship. It was peaceful, relaxed, and natural. Jake was snoozing on my chest as I rested one hand on his back and was stretched out on the couch.

“Thank you so much, Phil.” I enveloped him in a hug. Our gifts were done and the debating had started. Quietly, I tucked everything back in the box and stashed it by my feet. Mark argued that the longboard was the best, but Aaron thought the Doritos bag topped everything. Besides, only Austin was visibly taller than the foil bag.

In the end, I think we came to the conclusion that Alan gave the most unique gift, I had the tear-jerker.

We only stopped talking when we rolled up to my old restaurant and workplace, The Three Meatballs.

Our bus had arrived.

Notes

Hey everyone, I managed a second update in one day! It's pretty late here, so I apologize if it's not the best. I should've slept XD

Okay, so if you somewhat enjoy reading the stuff I type up and like to keep up with all my other stories, I'm telling you now....I HAVE A NEW STORY PLANNED! It's going to be a big one and It's my first story I'm putting on the other sites as well!

(hint hint for all you wonderful readers that actually look through these Notes: It's fantasy and it has vampires but oh no, not the squishy, glittery "Twilight" vampires.....It's got an interesting take on the entire plot!!!)

Anyways.....FOR THE STORY TITLE, I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: I MENTIONED THE NAME OF THE UPCOMING TITLE ALREADY...It's new, just like something else in the past two chapters. Guess if you can!

I'll try to start that sometime soon, but it'll be a while. I have to finish up this story first, and I have to finish up Memories that Haunt Us before I can move on!

Love you all and stay beautiful!