Starting from Scratch

It's a rare morning that your alarm doesn't violently drag you out of your dreams. Before your eyelids have a chance to open you can feel the sun peaking through your curtains. You take in a slow, easy, deep breath to savor the occasion of your day off as your senses slowly but surely return. Once your sense of touch fully wakes up, the feeling of your pants around your ankles and the brush of the sheets against your bare skin draws back memories to the previous night. Your heart sinks in your chest as your eyes shoot open to see where Vinyl ended up. Anxiety grips you as your mind goes through all the horrible possibilities of how she'll react now that she's sober. The thought of losing her sticks an icy spear of apprehension through your chest before you finally spot her on the other side of the bed, sitting upright and hunched over towards the rising sun.

You clear your throat, your stomach still twisting at the thought of what might happen. Seeing her up this early, especially after being drunk puts your nervousness into overdrive. "Vinyl?" you ask softly.

She perks up for a moment and glances at you before glancing back down to her twiddling thumbs in her lap. "Oh, hey."

You sit up straight, your eyes darting around the room for an awkward moment as the uncomfortable silence grows. You clear your throat again before it gets too unbearable. "So is everything... uh..."

She lets out a sigh and slouches over further. "Not really, dude..."

You grip the sheets and fidget around on the mattress. The thought of losing her caused a wave of sadness to wash over your body. "Look, I'm really sorry I didn't... I don't know... It was late and I--"

"Huh? What do you have to be sorry for?" She asks, an amused grin accompanying her raised eyebrow before it quickly fades into seriousness. "I'm the one who screwed up."

"Screwed up?"

"Yeah..." Vinyl gets up to her feet and runs her fingers through her hair. "Every time I think I might be finally getting somewhere with someone, I get scared and get drunk and do something stupid. Then they stop respecting me and there that goes. Right out the window," she says, with an accompanying wave and then dip of her hand to symbolize it.

"Why would I not respect you anymore?" you ask, confusion on your face this time.

She turns to you and gives you a sad smirk. "Come on, dude, really? I've barely known you for a week and we end up having sex when I'm drunk. If that doesn't scream 'absolute train wreck; avoid at all costs' I don't know what else would." Vinyl shakes her head and looks down to the floor. "Or, whatever we did last night anyway. You don't play checkers with both players pants pulled down, I know that for sure," she says with a little nod towards your crumpled up slacks underneath the sheets.

"Well, it was just a blowjob..." Vinyl crosses her arms and looks out the window. "...not that it makes much of a difference I guess..." You purse your lips as you search your brain for something encouraging to say. At least, you do while you fish around the sheets to get your pants back up to your hips. "Vinyl, if things went sour in the past because of things like this... well, I don't want you to have to worry about that anymore. Maybe this was a little fast, but I... it's not like I'd not want you around anymore."

She gives you a sad, little smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, but we both know nobody would ever come right out and say it."

You finally roll over out of the sheets and onto your stiff legs. "Maybe not. I don't want you to go anywhere though. In fact, I've got something I want to do today, that is if you're not too bummed out already."

"If you say so... so what is it?"

"Well, when's the last time you've been out of the city?"

"Uh, honestly? I'm not sure when the last time I've even seen a tree was."

You let out a little laugh of your own. "Exactly. I was thinking maybe a little fresh air outside of this urban hellscape, just you and me."

Her expression refuses to lift as you give her an excited smile. She lets herself fall backwards with a frustrated huff, throwing the loose sheets up at all the corners of the bed and sending a harsh creak through the unstable metal frame. "Do you really think this is going to go anywhere?"

"Well last time I checked there weren't any wheels on the bed, so barring a sudden break-in for my mattress I doubt it."

Vinyl lets out a strained chuckle in an odd cadence before slapping her hands onto her forehead and wiping them down. "God, I never thought I'd meet someone as sarcastic as me..."

"I do my best."

She rolls over onto her stomach and then looks up to you, a desperate worry in her eyes that wiped the smile from your fast. "I mean you and me. Do you really think we're going to do anything with our lives?"

"I thought you were the world's greatest DJ?" you ask her as you sit down beside her, in only a halfway sarcastic tone this time.

"Dude, the most cheers I've ever gotten from a crowd is when I played the Cha Cha Slide at a roller rink and an automated PA system could do that," she says, letting her head fall into the sheets in a groan of disappointment, letting her electric blue hair spill out across the creases.

"We've all got to start somewhere, Vinyl."

"I've been starting for like four years now," she says, not bothering to even lift her head up anymore, only barely twisting it to the side so her voice isn't a muffled mess. "Seems like the more I try the more I fall behind. I should probably just accept my fate and become a stripper or a secretary or something."

You raise an eyebrow and almost laugh. "That's a strange combination of choices, Vinyl." She doesn't seem to share your sense of humor for the moment. You purse your lips at your suddenly depressed friend and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Look, don't ask me how but I have heard some of your music and honestly I really enjoyed it."

At that she perks up onto her elbows and gives you a puzzled stare. "What? How?"

"...I just said don't—nevermind. Look, you're not a bad musician, Vinyl, I think you might've just had a tough break for a while. If you want what I really think, I think you're going to end up rich and famous with millions of fans if you keep working at it. You know, kind of like you though a couple of days ago."

"And what about you?"

You take in a deep breath and look away for a moment, you expression quickly turning somber. "I doubt I've got anything that exciting in the wings."

"No, I mean... uh, you know... I don't want you to..." she stammers out, looking back down towards the sheets.

"What?"

Vinyl shakes her head for a moment, letting her wild hair cut through the air. "Eh, don't worry about it. I think the hangover is messing with my head and honestly it's kind of weird for a guy to actually want to talk about my feelings the morning after."

"Huh... now that you say it, this does seem kind of gay, doesn't it?"

Finally her lips curl up into a smile as she lets out a chuckle to accompany the rolling of her eyes. "I didn't realize you were 14."

You give her your best warm, compassionate grin in return. "So, how about a road trip then? Just me and you and a cheap tent. Sound like fun?"

"You know, it actually really does. It'd be nice to not suffocate on a mouthful of smog every time I walk outside."

You get up off the bed and stretch your back out for a moment. "Exactly what I was thinking. Now help me get some of these things packed so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

"Wow, that quick, huh? What was your plan if I said no?" she asks as she pushes herself up off of the bed as well.

You swing around and open the closet door, your eyes scanning around the mess at the bottom for the supplies you expect you'll need. "Honestly? I was probably going to pout until you said yes anyway."

"Well I'm glad we sorted things out before it came to that," she says as she slides up next to you, giving your hips a playful bump with hers.

"You and me both. Now help me take some of this stuff out to the car so we can get going." A torn heap of a tent bag emerges from the junk at the bottom of your closet—torn and tattered from being put back in the bag one too many times. You slide it over to Vinyl as you lean down to find a sleeping bag somewhere. Vinyl taps it with her foot before grabbing one arm with another as an awkward blush forms up on her face.

"You know... I actually got you a gift yesterday while you were out."

You perk your head up from the mess of clothes and papers. "Oh?"

The sun beats down on the long stretch of highway, the warped air from the city heat finally a thing of the past as you stare down the lonesome road. Trees surround you on either side and wash the memory of the dull grays of the city concrete with vibrant greens instead. A cooler in the back seat rumbles over a slight bump, the ice inside settling around your fresh drinks for the night. The dull hum of your tires is only drowned out by the music pouring out of your dismantled tape deck. Vinyl somehow managed to tear out some wires to be able to hook up her phone, though you were told not to touch any of them if you valued unburnt fingers.

A relaxing tune from the clear tone of a guitar fills the car, with the distinct singing style that tells you this song is straight out of the 70s; a feeling reminiscent of the kind of lackadaisical 80s movie that would have a road trip in the first place. You look over at Vinyl as she taps her foot and sings the words with a bright smile on her face.

You flip out your phone while she's not paying attention and sort through your emails. You let out a sigh at the continuous stream of rejections and put it back in the cup holder—not everyone had responded yet, so at least there's still a chance. You glance back over to Vinyl and smile. She didn't have a care in the world as she looked out the window and sang along. A warm, fuzziness grows in your stomach at the sight of her and you looked up to the sky and sent out a wish that someone would shoot you an actually positive email you could show her. Hopefully soon.

You lean over and nudge her with an elbow. "Certainly didn't expect you to like dad rock."

Your voice snaps her out of her vocal reverie and she looks at you with a raised eyebrow and a stern glare. "I'll have you know a good musician can appreciate all kinds of music."

"Well I'll make sure to pick you up some bell-bottom jeans and a tie-dye shirt as soon as I can so you can relive the glory days again."

Vinyl shakes her head. "Oh, don't act like I wouldn't look amazing in them. I think you're just jealous you can't pull off a plaid blazer."

You shake your fist in the air. "Dang, you figured me out."

Vinyl lets off a chuckle before going back to her phone to check what the next song is. An uncomfortable stillness fills the air without her voice and your mind can't help but think back to last night. You grip at the wheel as a nervousness forms in your gut.

"Did you mean what you said last night?" you manage to get out.

"Dude I don't even remember anything after like five," she says without looking up from her phone.

"You said you liked me."

Vinyl goes stiff and a soft blush forms up on her cheeks. She fidgets in her chair for a moment before finally taking in a deep breath to answer. "I mean... yeah I think you're pretty cool." The stillness quickly returns and Vinyl's eyes look around the car awkwardly. "Did you, uh... did you say you liked me too?"

"Yeah..."

She clears her throat and looks out the window, tapping her fingers against her chin and shooting the occasional glance over to you. "Was it... well, like like?"

"I think so. Do you..."

"Like like you?"

"Yeah..."

Vinyl fidgets in her seat again for a moment before finally looking down the floor. "Yeah, I guess so." An awkward moment hangs in the air as nothing but Fleetwood Mac resonates throughout the car. You both spare a few glances at each other, but can't keep eye contact for long. You want to hug her and express the relief and excitement of fireworks going off in your torso, but just let off a little, relieved grin instead. Vinyl puts a hand to her forehead and shakes her head, letting off a little laugh. "Man, we really are basically fourteen, aren't we?"

"Better than being 12, right? We get to be in high school."

Vinyl lets out a sigh. "Honestly I don't miss all the acne, the awkward braces, and being horny all the time."

"Well being horny can have its benefits," you say, trying to ignore the butterflies churning away at your stomach and the giddiness growing inside you.

Vinyl lets out another quick laugh. "Oh yeah, I'm sure you'd enjoy that..." she says before looking down at her lap, her blush growing darker by the minute. "So, this is kind of a date, huh?"

You take one of your hands off of the wheel to rub the back of your neck. "I mean yeah, if you want it to be."

"And that'd mean we're together now, huh?" she says, finally looking back over to you.

"Should we update our MyStable pages?"

Vinyl closes her eyes for a quick giggle and looks away. You hear the soft click of her seat belt unbuckling and her rustling around in her seat before the feeling of her hand timidly landing on your shoulder appears. "I guess we should," she whispers in your ear before wrapping both of her arms around your shoulders and giving you a warm embrace.

A lump forms in your throat at the feeling of her being so close. She lingers for just a moment, nuzzling her head against yours in an almost grateful gesture. Vinyl squeezes you tightly for another moment before leaning back and planting a soft kiss against your cheek. She slips back into her seat, the blush even brighter on her face. "So, uh... feel like a freshman again yet?" she asks, awkwardly twirling her hair between her fingers.

"Getting there... though we still need the silly note passing and giving each other handies underneath the bleachers," you say, rubbing your cheek with a gentle fondness.

Vinyl clears her throat again and shifts around in her seat. "You know, I'm pretty sure you get put on the sex offender list for things like that now. Besides, you need to buy me dinner before we get to that," she says, doing her best to keep up her playful tone through her blushing. Her arms are crossed over her chest and her legs are crossed as she faces out the window, her old converse fidgeting around at the end of her leg.

"It probably would be a good idea to stop and get something to eat before too long. Let's see what we can find before things get a little too awkward in here."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea."

The trees somehow grew much taller over the last hour of your trip, with great pine trees stretching into the sky all around you and poking up at the sun as it slowly slides towards the west. With the creak of your rusty door you step out onto a massive gravel pit sprawling out of the country truck stop in place of a parking lot. It's odd not seeing the ever-present sea of concrete of the city, but judging by the haphazard parking of the half-dozen other cars parked out here you don't imagine anyone around here cares much for those restrictions.

"We sure ain't in Kansas anymore," Vinyl mentions as she steps out of her side. She puts a hand on her brow, blocking the beating sun as she surveys the area.

"Ready to adopt your new cowgirl persona yet?" You say as you cross in front of the hood to walk side by side.

"I think I'll leave that to Applejack, wherever she ended up. Besides, I hate boots; my ankles get way too sweaty way too easily."

"You know, I'm not sure I was ready to know that much about you just yet."

She knocks your arm with a playful punch. "Well you agreed to go out with me so you better get ready for a lot more of that."

"So it's a war, then," you say as you push open the glass door to reveal the dusty inside of the truck stop.

Vinyl stops to take a look around the dilapidated wooden interior. "Don't know if I want to get into all that. So what do we need?"

You scratch your head as you look across the aisles of random junk. The place was one part antique store, one part gas station, and one part souvenir shop and none of it looks like it had been updated or even dusted since the seventies. "Well, we need some snacks and food for the night and tomorrow, something to start a fire with, some bug spray, and another sleeping bag if you can find it."

"I'm not really sure if I'm up for a scavenger hunt in all this," she says looking across the seemingly endless aisles of junk. She lets out a reluctant sigh and snags a plastic basket from beside the cashier's counter, the girl working it not even bothering to look up from her magazine to acknowledge the two of you. "How about some hide and seek? Whoever finds the other first has to cook the other's s'mores and hotdogs. Readysetgo." Vinyl's off before you can even utter a word.

You roll your eyes with a smile and pick out a basket of your own. You crane your neck up and around the endless shelves of knick-knacks and home-made candy to see if you can spot that electric blue mop of hers, but to no avail. It'd probably be easier to find loose change in the gravel pit outside at this point, so you resign to trying to cross off some of the items on your list.

You make your way down some of the aisles, scratching your head yet again and the unconventional item placement and the odd choice of stock; there are all kinds of random statues of aliens and eagles and anything else someone could think to make, decorative mugs, strange belt buckles, wind chimes, and even an assortment of taxidermy reptiles. In between all the junk you occasionally find an aisle of snacks or candy to drop in your cart.

In the deepest recesses of the store you run into a stand where you can scoop out your own candy, and beside the colorful bins is an aisle full of camping supplies. You let out a laugh to yourself as you scan the tents, tools, and sleeping bags, wondering which color you could tease Vinyl over the most.

Before you can make your final decision, something tiny bounces off the back of your head and lets off a soft pat as it lands to the ground. You look down to see a little piece of wrapped chocolate clattering around, then up and over to see the purple-eyed perpetrator grinning at you from behind the candy stand. Her eyes trail up to the ceiling with an innocent whistle, so you take the opportunity to grab an errant peppermint out of one of the bins and give it a generous lick while she's not paying attention. As her head is turned you flick the hard candy into her hair, this one refusing to clatter to the ground as it bounces against her blue locks.

Vinyl turns around and grabs the back of her head, wincing as she yanked at the peppermint. She gasped in a bit of faux outraged and narrowed her eyes at you. "Oh... it is on," she says letting her basket fall to the ground as she jumps back to the candy cart to grab some ammo. You duck behind the other side and do the same before you can fall victim to another attack.

You dip your hands into a bin of candy corn and grab something for your own self-defense as well. Before you can even properly contain it in your hands Vinyl begins her assault and pelts you with little bits of chocolate. You let out a grunt and send a spray of candy corn her way to repel her advances. Vinyl flinches, giving you enough time to find cover as she spits out chocolate like a machine gun at the shelf you managed to hide behind. Little clangs resound off of the metal shelf as she pelts it and you wait patiently for your chance. As soon as you sense the silence you take your chance and run out, flinging candy at her like there's no tomorrow.

Vinyl hops around, trying to avoid your assault as chocolate spills out of her hands; a satisfied smile crosses your face at the successful attrition tactics. Vinyl doesn't hesitate though, and hops back to the candy cart for more ammo before you get her to give in. You do the same, but before you realize what's happening a rain of gummy worms plummets down on you like artillery, getting all over your head and down your shirt. As you wiggle around trying to get away from the strange feeling, your hand shoots into the peppermints and pops a few of them in your mouth. You rear back for your final assault as you spit them out and find Vinyl on the other side weighing her options.

She doesn't stand a chance. You fling them at her with your best accuracy, landing sticky hits that leave their marks all over her skin and clothes.

"Ah! Okay, Okay! I give!" she shouts with a bright smile on her face as she brings her hands up for a defense. You pause with your arm raised, ready for another throw. "Chill with the secret weapon, dude."

"Hey, you started this war."

Vinyl shakes her head. "And now I admit defeat. You better lick these things off of me."

"I thought I had to buy you dinner first," you ask as you lower your arm and pop the remaining ammo into your mouth to actually eat.

Vinyl pulls one off of her tank top, a healthy amount of lint sticking to the other side."I think I'll make an exception this one time."

You stick a few fingers in your mouth to wet your hand and use the saliva to encourage the peppermints to leave Vinyl's hair and clothes. Your cheeks warm up as your hands brush past her skin—being this close to her is enough to make your stomach flutter. She clears her throat once or twice, the blush apparent on her face as well. Vinyl breaks the silence by reaching back to one of the shelves and placing a ridiculous-looking cowboy hat on top of your head.

"You ready to adopt your cowboy persona now that we're out here?" she asks with a cock of her hips, shooting your own line back at you.

You take the cap off and look at it for a moment. "I don't know if it'd be possible to look more ridiculous."

"Dude you didn't see all the weird hats and glasses I saw on the way over here. I'd bet I could be like twenty times more ridiculous than that."

"That I have to see. You're on. Let's see it," you say, ushering your now-girlfriend out with a wave of your hand.

She drags you over to the aisle in question; it was like some sort of weird hat convention—hundreds of weird colors, combinations, shapes, and sizes all culminated into the most unusual collection of hats, glasses, and accessories you've ever seen. You know instantly that you're about to lose that bet—thankfully you didn't actually bet on anything. Before you know what happened Vinyl is already a leopard-print hat with a fluffy purple scarf, spinning around to model the combination.

"How do I look?" she asks, putting out her lips in the traditional basic bitch selfie pose.

"I'd say you look at least... nineteen times as ridiculous."

She shoots a playful glare at you. "Well, I guess I'll just have to try harder. Come on, I want to see you in some of this too."

The sun creeps away from the center of the sky as you and Vinyl explore the strange world of off-brand clothing and custom knick-knacks. Your phone fills up with selfies of the two of you in every silly combination either of you could think of, creating a rainbow of photos in your gallery with all the weird options. You both create an intense racket and an even worse mess as you haphazardly throw the things back on the shelves, though judging by where you found them you probably aren't the first. You make your way through the store trying to one-up each other for what must've been a few hours, but the girl at the front counter couldn't care less as she flips through her magazine so you basically had free reign.

By the time you finally get what you need and head back to the counter with your baskets full, your sides and cheeks are thoroughly sore from smiling and laughing and both of your phones are filled to the brim with memories of your escapade. You set the baskets full of your snacks on the counter and watch as the girl reaches in to scan them without a word.

"Yeah, I'm going to need a nap after all that," Vinyl says, putting her hands behind her head and stretching out. "I'm just glad I've got a slave to cook my hotdogs for me." Her hips knock against yours with a playful smile.

"Huh?"

"I found you first, remember? The challenge of hide and seek is a binding oath punishable by death, so you're roasting everything tonight."

You roll your eyes. "Right, well..." you look around for something to get back at her and spot a pair of funky purple sunglasses on a rack. You swipe them off and push them up on her nose to properly fit. "Now you look like an alien."

"Oh, the horror," she says as she finishes her stretch. Vinyl peaks in the mirror to see how the thick black rims holding the slanted violet lenses looked on her. "Hey, I had a pair just like this in high school."

"Really?"

Vinyl tilts her head. "Yeah... always had them on when I was performing. Ended up breaking them at one point headbanging a little too hard."

"Well, put them in the basket. That entire rack is only five dollars."

A bright smile adorns her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. Gotta have your look back for when you get famous, right?"

Vinyl's smile turns from excited into a warm fondness as she places the glasses down and looks at you. "Yeah... thanks, dude."

"Will that be all?" the blonde cashier says in a flat tone without even bothering to look at either of you. Everything is stuffed into a few plastic bags all the sudden you can't help but feel like you forgot something.

"Yeah, that's everything. Just keep the change," you say, throwing down some cash onto the table for her.

"Oh, and here's for whoever cleans up," Vinyl says, putting down a ten dollar bill as well. Considering your candy catastrophe that's probably appropriate.

The two of you load up on the plastic bags and finally make your way out of the store. The sun had disappeared behind the trees and threatened to bring on the evening a little faster than you'd hoped.

"Damn, we spent plenty of time in there, huh?" she asks, craning her neck around the store to see where the sun is hiding

"The campsite isn't too far from here," you say while you slide your key into the backdoor to offload everything. "We should be able to watch the sunset if we break the law a little bit."

Vinyl lets out a quick laugh. "What kind of adventure would it be otherwise?"

"A boring one, probably."

Vinyl sets all of her bags next to the cooler in the backseat, then before you can get away she wraps her arms around your midsection and holds you tight. "This has been a pretty good first date," she whispers into your chest.

You stiffen up at the sudden gesture, but the wonderful feeling of her being so close is enough to make you want to put your arms around her and give her a gentle squeeze. "I do my best."

"Thank you," she says, looking up at you with a soft, loving gaze. She leans up on her toes and plants a quick kiss on your lips.

You have to blink a few times in confusion as she darts out of the hug and towards the passenger's seat. Your hand comes up to your lips to feel the sudden wetness against them. You could hardly feel anything it happened so quickly, but you can't help but grin like a madman, stretching out your already sore cheek muscles.

"Now come on already, dude. I want some s'mores and you can't open your gift until we get there," she says, closing the car door behind her before things could manage to get awkward.

"Sounds like a plan..." With a bright smile on your face and excitement gripping at your stomach, you walk around to your side, ready for your first wonderful night with your new girlfriend.