Sweet Empathism { aka, Scott Landes Project}

This is nicknamed "The Scott Landes Project" because his music {Mindcube} is what created the characters, setting, conflict, and plot for this story. I met him, and now we are planning to bounce back music and writing indefintely.

Playlist:

http://www.myspace.com/mindcubetunes

 

 

When Angela came into class, the day after the accident, with a black eye, slight limp, and a long bandage crawling up her left arm that was shocking revealed to all, all eyes turned to David, who was in almost every one of Angela’s classes. He looked up with a smile that instantly turned into shock. Standing up faster then anyone could think possible; he gently closed his hand around the uninjured arm and pulled her into the hall. The class went silent, waiting to see if David would finally reveal to the world that he was not some sweet thing that was always watching out for little Angela, but the aggressive monster the military would eventually turn him into.

            Fast mumbled voices filtered in through the door way, followed by the loud familiar sound of a locker door being slammed shut. Only it sounded like the door was already shut and something else had hit the door; David’s fist. Around the class, smiles and eyebrow waggles were exchanged. Then, David walked in with a sad look on his face and Angela limped in behind him. As they sat down, Angela right in front of David, the teacher, Mr. York, walked in. He took a double take at Angela and raised his eyebrows at David.

            “Well, Mr. Ingels, seems like you can’t be everywhere at once.”

            David’s hand slowly curled into a fist and Angela’s cheeks turned an attractive pink. Unannounced to everyone in the class except for Angela, David had been visiting his comatose father in the hospital and Angela had been walking home when she had been hit by a car. She had been taken to the same hospital as David’s father was in, but David had just left when she came in. That had been yesterday. David normally left Angela to her own devices on Sunday’s because that was the day she spent with her Godfather in the cemetery where her parents were buried. Yesterday, her Godfather had been called into work unexpected and Angela had decided to walk to the cemetery and had been hit by a drunk driver on her way home.

            Even though Angela had explained it to David out in the hall, no one else knew what had happened. Everyone knew that Angela was a sweet girl, too innocent for a seventeen year old. Everyone saw how sweet David was, but he was military, so he had to be just pretending that he was sweet.

            Mr. York looked at Angela for a long moment, took in David’s fist at a glance, scrutinized his nose and got the class started.

 

            “Okay, from now on, I’m insisting to be around you 24/7.” David was driving Angela home like he normally did. Angela was scratching at her bandage and being her normal self in an un-awkward silence. “You hear me? 24/7. Until your arm is healed to nothing more then a scar, I am not leaving your side.”

            “Father is not going to like that. I mean, a girl has to shower privately sometime in her life.”

            David rolled his eyes, “Okay, 23.5/7. You get half an hour a day to tend to your secret feminine needs that I don’t want to know about.”

            They went silent for a few moments, but it was a silence they both enjoyed and found comfort in. Angela had never been one for talk and as much as David wanted to be in the military, he found Angela’s presence a soothing alternative to military training.

            “Do you have a concert this weekend?” Angela whispered.

            David’s hand reached across and touched her injured arm. She winced and a small sad smile flashed across David’s face. “I do, but I’m not sure if I want you to go with your arm like that.” He glanced down at it, “How long is that supposed to take to heal, anyway? Three weeks, min?”

            “I’m not some fragile thing that is going to be tramped by idiots at a heavy metal, head banging, Mohawk hairstyle, and bass pounding concert, David Ingels, and you better remember that.”

 

            David had mentioned to Angela that the venue that his band was playing at had a strange policy of letting people get in free before a certain time and made everyone pay later if they left. Hours before David’s band had to play, Angela had pulled on her favorite black ensemble that David’s band loved, and had gotten a ride from her Godfather. He had dropped her off with his usual warnings about talking to older men and a quick reassurance from David that she would be alright.

            Angela had noticed a store she wanted to check out before heading into the small café where the concert was being held, and had told David where she would be. Cut between the loyalties of keeping her safe and having to stay with his band, the fact that Angela pulled out her cell phone and told him to call her the second she left his sight, made him turn around reluctantly to go back into the café.

            The store was a mixture of a hippie clothing store and vegan food store. Angela found some ingredients she had been looking for to use in some new vegan recipes she had come across and while talking to David with rushed enthusiasm, explained yet again her story about becoming a vegan.

            When Angela had been younger, about ten, her parents had died in a plane accident. She had been taken in by her Godfather, who was an avid meat lover. Angela had been slightly disgusted, and after reading some books about meat, vegetarian, and vegan diets, had become a vegan. When she had gotten older and had learned how to use a stove top, she had started making up her own recipes using leftovers and vegetables. It was also around the time of her parent’s death that she had started wearing tattered thrift store clothes. She preferred long skirts and baggy long sleeved turtlenecks. She had found a short black skirt and peasant top that she wore to David’s concerts.

            Just as Angela was about to head through the door into the café, someone taller and older then her barreled through the door and nearly knocked her over. Holding her injured arm to her chest and trying to force the pain to reduce to a mild throbbing, she looked up to see yet another person come barreling through the door.

            “Calen! Calen Dosstt! Rejection and you don’t do so well.” The second man reached Calen and pulled him around. Calen’s dark eyes pierced Angela’s heart, even though he wasn’t looking at her. Thinking that this wasn’t the type of conversation that she would want to interrupt with her mere presence, she backed herself into the shadows around the café and proceeded to watch the two older men argue.

            “You know what, Lee, I don’t care that I just got rejected.” Calen licked his lips, “just means I have to try harder.” He pushed past Lee and started to go into the café. Angela moved backward and Calen stopped. He looked down at her and with a confused and disgusted face, nodded his head, “What do you want?”

            Angela froze. In the faint light coming from the café, Calen’s eyes glowed a dark brown; the same shade as hers in sunlight.

            “Angela! There you are.” David to the rescue. He was leaning out the door of the café and giving her a big smile. “Come on, sweetheart, you have four minutes left before you have to pay to get in.” He reached in front of Calen to let his hand tenderly curl around her right arm and pull her into the café.

As usual with all of David’s performances, his band was set up to go last. David led Angela over to where the rest of his band was sitting in a corner and Angela knew the second they saw her.

“Angel cakes!”

“Baby brown eyed angel!”

“Our sweet heavenly treat!”

Angela blushed. The only people who had the guts to call her nicknames and get away from it were David’s band. Warren Madsen was the drummer and had requested that Angela make all of his birthday cakes since he had met her and tasted her cooking, thus he called her “Angel cakes”. Henry Utley was a recent addition of vocals and had noticed Angela’s unique brown eyes; they turned blood red in low lighting and honey golden in anything brighter then sunlight, so Henry always had a comment about Angela’s eyes. Matt Grate had been David’s partner in crime and military for as long as Angela could remember, and was the lead guitarist. He always complained that the next vegan cupcake Angela waved under his nose would make him explode into a fat blob, but still took whatever she placed in front of him; he had yet to gain an ounce.

When David got to Matt, he whispered something in his ear. Matt’s mouth went grim for a split second, but by the time Angela had reached him, it had formed a big grin. He lifted his arms up and pulled Angela down into his lap. Angela felt another blush creep into her cheeks, but didn’t say anything. She liked Matt, thought he was cute, but knew that as long as David was alive, she would never date, so just sat back to enjoy the attention.

Warren bent over to pick up one of Angela’s feet. “Damn, you have feet smaller than a faerie!” He lifted her foot up for the rest of the band to see. Henry glanced over and rolled his eyes. David plucked Angela’s foot out of Warren’s hand and gently placed it back on the floor.

“Come on, she was just hit by a car earlier this week, give her a break.” David sat down next to Matt and leaned back against the wall. Angela relaxed in Matt’s lap and thought how she was going to spend the hour before the band got on stage. Normally, Henry and Matt would get up and walk around during the time before they performed. David ventured wherever Angela wandered and Warren found a comfortable space and wall to beat up with his drumsticks.

Tonight seemed different. Matt’s hands had formed warm shackles around Angela’s wrists and David’s sweet demeanor had been one hundred percent replaced with his military attitude. Warren had yet to touch his drumsticks and Henry was tense.

On stage, Calen, Lee, and two other men were getting their set-up worked out. Angela’s eyes glowed red as they followed every single movement Calen made. Something made her want to jump up on stage and… do something. She had no idea what she wanted to do, but she wanted Calen to notice her. He had to be over ten years older then her, but she didn’t care. His first words to her had been said in a jerkish tone, but she didn’t care.

Matt moved and whispered in her ear. “Calen Dosstt is not someone you want to tango with, angel baby. He’ll chew through you in two bites and come back to gnaw on your bones.”

Angela turned to face Matt and found herself nose to nose with him. She blinked quickly a few times while he went from looking at her eyes to looking down at her lips. He started to move towards her.

“I’m looking for this midget girl named Angela.” Calen was at a mike while the rest of his band finished the set-up. “I ran into her outside, but before I could get the chance to talk to her, this huge guy grabbed her and dragged her in here. So, Angela, if you’re still here, could you come to the front of the stage?”

Both Matt and David swore with such ferocity that Angela backed away from Matt and almost fell out of his lap. Matt’s hands around her wrists grew so tight that they began to cut off circulation, not to mention, put uncomfortable pressure on the cuts that were still healing from the accident. David went stiff as a bored. Henry and Warren looked at Angela and then looked over at Calen. Henry looked like he wanted to shout that Angela was over by him, but didn’t say anything.

At the mike, Calen started to get restless, “Okay, one more time. Is there an Angela in here that I ran into earlier?”

No answer.

Calen stepped back from the mike and picked up a dark black bass guitar. David and Matt both relaxed and Angela felt circulation return to her hands. For now, the presence of difference Calen presented had disappeared.

 

“I can’t believe you’re turning in that favor just so I can keep an eye on the midget.” A woman in her upper thirties was walking with David towards Angela; David’s band was to be up next. “I had been thinking you would be waiting until my death bed before you finally asked me for anything.” The woman towered over Angela who was shocked to see that it was David’s older sister. Maggie had moved from the comforts of Portland down to Las Vegas about five years ago and Angela had only seen her in pictures.

“Mag, this is important. You know Calen. I know Calen. Angela doesn’t. To even think of him having a conversation with her sickens me. It’d be like the roadrunner inviting the coyote to eat it—and then letting it!”

Angela moved off Matt’s lap and went to stand next to David’s side. Feeling her shyness overtake her, she moved behind David and looked at Maggie from under his bicep.

Maggie broke out into a grin and reached behind her brother to pat Angela’s head. “She is so cute! Almost like a sweet little puppy.”

“Careful, she may not seem like she’s biting until there’s a bloody mess. Just look at her eyes.”

David went still. Maggie’s eyes went wide. Angela felt a flicker of recognition.

Matt stood up. “Hello, Calen.”

 

Angela turned to be face to face with Calen. Before she could move her lips, David had dragged her behind him and Matt was in front of Calen, staring him down. “Oh come on, I was just wondering where she got the blood red contacts! I saw them in the light outside and was hoping she could tell me where to get a pair. They are f*****g awesome!” Calen was trying to look around Matt and David, but David had pushed Angela into Maggie’s arms; she was slowly pulling Angela towards the door. “Why won’t any of you let me talk to her?”

Matt’s eyebrows twitched while he answered, “For the simple fact that you swore in front of her. That, and also what you have done to each of us. You used Maggie, destroyed David’s chances of going into law enforcement, and got my little brother landed in jail for twenty years. You tell me, why would I let you near our most vulnerable spot?”

Calen shrugged, “Because we used to be as close as brothers? And brothers share things. So why don’t you share Angela with me so I can get her freaking cool contacts?”

“Hey, we are looking for the band, I Can Bake Macaroni. Will you gentlemen please take the stage?” One of the café’s owners was up on stage.

Maggie had Angela at the door and hesitated for a brief moment. Henry and Warren exchanged looks and started hauling their equipment up on stage. Matt’s hand slowly curled into a fist and he started nodding. Calen saw the fist, scratched his throat, and disappeared into the crowd. Maggie quickly scanned the crowd before relaxing and changed direction to sit Angela at a table close to the stage.

As I can Bake Macaroni set up for their set, Angela leaned onto Maggie’s shoulder. “While, that was the first time something like that has ever happened around me. I did not think Matt or David had it in them to actually swear out loud. Henry maybe…”

Maggie sighed, “Calen could always bring out the worst in David.” She looked down at Angela’s head, “I bet you never knew that Calen and I dated. It was odd, dating someone nearly a decade younger then me, but I thought he was cute and had quite a personality. Has always been an amazing bassist. Was in high demand right after high school. He got together with Lee and the others simply because they paid him the highest. I should have known what he would turn into. I had heard rumors about him, but was too kind to confront him about them. Now, I know what he is like. What he has always been like. He’s one of those people who say they want to change, but no matter what, never will.”

After a moment, Angela moved her head away from Maggie’s shoulder. “What kind of rumors did you hear about him? Which ones of them were true?”

Maggie threw her head back to give a bark of laughter. “Ha, which ones were true? All of them! Calen has never been able to hold onto a girl for any length of time. He grows tired of having the same person with him, so is always out looking for new meat. Age doesn’t matter, he just wants someone who is willing to sleep with him and then leave him. He treats his girls harshly after he sleeps with him if they don’t pack their bags that very evening. He’s gotten violent on more then one occasion.” Maggie pulled down a corner of her shirt to reveal a thin, long scar which ran from her neck to collarbone. “He gave this souvenir to me. He was tuning his bass and I was next to him when the string got so taunt that it snapped. At first I thought it was an accident. Then,” she pulled of the sleeve of the same arm and four similar marks to the one on her neck wrapped around her wrist and continued on her forearm, “All four strings broke at once. I showed David the strings, wondering how all four of them could snap at the same thing. He was able to show me that the strings had been tampered with. I told David about everything that had happened with Calen. David went over to Calen’s house the following day and put many black marks on his record. He had been hoping to go into law enforcement, but after what happened, he knew that he could never do it.”

Both woman glanced over at David, who had just entered into his bass solo that Angela loved to hear. Angela moved closer to Maggie. “What about Matt? He mentioned something about his younger brother. I didn’t know he had a younger brother.”

A sad smile crept up onto Maggie’s face. “Matt’s younger brother, Ty, was just as innocent as you. He enjoyed hanging out with Matt and David during rehearsals. This was all before you entered David’s life. I sometimes came to listen to their rehearsals as well, and on the rare occasion, Calen came with. Calen and Ty grew close, until Calen convinced Ty to start dealing drugs. Ty was caught, thrown in jail, and now Matt lives for revenge. Having you around, it’s like having his innocent brother back.” Maggie tapped a finger on the table. “That is why Matt and David were so protective of keeping you away from Calen. It’s like watching what happened to me and Ty, but in one person. They will both fight to keep you innocent and away from Calen, at all costs.”

Angela put her head on Maggie's shoulder. "Okay, that is something that would anyone hate a single person. What would they do if I willingly talked to Calen? It seems, for the moment, that he's just curious about my eyes. I mean, that if I just told him that I don't wear contacts, that my eyes do the red glow thing naturally, wouldn't he just leave me alone?"

One of Maggie's hands came up to start petting Angela's hair. "That is where you are the innocent victim and he is the lone wolf playing around with little red glowing eyes. Once he finds out that that is your real eye color, he'll make the excuse to ask you about your family history to try to figure out where you got them from, then start wanting to come over to talk to your Godfather about your family history, and before you realize it, he has you trapped and you will be doing things for him. He'll use you and throw you away in less than a week. Don't even think of letting your innocent self get trapped by his charming smile and charismic attitude. He is a wolf and to him, you are a plump chicken ready to be eaten."

"Chicken? I love chicken. My mom makes this wonderful chicken in orange sauce that is amazing."

Both girls startled and turned to look at a charming smile in front of a charismic attitude.

"CALEN DOSSTT, YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM!" David and Matt had stopped in a middle of a song and David had screamed into a mic while Matt was quickly putting his guitar down and looked ready to throw an amp or bass drum in Calen's direction. He stormed off the stage and started heading in Calen's direction, both hands clenched into fists. Henry and Warren looked at each other for a bit before Warren quickly started up a beat and Henry reached down to pick up Matt's guitar. David shoved his bass into Henry's hand before he could touch the guitar and jerked a finger in Warren's direction.

Calen was slowly backing away from Angela and Maggie with his hands in the air. "I didn't touch them. Didn't lay a single finger--F**K!" Matt had gotten to Calen and had suprised everyone with a swift kick to the back of a knee.

"You ever, I sware Calen, you EVER go near Angela again, I will kill you!"

Angela saw an oppertunity and took it. "Mr. Dosstt, I would like to inform you that I do not wear contacts and there are albinos in my family background, hence the red glow in my eyes in certain light. Have a good rest of the evening." She stood up and started heading out the door.

David had reached the small group at that time and reached out to pull Angela to him. He rested his head on top of hers and looked at Calen.

"You have your answer, Calen, and the rest of us are too baised againist you to grant you anything else beyond that. You might want to take your small victory and leave before Matt attempts to break your other knee."

 

Author's Note

If you see a grammer error, TELL ME! Though, this is a first draft, so...