Mansfield

When Arabella opened her eyes again, it was because the sun had reached above the buildings and shone through the windshield. In her sleep she had accidentally slipped so her head was resting on Ian's shoulder. She jumped up suddenly and checked the back seat. Pepper was sitting behind her fast asleep. She decided to people watch untill the others woke up. She made up stories of their lives that were probably wrong.

Nile noticed Arabella's wakening and smiled kindly. "Evening, sleepy head" he grinned, casting a quick glance at Pepper, shaking his head slightly. He watched Ian drive along an abandoned street, it was like a ghost town and the whole concept made him feel weirdly uneasy. Stifling a yawn, he rested his head against his arm and stared at Arabella curiously, his face un-readable.

Ian glanced at Arabella. She was so cute when she slept. She startled him when she suddenly jumped, he almost drove off the rode. "Evening, sleepy head" he heard Nile say. "Yeah, I see you slept well. How's are friend Pepper sleeping?" he asked as he drove along the street. It was about 7:00 when he saw a car pull up behind them, so, nervous, he started driving around town until they could figure out what to do.

He drove down an abandoned road when he saw an old parking garage. He made the left, pulled into a parking spot and waited until everyone woke up so they could figure out what was next.

After nodding in thanks for his help, the singer climbed into the vehicle after him. She didn't really remember falling asleep, but it had happened. Pepper woke up slowly, falling asleep every so often. She wasn't fully awake, for her eyes kept drooping and opening repeatedly. Finally she let out a quiet yawn and gazed out the window, straining to remember where she was.

Arabella glanced around. "Where are we, Ian?" She panicked for a second, she had been expecting the park. The place was old and abandoned. "Hey, Pepper's here!" She said gleefully and she smiled. She looked around for any car that might have money in it, she could get in and take whatever was in it. But there were no cars around and so she wasn't resorting to theft. "So.. What's today's agenda?" She asked the group.

"Where are we? I have no fucking clue. In a parking garage." He said laughing. "I suggest we find another gig so we can get some cash, then maybe find a more permanent place to stay." he suggested, turning off the car. "Christ is it cold man." he said rubbing his calloused hands together. "What do you guys think?" he asked.

Arabella looked up at him. She hadn't had a semi-permanent place to stay in YEARS. "Like an appartment or something? How will we get all the money for that?" She opened up her pockets and counted the money she got from the Mustang earlier. She barely had anything. She checked her bag and only found her notebook and a pen.

"I still have a good amount of cash" Ian said. "At least enough to get us by for a little while...but I suggest we find another place to gig tonight if we want to have any hope of getting a steady income..." he continued. "I know of a bar that might be hiring. It's kind of a hole, and the crowd is kinda rough, but it's a gig right?" he said to no one in particular. "What do you guys think?" He asked.

Arabella shrugged. "How rough of a crowd?" The crowd from the night before was plenty rough enough. "You guys may be able to protect yourself and Pepper, too. But if it's a bunch of big, drunk guys running around looking for some willing girl..." She shivered at the thought. "Plus I'm not old enough to work in a bar!"

"They're fairly rough, but it's the only place I know of, and I can protect you two. Don't worry, I can take a hit..and a knife" Ian said smiling "I'm only 18 too, but these guys won't care. The only is usually drunk or high of something most of the time anyhow." he explained. He turned the car on. "Let's talk about this over breakfast. I know a place." Ian drove out of the parking garage and back towards the inner city. He pulled up to a small, but nice building, complete with chairs and tables on the outside for sitting and eating. "This is the place, I know the owner's daughter well." Ian said as he got out of the car.

The group walked in, and a cute, but odd looking blond girl smiled at them. "Ian! I haven't seen you for a month! I see you've brought your friends..." she said with a perky voice. "I know, it's been too long. Everyone, this is Jenna. Jenna this is Nile, Arabella, and Pepper." he said pointing to each. "Great to meet you guys! Well what can I get you guys?" she asked, grabbing a notepad and pen from behind the counter. "I'll just take a bagel with butter." Ian told her. "What about you guys? It's on me."

Arabella smiled at the girl. "Hi Jenna, I'll have the same as Ian." She looked up at him. "Are you sure? I can pay for it." She started reaching into her bag, searching for some money.

"Nope. I got it. Save it for when I run out." he said, lightly grabbing her arm.

"So Ian, how've you been hun?" Jenna asked. "Not bad, not bad. Yourself?" he replied. "Same shit different day. You still looking for a place to stay hun?" she asked as she got both bagels ready. Ian nodded. "We all are actually. Do you know of a place?" he asked, leaning on the counter. "I do actually. It's a bit of a shithole actually, but it's cheap and comes with utilities. Are you interested? I can give you the number." Ian looked at everyone and shrugged. "Can't hurt right? What is it?" he asked. He grabbed a napkin and scribbled the number down. "Ask for Johnnie. Tell him you're a friend of mine." she told him. "Well, here are your bagels, what else can I get you guys?" she asked, setting two plates with fresh bagels down in front of Ian and Arabella.

Arabella smiled, "Thanks a ton, Ian." She watched as he wrote down the number, it sounded very familiar. "You said his name was Johnnie?" She asked Jenna as she set down the really good looking bagels. "Thanks," She said. She tried not to look like a pig as she ate the bagel quickly. "Delicious," SHe muttered, between bites. The bagel tasted so good after not eating for a while. "Do you think we can afford it on this gig only?"

"Yep Johnnie." she responded. "Also, here take a few more, on me, just in case your friends want some." she handed Ian two dozen bagels. "Thanks so much! You don't know how much that means!" Ian told her. "Just come and visit me more often." she said with a smile and wink. Ian smiled back before he looked at Arabella and responded to her question. "I think we could do the rent for this month at least, then we'll need to find a place where we can play steady shows. We should all probably get day jobs too, so we should start looking as soon as we check out the place." Ian said, scarfing his bagel down.

They all walked back to the car, and made there way over towards the bar.

Arabella bit her lip nervously, "I agree about the day jobs... but" She really hated her excuse, but she wanted to help so bad! "I can't get one. I have no I.D. and since i'm only 16... it would be diffficult. But I can find a way of getting my share of the money somehow." She didn't like her methods, but pickpocketing was something you could do easily if you were as small as her.

"I'm too young to work in a bar too, but the owner's is usually too drunk to care in the slightest." Ian said pulling in front of the bar. "Well, just get money any way you can and we'll be okay." he told her, after considering what she said. He had no doubt she would. "Alrighty, guess we should meet our new soon-to-be-boss." Ian told everyone, getting out of the car and walking towards the building.

Arabella hopped out and stood behind Ian, half-concealing her body. "A job's a job I guess." She looked at the bar. It didn't look too shabby. The paint was peeling and the door looked like it was about to come off it's hinges. As they approached the door, Arabella tripped on the curb. She caught herself before she fell. "Does he know we're coming?" She asked, hoping no one saw her clumsiness. She was always clumsy and hated it.

"No, but he won't mind. He's a very chilled guy" Ian said, walking toward the door. He pushed it opened and looked around. It was almost empty due to the time, but as usual, there was the owner, Mark, drinking a beer behind the counter. "Hi Mark" Ian said as he walked up to him, holding out his hand. Mark shook hands with him, but had an odd look on his face. "Do I know you?" he asked. "Yeah, Ian. I came here awhile back, I'm in the band." Ian said hopefully. "Oh yes! How could I forget? Right?" he answered. It was obvious he had no idea who he was talking to.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you needed anyone to play tonight or in the near future? My band's looking for gigs." Ian asked expectantly. "Yeah sure, we always want live music. You can play tonight." Mark said, filling up his glass with another beer. "And who's this little thing?" Mark asked, looking at Arabella. "Her name is Arabella." Ian told him, half shielding her with his body. "Ah, well I'm Mark, nice to meet you." he told her, winking. "Well, I'll see you tonight. What time?" Ian said, backing up, pushing Arabella out with his back. "Start playing at 9:30. You can come at any time." Mark told him, staring at his glass. "Sounds good, bye" Ian said quickly as he opened the door and went back to the car.

Arabella made a cute face when she was introduced, trying to be as nice as possible. But then the man winked and she stood completely behind Ian, shielding herself from Mark. She made a disgusted face when she was finally out of the bar. She jumped in the car as quick as she could, hoping to avoid anymore confrontation with the other man. When she was safe in the confines of the subaru she began to breathe again. "I'm not sure if I like Mark."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I do either...but I wouldn't worry about him." Ian told her. "And I'll protect you of course." Ian said with a big smile and chuckle. "Well, we got some time to kill before we play tonight, where shall we go gang?"

Arabella smiled back at him. "Thanks!" She then contemplated where it was that they could spend the time. "We could go and check out the new crib?" She laughed.

"That sounds good to me..." Ian said, walking towards the car. "But you drive, I'm gunna take a little nap." Ian told her, tossing the keys and getting the passenger side door. "Here's the address. Do you know the street?" Ian asked, pulling a piece of paper out of his back pocket.

Arabella looked at the address, her fears confirmed. "Yeah, I know it pretty well." She hopped in the car, driving well under the speed limit so she wouldn't get pulled over. She watched as the numbers changed untill she was in front of the cursed apartment building. She looked at her friends and saw that they were all asleep, so she took advantage of it. She slid out of the car and into the dirty building. She knew the rugs in it were supposed to be tan and that the walls were supposed to be beige. She knew that wouldn't be the case and that they would be the same brown color.

She pushed through the front door and into an empty welcoming room save for a front desk. On it was a bell which she rung for the man to come. He staggered in and she knew he was probably high. He always was. His eyes widened when he saw Arabella.

"Are! I knew you'd be back!" He practically jumped over the desk to give her a hug. She held her breath so that she didn't smell him. She failed miserably and the smell of various smokes made her head light.

"Listen Johnnie, I'm not back for you. My friends and I are looking for a place to stay and a girl named Jenna recommended you." She stepped away from the hug and averted her eyes away from his bloodshot eyes. He normally cleaned up better and he could be quite handsome.

"Aw, Are. C'mon you know it was for me." He lifted her chin up with one finger. "I helped you out." She knew the second part was true. He had helped her when she had first run away. He gave her a place to stay and taught her many ways to stay alive. None of them were legal. She shook her head, keeping the memories way in he depths of her head.

"No, I'm here for my friends. We can pay for it." He lifted an eyebrow. "With money." He nodded and pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. No matter how much she struggled she couldn't get away. She almost wanted to be in his arms, but the memories of him before made her want to get out and run as far away as she could. But they needed a place to stay. "Get off." She ordered. He noticed the sharp edge in her tone but that made him enjoy the game more.

Ian walked in to find Arabella pushing a man off of her. "Is there a problem here?" he asked walking up to the man's face. Ian towered over the guy, presumably Johnnie, and got in between he and Arabella.

Arabella stood back and brushed off herself. She was smiling while Johnnie was frowning. She lifted up her hand and she was holding a single key.
"I always liked this room." She said flicking the key so that it jangled on the ring. Johnnie's jaw dropped when he realized he'd been pickpocketed.