"Important question about art." Bethany said, phone held between her ear and shoulder.
"Ok. Hit me." Emerson responded. Bethany adjusted the sketchbook on her knees and brushed her hair behind her ear. She was squished into the cab of a U-haul truck with Andy.
"Is it wrong to use a ruler when you draw? I've asked a couple people now and I've gotten conflicting answers, but I trust your opinion most so. . ." She couldn't draw buildings. She didn't have the patience for it, but people were different. She could draw people from memory. Places were harder, more lines, less curves, no emotion.
"There is no right or wrong in art. The only limitation is your imagination. If you want straight lines use a ruler, if you don't don't bother. I use a makeshift ruler most of the time because I can't draw a straight line for shit. Don't let other people define your art. Your art should reflect you. And if you need a ruler so be it." Bethany smiled.
"Sure, sure. But does that apply when you draw people?"
"It applies to all art. Whether it be drawing or writing, poetry or music or anything else."
"Thanks, Louise." She giggled a bit at Andy's confused face.
"I'm gonna start calling you Thelma."
"Please, for the love of my sanity don't do that."
"Then stop calling me Louise. Why do you call me Louise anyway?"
"Because I've only ever seen you without a hat like twice."
"Is that supposed to clear things up for me?"
"Watch Bob's Burgers."
"That probably won't hap-happen." He yawned.
"Tired?"
"Little bit. I have a question for you now."
"Hit me."
"Do you believe you have to have inspiration in order to draw or write?"
"No. I always think of something Mom says, 'You can't wait for inspiration. Sometimes you have to go after it with a club, beat it over the head and drag it back by the ankle." He laughed. Andy did too.
"That. . .is amazing advice. I love that."
"Well my mom is a wise woman in her own way."
"Ag-agreed." He yawned again.
"I'll let you go. Thanks for the help. Louise."
"Sure thing, Thelma." Bethany sighed.
"I brought that on myself." Andy kept glancing at her, confusion in his eyes.
"I warned you."
"Mmm. Bye, Em."
"Bye, Ben." She put her phone down and closed her sketchbook, deciding she'd work on it later.
"Ready for lunch?" Andy asked.
"I can be."
"Great. The next exit is two miles away." She nodded while opening Spotify on her phone and turning on The Beatles.
"You and the Beatles." Andy said.
"Hey! They are amazing and I'll never get to see them live so let me enjoy this." She began singing along.

———

After four days of almost nonstop driving they arrived in California.
"We're about two hours out." Andy informed Bethany.
"Great!" She gazed out the window. She gasped.
"What?"
"My foot's asleep to the point that it hurts."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Ooh!" She pulled her phone out and began typing up a text to Remington.

Benny - We're in Cali!
Rem - Awesome! Maybe tomorrow we can get lunch or something?
Benny - Yes! Will Em and Sebster come too?
Rem - I'll see what I can do
Benny - yay!!!
Benny - it feels like it's been years since I've seen you
Rem - it's been eight months
Benny - that's still too long
Rem - well you get to spend all summer with us
Benny - Yes!!!
Benny - hows things with Monica?
Rem - improving I think
Benny - that's good
Rem - Yeah we're going out for dinner and shit tonight so
Benny - cool
Benny - I'm glad you're working things out
Rem - me too I like her a lot
Benny - Yeah?
Rem - Yeah she's great and we're both putting effort into this relationship instead of just me
Benny - relationships work best when both parties put effort in
Rem - oh fuck sorry B I forgot
Benny - it's okay. I kinda had a meltdown on tuesday but since then things have been good ish
Benny - I mean, I hate his guts and I'm no longer on speaking terms with Claire because she's a bitch but what are you gonna do?
Rem - what did Claire do?
Benny - it's a long story for another time.
Rem - sure
Rem - I gotta go ttyl B
Benny - bye ratface

"You okay?" Andy asked.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. It's just," She sighed, "Luke broke up with me on Saturday and then I found that he and Claire have been dating since freshman year, but he thought I was hot and wanted to fuck me and she didn't care so the only reason he was with me for so long as because I was good fuck. It fucking pisses me off, but it's behind me now. That, uh, that's what happened at graduation. I found out I was just his fuck buddy and I sorta lost it." Andy clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the wheel so much that his knuckles turned white.
"Why didn't you tell me when it happened?"
"Because I knew you'd get upset and do something stupid. It doesn't matter, okay? It's all in the past." He didn't answer. "Panda, calm down, please. Before you cause an accident."
"He fucking-" she cut him off.
"I know. Trust me. But you getting upset right now won't fix anything. So, please, preferably before you kill us, calm down." He took a deep breath.
"Fine. Fine. You're right. Sorry." They didn't speak again until the welcome to Los Angeles sign came into sight.
"Welcome to LA, Peanut."

———

bennyharris

❤️liked by remingtonleith, jinxxed4life, ashleypurdyinc and 304 others
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user1 amazing! Super excited for you 💙💙
remingtonleith can't wait to see you B
jakepittsbvb see you soon kiddo
user2 lucky bitch
thejulietsimms sorry I can't help you move in
user3 I wish I had your life
user4 can't wait for your next upload
niedosyt we need to get coffee and catch up
bennyharris Yes niedosyt

———

"We're here." Andy said. Bethany looked up at a beautiful two story house. It was green with a palm tree in the front yard.
"It's beautiful."
"Thank you." They got out and Bethany stood staring at her new home. "Come on. We'll get your stuff later." He pulled his keys out and unlocked the front door. A little dog came running. Andy picked it up and walked in. A black cat twisted around his feet.
"Love the welcoming committee." Bethany said as she bent to rub the cat's head.
"We do too. This Daredevil and that's Crow." He nodded at each animal as he said their names.
"So brief tour. Living room to your left, kitchen to the right, dining room though the kitchen, bedrooms are upstairs, and down that hall is the bathroom and the . . . music room, I guess you could call it, my studio. We'll put your drum kit in there eventually and you can play whenever you want. Preferably not after ten thirty. I don't think our neighbors would appreciate that, but," he laughed and she nodded. "Laundry room is all the way at the end of the hall. That back door is stupid and doesn't stay closed unless it's locked. So keep it locked. And the sliding glass door in the dining room doesn't always lock. No idea why."
"Got it."
"Hungry?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"Always."

———

After lunch Andy gave her a more in depth tour of the house before they unloaded the truck.
"So this is my studio." He pushed the door open and walked in. "I'll have to rearrange some stuff so we can set up your drums."
"You are such a geek." Bethany said, examining the Batman collectibles around the console and the wall with Batman comics for wallpaper.
"Like you're not."
"Excuse me?" She turned to look at him.
"Funko POP." Was all he said.
"Right. Good point." She took in the entire music studio. The bookshelves that didn't hold many books, the console that she didn't understand, the keyboard in one corner and the chair in another. A leather couch sat almost in the middle of the room and Andy's various awards covered the walls. Pictures of Black Veil Brides, Andy and John Feldman, Andy and Joe, Andy and Juliet, Andy and Bethany filled the gaps between posters and awards. She loved it.
"I love it!" She started rocking back and forth.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm just excited to get my drums in here. At home I was only allowed to play on Saturdays and sometimes Sunday afternoons when Mom and Dad would go out 'cos Dad said they were too loud." Andy nodded and picked up a cat that wound around his feet. It wasn't Crow.
"He's not wrong."
"Well, no, but it's still annoying, because sometimes I did stuff on Saturdays and Sundays and then I couldn't play at all that week." Bethany stepped closer to Andy and rubbed the cat's head.
"Well, here you can play pretty much whenever you want."
"Awesome! What's this one's name?" She nodded at the cat.
"Femme." Bethany nodded.
"Can I see my room now?"
"Oh, yeah. This way." He lead the way back down the hall and up the stairs. "This is the . . . family room? I think that's what it's called. Juls would know. Anyway, bathroom over there and this is our room." He nodded at the doors across from each other as he walked past her.
"How did you get your bed in there?" Bethany asked, taking in the minimal space between the railing the doorway.
"It wasn't easy. Nearly decapitated Joe."
"Now I've got to hear the story."
"We came up the stairs and then tried to go over the railing."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that didn't work."
"Yeah. I thought Joe was in the bedroom so I pushed it up more and he got caught between the wall and the bed. But we got it up over the railing, got it turned on it's side and then got it wedged between the rail and the doorjamb. I had to take part of the railing off to get it in all the way."
"Wow."
"We could've saved ourselves the hassle by just dragging it into the family room and then down into the bedroom, but I don't believe in doing things the easy way." Bethany nodded and Andy smiled.
"'Course not, where's the fun in that?"
"Indeed. Down here," he walked past his bedroom and a closet, "is your room. There's just the one bookshelf, but we can get you another one if you need it and uh, the bottom drawer of your dresser doesn't like to stay on the runner so be careful with it." Her room was a decent size, at the end of the house and spanned the entire width of the house so that the roof was lower on both sides of her room. Andy couldn't stand up straight unless he was in the middle of the room, and even then just barely. A full size bed stood in the center of one wall with the dresser on one side of the window and the bookshelf on the other. Rust colored curtains hung over the window.
"Good to know." Bethany said, stepping into the room.
"This is your closet. There's no light, I don't know why, so we keep a flashlight on a hook right inside the door." He pulled it out and showed her. The closet was long and skinny and dark.
"Great."
"And, the flashlight's dead. Great. I'll see if I can find batteries later. There's also a second door for the closet on the other end, but it only has half a doorknob so you can't open it from the inside and this one," He jiggled the knob in his hand, "only locks from the outside so try not to get locked in." Andy put the flashlight away and sat the cat on the bed. Bethany pulled the curtains back and let the sunlight in. "Is it okay?" She had nice view of the neighbors house and yard. Kids toys littered what of the yard wasn't filled with a trampoline.
"It's perfect!" She wrapped her arms around him. "I love it, Panda."