Maroon 5's Song

How much do you give of yourself to a friend before you have nothing left to give?

 

Jay made his rounds at the party, stopping at the stereo on his bookshelf to change the radio stations. He turned his head and looked at the generous gathering of people in his house filling his living room and kitchen. He smiled. Someone owed him twenty bucks for this.

 

“Lookffff I’m Chris Brownuuhh,” Mick slurred, draping his arm around Jay’s shoulders. “Whoooa, I’m into you and you know, what I feel when I’m with you, with you, you, you youuuuuuu…” Jay chuckled and shrugged Mick off of his shoulders, watching Mick nearly lose his balance.

 

“You still owe me,” Jay said with a cocky smile.

 

“F**k you, man,” Mick said trying to focus on which blurry Jay he was cussing out.

 

“Nah, that’s why I invited all of the ladies,” Jay said with a wink. Mick tried to wink back at him, but only succeeded in blinking.

 

“Thank God toof,” Mick said, taking another swig of his beer. “You’re a real pal!” Jay continued to say hello to his guests as Mick stumbled around trying to pick up a girl.

 

“Jay, great party,” Mae said stopping Jay and reaching out for a hug. Jay patted her back and pulled away.

 

“Thanks,” he said with a genuine smile. “Hey, I thought I told you to bring a friend.”

 

“I did,” Mae said, gesturing with her head towards a girl towards the wall in back of her. “That’s my cousin Mia. She’s the only one who didn’t have anything to do tonight so I brought her with me.”

 

“So what’s she doing against the wall like that?” Jay said, gesturing at the girl in a white dress with his chin. Mae shrugged.

 

“Not too sure, but I don’t think it helps that I’m the only person she knows,” Mae said taking a sip of her punch. “Probably just being polite.”

 

“By standing against a wall and not saying anything to anyone?” Jay asked, seeing the look of pure boredom on her face.

 

“I don’t know, my aunt and uncle were always hard on her about that,” Mae said crossing her arms. “I remember that we’d be at a party and she’d want to go talk to my grandparents or something when we were little kids, and her parents always pulled her next to them and told her not to bother them or anyone else. I don’t know; she’s a really funny and quirky girl once you get to know her. I just think she’s trying not to bother anyone.” Mae turned around for the kitchen to grab another drink, and when he was alone, Jay lifted an eyebrow.

 

I wouldn’t mind it if she bothered me a little bit, Jay said, noticing her shape and her face even though it was a bit dark in the corner she was starting to take refuge in.

 

Jay saw Mia reach into her purse and pull out her cell phone. Jay squinted his eyes a little bit when the look of boredom was replaced by one of annoyance and anxiety. Mia looked around desperately and looking past Jay, she saw the sliding door that led to the empty, dark backyard. Jay could hear her quietly and urgently say, “Excuse me” every time she had to push past someone. Various drinks were being toppled and spilled onto her clean, white dress from people who refused to give her the room she needed to move. She slid next to him, never once looking up at him. She discreetly opened the sliding glass door and quietly closed it behind her. She opened her cell phone.

 

Jay began moving towards the door as soon as she stepped outside, seeing her raise her free right hand into the air. Jay didn’t remember hearing the sounds of the chattering partygoers, and as loud as they were, he was surprised he could even hear the Maroon 5 song playing on the radio.

 

Every night you cry yourself to sleep

Thinking why does this happen to me?

Why does every moment have to be so hard…?

 

“Mia!” Jay heard a female voice over Mia’s phone scream at her. “Mia! Mia, I want you over here! Why are you being so difficult?!”

 

“It’s about him again, isn’t it?” Mia demanded. “It’s about him again! It’s always about him!”

 

“That’s not true!” the other voice screamed back.

 

“Oh yeah, you’re right,” Mia sneered. “Sometimes it’s about him. But most of the time, it’s all about you.”

 

“That’s such a selfish thing to say!” the voice snapped back. “You’re a selfish little brat, you know that? I’m calling you over here because I need you, and you’re being a pouting little spoiled brat because you won’t leave that party to be with your friend! I can’t believe you’d pick a party over your FRIEND!”

 

The taste of her breath I'll never get over

The noises that she made kept me awake

The weight of things remain unspoken

Built up so much, it crushed us everyday

 

“First off, not that it’s your business,” Mia yelled back, “I’m in Sierra Madre! You’re all the F**K way in Long Beach! And I’m my cousin’s designated driver, I can’t just leave her here! And secondly, I’M selfish? Yeah, I guess it was SO selfish of me to take all of your calls when all you do is cry and whine about that a*****e boyfriend who cheats on you with anything with a vagina and that spineless ex-boyfriend of yours WHOM YOU STILL LOVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART! I guess that was so selfish of me to sit there and let you cry and whine all you want, spill out every little thing that makes you sad or angry! I guess it was so selfish of me all those times when I took you out, paid for ALL of your drinks because your a*s is too lazy to get a job, let you hit on every single guy I’ve EVER laid eyes on, sat on hold on the phone for HOURS at a time when your boyfriend calls when we talk and to give you advice you specifically ask for and let you shoot me down because it’s never what you want to hear! You don’t want my God damned advice! You just want me to sit there on the phone and say ‘Oh yeah, I totally agree with you!’ That’s all you ever want to hear from me! Well, I’ve HAD IT! I’ve had enough with your bullshit! You don’t like your boyfriend, BREAK UP WITH HIM. You want your ex back, CALL HIM. You want to get your own drinks GET A JOB. And right now, if you want to b***h because I won’t come and sleep over because you can't deal with your own problems, GET A JOURNAL because I’m not going over there! Don’t complain to me unless you plan on fixing your own damn problems!”

 

“You’re a horrible friend!” the voice yelled back in the same tone as before. “A real friend would come over here to be with me! A real friend helps! A real friend isn’t selfish! A real friend considers other people’s feelings! You never do ANY of that!”

 

“Then get a real friend!” Mia yelled, almost on the brink of tears. “Get a real friend then if you think I’m not looking out for you or care about you at all!”

 

“F**k you!” the voice yelled, in tears. “You don’t care about me! I never want to be a selfish b***h like you are!” Mia hit the “talk” button on her cell phone before throwing it against the wooden fence several feet in front of her.

 

“Mia,” Mae said worriedly as she pushed past Jay. Mae led Mia to the porch swing on her left and sat her down, trying to give her generic consolation for a wound she didn’t know how to fix.

 

“It’s going to be ok,” Mae said, frustrated that she could not calm Mia. “Whatever it is, everything’s going to be ok.”

 

“I’m a bad friend,” Mia sobbed. “I’m a bad friend. I’ve always been a bad friend.”

 

“That’s not true,” Mae said quickly trying to appease her.

 

“I am!” Mia yelled back in her tears. “I left my friend crying at home instead of leaving this damn party where nobody even notices me! What kind of friend does that? Huh? What kind of friend does that, Mae?” Mae looked up at Mia, speechless. Mia turned around and stormed back thumping into Jay and mumbling a rough apology. Mia opened the door, not bothering to close it.

 

“Where are you going?” Mae called after, stumbling a little.

 

“I’ll be in the car, just call when you’re ready to leave,” Mia said quickly and disappearing into the loud crowd.

 

It's not over tonight

Just give me one more chance to make it right

I may not make it through the night

I won’t go home without you

 

“She left her cell phone,” Jay said. “I’ll get it and bring it to her.” Jay ran to the other end of the yard, finding her cell phone and seeing that the screen was cracked from the force that she used to throw her phone. Jay noticed that she had several text messages, and while he didn’t recognize the number or name the called ID presented, he could tell by the “I’m sorry” titles that it was her friend. Jay came back inside, pushing through the crowd.

 

Jay saw her by the door, and Mick had Mia by the arm and he was blinking furiously at her. Mia looked at him in disgust and wrenched her arm out of his hand. Fighting that twinge in his chest and stomach, he pushed his way to the door. Mick stopped him.

 

“She was a hot piece of a*s,” Mick slurred. “I got dibs on her.” Jay took a deep breath.

 

“No you don’t,” Jay said firmly, “Not this time you don’t.” Mick stared at him in bewilderment.

 

“Hey, real friends are polite and respect it when we call ‘dibs’,” Mick said with his hand against the wall for balance. “Best friends don’t even question it!” Jay stared at his inebriated guest.

 

"I'm not your friend, I'm your pal," Jay said, opening the door and running across the lawn after Mia as she sat at the driver's seat doing nothing.

 

 

 

Reviews

[Archipelago]

i love this story. wow. just wow.

the parallel between mia and jay was so subtle and so perfect. the dialouge was so simply and honest, and the scenery descriptions were like hidden in there, so that you didn't even notice you were reading a description but yet felt as if you were really in the scene. amazing job.

and this story would have done fine on its own without the song lyrics thrown in, but they really add a deeper meaning, like a second plot within the plot.

i agree with everyone else, i wish you kept going instead of ending it when you did. i really wanted to see what jay was going to say to mia. oh well, you left that part up to our imaginations, i guess.

the best compliment anyone can give a writer is "you left me wanting more", so you should be proud of how many people said that here :) .

[Saturnalia]

Damn, I loved this. I don't like Maroon 5, though, but the song was only a minor part. Anyway, I really love the characters. They all have different personalities and different ways of portraying them. I'm interesting in learning more about them and their situations (especially Mia). Good write!

[Onyx Sky]

This story kept my interest and you realy did a good job of distinguishing between minor characters and the major ones. I wanted a more thorough description of Mia from Jays point of view because he seems the most interested in her, but I guess that wil come in later chapters. You did a real good job of drawing the reader in and really touching base on things that can heat up and heighten a persons' interest. Overall, great job! Good luck in the contest.

[DarkAngelWriter]

WHAT THE F**K, STEFANIE?! YOU'RE STOPPING IT THERE?!

No. Just no. Write your little Filipino a*s off and DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING LIKE THIS!

Write more. Even if it's just for me. And it's NOT a question, it's an order!

...please?

[Ruby Moon]

a really real and unfortunately a situation that happens too often
someone using the "friend" title to get something...
and also to the need to lan on someone and the risk of taking soeone for granted