Art, Bad Coffee, and Arson

Shortly after Revelation Records signed Madhouse, I rented an apartment in Los Angeles. It wasn't the best apartment in the city, but it was an improvement over the one I was living in back in Hubbard. Robin and Kyle's apartments were a little further away from the Revelation Records building, but their homes were also a little bit nicer than mine. Robin had a place right next the ocean, which must have been lovely.

A few days after I moved in, sometime around Valentine's Day, someone set the lawn outside my apartment building on fire. I was reading a book in my apartment when I smelled smoke coming from outside the building. When I opened the window, I saw an inferno burning through the grass. I immediately called 911, and within a few minutes, a group of firefighters came to put out the fire. Thankfully, the fire didn't spread to the building, and nobody was hurt.

Rumors began to spread around the apartment building about the fire. "I don't even know what happened last night," one woman said the next morning. "Fires don't normally start in the grass outside of an apartment building."

"My friend works in the fire department, and he said that it might be arson," another woman said. "They still don't know who did it though."

I saw Robin later that day, and told him about what had happened. "Some crazy person tried to set my apartment on fire last night," I said. "Can you believe that?"

"Well...yeah," Robin said. "I already heard about it."

"I didn't think anyone outside of my building knew," I said. "How did you find out?"

"It's a long story," Robin said.

"I have time," I said.

"I might have been involved in the fire," Robin said sheepishly.

"Robin!" I exclaimed. "Why would you want to burn down my apartment?!"

"I wasn't trying to set fire to your apartment," Robin clarified.

"Then what were you trying to do?" I asked. "If I hadn't called 911 when I did, the apartment would have burned down."

Robin blushed. "I was trying to spell out 'Bianca, will you please go out with me? Love, Robin.'"

"That clearly didn't work because you almost burned down my apartment...wait, did you say you wanted to go out with me?" I said.

Robin nodded. "I really like you Bianca. I just didn't know how to say it," he said. "Maybe fire wasn't the best medium to say it in, but I think you're a wonderful young woman, and I'd love to have the opportunity to go on a date with you. So will you please go out with me?"

Robin gave me a nervous smile, and I considered his offer. I still couldn't believe that he had the nerve to almost burn down my apartment building, but I couldn't neglect all of the other amazing things about Robin. I thought about the passion that he had for his music, the causes he believed in, and the people he loved, and all of the crazy, yet sweet, things that he had done for me, from visiting me at work to starting a band. At that moment, I realized that I loved Robin, and more importantly, Robin loved me back, so there was no reason why we shouldn't be together.

Once I realized that, the choice was obvious. "Of course I'll go out with you, as long as you don't set any more fires," I said. "Arson is illegal, after all."

"Punk rock doesn't need to follow the law," Robin said.

I laughed and then said, "Just don't get into any more trouble, Robin."

"I won't, Bianca," Robin said.

"When are we going to go on our first date?" I asked.

"I have an idea, but we're going to have to go back to Seattle for it," Robin said.

"What's your idea?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," Robin said.

I wasn't a huge fan of surprises, but it was Robin. I suspected that he had a good idea in mind, so I told him that I was visiting my parents in Seattle that weekend. "You could come too," I said. "I'm sure Mom and Dad wouldn't mind you tagging along, and we could go on a date sometime over the weekend."

"That works," Robin said. "See you then."

"See you soon, Robin," I said. I gave him a quick hug and then left, thrilled that I might finally have a chance to be with Robin.

That weekend, Robin and I returned to Washington to see our families and go on our date. My parents seemed happy to see me, although Melissa wasn't exactly pleased to have me home again. "I thought you were going to stay in LA," Melissa said when I arrived home.

"I am staying in LA," I said. "I just wanted to visit. What's wrong with that?"

"Melissa's just stressed out over choosing a college and studying for AP exams," Mom explained. "Don't mind her. How have you been?"

"Robin asked me out," I said.

"Ooh, Bianca's got a boyfriend," Melissa said.

"That's nice," Mom said. "I don't know him all that well, but he seems like a nice boy."

"He's very nice," I said. "We're going out tomorrow, but he won't tell me what we're doing. He said that it's a surprise."

"Just be careful, Bianca," Dad said. "I don't want you to get into any trouble."

"Brett, I'm sure that Robin has nothing but good intentions in mind," Mom said.

I didn't mention the fact that Robin nearly set my apartment on fire, but I did tell my parents about our plans for Madhouse's debut album. We hadn't started recording yet, mostly because Revelation Records Studio wasn't finished yet, but Robin, Kyle, and I had a lot of ideas for songs that could go on the album. Melissa still didn't like Madhouse very much, but my sister's opinion didn't matter. Even if Madhouse was the next Beatles, Melissa still wouldn't like us.

The next day, Robin picked me up in his parents' car, which screamed "soccer mom" instead of "hot punk rocker," but I didn't care. After some careful consideration, I had decided to wear a relatively fancy red dress. I didn't know where we were going, but I did want to impress Robin. Robin, on the other hand, was wearing a leather jacket over yet another punk band T-shirt, along with his usual black jeans and Doc Martens. "Hi Bianca," Robin said as he handed me a bouquet. "I bought these for you."

I smiled. "Thanks Robin," I said.

"You're welcome," he said. "You look so nice today."

"Thank you," I said. "You look nice too. So where are we going?"

"You'll see," Robin said. He took a sip of his coffee, and then backed out of my driveway. As Robin drove through Hubbard, I looked around, wondering where exactly I was headed to. We passed by the park, several restaurants, and the ice rink before we arrived at our destination.

"We're seeing a movie?" I said as Robin pulled into the parking lot of the movie theater.

"Not just any movie," Robin said. "Come on. Let's see what's playing."

Robin and I walked into the movie theater. When we bought our tickets, Robin said, "Two tickets for Casablanca, please."

"I don't think the movie theater's playing that," I said. "Usually they play new movies, not stuff from 1942, although Casablanca is arguably one of the best movies of all time."

The cashier looked at Robin strangely, but her manager came up to her and whispered something in her ear. "That will be twenty two dollars and thirty two cents," she said, and Robin paid. I tried to pay for my own ticket, and after some protesting, he let me do it.

"We'll both pay for the popcorn too," Robin said.

"That works," I said.

When we bought our popcorn, I saw a couple of my old colleagues. I told them about our band's sort-of success, and they told me about their new manager. "She's not nearly as cool as you," one of them said.

Robin led me into the theater, which was completely empty. "I rented out the whole theater for you, Bianca," Robin said.

"Wow," I said. "You're the best, Robin." We found two spots in the middle of the theater, and the movie began. I knew every word by heart, and I couldn't help but say the words along with the characters in a couple of parts, but the best part of the whole experience was being with Robin.

After the movie was over, Robin and I went to the Starbucks next to the movie theater, since Robin was complaining that he was out of coffee. "Hi Dilara!" Robin exclaimed when he entered the coffee shop, and a young Middle Eastern woman waved from behind the counter.

"It's nice to see you back here, Robin," Dilara said. "Who's your girlfriend?"

"I'm Bianca," I said.

"Nice to meet you, Bianca," Dilara said. "What would you like today? Robin, I'm guessing that you want your usual."

"You guessed it," Robin said.

"I'll have a caramel macchiato," I said.

"Great," Dilara said. "Just wait a few minutes, and I'll get that started for you."

A few minutes later, our coffee was ready. "What's your usual?" I asked Robin as we sat down together to enjoy our coffee.

"Sardansiment Brew," Robin said.

"I didn't see that on the menu," I said.

"Dilara learned how to make it when she was visiting her relatives in Turkey," Robin explained. "It's amazing, and I wish we had something like it back in LA. Unfortunately, I'm probably the only person who drinks it."

"What does it taste like?" I asked.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Robin said. He handed me his cup. "You can take a sip."

I took a small sip of the coffee, and had to keep myself from immediately spitting it out. Robin's coffee was unbelievably bitter, and he hadn't added any sugar or cream to improve the taste. "How do you drink this?" I asked once I had swallowed the coffee.

"What are you talking about?" Robin said. "It's delicious."

"It's so bitter," I said.

"I suppose it is a bit of an acquired taste," Robin said. We continued to chat about everything from Madhouse to our siblings to world politics before Robin finally decided that it was getting a little late and we should probably go home.

"I don't want this date to end though," I said. "I've had such a wonderful time with you."

"I've had a great time too, but all good things must come to an end," Robin said. "We'll do this another time."

"How about next weekend?" I suggested.

"That works," Robin said. We got into Robin's parents' car, and as he drove me back to my house, I wondered how I had gotten so lucky to have a boyfriend like him.

The next day, I met up with Abby at a cafe near her dorm at the University of Puget Sound. "Robin and I went on a date last night," I told her.

"Wait, what?" Abby said. "He finally asked you out?!"

"Yes, although he almost burned down my apartment in the process," I said.

"Tell me all about it," Abby said excitedly, and I recounted everything for her. "I can't believe I missed all of this!" Abby squealed when I was finished. "You and Robin are finally together!"

"Abby, it's not that exciting," I said.

"Yes it is!" Abby said. "We can finally go on our double date!"

"Maybe next time you're in Los Angeles," I said.

"I'm coming to LA as soon as possible," Abby said. "This double date needs to happen."

Abby was true to her word. A few weeks later, Abby came to Los Angeles to visit Kyle, and Kyle, Abby, Robin, and I all went shopping together, which wasn't exactly Kyle or Robin's idea of a good time. However, they had a good enough time that we agreed to do another double date the next time that Abby was in town, although Robin requested laser tag instead of shopping. Kyle agreed that laser tag was infinitely better than watching Abby try on what seemed like thousands of outfits that all looked equally good on her, so we went laser tagging about a month after that.

Over time, Robin and I grew closer and closer. By the time Revelation Records Studio was completed near the end of the year, we were spending nearly every waking moment together. There was no doubt in my mind that I was completely in love with him.

Madhouse, on the other hand, was not doing nearly as well. We had been signed to Revelation Records for ten months, and yet, we had not recorded a single song because our studio was still incomplete. We did a small tour around the Los Angeles area, and we had gained a modest following through the tour, but we still needed to release our debut album.

In December, Alan called me to tell us that the label didn't have enough money to hire a painter for the studio. "Can you help us?" he asked. I told him that I was a terrible painter, but he didn't seem to care. I reluctantly agreed to do it, and Robin, Kyle, and I returned to the Revelation Records building to help the members of Phantom Cat paint the studio.

Alan had renovated the property sometime after we visited the first time, and the results were impressive. Revelation Records now had a sleek, modern building to work in, and the new studio was beautiful. I couldn't help but admire all of the knobs and buttons on the fancy new equipment that we had to work with. However, the studio itself was rather bare. Alan and a few other young men, presumably the other members of Phantom Cat, had just started working on painting the studio. "Hi Bianca!" Alan exclaimed when I entered the studio.

"Hi Alan," I said.

"Take a paintbrush," Alan said, gesturing towards a bucket of paint brushes in the center of the room. "You can paint whatever you'd like."

Robin, Kyle, and I all took a paintbrush, and we started painting. Kyle immediately started painting a life size drum set, while Robin attempted to paint a Ramones album cover. "This looks terrible," Robin complained when he was about halfway done.

"I think it looks nice," I said.

"No, it's a disgrace to The Ramones!" Robin exclaimed.

"Here, I'll paint a kitten next to it," I said. "Maybe it will distract people from your painting. I still think it looks fine though."

"Thanks Bianca," Robin said. He leaned over and kissed me softly, making my heart beat just a little bit faster.

By the time we were done, we had decorated the studio with amateur art, but it still seemed like an ideal environment for creativity. Within a month, Revelation Records opened up the studio, and Robin, Kyle, and I immediately started recording our debut album. We all agreed to record Chameleon first, since it seemed to be a fan favorite, and thus needed to be on the album. After a few tries, we recorded a version that we all liked, and we decided to keep it. I also decided to write my first love song for Robin, When It Rains Every Day, which also went on the album, but not before Robin made some significant changes to the guitar part.

Thanks to Robin, I finally had a bit of hope that Madhouse might actually become successful. With a brand new studio and an amazing boyfriend, it seemed like stardom was within my reach. If nothing else, we would make an excellent album, and I would have Robin by my side to support me through it all.

A/N: I'm going to be out of town until April 2nd, so don't expect an update until then. Thanks for reading! :)