Chapter 20 – Daph's POV

Twist and Shout

https://youtu.be/2RicaUqd9Hg

I wake up in the morning still unsure about what I'm going to do.

To go to the flea market or not to go, that was the question.

A big part of me doesn't want to go just for the power move. I have no idea if he's going to be there, but if he is, I want to be the one that doesn't go and leaves him hanging.

Going there is admitting I like whatever is going on between us, and admitting that, that's admitting weakness on my part. At least it feels like it.

And I don't like it.

This is all so ridiculous. I don't even know this boy's name and he's taking that much space in my head?

Unacceptable.

Still, knowing all of this, I get dress up.

Because I'm going. Of course I'm going.

I don't exactly plan on building a life with this man. I just want to hook up. What does it matter if he disrespected the Beatles? He clearly has bad musical taste, but that shouldn't affect his performance.

At this point, I don't want to think about it anymore.

I'm going to stop thinking about it, and worry about it.

Let's just make bad decisions and regret them later.

So, after I'm done getting ready, I drive to the flea market.

I should probably buy something. I haven't been buying anything for the last few weeks. That might be slightly suspicious.

Once I get there, I spot Hot Flea Market Guy's table quickly. I kinda wander around.

He sees me. He smiles. He looks around. He tells the guy with him something. The guy rolls his eyes.

And the Hot Flea Market Guy leaves his table and heads for the bathroom.

So, I guess he got over the Beatles Rolling Stone thing too?

I'm torn between being satisfied over that and a little disappointed.

I would have liked him to stand his ground and put up more of a fight.

I'm clearly deranged.

I wait a few minutes and then follow him.

I have my hand on the door, about to pull it open, when it's pushed and it almost knocks me on my face.

"Wait, wait, wait, we can't go in there, there's a kid with his dad," Hot Flea Market Guy says in a rush, his hands going to my shoulders, pushing me away.

I glare at him. "Is this real or are you just trying to throw off my game by not going in a bathroom stall with me?"

He snorts and makes a swooping motion towards the men's bathroom. "You're welcome to check."

I sigh crossing my arms over my chest. He drops his hands from my shoulder. We stand awkwardly face to face, in the middle of the hall. "So, now what?" I ask.

"Now, I guess we wait..." he says and leans against the wall, beside the bathroom.

I look at him, tilting my head.

He's so good looking.

Green eyes and brown hair. One dimple on his left cheek. Tall. He stands like he knows he's good looking but he's not cocky about it. He's just confident.

I take the few steps between us and go to stand beside him, leaning against the wall too.

This isn't going the way I wanted.

I didn't want to talk. But now that we're here... I just can't help myself. "So... Rolling Stones over Beatles? Really?"

He snorts, staring at the ceiling. "Seriously? You want to talk about this again?"

I make a grimace. "I don't know, it's kinda like hearing someone say cigarettes aren't bad for you and you just want to show them videos of black lungs to shake some sense into them."

"The Beatles are like kids that had super good grades when they were in high school, and were convinced that they were smart and convinced everyone around them that they were smart. But they really aren't that smart. They just performed well in a system build for them."

Could he be any mor infuriating? Is he doing this on purpose or is he naturally this annoying?
"I feel like I should shake you right now. Really shake you," I tell him, my finger kinda trying to grab something in the air, like I'm grabbing his arms and shaking him.

"Shake it up baby, twist and shout," he sings, but like, mockingly.

I narrow my eyes at him. "You're singing the Beatles right now."

"Yeah, a song with maybe twenty different words in total. That's not genius song writing honey, that's being lazy."

"So, you're basing your whole opinion of the Beatles on Twist and Shout?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Am I going to need to go through their whole discography with him? Am I going to have to explain to him that a lot of the music that exist right now wouldn't if it wasn't for them?

"No, I'm just saying their lyricism isn't profound. Sure, it's catchy, but Friday by Rebecca Black is also catchy, doesn't make her a genius songwriter."

Oh My. God. He did not. He did not.

I glare at him. "I will murder you."

He just laughs. "You're just threatening me because you don't have any arguments against me."

Oh yeah? He wants to play that game? Let's go low then. "One word for your precious Rolling Stones. Altamont. With that fucking concert they basically killed everything the sixties represented. Oh and three people actually died."

He just waved the matter away. "That was an unfortunate event, but it doesn't represent what the band means."

"Please. What about Cocksucker Blues," I say, reminding him of their failed documentary, "Your Rolling Stones were complete self-centered machos."

He shakes his hand at me. It's his turn to get riled up now. "Oh, oh, no, no, you can't go after the Stones like that, and ignore the fact that John Lennon was a fucking asshole. He was violent with his two wives, or in general really, while acting like Mister Peace-And-Love. Your Beatles couldn't even stand each other. The Stones are still together after all these years."

"Because they can't amount to anything without each other. The Beatles could," I reply.

"You think Ringo amounts to something on his own? How you like Y Not?" he asks me, tauntingly, "Leeeeet's stop..." he sings and then kinda shudders. "Jesus, I suffer just thinking about it. What a mess."

I look at him, tilting my head. He knows his stuff. "This isn't the first time you've had this conversation, is it?"

"Nope. Everyone that makes music wanks themselves talking about the Beatles. So, I've made it a personal crusade to bring them into the light. Loving the Beatles is being lazy. It's being unimaginative. It's like saying your favorite artist is Picasso, or your favorite composer is Mozart. Yeah, they did good stuff, and they might have changed the game too, but god damn it's unimaginative. Saying your favorite band is the Beatles feels like you went on Google and searched best band."

It's probably very very bad that I'm kind of turned on right now.

Everything he says is complete and utter bullshit, but goddamn he's hot saying it. I don't know that many people who are super knowledgeable when it comes to music. He said he hated the Beatles. I assumed I'd be able to school him. He knows Y Not... We don't talk about Y Not...

This dude knows his stuff.

"You think you're more imaginative liking the Rolling Stones."

"I'll give you a point for that. But at least the Rolling Stones have better songs."

"Almost everyone can name three songs by the Beatles. Not that many people can name one by the Rolling Stones. That just goes to show they're not that good if people can't even remember their songs."

"That means nothing. Most people are idiots. And idiots can name idiot songs," he tells me with a cocky grin. I'd love to shut him up right now.

I could think of a few ways to do it...

Unfortunately, we are not alone.

Speaking of not alone, a dude walks up to us, clearing his throat and looking at Hot Flea Market Guy.

"What's up?" Hot Flea Market guy asks him.

"There's someone that's asking about a custom size canvas. Can you deal with it? I don't know if you can do it," the dude answers.

"Oh, I don't make the canvas, my little brother does. But yes, I'll go." He looks at me. "I guess that might be all for today."

"Seriously?"

"Don't look so gloom, Apple Scruff," he tells me and takes my chin, leaning down and presses a kiss to my lips. It's sweet and quick. I barely have time to fully enjoy it before he backs up and grins at me. "See you next week," he says and walks away.

My heart is beating fast. I feel flustered.

Fuck... this is bad. 

_________

Hello hello. Once again, I apologize. This should have been up on Thursday. It is veeeery late. 0_0

Bad Kay. 

At least I hope the interaction between Josh and Daph made it worth it. :D

See you all again in two weeks!