Guitar Face Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Sasha Marshall

  I put back up the walls

  You won’t watch me fall

  I am climbing my way back up

  While you fuck it all up

  I’ll hold my head high

  My heart breaks when I say goodbye

  I can see it all clearly now

  You should take a bow

  This is your best work yet

  I won’t ever forget

  All the pretty lies

  And the way you tried to justify

  Your noble intentions

  They left me broken and beaten

  I put back up the walls

  You won’t watch me fall

  I am climbing my way back up

  While you fuck it all up

  I’ll hold my head high

  This is finally goodbye

  Chapter 4

  Henley

  I wake the next morning to the smell of coffee and hear someone speaking from somewhere in my home. I stumble towards the smell.

  “No, your new mom will kill you. You have to be the best little boy in the world. Stop that. Fuck. Those are my toes. Holy shit, it tickles. Stop it. You are the coolest kid in the whole world,” Kip says.

  I round the kitchen to discover Kip barefoot with a small white puppy attacking his toes.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s a puppy, dummy.”

  “Why is it here?”

  “It’s yours.”

  “I don’t have a dog.”

  “You do now. Noah said I should get you a puppy.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, “What am I going to do with a puppy?”

  “Love him, and play with him, and cuddle with him, and feed him, and teach him cool tricks,” Kip says as he baby talks the puppy. “This little dude is so awesome. He cuddled right up to me on the ride over. He slept on my shoulder, dude, his snore is even cute.”

  “You got me a dog that snores?”

  “I didn’t know he snored when I got him, it is just one perk I discovered afterwards.”

  “Perks?”

  “Snoring dogs are hilarious.”

  “Humph. Where did you get it?”

  “I found him in the middle of the road. He was just sitting there, and he wouldn’t move when I blew the horn. I got out, scooped the little guy up, and he kissed my face. It was love at first sight.”

  “Then why are you giving him to me?”

  The dog looks like he’s watching a tennis match, going between Kip and I as each of us speak.

  “I love dogs, but I kill plants. Would you buy me a dog?” he asks.

  “Good point. So, he’s mine?”

  “Yup.”

  “How old do you think he is?”

  “He still has puppy breath, so he is young. Looks like an American Bulldog, so he has to be pretty young to be this itty bitty.”

  I look down at the dog. He is freaking cute. He stares at me for a beat and then gallops towards me with his little puppy legs. I reach down to pick him up, settle him against my chest, and he leans up and kisses me. I glance into his sweet little eyes. This little guy just wants someone to love him.

  “Well let’s take the little guy to the vet.”

  Kip lets out a hoot and steals the puppy from me.

  “You hear that little guy? The Guitar Goddess will be your mom. You will be so spoiled, and Uncle Kip will play with you all the time.” He is baby talking the puppy again. The puppy licks him in the face and I leave the two to shower. I guess I have a puppy now.

  When I emerge dressed and ready to go, Kip and the puppy are asleep on my couch. The puppy is curled into a tight little ball on his chest, and they are both snoring, and Kip was right, snoring dogs are great. I video the two on my phone, and post it on my private Facebook page, and my official Twitter account.

  “Uncle Kip got me a puppy!” I captioned the video.

  I wake Kip and the puppy so we can get the little guy to the vet.

  “We can’t leave without our disguises,” he says in his sleepy voice.

  “Disguises?” This should be good.

  “Yeah, I bought all sorts of cool shit,” he reaches for a bag nearby, and pulls out Halloween in a bag.

  “You should wear this long black wig. You could so pull off Goth girl today. Then you can wear this hat over it, and these awesome glasses.”

  He pulls out a cheap wig, a sailor hat with the anchor logo embroidered on the front, and Sally Jesse Raphael red framed glasses.

  “Why are we wearing disguises?”

  “Because your shit is all over the news. I don’t want to be raped by the masses of women who notice you and then abandon you for all this sexiness,” he runs his hand down his body and juts his hip out.

  “Fine. Let’s do it.”

  “I think we should start our own game with the world, who is so in love with us.”

  “A game?”

  “Yeah each day we will dress in a different disguise and see who notices us. If someone notices us they will get a prize. We will post pictures of us in our awesome disguises at the end of each day, so the world will know that they have been had, and Henley and Kip have dominated the world for another day. I already set up a web page, a blog, a Facebook page, a Snapchat, and a Twitter account. All of them are titled ‘Kipley Taking the Mother Fucking World by the Balls’. It’s all over the internet already!”

  I laugh at his sense of humor and his need for constant amusement. I think this could actually be fun. He has me intrigued now.

  “How long ago did you put it up?”

  “5 a.m.”

  “It’s 11. In six hours it’s all over the net?”

  “Yup.”

  “Genius. What’s the prize for the winners?”

  “Well my dear, I’m giving out free CD’s, concert tickets, band gear, and for those special ladies, me. Well for a night anyway.”

  “You didn’t pimp me out did you?”

  “No. But come to think of it, that is a spectacular idea.”

  “You would die a very painful and slow death.”

  He laughs. He better not pimp me out.

  We put our disguises on and take the puppy to a nearby vet. The doctor determines he is around five weeks old, and an American Bulldog. He weighs seven pounds and is perfectly healthy. We start his vaccinations. Next, we are off to a local pet store in Pacific Palisades, where the puppy is the talk of the entire store. He kisses everyone’s face he could get close enough to. I buy him every toy and treat a pup could want, a bed, some food, a harness, and a leash. The pup is exhausted from the day.

  Kip and I head down to a local cafe on the beach and eat since we can sit outside with the puppy. Our disguises hold, and I almost forgot I was wearing the ridiculous thing until people cast strange glances my way. I crack up each time. Kip is wearing a blonde mullet wig, and a trucker hat turned around backwards. The hair is actually yellow, not blonde. He also has on a large fake gold chain, and purple John Lennon sunglasses. He looks pretty ridiculous, too.

  Throughout the day, Kip posts to all the sites he set up earlier. He posts where our locations after we leave. Fans are catching on to the sites, and the game is amusing. The fans can’t wait to see our disguises for the day. The game takes my mind off all the things I didn’t want to think about right now. I’m aware this entire game was invented to do just that. I don’t know what I would do without Kip.

  After an early dinner, we grab beer at a store, and Kip is finally noticed. The girl has seen the sites and knows it’s him. She is so excited, she jumps up and down and squeals. It’s so cute. Kip takes a picture with her to post on our site, and she takes her own so she can post as well. He gives her a CD and several shirts, and then a kiss on the cheek and the girl looks like she might faint. Kip is an idiot, but he isn’t hard on the eyes at all. He is about 6’1 with an amazing drummer’s body. I would think Kip was fucking hot if he never opened his mouth. He has rock hard abs, and arms
that only a drummer can have. He’s lean as hell. If you notice, most drummers aren’t large men, and their upper bodies are to die for. Kip has dark blonde hair, cut into an undercut style. He has bright green eyes, and they are the prettiest green eyes I have ever seen. He also has the cutest dimples when he smiles, and perfectly straight white teeth. When he lets his facial hair grow into a five o’clock shadow he looks a little older, a little tougher for the wear, but in that way that makes you take him in and appreciate the man. The ample amount of tattoos complete his look, and believe me when I say Kip has more tattoos than anyone I’ve ever met, including Steph. Too bad he never shuts the fuck up.

  We lounge on my deck and listen to music all evening, taking the puppy down to the beach for playtime every so often. The conversation is dominated by Kip’s incessant need to name him immediately. We go through possible names for the little guy who sleeps a lot. Johnny Cash blares out over the deck speaker a little after ten, and the puppy sits up and barks at Kip.

  “Oh shit, he is the coolest fucking dog! He likes Johnny Cash.”

  “I don’t think he knows who Johnny Cash is Kip,” I hate to burst his bubble.

  “Let’s see then.”

  He pauses the iPod, and the little guy barks incessantly. Kip plays the music again, and he barks once more and stops. Kip repeats this for five minutes.

  “Told you,” he says quite proud of himself.

  “Ok fine. His name is Cash.”

  “Suiting. I knew he was a fan of the man in black when I found him sitting in the road. I honked my horn and this little guy flipped me the finger like he was the reincarnation of Johnny himself. Fuck it was great, Hen!” Kip mimics the famous Johnny Cash picture in which he gives the bird.

  I laugh at my friend, and seriously wonder how much of the shit that comes out of his mouth, he believes himself.

  Kip posted our disguise pictures earlier. He gave a big shout out to the girl who won today. He includes several pictures of him kissing the girl on the cheek, and the female fans are going crazy. He might just get us killed. It is also trending all over the big networks. The video of Cash and Kip are also trending. Kip pulls up E News on the computer and listens to the report on our antics.

  In light of another scandal featuring none other than bad boy Jagger Carlyle, Henley Hendrix seems to be doing just fine. She posted a video of a puppy sleeping on Kip Paxton, drummer for Broken Access, and Hendrix’s childhood friend. The two posted pictures of themselves on a Twitter feed, Facebook page, and a website titled “Kipley Taking the Mother F***ing World by the Balls.” Each picture shows their whereabouts after their departure. Many fans remember seeing the odd looking two carrying a white puppy.

  All were unaware it was Hendrix and Paxton until after their departure. While it isn’t the friendliest name for a website, most of their fans love the title and find humor in it. Earlier this evening, a fan recognized Paxton at a local convenience store in the Pacific Palisades. He posted the pictures on the site. He gave her band merchandise as her prize, and the pictures show she received a little extra too. The fan received a kiss on the cheek by the hunky drummer. At the top of the Kipley web page, a score was entered, Kipley=0, World=1.

  Today a statement was released by Jagger Carlyle regarding allegations that a woman by the name of Claudia Windsor is carrying his love child. Jagger was snapped in a picture four days ago leaving a local obstetrics office with Windsor in tow outside of Los Angeles. It didn’t take long to track down the story. Windsor is reported to be seven months along in the pregnancy. In the pictures of the two taken four days ago, Windsor smiles up at Carlyle while he looks anything but happy. Jagger was full of remorse in his statement.

  “Four days ago, I hurt the love of my life. I selfishly began a relationship with a woman I have loved since I was a boy, without telling her I was expecting a child. While, Claudia and I are not in a relationship, I will care for my child. I apologize to my parents for the suddenness of this announcement, and to my band for allowing this to interfere with our music. I also want to apologize to my fans, I am so sorry I disappointed you. For Henley, I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. I love you.”

  Wow! Will Jagger get to have his cake and eat it too? No release has been issued by Hendrix regarding the status of their relationship. We have a poll set up on our webpage for you to decide. Should she stand by his side, or kick him to the curb?

  Jesus Christ, they are polling my life. Kip tries to turn it off, but I need to watch it. I need to see her. The picture of Claudia and Jagger stare back at me. She is beautiful, even pregnant. She is exotic, her long silky black hair compliments her olive complexion, and her full lips are what most women pay for. We are so different from one another. Kip waits for me to speak, but there are no words. I take Cash down to the beach to play and potty. I sit and watch him while he chases after a sand fly. Kip gives me my space for a while, but makes his way to the beach eventually and sits beside me. He hands me a beer and a cigarette. We sit in silence for an hour, just drinking and smoking.

  My head is filled with so many questions. It appears Jagger wasn’t running errands when I was at Saks, he was at the doctor with Claudia. He lied, and it hurts like hell. He asked me to dinner that night. Did he ask me in front of her? I’m jealous of Claudia. She’s beautiful and having Jagger’s baby. I’m not having his baby. I’m not ready to have children at this point in my life, but one day I will be. I won’t be able to give him his first child. I wonder if he really wants children. The pregnancy was unplanned, but did he ever think of children before? Does he want them with me? She’s having Jagger’s love child. It hurts so much. This lump forms in my throat, and the tears spill over. I am at loss with what to do with Jagger. He lied. That is a big thing to hide from someone you are starting a relationship with. I don’t want to deal with this. I just want it to go away.

  Kip puts his arm around my shoulder and brings my head to his. I sniffle through the tears. Cash curls up in Kip’s lap and sleeps, so I watch the pretty puppy sleep with not a care in the world. He is so peaceful. I would give almost anything to feel that kind of peace for an extended period of time. I think back to the years before Caleb died. I had peace then. I didn’t know loss or heartache. I was living the dream, taking it all for granted. I was a young girl who had the world in the palm of her hand. I could do anything and go anywhere. I don’t remember the last time I cried prior to Caleb’s death. I didn’t cry over men, and I didn’t know death. All this darkness has aged my soul. I experience things everyone else does in life, but my life is spread all over the news, and they poll the status of my relationship with a man I love. I am an object, only half human. It’s too much sometimes. No one cares if your relationship ends, or if your best friend dies. They don’t care if mine do either; they just want my reaction to be entertainment. I won’t give it to them. I’m not sure how long Kip and I sit on the beach, but for hours we soak in the atmosphere, but don’t speak.

  ***

  Henley

  When I wake the next morning, something is licking my face. I take a minute to remember Cash. I hear the ocean and open my eyes. I fell asleep on the beach. I have a blanket over me, and Kip is lying on another blanket sleeping, so he must have covered me after I found sleep. I cuddle Cash into me, and he tucks his head into the area between my neck and shoulder, falling fast asleep within seconds. I lie there with my thoughts quickly moving to how much I miss Jagger. I miss waking up to him, and the way his warmth feels on my skin.

  I wake Kip after a while, and we head into the house to wash the sand out of every crevice in our body. I wonder what Kip has in store for me today? I make a quick call to my mom who is worried and assure her I am working through it. Christmas is in ten days, so I need to pull it together. The guys chartered a flight before Jagger’s latest scandal broke, but I’m not sure what the plans are now. I assure mom I’ll be in Georgia for Christmas one way or another, and it eas
es her worries.

  When I emerge from my room, Kip is trying to teach little 5-week-old Cash to “kill” a toy I’d bought the previous day. He cracks me up. Cash looks at him like he’s speaking Greek, turning his head from one side to the other, the way dogs do. I think he is way more concerned about killing the treat in Kip’s hand than he is a training session.

  “What shall we do today woman? You should pick out a disguise. The world is at our fingertips this morning. They are all waiting on the Kipley show. I am such a fucking genius.”

  “I need coffee first.”

  “I already made some.”

  “I should’ve fallen in love with you, Kip.”

  His face falls, “No... I uh… I’m not… I fuck with you all the time, but you and I aren’t meant to be together, Hen. I think you are the most gorgeous, talented musician alive. You are one of my best friends, but we have never had that kind of connection.”

  “Jesus, Kip. I was just kidding. I know you don’t want to have sex with me.”

  “You don’t?”

  “We have been friends for far too long for me to think you are serious. I’ve seen what you’re like when you’re into a girl.”

  “How’s that?” he questions.

  “You smile and flash those dimples of yours, and then you disappear. You don’t act like an idiot, you sincerely try to get to know the girl. You even tone down your antics.”

  “Tell no one, you will ruin my playboy reputation. Plus, the only girl I’ve ever been close to is you. You’re the only one who appreciates my antics anyways,” he says dead serious.

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “You know he’s always loved you, right? I mean I gave him shit since the sixth grade. Caleb thought it was the funniest thing in the world when we were kids. Jag could hardly speak around you, man. He was all talkative until you would walk into a room and he tried to be all Joe Cool. Mystery man, ya know? He didn’t have us fooled though. When we first found out we would to tour with you after we got signed, he packed like a bitch. He had to always look his best around you. He never gave a shit about any of that with anyone else. I’ve also never seen him be openly affectionate with another woman. Just you. He can’t keep his hands, or his eyes off of you.”