Stan should be home in an hour. He went to pick up Jimmy's cousin in a town called Victorville, which was about four hours from here, or so I'm told. I decided, before they got here, to try out my new computer. I bought a new laptop because I missed having one. I wanted to check out all my websites, like my Myspace page, or some of my diaper stuff. My email was probably so full, it would freeze the damn computer. I haven't been on a computer in a year.
I entered our loft and looked around to see if the coast was clear. No one was home. I set the laptop down and hurried into the bathroom. I really needed to pee. The door burst open as I ran in and shut it. I pants came off to reveal my adult diaper. I had switched from the plastic ones to this kind, which was like wearing a pull up. It was even more discrete and I was making head way with my re-training. I have been able to feel when I need to go and it's giving me enough time to get to a toilet. All that was needed now was to do it more often so my bladder would get used to it.
I exited the bathroom after a successful try in using the toilet. My diaper, or padded brief as it's called, was dry, so I saw no reason to change it. I opened my new laptop and sat on my mattress as I set it up. It was time consuming. Twenty minutes was gone when it was finally ready for use. I wasted no time in heading straight for the internet explorer icon. The internet was up and running in the place, which was cool. I knew Stan couldn't go without an internet connection. I typed in Diaperbuddies first. I wanted to get all of this out of the way before Stan and Jimmy's cousin arrived. I entered my password and saw two unread messages. Not surprising for an account like this. They were from some friends I made on this site. They were old, too. One was almost a year, with the other only being a few months. I replied to both, apologizing for my absences and responding to their questions.
After that, it was a few other websites. Some diaper-related, some not. My email was filled with almost one hundred unread messages, mostly email notifications from other sites. Finally, I logged onto my Myspace page, which laid dormant for almost two years. I had a pile-up of unread messages, friend request and comment approvals. They were all from old high school friends that I haven't seen in a while. I decided to do some quick edits on my profile. I changed my location to Los Angeles, updated my "About Me" section and took a new picture with Stan camera. I knew people would be interested to see my longer hair and Abraham Lincoln beard, which I thought was cool.
A loud noise broke my concentration while I was typing. I looked up to see Stan opening the door and leading a female into our loft. Her face bore an immediate resemblance to me. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very skinny body structure. Her face, however, caught my attention. She was the girl in my dream. She was the one who played the upright bass. This was all to strange. She was joining our band as a bass player, and before I met her, she was in my dream with Stan playing upright bass. It was like Deja Vu, but instead with full clarity. "Brian, this is Michelle, Jimmy's cousin." Stan announced.
"Hey, what's up." She said as she extended her arm to greet me.
"Hi." I replied to her as I met her hand. I was trying not to make it seem like I was surprised, but my mind was in shock.
"You must be Brian."
"Yeah. The lead singer."
"I heard your stuff. It sounds cool."
"Thanks. That’s what everyone tells me."
"So, you guys want to jam?" She immediately asked both of us.
"I love this girl. Straight to the point." Stan exclaimed. Michelle laughed, finding his brand of humor rather funny from what it seems. "Brian, can you help me with her stuff?"
"Yeah, sure."
She was all set up. Stan sat behind his drum set, poised to start showing off for Michelle. I set my new guitar up with my amp and did a quick tuning as Michelle did the same. The bass guitar hanging from her shoulder was a popular bass among the Ibanez series. The Ibanez ATK, I believe it‘s called. "Alright, what do you guys want to play?" Stan asked.
"How about some covers?" Michelle suggested.
"What do you know?"
"I know a whole bunch of Offspring and No Use For A Name, a few Bad Religion, and a NoFX song."
"What Offspring do you know?" I asked.
"I know most of their early stuff, most of Americana, and some of the new songs."
"Do you know Gotta Get Away?" Stan asked.
"Yeah."
"Brian, you are oddly reserved. Isn't the Offspring your favorite band?"
"Yes." I responded rather sarcastically.
"They are?" Michelle said with great glee
"Yeah, since I was 8."
"I've been a fan since I was 12."
"Cool."
"Brian loves them. Isn't Gotta Get Away your favorite tune?" Stan pointed out
"Yes. Did you two set this up in the car?"
"No." Stan said innocently.
"Let's just play." Michelle insisted.
"Alright." Stan clicked his sticks and began the opening of the song. Michelle followed easily as I came in, showing off my guitar and vocal skill. As the song ended, it seemed evident that we work together perfectly. We continued playing some more songs, showing her how to play some of ours. She caught on really quick. She was a really good bass player. Way beyond Adam's playing level, which was a feat in itself because Adam was pretty damn good. She even improved some of our songs, adding more to the bass parts then Adam ever did. She was definitely a keeper.
After playing, we went out to eat at the nearby Denny’s. We were hungry and we wanted to get to know her better, or at least I did. I don't know how well Stan got to know her on the way. I was still mesmerized by her striking similarities to the girl in my dream. Maybe that dream was more then a wake-up call.
The waitress came and took orders. She was rather jaded and tired with her hair scraggly and her make-up running a bit. Probably a hard day. She left us to our conversation. "So, Michelle. How long you been playing?" I asked
"Three years." She replied
"Really? Been in any other bands?"
"Well, there was this one band, but we broke up after a year. We were actually kind of good, you know, but we just didn't get along."
"Yeah, we know what you mean."
"So, why did you guys break up for three years?"
"It's a long story."
"We got time."
"Well, Stan and I were really committed to the band, but our old bass player wasn't really all that committed."
"We decided to move to Fresno to get out of our old home town.", Stan took over, "After less then a year of no gigs, he up and left, frustrated with the whole thing."
"We supported ourselves by working part time, and he made the most money out of all us because he didn't go to school, so he worked full time. I had to leave and, by the grace of the lord almighty, got a cheap place in Fresno."
"I went home and stayed for a year, then came to LA."
"Yeah, after about three years, I got a couple degrees under my belt, but I didn't really want to be a English teacher. A friend helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. So, I tracked down Stan and got the band back together."
"I was in that band I told you about."
"Is that all?" She asked.
"Pretty much."
"Wow, that was a really boring story." We laughed as the waitress dropped off our food. We continued talking about stuff. "So, you go to school or anything?"
"No, I just graduated. Got a degree in engineering."
"You going to use it?"
"No. I really would rather do music. I've loved music ever since I was little. My dad was a jazz musician and he died of lung cancer when I was six. He left me his saxophone and I started playing. Got into punk music when I was a preteen. Nothing special, just stuff like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan. I grew out of it and really got into Bad Religion for a while. All I wrote was political stuff that was no good. Then I picked up bass guitar. Been stuck ever since."
"Cool. So what are you going to do about practice and shows?"
"I'm moving in with Jimmy. I've been trying to do it for a while, trying to get out of the small town I live in."
"Hmm, cool."
We left the restaurant at around 8:00 and headed back home. Jimmy came by, picked up Michelle and took her back to his place to stay the night. She'll be moving to his place in the next few days. Stan went to sleep early. He was beat from all the driving and the drumming he did. He said that was the fastest he played in a long time. The stuff he did with Anti-Static was nothing compared to what he did with us. He was out and I was left alone with me and my laptop. I checked all my diaper-related accounts first. Everything was like it used to be, just with different names and faces. I forgot how many different profiles I had on different sites. Some sites were long gone and some of the little ones that weren't that popular are now the biggest ones. It was strange how much can change in three years.
I heard footsteps and saw a shadow approach me. "What up, man?" Stan said half dazed. My fingers and eyes stayed on the computer, quickly exiting the site I was on. "I thought you were asleep?"
"Yeah, can't really sleep." He said as he laid back on my mattress across from me.
"Me neither."
"What do you think of Michelle?"
"She's cool."
"Is that all?"
"Why?"
"Because I saw you and the way you stared at her. You like her, don't you?"
"No, I don't."
"Come on, you know it."
"I'm not in the least bit attracted to her in that way."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I was just staring at her because I thought I saw her before."
"Really. That's all?"
"Well, I saw her in a dream."
"What? You saw her in a dream?"
"Yeah, it was this weird dream I had a while ago and she was in it."
"What was the dream about?"
"Us being a band. It was you and me playing together. I had an acoustic guitar and you were playing a snare drum. We were walking in this weird Alice and wonderland setting and we came across her with her upright bass. "
"Wait. You had a dream about her being in our band before you even got the band back together?"
"Yeah."
"That's freaky, man."
"I know."
"I had that happen to me before."
"Really, about a band?"
"No, when you dream about something and it becomes real, like Deja Vu."
"Really?"
"Yeah, It happens to me a lot."
"Hmmm"
"What else did you dream about?"
"We were playing in this dystopian city cover by dark gray clouds that parted when we played."
"What the fuck?"
"Yeah, I don't know what it means too."
"Maybe we'll change the world with our music."
"When hell freezes over."
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