Arin hadn't spoken to Beck for a whole week.
He had seen her at school a bunch of times, but the right moment never came, according to him, 'cause most of those moments were the right moments, if you ask me.
Anyway, he was laying on his bed, listening to Nick Drake's Pink Moon.
He always listened to that album when he was feeling down.
He checked his phone.
6 new messages.
But none from her.
Was she mad at him or something? Arin had been texting her a lot recently, and all she could reply was "fine (happy emoji)" or "lol (XD emoji)" "can I borrow ur homewrk? (hands together as if to pray emoji, big and teary eyes emoji)
She also left him in seen a bunch of times.
Maybe he overwhelmed her. She definitely had better things to do than answer all the messages of some needy nerd.
And they weren't that close yet. He was only the guy who let her borrow his homework. Why would she care that much about him?
And they were just some stupid texts, anyway. No big deal. It's not like she texted him that often before.
So, why was he so sad, then?
KNOCK, KNOCK
Arin never said "come in" or anything like that, but Danny Sexbang opened the door, anyway.
"Hey, kiddo, can I come in?"
He was already in.
"What are you doing? What do you want?" Arin, all flustered, got up and took a seat on the side of his bed just to pretend he was just chillin'.
But he didn't fool nobody.
"You ok?" Danny took a seat beside his son and put his arm around him. "Ninja Brian told me you've been feeling a little under the weather."
Then, Arin felt another arm around him.
It was Ninja Brian's. He was sitting beside him, too.
Yeah, about Ninja Brian. He was the keyboardist in NSP and, as his name suggest, he was a ninja so silent Arin never saw him come or go anywhere. It was just like BAM! he was there.
Or BAM! where did he go?
He also never spoke. He only glared at you with his blue and intense and blood thirsty and soul tearing eyes.
It was like the abyss was staring at you even if you didn't stare at it in the first place.
And he may had been living somewhere in their house. One day he asked his dad about it, but the only answer he received was: "Don't worry about him; he's like our guardian angel, but deadly."
Arin believed his dad was too afraid to ask him to leave.
He didn't blame him, though.
He was afraid of him too.
"No, I'm ok, dad," Arin lied, "and thanks for your concern, Ninja Brian," Arin turned towards Ninja Brian with the best smile he could make. But, as always, Ninja Brian was glaring at him so intensely, so blood thirsty he couldn't look at him straight in the eyes for more than a nanosecond.
Danny took off his sunglasses and put his blue bass elsewhere. That only meant another serious father-son-Ninja Brian talk.
"Can you take that off, please?" Danny was referring to Arin's earpods.
Arin took them off apprehensively.
"Thank you," Danny said with a slight grin. "Anyway, Ninja Brian says you're full of shit," apparently he could interpret Ninja Brian's silence.
Or maybe he was making all that up.
"He also says you need to stop crying for a girl that couldn't give less fucks about you. Brian, come on! You don't know that!" Danny exclaimed.
But Ninja Brian could know, as far as they were all concerned.
And because of that Arin was feeling like shit.
"Oh, come on, Arin," Danny pulled his son a little closer to him. And, fortunately for Danny, Arin was feeling so shitty that he didn't noticed it, so he didn't get embarrassed and tried to get away. "You know Ninja Brian's full of sh…" Ninja Brian's murderous glare intensified. "He's just teasing you. You don't need to feel bad or anything. Shine on, you crazy diamond."
Ninja Brian shook his head disappointedly.
"And that's your progressive rock reference of the day, brought you by Pink Floyd… Anyway, don't worry, Arin. I bet that girl's super into you. You're a Sexbang, after all. And speaking of Sexbang," Uh-oh. Every time his dad used that segue he ended up talking about sex. "Ninja Brian told me you've been jerking off like a lot. Like 6 times this week. What's up with that?"
Ninja Brian was staring at him daringly and maybe mockingly while doing a jerking motion with his hand.
Like he was jerking-off an invisible guy.
Or a ninja.
I mean, he could be, as far as they knew.
Also, that statement was surprisingly—and embarrassingly—accurate. Arin wondered if he could, I dunno, report Ninja Brian for sexual harassment or something; I mean, he definitely was creeping on him, and that HAD to be illegal, right?
But, on the other hand, little Arin was too afraid of Ninja Brian to do shit.
"Don't get me wrong," Danny continued. "There's nothing wrong with that, but it seems like a little too many. Are you trying to break a world record or something? 'Cause if you keep going like that the only thing you'll be breaking will be your wrists, am I right?" Danny raised his hand and waited for a hi five.
"Dad! WTF! That's personal!" Arin said genuinely mad at him. "And why are you creeping on me, Ninja Brian? God!" He was so mad he even spoke to Ninja Brian.
Well, "spoke" may be a little stretch.
He just whispered and hoped Ninja Brian didn't kill him for that.
He also didn't dare to stare at him.
So that's why he didn't notice the condescending look Ninja Brian was giving him.
"Well, first of all, I'll save that hi five for later. With the other 172," Danny lowered his unhi-fived hand. "And, second of all, Ninja Brian says he doesn't need to watch you do shit, 'cause you're taking your laptop and your big-ass headphones to the bathroom constantly. Really, Arin? Can't you use your phone like a civilized person."
No, he couldn't: the screen was too small to really appreciate what was happening; he needed his big-ass headphones to get so immersed in the action he could feel like he was the one doing the pounding; and sometimes, when he was in the middle of his business, he moved his phone and the video switched to horizontal, and he had to switch it back, losing most of his momentum in the process.
He really needed everything to be perfect That wasn't just about beating his meat, it was about relaxation and blowing off some steam, and he really needed to blow off some steam because fucking Beck wasn't answering his texts, and maybe he did something wrong, and she wouldn't speak to him again, and he'd lose her forever, and without her he would die alone, because Beck was her one and only love, and, besides, who would ever love someone like him? He was just a dumb-ass nerd who couldn't even talk to a girl. How pathetic is that?!
"Shut up, dad! Leave me alone!" Arin shove himself away from his dad and Ninja Brian and stood up.
He was about to cry.
"Hey, don't worry, kiddo. There's nothing wrong 'bout jacking off. Wait. That sounds catchy. Hey, Ninja Brian, that's a cool song name, right? There's nothing wrong 'bout jacking off."
Ninja Brian flipped him off.
"Anyway, you don't need to feel embarrassed for anything related to sex," Danny stood up and approached his son, who took a few steps back. But Danny was faster and insistent, so he put his arm around his embarrassed son. "Sex is something natural and beautiful. Most people seem to hate to hear about it 'cause they barely have it," so maybe that was the reason Arin hated so much to hear about it. Especially from his dad, "or the few they have it's not as good as it used to be. Not me, though. Your mom and I have tons of sex. Of the amazing variety."
Arin turned towards Ninja Brian and stared directly at him hoping, pleading, he would kill him at that very moment.
But Ninja Brian stared back at him, and he seemed to be enjoying himself.
He really was a monster.