Song: Gravitational Constant-- Type O Negative

Juno

Chris poured her another glass of Scotch. The guest house was actually pretty cozy for it being more like a rundown shack than a home. Chris had moved in the week before so he could be within arms reach if Trent needed help with the album. There was no way Trent was letting him move into Le Pig, so Chris had to take the small cottage the gardener once used. The brown-haired woman buried her toes in the orange shag carpet. The amount of alcohol Chris had consumed in their two-hour rendezvous was insane; Juno had only three glasses of liquor and she was already feeling inebriated.

"So you want to throw Trent a birthday party?" Chris asked, scratching his head. Juno nodded as she tossed her head back to swallow the brown liquid. It burned her esophagus and warmed her belly. Her eyes were getting heavy.

"Yeah, I do. And you're going to help me, you know him best," Juno slurred.

"This is true, my friend. I do." Chris and Trent had been friends since their days back in Ohio, back when they were constantly drunk and following a vigorous masturbation routine. They did everything together until Trent kicked him out of the band after some petty argument. But fortunately, Chris Vrenna was brought back by his only true friend after their other good friend Jeff Ward committed suicide; Chris came back when they needed each other most.

"So help me. Who should be invited, where should it be, when should it be, what should the theme be--"

"Theme? How old is he? Six?" Chris chortled. "Let's have the theme be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then."

Juno rolled her green eyes. "Fuck off, Vrenna. Theme or no theme? It doesn't have to be spectacular."

"Music...?" The pair thought about the possibilities for a few quiet moments. The cicadas outside chirped loudly and the wind made the shutters smack against the side of the house. Juno snapped her fingers, shooting up in excitement. 

"I've got it!"

"What is it?" Chris cocked an eyebrow, taking a drink of Scotch straight from the bottle.

"All eighties music, all night. Trent loves all that Skinny Puppy-Depeche Mode-synth shit!"

He smiled. "I like it. I like it. I had a different idea, though. It might work along with yours."

"Lay it on me, Chris."

"A masquerade ball. Here. At Le Pig. Masks, costumes, all that shit. Dress as fucking crazy as you want."

"Eighties masquerade... You have to dress like eighties TV characters, musicians, movie actors--"

"I call Alf!" Chris and Juno burst out laughing.

"So is that the plan?"

"Sounds good to me. If Trent doesn't like it, he can fuck himself. I think it's a great idea."

Juno cracked a grin in Chris's direction. "We make a good team."

"Indeed we do, now... When and who are the questions we need to answer."

***

The party would be held May sixteenth, at Le Pig at eight-thirty. Brian and his Spooky Kids were on the list; other members of Nine Inch Nails; friends of Trent's such as Jimmy Iovine, Adrian Belew, Danny's girlfriend Blythe, and Flood. Many others were asked to attend, but one name on the list contracted Juno's insides, like a cobra constricting its prey. 

Tori Amos. 

What did she dislike about Tori besides the fact that she was friends with Trent? Nothing. There was not a single example Juno could pinpoint. Juno was malicious towards Tori for the reason that another female besides herself was friendly with Trent Reznor. Never had she ever been so angered by another woman. Seeing them together made her heart collapse in her chest. The chemistry between the two of them made her sick to her stomach. Trent had more adoration for Tori, but who could blame him? At least she wasn't as damaged as Juno was. Tori was a rose, Juno was a thorn.

Chris made a few phone calls, leaving voice messages on answering machines to tell of the details for Trent's party, giving more explicit details if one chose to answer the phone. And there Juno sat, sucking up all the oxygen and booze. She was left cold; all she had to do was drink. The dense guitars of Type O Negative made her brain pulsate, Peter Steele's horrific voice raising goosebumps on her arms. 

A sudden knock on the door made both she and Chris flinch. The artificially-blonde man ambled to the front door. He pried it open, presenting a drunken Trent Reznor to an equally sloshed Juno McCallister. The industrial god stumbled through the threshold, plopping down on the shag carpet. Chris hid the notepad with the guest list in a drawer in his desk. Juno was sprawled on the couch, mentally questioning whether she should speak to Trent or not. Ever since the Tori situation, the pair hadn't shared many words with one another.  Was he still upset with her?

"Hey," Juno greeted meekly, her words followed closely by a hiccup. The musician simply tipped his head to her, then turned his attention back to his bandmate. Her heart deflated.

"What's going on?" Trent called to Chris, who was now in the kitchen. 

"Uhh, nothin' much. Just listening to Type O and getting blitzed. How about you? What's goin' on with you?" 

"Currently wishing I was dead, because... well, who doesn't at some point in their life?" Trent stole the bottle of Scotch from the coffee table and chugged the liquor straight from the bottle. Juno liked the curve of his throat, the way he swallowed, veins suddenly prominent beneath the flesh of his neck. He was in desperate need of a shave, his five o' clock shadow growing at an alarming rate. 

"Cut the crap, Reznor," Chris sighed as he made his way back into the living room, purloining the bottle of brown alcohol from his intoxicated friend. Chris took a few drinks of his own before resorting back to the kitchen to make some mixed drinks. He offered Juno one, which she accepted, but Trent had not replied to his friend's question. The young man continued to lie on the floor, his eyelids anchored down. His breathing was steady and slow, his shaggy hair messy and stuck to the side of his face.

Juno exhaled. "Trent?"

No answer. He was out like a light.  The brunette smiled to herself and went on attempting to enjoy Peter Steele's baritone voice, with the vexation of her relationship with Trent still burned into the back of her head.

*************

Sorry, this is a total filler, but the next couple chapters... Oh, you guys just wait ;)

-Me.