Royally Off Your Throne

1 - Royally Not Supposed to Be Here

For the fifth time that night, Isa and Marsh were trying to coax Spin out of jumping off of a table into the crowd. And they were unsuccessful. Again.

"Spin, come back here!" Isa shouted. "We're supposed to stick together!"

Spin laughed as the waves of people carried him up and down. "Relax! I'm doing just fine."

I shook my head. "Leave him alone. He won't be saying the same if he fractures his arm again."

"How did that happen again?" Krash asked me, tucking her braids under her beanie.

"You know, he jumped off that table at that toy convention," I responded.

"And then we almost got kicked out." She frowned. "On second thought, get him down."

I put my hands up. I'd given up on being Spin's babysitter a long time ago. Actually, I don't think I ever was his babysitter. "I'd rather see his arm get sprained."

"Fair enough."

Turning my eyes away from the apparent train wreck in front of me, I looked over at the stage where a handful of people were performing. I had heard maybe five of their songs before I came to the concert, mostly because I was just wanting a night out, and they were damn good performers. It's not like many people would know considering they only performed live twice every year, and my four good friends and I had managed to snag an invite. But that was just another Wednesday for us, really.

I mean, when we went to a school as dreadful as Mes Torrigno Secondary, we had to come up with some way to cope. We were most definitely not supposed to be here at 12 a.m. on a school night, but hey, too late now.

Marsh walked over to me with a sigh. "You're not helpful."

"What?" I shrugged. "Spin's independent. He knows what he wants."

"Yeah, but you know when he gets started with his nonsense it's hard to make him stop." He glanced at his watch. "Plus, we should be heading back in a few so we have time to catch the bus and sneak through the gates."

"High risk, high reward. What's this band called again?"

He glowered at me. "For the third time, Midnight Bandits."

"Oh." I laughed. "And the joke is that we're here at midnight?"

"No, it's not a joke. It's their name. I've listened to them since 1st Year. I've been waiting years to see them perform, and then I have to deal with this nonsense."

"Is that snobbery I sense? That's hypocritical coming from you." It truly was, considering this wasn't the first time we'd snuck into an all exclusive event.

"Not snobbery. Just wish there was a little more pride in this establishment."

"Uh huh. You act like we didn't spend weeks planning this. Krash had to spend a weekend with her uncle to get us tickets, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure Spin comes down the tree in time."

"No promises."

He shook his head as he walked off to rejoin Isa. I guess I could see why Marsh liked the band. They were moody and loud and dramatic. Something he'd vehemently deny being, but I was pretty sure I knew him better than he knew himself.

The atmosphere wasn't the most lush. It was a small space located in the halls of a failed subway plan beneath Halas. The literal definition of underground. But the walls had been painted over and decorated with art and posters to make it look a little better. And there were dim lights around the area, which did make it all look cool. But every time the music thumped the ground and walls, I was filled with the irrational fear that the ceiling would cave in.