"Fuck it! We're never going to win if we can't figure this out," Hunter said as he placed his guitar on the stand. "Chill, okay? We've been practicing for hours I think we just need a break," Kevin said, running a hand through his messed up hair as his chest heaved. "You just want to go see Jesse," Emily sighed. Kevin's lips turned upwards slightly as he stepped out from behind his kit. "We're going to be late to school, come on," Emily said, grabbing the two boys and dragging them out of Hunter's basement.
"I don't see why we can't just practice at yours?" Carter asked. "Because my brother is having his anniversary dinner tonight, he said I'm not even allowed in the house tonight let alone a band practice," Jesse responded. "It's fine we can go to the music room at lunch and then-" Blue trailed off, staring at the group who walked in the double doors. "God, just ask her out already!" Carter said looking at their lead singer who basically had hearts popping from her eyes. "What? No, I can't, I don't even know if she's into girls, plus, she and Kevin only broke up like six months ago," Blue said as Jesse had already walked off to greet her boyfriend Kevin with a kiss. "That's not stopping him," Carter chuckled. Carter became bored of looking at Kevin makeout with their best friend so they decided to look around the hall, waiting for Jesse to regroup with them. Then their eyes caught a particularly angering pair of brown ones. "Oh for fucks sake," Carter said as he began walking towards them. "Ah hello evil one," Hunter smiled. "Fuck off Sylvester," they said. "It is way too early in the morning for your shit okay, I need to ask Blue something," he said, dropping his sarcastic façade. "Me?" Blue asked. "Yes doll, I need to borrow your eyeliner," he said. Blue looked to Carter, expecting them to forbid such a friendly act. They just rolled their eyes and turned back to Jesse who was walking back now, Kevin's hand intertwined with hers. "Uh yeah sure, you can give it back to me last period," they said, fishing the black pen out of her purse before handing it over to the tall boy. "Got a gig or something Gene Simmons?" Carter snickered. "No, I'm just trying something," he said, examining the tip of the pen like it was a foreign object. "Right well we have to get to class, see ya," Jesse smiled at Hunter who smiled back, scrunching his nose. He thought of her like a small child or a newborn kitten that didn't understand the harsh reality of the world yet.
At lunch, the band was sitting in the music room, going over their setlist for the competition at the mall. Since Battle of the Bands, they had been practicing pretty much every day. "I can't get this bit," Carter said, plucking at their bass rhythmically. "You've almost got it," Blue said, trying to shout over the angry drumming of Jesse. "JESSE!" Carter shouted, earning Jesse to jump, her drumsticks flying from their hands as they pulled their ear plugs out. "Sorry," she laughed slightly. "Sounding good," Kevin said as he and Emily walked into the room, making Blue tense. "The music rooms double booked," he continued as he strolled over to Jesse.
"Where's Hunter?" Jesse asked, catching a towel from Blue, wiping her face. "I don't know, haven't seen him since English," Emily said, her eyes travelling over to the brunette girl who was tuning her guitar. Carter sighed before getting up and dusting off their pants. "I'm gonna go to the vending machine, anyone want anything?" When they were met with a bunch of mumbling 'no thank you's they made their way out into the corridor, trying to locate the nearest vending machine. Soon enough they found one near the drama room and pulled out some coins to buy an energy drink. As the can clattered to the bottom and they took it out, a loud cursing was heard from the room adjacent.
Carter looked over at the door to the room, opening it slightly to reveal Hunter Sylvester sitting in front of the mirror, vigorously wiping his face with cotton pads. "You alright?" They asked, feeling weird about not saying anything at all. Hunter spun around quickly, seemingly angry. "What do you want?" he spat. "To see who's screaming profanities in the drama room, oh you know what? Fuck you Sylvester," they rolled their eyes going to leave. "Wait! I'm sorry alright, I need your help," he said, already regretting the words as they left his mouth. "You're apologising and asking me for something? Never thought I'd see the day," Carter smiled smugly, crossing their arms and leaning against the door frame. "Shut up, will you help me or not?" He asked, already awkward enough without their unnecessary antics. "I'm coming, I just wanted to enjoy this," they smiled as they made their way over to the lanky boy sitting in front of the floor length mirror. "What are you even doing in here? You don't take drama," they said, knowing full well as it was one of their favourite classes. "I didn't want to do it in the bathroom and there are mirrors in here," he said quietly, avoiding their gaze. "Do what?" they asked. Hunter pulled the eyeliner pen from behind his back. "I can't do it," he admitted, sounding very upset that his day had come to asking Carter Little for help with makeup. "I like yours," he said, sounding even more upset with himself. They couldn't believe what they were hearing, it was like Hunter had been replaced with an actually decent human being. "God, just hand it over loser," they said, their tone more joking. His eyes widened. "What? Why can't you just explain how to do it and I can do it on myself?" he asked. "Eyeliner doesn't really work like a video game tutorial," they smirked, holding out their hand. He sighed, placing the small item in their open palm. Carter pulled up a chair, sitting directly in front of Hunter who was cross legged on the ground. "Come closer," they said. He sighed before scooting forward so that he was positioned between their knees. Carter scoffed at the way his face was tilted to the right and his eyes were focusing on something at the back of the room. "You have to look at me Hunter," they said, taking his chin in their hand, directing his gaze to look directly up into their eyes.
Carter started drawing a small wing, to ease the boy into it, their left hand holding his jaw so he would stop moving. Hunter was staring up at their face as they tried to get it symmetrical. He couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful their face was. He'd tried to pretend that's not what he was thinking about but he couldn't help it. The way their hand would brush against his cheek and the way their other was holding his face in place. The way their eyes were ever so slightly squinted and their lip was between their teeth as they concentrated fully on the task at hand. He'd never noticed the green colour of their eyes before, or the curve of their lips. Just as his instinct told him to lean in, they snapped from their concentrated state and made actual eye contact with him before moving backwards. "Done," they said. Hunter turned to look at himself in the mirror, smiling slightly at the black wings on his eyelids. "You like it?" they asked. Hunter's gaze drifted up to meet with theirs in the mirror. "Yeah. Yeah I think I do," he said.
"So you're the lead singer and the lead guitarist?" Emily asked, sitting next to Blue. "Yeah, well I'm kind of the only guitarist so, I guess I'm lead," she said. "Like Cobain," Emily smiled. Blue looked at her and smiled back. "Yeah," she said. "What kind of music do you guys play?" she asked as she watched Blue pluck at the unplugged purple electric guitar silently. "Eh, bit of everything, rock, grunge, indie-rock," she said. "Cool, play me something?" Emily asked, her bottom lip between her teeth. "Really?" Blue asked, to which Emily nodded eagerly in response. "Uhm, alright, I'll do something you'd definitely know," she said as she replugged in her guitar. As she started playing, Emily recognised it as one of the songs Kevin and Hunter showed her, Master of Puppets by Metallica. She watched the girl's fingers tapping and maneuvering along the neck of the guitar with ease and grace, something so unique considering the metal, reverb sound that was coming from the amp. She had a way of playing that Emily had never seen before in her band. It was so much softer and more elegant than Hunter. Even though she'd heard him play this exact song before, she was now convinced nobody would ever play this song as beautifully as Blue just did. "Holy shit," Emily said quietly, almost to herself, as she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "Blue you're so talented," she said, admiring the way that even when the playing was over, Blue's slender fingers never left the guitar neck. "Thank you," Blue said, taking that as the most sincere compliment she'd ever received. "Hey, we're playing a gig on Friday night, you should uh- you should come. It's at a bar and we're opening so it shouldn't finish that late, so maybe after we could grab a bite to eat or-"
"Yes," Emily cut her off, making Blue smile hopefully. "Yeah?" she asked, the nerves drifting away. "Absolutely," Emily confirmed before placing a soft kiss to the girl's cheek.
Jesse smiled from her place across the room on her drum stool as she watched Blue's cheeks redden. Emily was a very forward girl. "You're angry," Kevin said while fiddling with her previously discarded drumsticks, snapping her attention back to him. "No I'm not," she said looking down at her feet. "Please, I heard you play, plus look at your sticks," he said, holding them out. Jesse observed the wood that had several chips taken out of them. "I'm a drummer Jesse, so tell me what's pissing you off," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind his girlfriend's ear. "Nothing, I just, I need to win that stupid fucking competition," she said. "It's just a competition in the mall, I mean Hunter's stressed about it too, I don't see the big deal," he said. "My dad," she said. Kevin's face dropped and his eyes widened. "Your dad is back in town?" he asked. "Yeah, he's coming to the competition because my brother screamed at him over the phone and blabbed about it," she said. "He's never taken this seriously, he's never taken me seriously. I have this one shot to prove to him that I am more than he thinks," she mumbled, spinning the stick absentmindedly between her fingers, to which Kevin watched intently. "And to prove that him walking out on you doesn't bother you," Kevin said, avoiding her gaze, in case he crossed a line. She just nodded slightly. "If he seems how well I'm doing then he may regret leaving," she said, coming to terms with it herself. Kevin grabbed both sides of her face and kissed her, an act out of the blue that Jesse wasn't expecting. "You don't need to prove shit to that douchebag, but if this is what we're doing then I'm going to be there right beside you," he smiled, pressing his forehead against hers. She shut her eyes softly, enjoying his touch.
"Right who's ready to rehearse?" Hunter's voice boomed as he opened the door. Everyone's heads turned to see him walking in with Carter. Jesse and Blue exchanged amused looks to which Carter rolled their eyes. "Someone's coming around," Jesse teased as they elbowed Carter in the ribs softly. "I just helped him with his eyeliner," Carter said, although even they couldn't stop the way their lips turned up in a small smile.
