Time Warped

Job Hunt

"Dammit!" I pull the carton from my jacket. Nikki gasps.

"Sage!!!! No!" She hisses at me and I jerk my hand away when she tries to take away my Camel Lights.

"I will stop smoking when Dakota gets her head out of her ass and realizes that it's time to grow up!" Nikki crosses her arms and taps her elbow with her long fingers. "Call her. I'll be right back," I grumble as My boots crunch on the gravel.

Moments later I hear Nikki yelling and gravel crunching behind me.

"Does Mark know you smoke?" Michael asks. I shrug as I light.

"Doubt it. I only smoke when I get pissed." He sighs and takes the cigarette from between my fingers. He takes a drag and drops it, stomping it out.

"Does he know you stopped therapy?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I didn't stop.... I just... I'm taking a break." He shakes his head.

"Since when is three months a break?" I tug at my hair, listening to Nikki's muffled shouts around the corner. I've been seeing the therapist since Mark and I moved to L.A., so about eight months, besides the past three months.

"It just doesn't feel like they're helping anymore. All they do is put me on meds or ask me to talk to my mom. Or dad. And I never wanna see either of them. Ever." Michael shrugs. "And..." I sigh. "They keep saying that being with Mark is just hurting me. And it's not. They don't think I love him. They think I love his fame." Michael doesn't move or make a sound.

"Dammit, Dakota, this is the last fucking straw! Do it again and your out. Not just the band. Out of the fucking house you clog with fucking vodka. Jeezus..." Nikki hangs up and appears around the corner.

"Well?" Nikki crosses her arms and bites her lip.

"How necessary is the second guitarist?" I shake my head and laugh.

I curse under my breath and go grab my guitar.

"Fuck it,  might ass well just kick ourselves in the ass and call it a day." Michael laughs lightly and we begin to carry things into the building.

"Hey, I'm Angie. My husband owns the place," a middle aged woman with curly red hair says. I smile as bright as I can.

"Hi, I'm Sage and this is Michael and Nikki. We're here to audition..." She smiles sweetly and nods. She looks awfully innocent to marry the owner of a rock band bar.

"And the fourth? I heard there was another girl, quite remarkable..."

Ah yes. You could call Dakota that. Most people do.

Dakota dyes her hair a lot. I mean even I put chalk in my hair for some shows (just to stand out a little more) but Dakota does full blown things. She currently has hot pink hair and anime bangs. She was the girl who was incredibly popular in high school. Her parents were the bitching billionaires that used their kids in their popularity contest. The day after Dakota graduated she left, swearing she'd clean the junkie act, and guaranteeing she'd work for everything. And she crashed and burned miserably within the first year. She spent two years wasting away in her parents house, letting them use her so she could feed her addictions. But then she found Nikki. And she was almost clean. Until she found Keaton.

"She, ah... Had an emergency. She won't be able to make it to the show, either." Angie nods and smiles tightly.

"Well, three is cheaper than four!" She says with a bright laugh. "Ok, well let's get started. First of all, I just wanted to say that your guys' tape was the best I've heard in a very, very long time," she says as we follow her down a brick hallway covered in old flyers.