Formerly known as We The Young / Vera, a singer held back by her size, and Ashton, a songwriter looking to stop failing himself, team up to achieve their dreams by forming the greatest rock band of our time.
***
Vera has always dreamt of being a sin...
"Nothing," I said. My voice was up a few notes. "I just said we look like we're going to a casual Friday funeral."
He turned around to look at Link. I tried to seek refuge in my closest girl friend, but Addy surprised me by joining the boys in talking about how that could be turned into a brand. I made eye contact with Leti but what I saw in her eyes terrified me. She was on the verge of teasing me until kingdom come. The last safe refuge was DeAndre, so I snuck up to him.
"I feel kinda sorry that Leti forced you into this."
"Don't sweat it, chica. It definitely makes for a different Saturday." He smiled and lit up his entire face. I finally saw the venue in sight, its front wallpapered in posters and crammed with people. DeAndre cleared his throat and I looked back at him. "So, um. You and the white boy?"
"No way." I shook my head so much my head spun. It was definitely about that, and not at all about the question.
"For real? That looked a tad possessive to me." He jerked his thumb backward, to where I'd been standing with them before.
"We're just friends, kinda."
"Kinda," he repeated, raising his eyebrows.
"Okay, guys." Link called to everybody's attention. Once he had it he asked, "Who's paying for the tickets?"
I'd never seen twins in action until then. In unison, Ashton and Ayrton chirped, "You are."
I just laughed as realization dawned on Link that he shouldn't even have asked the question. He grumbled what I was sure had to be curses in Korean, but still marched over to the ticket booth and got in line. He ended up paying for all seven of our tickets. I was going to be nice and buy him a drink when we got inside, but at seeing the prices for a single soda I decided he'd made his bed and had to lie in it.
The place was half full and we found a spot halfway to the stage but the gig hadn't started yet. The stage was ready with a drum set and a few other instruments, but they were blaring some weird rock music with electronic sounds in between. It was loud enough that we couldn't hear each other scream, which I figured was how the concert would be. It wasn't dim enough yet, so I pulled up my ticket to see which bands were playing. I didn't know a single one, of course, but I counted six of them. I hoped the whole thing was done and I was home before ma arrived.
As more people came in we were squeezed closer to the front. An older guy with long, gray hair walked into the stage and picked up the microphone.
"Welcome everybody to this year's battle of the tributes!" The crowd roared and my body grew paralyzed.
Real talk, I'd never been in a concert before. Not one like this. I'd seen my ma on shows when I was a toddler. I remembered the cheers and the people singing along, but it hadn't been like this. Pure euphoria from a mass of people who loved one thing in common, in sound form. I felt like the only unfamiliar thing drowning in the feeling.
"Let's welcome our first band on stage," the man continued. "They are called Nevermind Nirvana, straight up from Mobile, Alabama. Let's hear it for them!"
People clapped and whistled as the band took to the stage. They were three guys who looked like they'd been plucked from a Trader Joe's or something, not on par with the audience. But once they started playing they made the whole place vibrate.
In their enthusiasm, people crushed us forward. I yelped as I felt a hand against my butt and was going to turn and glare when someone pulled me by the arm. My alarm ebbed away when I saw that it was just Ashton, pulling me away from whomever. He tucked me against him, my back to his chest, and said something into my ear.
I wasn't sure what it was, because it was pretty damn loud, but I could've sworn he said he'd keep me safe.
After that I couldn't concentrate on the music the band was playing. It seemed like my body was too busy producing music of its own. I stood stiff and uncomfortable even as everybody around me seemed to bounce, but I didn't move away. Not because there was nowhere to go. But because I didn't want to. I thought of Quinn telling me he was sure his former friend had a thing for me, and of DeAndre earlier, casting doubt on whether we were just friends.
But something was certain to me. There was no way a boy like Ashton liked me. There was no way he, with his arms around me, couldn't feel the muffin top around my waist that no diet could get rid of and still find me attractive.
There was no way.
A sharp elbow in my ribs made me look up and catch Leti winking at me.
I turned away to face the band on stage. The guitarist jumped so high that he was probably a gymnast. And the crowd exploded in excitement. Ashton let me go and hollered.
I shook my head to myself. Leti, DeAndre and Quinn were all wrong.
SONG OF THE DAY: Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
by my calculations this story will be over pretty soon! and even though it hasn't caught on anywhere near what i hoped, i'll still continue to update it three times per week as i promised.
leave a vote and comment and if you like what i write, please spread the word!
