The Love I Lost

Chapter 9: Playing With F.I.R.E.

 I twirled the ring on my thumb nervously. Shivers coursed through my body. God, why had I agreed to this? What if I totally lost my nerve and my voice broke during one of the songs? Oh, the songs! What kind did they expect me to sing?
I stopped the car when I knew I was at Abby's. Taking a deep breath, I got out of the car and walked towards the open garage. I put on some clothes I had at the back of my closet I saved for going to concerts; A gray fitted T-shirt that had David Bowie as Jareth, from Labyrinth, a pair of black skinny jeans, black low top converse, and skull and crossbones suspenders.
"Hey, guys." I said almost breathlessly.
The band greeted me enthusiastically. I recognised most of them from gigs and pictures with Lily. The one playing bass was Ethan, wearing dark jeans, a dark blue T-shirt with a band logo and skater shoes. He had medium blonde hair that was covered by a dirty gray baseball cap, worn backwards.
The other girl was the lead guitarist, playing an electric, of course. I didn't remember her name, though. She was dressed in skinny similarly to Ethan, only the pants were gray and she was wearing a black Hollister shirt and black converse. Her hair was a red-orange, straight and frizzy.
The drummer, who I recognised as Benjamin, was wearing a black muscle shirt with a white skull in the middle of it. He was wearing black jeans and combat boots. In his brown hair were a few small strands of blonde on either side of his face.
Then there was Abby. She had put a red streak through her copper mane of straight hair and was wearing baggy black jeans, a black corset with a plain red T-shirt underneath, and black skater shoes. I couldn't remember if she played acoustic guitar or keyboard, though.
"Liz, glad you make it," Abby greeted in her monotone voice. "You remember Ethan, Benjamin, and Ashley, right?"
"Not Ashley," I said honestly. "Nice to meet you."
"Ditto," she chuckled.
"So, E-Lizzy, are you ready to rock?" Benjamin said loudly.
"I sure hope I can."
"Don't sweat it, you'll be fine after one song," Abby laughed. "You don't play an instrument, do you?"
I shook my head. "Just here to sing."
Abby nodded. "Just checkin'. So, what can you sing?"
Oh, God I was afraid of that question. "Just name a song or band."
"How 'bout Evanescence?" Ethan asked.
I nodded. I really didn't want to admit I could keep up with Amy Lee, but I did anyway. "Sure."
"Great!" Abby said. "You know 'My Immortal'?"
"Doesn't everyone?"
"Alright, cool. So you can sing the lead and I'll sing the backup harmony. Will that mess you up?"
I shrugged. "We'll see."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It turns out my David Bowie T-shirt was a good choice, since F.I.R.E is into classic rock, too. Actually, I'm pretty well fit with the band. They like a lot of music I do---including Seether!---and they liked my singing. At some point, Ashley had convinced me to sing Golden Years with her. Let me tell you, Ashley is no Bowie. It was still fun, though. I was laughing the entire time, not knowing all the words to Golden Years anyway.
"See you guys Thursday," I laughed, walking out to my car.
"See ya!" they all shouted back.
I drove off with a wide grin. F.I.R.E---which stood for Fire In Redemption Everlasting---liked me and I really liked them. This band thing---and how ironic is it I say this?---is a good thing. We practice this Thursday and Saturday we have a gig at a nightclub. I wondered how I was going to get that past Daniel....
About a block away from my house, my cell started playing Clumsy.

Can't breathe
When you touch my sleeve
Boy, that's not so crazy
Mmm-mm
Whoa now
Think I'm going down
Feel like Cupid's hit me
Mmm-mm

I answered, already knowing by the song who it was. "Yes, Lily?"
"Well? How'd it go?" she squealed excitedly.
I sighed. "They absolutely hated me. Apparently, Bowie is so-not-rock-and-roll anymore and kicked me out before I even sang."
Lily gasped. "Why did you wear the Labyrinth shirt?"
"I'm just kidding, Lily. And you know I watch Labyrinth like twenty times a day," Even as I spoke, the little crazy orange things dance around the fire song popped into my head. Great, as much as I loved those orange things and the song, it would be in my head all day.
"So it went good?"
"We have a gig Saturday. Abby and I are gonna sing My Immortal and Ashley and I still haven't found a song, since Golden years didn't work at all."
"Oh my God! This is amazing! I'm so psyched! You know Greta and I are gonna be in the very front of the crowd!"
"It's at this nightclub. I'll have to ask Abby where the place is again, 'cause I forgot."
"Hey that's cool. Oh my God, Liz!" Lily literally screamed.
I pulled my cell away from my ear. "Okay, Lily, I'm home now, so---"
"Gotta face the principle. You go and tell him what you have to tell him."
I almost told her I wasn't going to tell my dad anything, but stopped myself.
"I'll talk to you later," I said as I parked the car in the driveway.
I shut my cell off and walked up to the front door steps. I wondered if my dad's SUV was parked in the garage or not. God, I hoped not. It was already eight o'clock on a school night. He'd flip for sure.
Taking a chance, I walked in. "Hello?"
No answer.
Oh, thank God.
I went over to the phone to check the messages.
"Three new messages," the voice in the phone said. "All messages play back."
"Hey, Daniel, this is Alicia Mulligan. I was just calling to make sure that you and Elizabeth were coming for dinner Saturday. We look forward to seeing you two again! Give me a call when you get the chance."
Ugh, Alicia Mulligan. She was dad's friend, who always tried to set me up with random boys on her family reunions. Oh, well, at least I wouldn't have to go to her house Saturday.
There was a beep and it switched to the next message. "Lizzy, hey, it's Greta. Lily told me about the band---and you two making up. I'm really glad. Fill me in on the details; after, maybe even by eleven tonight. I'm on a date with Isabelle, so I gotta go. Later!"
Well, sure I'd call her. I was excited about the gig, so I, of course, was excited to share that with her. Then the third message switched on. "Hello, Elizabeth," a familiar voice said. My heart stopped and I listened intently. "I think you know who this is. I told you we weren't done. Just wanted to let you know I'm in the neighbourhood. I might pay a visit to your friends. I haven't really decided. Don't bother calling back. I'll contact you again when I know you're home. See you soon, love. Real soon."
"End of final message."
I stared at the phone, speechless. This couldn't be happening. Before doing anything else, I ran and locked all the doors and windows, covering the windows with curtains. This could not be happening again!
Close to hysterics, I called Lily. "Hello?" she said cheerfully.
I took a deep breath, sinking to the floor.
"Liz? Hello?"
I was afraid of talking. I knew if I said one word I'd break down completely. I took a few more deep breaths before whimpering, "Lily, he's back."