Oozing Chemistry

1st Thing's 1st

Reggie and Alex shower each other with well-deserved compliments, owning their awesomeness, and I do my best to sit still, fully convinced that I just watched the next generation of musical legends.

"OK, well, I'm thinking we fuel up before the show. I'm thinking street dogs," Luke sighs and nothing but positive reactions come from the boys, except for my brother who heads straight toward the girl beside me.

"Vegetarian. I could never hurt an animal."

My hand jets for my mouth and I barely keep myself from laughing. Vegetarian? Yeah, right. 

"You guys are really good," she shares passionately with a light accent. "I see a lot of bands. Been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it."

"That's what we do this for," Luke smiles, introducing himself as the boys and Rose follow suit.

"Not that anyone asked, but Izzy." I point to myself and beam, Alex throwing an arm over my shoulder.

"Here's our demo," Reggie grins, handing her a ball of white cloth. "And a T-shirt. Size beautiful." I elbow his side and shake my head. Any opportunity he gets, he jumps at it.

"Thanks. I'll make sure not to wipe the tables down with this one," she says, throwing the shirt over her shoulder and turning away.

"Oh, good call!" Alex speaks up, his arm slipping away from me as he trails off. "Whenever they get wet, they just kinda fall apart in your hands..."

"Don't you guys have to go get hot dogs?" Bobby pushes us away, clearly wanting to hit on Rose without us. What a buzzkill.

Luke, Alex, and Reggie all pull away, heading toward the exit while I smile wickedly and whisper to Rose, "Yeah, he had a hamburger for lunch."

Reggie smacks him upside the arm and Rose giggles, muttering , "Noted," back at me. Luke grabs my hand and yanks me along, the four of us beyond starving and practically sweating pride and pure awesomeness.

The icy chill of night smacks my face like a brick wall, the slight breeze blowing my hair back and raising goosebumps on my bare arms. Sirens blare down side streets, and street lights line the alley we spill into. Note to self: tank tops are not a good idea for late night strolls down the streets of Hollywood. 

I shiver, holding my arms against my chest, and Reggie shimmies off his black leather jacket, draping it around my shoulders gently. I peer up at him to protest, but the look on his face instantly discourages me. His kind smile raises those goosebumps again, and I push down the butterflies. 

My stomach rumbles awkwardly, and all three boys throw their heads back and laugh, Reggie and Alex wrapping their arms around my shoulders as we follow the scent of street dogs.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Luke shouts, having pushed open the doors with a dramatic exit, making us chuckle behind him.

"The smell of Sunset Boulevard?" Alex asks, eyebrows raised humorously.

"No," Luke laughs and splashes through a puddle. "It's what that girl said in there tonight. It's like an energy. It connects us with people. They can feel us when we play. I want that connection with everybody."

"Then we're gonna need more T-shirts," Reggie grins, clearly just as thrilled as Luke. Reggie strays away from us, handing two balls of white cotton to a couple girls crowding outside the Orpheum. "Ladies." 

I rush to pull him away, grabbing onto his hand and quickly leading him away before they could attack. Then I'd never get any food, and let's be real, a girl needs to eat. I don't want to have to bite anyone's head off this late at night.

We finally reach the vendors, successfully following the delicious scent of freshly barbecued hot dogs, and load up our plates. 

"Man," Alex mutters, placing pickle slices onto his and accidentally dropping one between car parts. "I can't wait until we eat someplace where the condiments aren't served out of the back of an Oldsmobile." Alex turns to the owner of the car awkwardly. "Hey. Sorry, I got some pickle juice on your battery cables."

"No problem," he smiles with a thick Middle Eastern accent. "It'll help with the rust." He pats Alex's arm, but Alex just stares at him, blinks, and shakes his head slightly, muttering something in response.

I watch as Reggie piles on the toppings, my taste buds jumping at the sight, and wait for him to finish, slyly sliding it out of his hands with cheeky smile. "Why, thank you."

"Hey!" He nudges me with his mouth open wide. I take off running and he chases me around the car, lifting me off the ground from behind. "Izzy, give it back right now!"

"Never!" I scream, partially because my feet are nowhere near the ground and I have a deathly terrible fear of heights. It just feels like the ground gets farther and farther every second I'm not on it. 

Still, Reggie refuses to put me down and follows Luke and Alex to an old couch, sitting down alongside them with a sigh. 

"This is awesome, you guys," Luke says, shaking his head in disbelief that everything is actually happening, or will happen tonight. "We're playing the Orpheum! I can't even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being huge. We're gonna be legends," he sighs, his eyes drifting to the stars. He lifts his street dog as if it's his most prized possession, and with how hungry we all are right now, it probably is. "Eat up, guys, 'cause after tonight, everything changes."

I shift, not caring that I'm still on top of Reggie, and tilt my head, taking a giant bite from the hot dog. I throw my head back, my eyes rolling like marbles as my stomach thanks me a million times over.

I freeze mid-chew, something not tasting quite right, and Reggie snatches the dog back, sticking his tongue out at me. I cross my arms and glare, mocking him and peeling myself off him. Taking a seat in the empty chair beside Alex on the opposite side of the couch, I silently wish I had a lemonade or something. This taste is not sitting well with me.

"That's a new flavor," Alex skeptically pauses with a full mouth, mustard staining his bottom lip.

"Chill, man," Reggie brushes it off, taking a bite of his. He furrows his brows and shakes his head, insisting, "Street dogs haven't killed us yet."

While I am more than satisfied with that one strange bite, the three boys devour the rest of theirs. My stomach begins to rumble, though not in a good way, and my throat begins to itch.

That's the last thing I remember from that fateful night, but that was the night that everything changed. That was the beginning of everything, the beginning of our futures. We just didn't know it yet.

---

And there's the first chapter! Again, I'm using the show as the basis of this story, though there will be more Izzy and Reggie cute moments since I already love them! 

Tell me what you think! Vote and comment! Next chapter coming out soon!

-Kait 🧡