1971, Chicago, Illinois
𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓 as she felt the ice-cold water that Lola had poured on her run down her back.
"Screw you" Dawn mumbled as she exited the bus which was now parked in a lot in front of a big arena.
Dawn placed a cigarette between her lips and felt around in her pockets."Does anyone have a ma-"
"Oh" Dawn had turned around to discover Jimmy standing ready with a lit match
"Thank you," Dawn mumbled and put her cigarette to the lit match which Jimmy was quick to put out.
"You don't like me, do you?" Jimmy questioned, fishing for the obvious answer.
"By no means," Dawn muttered, rolling her eyes under her big, black sunglasses.
"Come on, we're gonna be on the road for nine months, you can't hate me forever," Jimmy replied. Dawn chuckled and tilted her head.
"Yeah? Try me" Dawn said and began walking towards the arena where everyone else was. "Come on, this is stupid!" Jimmy spoke and grabbed Dawn's hand.
"For god's sake, leave me alone!" Dawn yelled yanking her hand away from Jimmy's grip. She took off her sunglasses and turned around to face Jimmy in a rage. He walked to her and put his mouth to her ear.
"You're hot when you get angry" Jimmy whispered and walked away, leaving Dawn in a trance of rage.
The arena was enormous, and that night, 70.000 people were going to be begging for more. Dawn had kept her eye on Jimmy. He had been rehearsing with a half-opened button shirt. His hair was messy and some had stuck to his sweaty forehead. Dawn hated how gorgeous he was. "You need to give him a break" Pennie spoke. She sat down beside Dawn on the floor. They both watched on as the boys rehearsed, they sounded and looked great, even Dawn couldn't deny that.
"A break? He's a self-absorbed asshole" Dawn spat. Her stomach turned in anger. She couldn't describe why he made her so livid."He's a player, you used to be too, remember?" Pennie laughed. It was true.
Dawn had been a groupie before her musical career. She'd toured around with The Who and The Doors, for the fun of course. And yet, she always seemed to end up heartbroken by a rockstar who loved her only for the night. "Urgh don't mention it!" Dawn keened and massaged her temple.
"C'mon! We have to go rehearse!" Mandy screeched. Her pink outfit was bright and feminine. She'd always been so different from everyone else in the band.
Pennie and Dawn both got up from the floor. The two girls walked up to the stage that the boys had left to sit in the front row, ready to watch.
"Hi, Robert!" Mandy exclaimed in a high-pitched voice that cut like knives into the microphone.
"Fucking hell" Dawn mumbled, she had become fed up with Mandy's behavior.
The whole idea of The Strings in the first place was feminism. The girls had agreed from the start not to let men come in their way. Not to get held down or dictated by men, and now, Mandy had fallen into the hands of the golden god. She was like his little pet, and she'd become blind to the risks of love.
"What do we play?"
"No, not that one, it's too boring"
"Let's play this one"
After a long debate, as usual, the girls decided to play; Ball and Chain.
*play; ball and chain for a better experience*
Pennie's heavy guitar thundered through the arena. In Dawn's opinion, Pennie was the best guitar player that had ever graced the earth. No one sounded like her.
The atmosphere changed, something in Dawn changed. She'd forgotten everything as she sang along to the song.
"Sitting down by my window Honey, looking out at the rain"
The song had filled Dawn's body like ecstasy.
The heavy blues guitar touched her soul with an indescribable exploding feeling. She'd psychologically entered a different world. Now, nothing and no one except the rich melody of the tune was her priority.
"Something grabbed a hold of me Feels to me, oh, like a ball and chain "
Dawn opened her eyes. She caught Jimmy's gaze. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him during the rest of the performance. Something had changed inside of her. Something good.
Jimmy felt mindblown. Dawn looked gorgeous, the way her hair swayed from side to side made Jimmy's heart flutter. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Jimmy whispered to Robert who sat next to him. "No doubt, but I believe I've found myself a new doll," Robert grinned. His gaze was aimed in Mandy's direction, who strummed her bass to the rhythm of Lola's drumming.
"Of course, you have," Jimmy spoke and shook his head at Robert.
"Get used to it, Playboy. Not all chicks are gonna want you" Robert laughed and looked at Dawn. Jimmy took a deep breath and tried his best to ignore Robert.
"Bravo!" Peter Grant yelled as the performance finished.
Lola sped off of her drum set. She rushed to the many bottles of liquor which stood ready for her at the side of the stage.
"You sounded amazing," Pennie said with wide eyes, almost in shock.
"Why so surprised?" Dawn asked, taking a big sip of her ice-cold water.
"I suppose I've never heard you sound so, yourself?" Pennie said. Though the compliment sounded somewhat backhanded, Dawn understood exactly what Pennie meant. The way she sounded that day didn't happen often, only when she truly felt something. The way she did when she looked at Jimmy. She tried to shake the thought off, of course. Jimmy could never know anything about the way he made her feel. Never.
Later that night, after the concert, the two bands were back on the tour bus driving to the nearest hotel in Chicago.
"Room for The Strings, we called earlier today," Vincent told the receptionist.
She looked up from her desk. Her eyes widened as she realized that the two biggest bands in the world were standing right in front of her.
"Y-yes of course," The receptionist said as she wrote something down.
"Your room number is 306. Any room service requests?" The woman asked.
"Vodka!" Lola shouted which caused a couple of heads to turn. She was hanging on Pennie's arm, drunken to pieces and high as a kite.
"Vodka please, and some champagne," Vinny said, as he also began ordering food for himself.
"You guys were great," Jimmy said and moved closer to Dawn. She was still trying to calm down after the concert. Adrenaline was rushing through her body as if she still was on stage.
"Thank you," Dawn said, for once letting her walls fall. She flashed Jimmy a warm smile. As she was about to speak up, she was interrupted.
"Jimmy!"
A high-pitched voice screeched through the hotel lobby. A girl with big, bouncy blonde locks came strutting towards Jimmy.
"Jenny, I've been waiting for you," Jimmy smiled as he hugged Jenny and pecked her on the cheek. Dawn looked her up and down in disgust. A groupie. Dawn could almost smell her from where she was standing. She knew she shouldn't have looked at Jimmy that way. She should've ignored him. Dawn shook her thoughts away. She had to remind herself that she knew better than to fall into the arms of a reckless rockstar.
"I'm Jenny." The girl smiled. Something about her made Dawn's brain crumble. Perhaps it was the way she was holding onto Jimmy. "And I know you. You're Dawn, aren't you?" Jenny asked.
Dawn didn't respond. Instead, she stared at Jenny with no emotion whatsoever.
"Jimmy has told me all about you. Is it true you're a bit of a bitch?" Jenny laughed. Her words cut like knives, but Dawn was stronger than that. She wouldn't let some Malibu Barbie get to her. "Jenny!" Jimmy hissed, but Dawn smiled at him. "Don't worry James, I've heard worse" She spat. Jimmy's face fell as he watched Dawn's bottom lip tremble a bit. Suddenly, Dawn's past became clearer to him.
"Da-"
"Fuck you" Dawn at him. She grabbed her suitcases and walked away in a hurry, hoping to drink her sorrows away.