S I X T E E N
You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like
LUKE WAS HOLDING PEYTON'S HAND AS HE MADE HIS WAY THROUGH THE CROWD, SHE TRYING NOT TO SEPARATE FROM HIM.
"I see the guys," he let her know as he spoke to her ear, trying for her to hear him over the noise. She nodded, both walking towards the group. "Hey!"
"Luke!" Exclaimed Reggie, hugging his friend by the shoulders. "You won't believe what just happened."
"Well, I believe in fairies so I don't think there's anything I won't believe," he replied with a smile, waving to the rest of the guys. "What happened?"
"The new member of—"
"He'll tell you later! We have to go prepare backstage!" Interrupted Julie. "Don't you remember we go in like ten!? Let's go."
Reggie nodded as Alex grabbed his arm and dragged him backstage, Julie following them.
"I have to go. I'll see you later?" He said to Peyton and she nodded. "Oh! Could you please save me one of those mini pizzas I saw earlier? Or two!" Peyton chuckled. "Maybe three. Or you know what? Tell Flynn and both grab plates and serve as many as you can. After I perform I'll be really starving."
"Luke!" Yelled Julie, and the guy groaned, making Peyton chuckle.
"Just go. I'll get you your mini pizzas," she assured him and he nodded. He slowly leaned in, kissing her cheek before letting go off her hand and walking towards Julie, who was waiting for him.
Peyton turned around and walked towards Flynn and Willie. They were sitting on a couch with a view of the stage that Carrie assembled. She smiled to them and sat next to Willie.
"Hey guys," she greeted them and they smiled to her. "So, uhm... I'm kinds dating Luke? What do you guys have to tell?"
Willie and Flynn opened their eyes widely, looking at the girl.
"You are dating Luke!?" Exclaimed Willie.
"Tell me everything!" Yelled Flynn and Peyton chuckled.
"Well we aren't actually dating. We haven't decided yet. We haven't even kissed! He just... confessed that he liked me and I said I liked him back. We just stood there looking at each other like idiots for a hot minute before we went to our houses to get ready for the party. We haven't even discussed it, yet."
"That's... so cute. How did he confess?"
"He got so nervous he started making pop culture references that I didn't get. I got some of them, but there were others from black and white movies that I couldn't even begin to understand."
"Aw, I can't imagine it any other way," said Willie with a smile. "Hey, so... what are your costumes for Halloween?"
Peyton chuckled. "Luke want us to go as Johnny and Baby but I'm gonna try to convince him so we can go as Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince."
"Please! Please convince him!" Yelled Flynn. "I won't be able to handle watching Luke with a Johnny Castle hairstyle all night! Besides, a Taylor Swift themed costume? The taste girl!"
"I know! I want to so bad!" Peyton turned around, just to recognize one face in the crowd. "Isn't that Bobby?" Flynn and Willie looked for him with their eyes until they found him. "I'll be right back. Oh, and save Luke one of those mini pizzas. Or maybe two, I don't know. Be right back."
Peyton stood up from the seat and walked towards the guitarist. He was standing in front of a table drinking from a blue cup and watching around him.
"Well if it isn't Bobby!" Exclaimed the girl and he raised his eyebrows when he saw her, smiling.
"Look at you, Miss Swan, what are you doing here?" He asked her with a smile.
"I should be asking you the same question!"
"Oh, my band is performing tonight."
"Your band? You have a band!?" He nodded. "That's.. great. Do I know them? Are they from your school?"
"No, actually they are from yours! See, their rhythm guitarist bailed this morning and since I was available and the lead singer is a friend of mine they asked me to join! Isn't that great?"
"It is! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah, I'm thrilled. They are called Sin & Tragedy. Do you know them?"
Does she know them? Of course she knows them! She hates them as a matter of fact.
"You joined Sin & Tragedy? What were you thinking?" Bobby looked at her confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Sin & Tragedy, Bobby! They've been the guys rivals since day one!" Bobby exhaled.
"I didn't think that was still going," he whispered to himself. "It is just a childish discussion of trying to be the best band in Los Feliz. It's stupid. The guys are talented and they want me in the band. Not like Luke."
"Let's not talk about Luke, Bobby, please," she asked him.
"You brought it up!"
"Yeah, that's because you decided to join Sin & Tragedy!"
"They asked me to join. And I haven't performed with Sunset Curve in almost two years. Haven't spoken to Luke in those two years."
Their conversation was interrupted by a familiar face for both of them.
"Hey, Bobby, we go after the Swerves," they heard Isaac's voice and both turned around to look at him.
Isaac Evans was a tall, muscular guy with a heavy british accent. He would always wear a with buttoned shirt without sleeves that he seemed he had cut and sometimes a leather jacket on top of it. He had blue highlights on his hair and black painted nails. His eyes were blue as the sea, and his smile was perfect. He was an attractive guy, who played the bad boy/rockstar persona very well.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the older of the Swan sisters," he said staring at her as he placed his arm around Bobby's shoulders with a mocking smile. "The hottest one, have to admit. You guys know each other?"
"Yeah," both replied, making Isaac chuckle.
"Right, I forgot you were part of the Swerves back in your day."
"What do you want, Evans?" She asked him crossing her arms, impatient to leave this conversation.
"For starters, I would like you, but you are taken so that's a no for me. Unless you are up for it." Peyton looked at him confused. "But mostly, I want Bobby to get ready. We go on stage in any minute."
"Right, I forgot you were taken." Mumbled Bobby under his breath..
"No, I'm not," she replied. "Where did you hear that?"
"Patterson told me yesterday before they got on stage," said Isaac before chuckling. "He lied? Well that's just pathetic." He marked the "p" and it was clearer because of his recognizable accent.
"No, Draco Malfoy, he didn't lie," interrupted Peyton. "We haven't had the boyfriend-girlfriend discussion yet. It's complicated."
"So you are single," finally assumed Isaac with a smile. "Well that just made my night better."
"Hold if there, cowboy, not so fast. I'm not interested."
The three were interrupted when they heard Sunset Curve getting on stage. They noticed because of the screaming from the crowd.
She saw Luke's smile as he looked through the audience, right before landing his eyes on her, making him smile.
But that didn't last long as he noticed with who she was with.
"I should get going," said Peyton to Bobby, "break a leg."
She left the two guys and walked towards her seat, noticing Luke's stare as he followed her with his eyes.
"Hi, we are Sunset Curve and this is Permanent Vacation."
As soon as Julie finished the introduction, the music started. Peyton found her way towards their group and she sat down next to Willie again, watching the stage with a smile.
"What did I miss?"
"Nothing much. How was Bobby?"
"Well, he joined Sin & Tragedy."
"Frustration, desperation. You say I need some kind of medication. Situation, no motivation. Destination, permanent vacation" They heard Luke and Julie's voices on the background.
"Are you kidding me?" Asked Willie. "Why would be do that?"
"Apparently, it is recent. I don't know how but he knows Isaac, they're rhythm guitarist bailed and that blue haired Angelus asked him to join the band and he said yes." Peyton exhaled. "I can't believe Bobby did that to the guys."
"Well," said Flynn. "He did it to Luke. I mean, Alex and Reggie won't mind. This is a personal vendetta."
"The Trashedies are everyone's rivals, not just Luke's."
"Yeah, but Isaac and Luke go way back," continued Flynn. "Way before Sin & Tragedy was a thing and before the guys even met Bobby. They always hated each other. If it wasn't because music, it was about sports, grades, anything."
"How did the rivalry started?" Questioned Willie but Flynn didn't know the answer.
Neither did Peyton. She just recalls Luke in her room talking about how much he hated him. She didn't remember why did he hate him.
"Thank you! We're Sunset Curve, tell your friends!"
"That name does not go with Julie. They should change it," commented Flynn but Peyton scoffed.
"You say that because you weren't present the day they chose it. They stayed on my living room for nine hours looking at the ceiling. Every other minute you could hear one of them throwing an idea and the other two yelling "No!" so quickly. It was a disaster."
"What was a disaster?" Asked Luke as he and the band arrived to the table. He quickly sat next to Peyton, placing his arm behind his arm as she gave him the plate with the mini pizzas. "Oh! Food!"
"Guys, you won't believe this," started Reggie while he sat down on the couch, Ella hugging him from behind. "Bobby joined—"
"Sin & Tragedy, yeah, we know Reg," interrupted him Flynn.
"How do you know?" Questioned Alex, curiously.
"I ran into him," replied Peyton.
Luke immediately pushed her closer to him. Maybe by instinct, but definitely because of jealousy. He didn't like Bobby, at all.
And he definitely didn't like Bobby talking to Peyton.
"He told me," continued Peyton. "But said that it was new. He hasn't been with them for more that 24 hours."
"Well, he looks right at home," pointed out Julie, nodding her head in direction to the stage.
The whole group turned around to see Sin & Tragedy get on stage. Luke wasn't thrilled at all by this match.
"Hello, everyone. We are Sin & Tragedy and this is our new song... Nobody Compares."
Alex dropped his cup while Luke swallowed the last piece of pizza.
"Did he— Did he say?"
"It has to be a coincidence," interrupted Julie as positive as she always is, but as soon as the guitar started, they knew. "Oh no."
"What?" Asked Ella to them, but they didn't reply.
"You're so pretty when you cry, when you cry. Wasn't ready to hear you say goodbye. Now you're tearing me apart, tearing me apart. You're tearing me apart."
"That's impossible..." whispered Reggie.
"You're so London your own style, your own style. And together we're so good so girl why are you tearing me apart, tearing me apart. You're tearing me apart"
Luke put his guitar case on the table, tossing aside some cups and plates. He opened it quickly, grabbing his songbook and opening, passing his fingers through the pages.
"Did I do something stupid, yeah, girl if I blew it.
Just tell me what I did, let's work through it. There's gotta be some way to get you to want me like before" Isaac looked at Peyton as he sang, confusing the girl.
"The song isn't here..." he mumbled. "There are missing pages!" He yelled, making Peyton look at him.
"What are you talking about?"
'Cause no one ever looks so good in a dress, and it hurts 'cause I know you won't be mine tonight. No one ever makes me feel like you do when you smile, baby tell me how to make it right. Now all my friends say it's not really worth it, but even if that's true.
No one in the world could stop me from not moving on, baby even if I wanted to. Nobody compares to you."
"That's my song!" Luke yelled again, looking at Isaac. "That blue parrot stole my song!"
"What!?"
"We're so Paris when we kissed, when we kissed. I remember the taste of your lipstick. Now you're tearing up my heart, tearing up my heart, you're tearing up my heart."
"What do you mean he stole your song?" Asked Flynn as Alex looked at Luke's songbook.
"I don't know! What I know is that I wrote that! We were going to perform it at the Fonda Theatre next week," exclaimed Luke, frustrated. "How could've he stolen it? I keep my songbook with me all times."
"'Cause no one ever looks so good in a dress, and it hurts 'cause I know you won't be mine tonight. No one ever makes me feel like you do, when you smile, baby tell me how to make it right. Now all my friends say it's not really worth it, but even if that's true. No one in the world could stop me, from not moving on, baby even if I wanted to. Nobody compares to you. Nobody compares to you."
Luke sighed. "We practiced it two days ago and the song was in my songbook."
"When was the last time you saw it?"
"Yesterday, before we went on stage for the battle of the bands. I was... looking for what song to perform and before I landed on Heartbreak Girl, I passed Nobody Compares. I even thought about performing it. Yesterday, the song was there, and now that James Dean Blue Haired copycat is singing it!"
"There's gotta be some way to get you to want me like before. 'Cause no one ever looks so good in a dress, and it hurts 'cause I know you won't be mine tonight."
"Did you leave your songbook alone at any minute during the battle of the bands?"
"When we went on stage," replied Alex. "After that you put it next to guitar and went after Peyton. We only left it there for three minutes."
"And they couldn't have stolen it. Sin & Tragedy was watching your performance. The four of them."
"No one ever makes me feel like you do, when you smile, baby tell me how to make it right. Now all my friends say it's not really worth it, but even if that's true. No one in the world could stop me from not moving on, baby even if I wanted to. Nobody compares to you."
"Then they had help, but who?"
"Thank you very much! We are Sin & Tragedy. Please welcome our new member on the guitar... Bobby!"
The group turned around at the announcement. Isaac was smiling towards them with his mocking face.
"Luke... you don't think Bobby—?"
"What else did he steal?"
"At least... three songs? I don't know, I need the set list I need."
"Here, I have the songs that we were going to sing at the Fonda Theatre on my phone. Check which ones are there."
Luke grabbed Julie's phone and starting looking for the songs on the notes on his notebook. He seemed desperate. His breathing was uncontrolled, his palms were shaking and his eyes were blinking constantly.
"Luke, I think you are going to have a panick atta—"
"Peyton, please," he asked her without even looking at her, just focusing on the pages. "Fuck!"
Everyone opened their eyes as Luke cursed. He was angry. Worst than angry, he was furious. He was exhausted, he couldn't even put in words how horrible he was feeling.
"How many songs did he take?"
"The entire setlist except Now or Never, I Don't Want to Be, Bright, Heartbreak Girl and Wonder." The guys sighed.
Reggie let go off Ella's arms and hid his head on his hands, Julie bite her lip, closing her eyes and Alex just panicked, his eyes focused on the stage. Willie tried to hug him but he just moved away.
"A-Are you saying..." started Reggie, stuttering. "All of—"
"Our new songs? Yeah, that's right," interrupted him Luke before standing up, still trembling, trying to control his breathing.
Peyton stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder, but he just turned around to look at the guys.
"We'll have to cancel."
"What!?" Exclaimed Flynn, Ella, Willie and Peyton, while his bandmates just agreed with him.
"You cannot cancel the Fonda Theatre, it is really important for you career," reminded him Peyton as he sat down again.
"We don't have songs, Peyton," said Alex. "How are we supposed to perform with no songs?"
"But you have songs! You have a start at least! And Luke," she called him, making him look at her. "You are the best songwriter I have ever met. Writing songs is what you are, Luke. Without music you are just another annoying and hormonal teenager with an allergy to sleeves." The guitarist smiled a little, and Peyton noticed how his hands had stopped trembling. "And what are... how many? Six songs?"
"Thirteen," corrected her Luke without any emotion in his eyes. Peyton stopped smiling as she saw him, "he stole thirteen songs, Tay."
"Thirteen like... thirteen thirteen?" She questioned.
"Yeah, like the 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Thirteen songs!"
"Those are so many songs," she said in a high pitch and the band scoffed. "But, if anyone can do it, it is you. And if I'm lucky, you're just going to write one."
"What do you mean?" Peyton stood up, accommodating herself.
"That I'm gonna get your songs back," she said seriously before walking away, being watched by the rest of the group.
She looked so serious walking alway. She was going to get him his songs back. They only performed one songs, so she had to get the other twelve. Even if she had to beat Bobby up.
"Am I the only turned on right now?" Asked Luke to the rest. "Great..."
POP CULTURE REFERENCE GUIDE
chapter sixteen
"but I'm gonna try to convince him so we can go as Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince"
Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince is a song by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
"No, Draco Malfoy, he didn't lie,"
Draco Malfoy is an antagonist character from the Harry Potter series. In the film adaptation, the actor who plays this character has a strong British accent and commonly marks letters like the "p", just as Isaac.
"and that blue haired Angelus asked him to join the band"
Angel (Angelus) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the American television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel. The character is portrayed by actor David Boreanaz. He was Buffy's true love.
"and now that James Dean Blue Haired copycat is singing it!"
James Dean was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
"Yeah, like the 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Thirteen songs!"
The 1313 Mockingbird Lane is the street for the Munster Mansion. The Munsters was an American sitcom that aired from 1964-1966. It was about a family of different famous monsters such as Frankenstein, vampires, werewolves, etc. (It's really good watch it)