Alright, new chapter you guys :D

First of all, this chapter was dedicated to Anteater55 for voting and commenting and being awesome :3 And for making the best and sweetest metaphor I've ever heard about this story ^^ So yeah, for that reason, you get a chapter just for yourself :D Too bad he either got eliminated or left :/

Thanks to everyone that has voted and left comments and have added my story to you reading lists, I know all of you guys and you all make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside x3

So, without anything left to say, leave comments and votes and make my life happier!

Hope you enjoy,

-> Desyre

Oliver

                God. School had been about as ridiculous as it had been the first day of school. And I had thought nothing would ever be as ridiculous as that day. It started when the teacher was suddenly there to tell both Sal and I that PDAs weren’t allowed in school, which was just about the most stupid thing I’d ever heard. That was the one rule that teachers always ignored as long as you didn’t have sex in front of everyone or something. Then came the classes. Oh God, help me. Each and every one of the teachers stopped the classes every ten minutes or so to ask me a question.

                At first I had thought I just wouldn’t answer and that would be it but they didn’t give up. They kept asking me more and more questions until I finally muttered the answer through gritted teeth. And then, I hoped to God it was my imagination, I noticed some of them watching me as I ushered out of the room, wanting to be there by the time Sal walked out. It had been ridiculous, I tell you. In the end with all the forced talking I was about ready to kill someone. And to top it all off, Em had been at her bitchy best today, bitching and yelling at me for any stupid reason. By the time voice training ended I was about ready to go home and just sit in front of my piano for hours.

                Dust arrived first and to be sincere he didn’t look any better than me either. Em bitched at him for some stupid thing, and he snapped almost immediately. That surprised me. I had never seen him snap like that before. He always seemed so easy-going, even when he got annoyed at Em. But today it seemed that Em bitching at him was just too much. They spent a few minutes fighting and then it seemed finally they noticed how stupid they looked, because they shut up and just glared at each other. Dust took a deep breath calming himself down, but to be sincere he seemed to still be running on his last nerve. Right then Sal and Kevin walked in. When Sal came right to me and pulled me into a kiss, I just about fell for him all over again.

                I kissed him with every drop of need I had felt for him today, wanting to just keep him with me forever. I wanted nothing more than to stay like that with him forever. I wanted to just stow him away in my heart and carry him around with me always. He always knew when I needed him and I thanked God for that. When he pulled back I swear I was just a few seconds away from telling him that I loved him. I knew I did and after all, if I had learned something in this life it was that life was short. Why deny it when I knew it was true? It had never felt like this with anyone, I had never needed anyone like I needed him, I had never wanted anyone like I wanted him. That was until Em decided to be her annoying self and pop our little bubble. I didn’t even try to stop myself from groaning. I was so done with her for today.

                Fortunately Sal, always knowing right what everyone needed, looked around and noticed we could all use a little break and decided to give Em an ultimatum. I could’ve cried with relief when Em finally accepted. Thank you God. By the time practice was done I all but ran out of Em’s garage. Sal and I made our way to our houses, making plans about how we would organize ourselves for this gig. We remembered all our rush to leave the place to be in time last week and decided it would be best if we avoided the whole thing by just staying at one of our houses. After all if there was no one to walk or bring to his own home, maybe we would have more time to relax a little before leaving?

                Our parents liked the idea, or at least most of them did. Ash was completely and totally against it and I knew it was because she was going to be away for the weekend. She often had to go to the city to order the spare parts she needed for her job, and well she knew Mina would be easier on us than she would. She told me that she would be returning around noon on Sunday and that she wanted me out of her house by then. Sal rolled his eyes and told me to ignore her and that it was just a front, like he always did.

                I went to my house that night extremely tired but wide awake at the same time. I decided that I would kill off some energy with my piano and went to sit on the bench. Oh. The window. Sal had told me the sound filtered to his room when I left it open. I got up and closed it, wanting to let him sleep peacefully. I finally sat down on my bench again and couldn’t help the sigh that pushed out of my body. I closed my eyes and thought of what had happened today. I was angry and frustrated and wanted nothing more than to vent some anger off with a fast paced song.

                I thought about it for a second and the presto in The Summer from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi came to my mind. I laughed, without any humor. It was really ironic of me to play that song on piano. I started playing, the fast tempo just what I needed. The notes came to my mind as quickly as my fingers pressed the piano keys. I continued after that right to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the Presto Agitato particularly, and so I went. It was hours before I was finally done working everything out of my body and to say I felt a little hollow inside would be an understatement. I got up and collapsed on my bed in the same clothes I had worn all day. I was out like a light.

                The next day I woke up just because there was a little naggy feeling that urged me to check the clock. I did and jerked out of bed almost as soon as my brain processed that I had one hour before I had to be picking Sal up. I got into the shower quickly washing the grit and grime of the past day off my body. I had to admit that I felt better after the session of therapy with my piano. I dressed like it had become usual for me to dress, in ripped t-shirts and ripped jeans. I hadn’t gotten around to adding studs to my clothes but I was sure I was going to do so soon.

                That day I pulled on a white t-shirt that had been with me for years. I didn’t wear it much before because it was a little too big for me, but after ripping out its sleeves it turned out it made a perfect tank top. I put on a pair of jeans next. Sal hadn’t managed to convince me that the skinny jeans looked good on me, so it was just a normal, old pair of jeans I had stopped wearing when they ripped. Now, though, I had taken that rip to my advantage and ripped a few more holes in it. I put on a pair of black chucks and ended it all up with the jacket Sal had made me buy. I had to admit I had come to love the jacket by now.

                I ran a hand through my wet hair and left it like that. I grabbed a duffel bag and pushed in a change of clothes, along with a change of underwear and a pair of sweats. I put in my toothbrush and my phone charger, too. I stopped then to think if I was missing anything. Oh. There was still that. I swallowed and went over to my bed. I pulled the mattress up and pulled out the bag that had a tube of lube and condoms in it. I eyed for a few seconds, wondering, weighing chances. Not that I expected anything. But, you never could be too sure, could you?

                I sighed and pushed the bag into the bottom of my duffel. Finally I got up and hung the bag on my shoulder. I grabbed my wallet and left the room. I hurried down the stairs and into the living room, telling goodbye to my parents and that them I’d see them tomorrow. Then, niceties done, I practically ran out of the house, house keys and car keys in hand. I went over to Sal’s house and took a few seconds to take a deep breath and organize myself. Finally I rang the bell and when the door opened Mina was standing there and smiling at me.

“Hey Ollie, Sal’s not ready yet. Why don’t you just go right up and leave your stuff? It seems kind of pointless to be carrying your bag around with you,” She said with a sunny smile.

“Thanks, I’ll do that,” I said and I saw Mina’s smile turn that much more radiant.

                She made space for me and I went in, going up the stairs and walking right into Sal’s room. He was just about done, just having to finish his eyeliner. He turned when he noticed the door was opening and smiled when he noticed it was me. I left my duffel on the floor and went over to him leaning down to kiss him with as much feeling as I could muster. When he finally broke the kiss pulling back he looked a little taken aback.

“If you keep kissing me like that we’re never going to get out of this room.”

                I chuckled but pulled away, sitting on his bed. He gave me one of his lazy smiles and turned around to finish up his eyeliner. When he was finally done, he stood in front of the mirror, probably checking how he looked. He didn’t have to look in the mirror for the answer. I could tell him myself. I got up and went to him, hugging him from behind and looking at him in the mirror. Beautiful. Everything about him was just beautiful, gorgeous, handsome.

“You look handsome,” I whispered into his ear before kissing his neck.

                He shuddered and I felt him swallow under my lips. I opened my mouth and sucked on his neck, set on leaving a hickey there for everyone to see. I licked, bit, and sucked on his neck until he moaned loudly and his breathing hitched. Oh. That was my cue to stop. I pulled back and saw that Sal’s eyes were heavy-lidded and filled with lust. I turned him to me and place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to tease,” I said blushing a little.

                Sal took a few deep breaths before he finally seemed to be back to his old self. He gave me one of his warm smiles and I felt my heart skip a beat. I loved those smiles. Well any of his smiles really. But those in particular.

“It’s alright. We should get going though, I don’t wanna be late.”

                I nodded and Sal smiled grabbing his bass before grabbing my hand and pulling me down the stairs. We both said goodbye to Mina and she said that we could be a little late as long as we told her first. Both Sal and I smiled at her. Mina was really something else. She was always happy, kind, and gentle no matter who she was talking to. Both Sal and I walked out of the house and got into my car. I pulled out and started the long, boring trip to the city. It was really ridiculous that this could be called the suburbs when the city was so far away. It should be called a town, considering how many miles separated us from the city.

                Sal turned on the radio, which was still on the station he liked. The music filled the car and I hummed along to some of the songs. It was really amazing that I even knew a few of them now, when before I didn’t have the slightest clue. Sal liked to hear me sing and he clapped for me whenever a song ended. We laughed and I continued performing for him until we got to The Emporium. I parked and we got out of the car. How come I hadn’t noticed even the outward appearance looked a little… worn out?

“This place should be called The Dump.”

                I couldn’t help it, I just cracked up. I started laughing and laughing, Sal’s comment tickling me deep. Finally long after my stomach started to hurt and I started to cry, I managed to stop laughing. Sal was giving me an amused look when I finally turned to look at him.

“You about done there? Because we kind of need to go in.”

                I chuckled and pulled Sal over to me, leaning down to kiss him. I pulled back and smiled at him.

“I love your nicknames,” I said pulling him over to the entrance.

“But it is a dump; it’s a cozy, little dump.”

                I chuckled again and pulled him through the doors. When we walked in Em, Dust, Kevin, Drew, and Gret were squished into a booth table. We walked over to them and I noticed that again Kevin was the one being squished.

“You know, if you hate being squished so much why don’t you just pull two tables together? That way you’d have all the space to yourself.”

“You think I’m here because I wanted to? I got here first and was sitting here, minding my own business, when all they all arrived and just decided to crowd into the booth,” Kevin said in an annoyed voice. “Enough! Either we move to a larger table or I’m out of here and you’ll have to find yourselves a backup guitarist in the next thirty minutes!”

                Everyone laughed but got up nonetheless. They implemented Sal’s idea and pulled two tables together dragging in chairs. When we were all seated Kevin let out a little relieved breath and we all laughed again. The waiter Drew had been talking about the last time came to our table, fussing around with his apron like he was looking for something.

“Hi, my name is Greg and I’ll be your waiter tonight,” the guy said. “Umm…” He said looking around the dinner, going to fetch a few menus and passing them around for us to share. “What would you like to drink?”

                Finally the guy looked up and seemed to see just who he was waiting tonight.

“Oh…” He said a little taken aback.

“Hi Greg,” Drew said smiling at him.

“Umm… Hi Drew,” he said a little awkward.

“How are you enjoying being on time?” Gret said smirking at him.

                The guy blushed clearly embarrassed and I felt bad for him.

“Don’t pick on him,” I said glaring at Gret.

                I didn’t even have to ask Sal to know what he wanted.

“Two sodas,” I said.

                The guy looked at me for a few seconds before writing it down.

“Make it, three,” called Dust.

“Five,” called Drew.

“I want a glass of water,” Kevin said clearly disinterested already looking through his menu.

“I would love a glass of iced tea,” Em said smiling.

“Alright. I’ll go fetch your drinks while you decide what you want to eat,” the guy said before hurrying off.

“Why did you defend him?” Gret asked as soon as he had gone away.

“Don’t pick on him. It’s not right,” I said frowning at her, not really understanding why I was explaining this.

“He’s been taking advantage of Drew’s kindness since he started working here. Now finally he gets to pay, why shouldn’t I enjoy it?”

“Revenge is never good,” I said rising up the menu and ending the conversation.

                As much as I said I would beat Brent up when I saw him, it was just a saying. Doing something just for revenge and holding grudges was never good. It just ended up filling you with hate. Sal gave me a look and I took a deep breath. He was right, I was here to have fun, not to get angry.

“You want a Dagwood sandwich?” I asked and smiled at him already knowing the answer.

“You know me so well.” He pulled me down into a short kiss and I went without complaints.

“How about you? You’re having a salad or a club sandwich?”

“A salad. Want to eat light. Unlike other people,” I said giving Sal a look.

                He chuckled and flipped me off. I chuckled along with him and finally put down the menu. The others were still deciding, or more like having trouble deciding. Kevin and Dust ended up sharing a menu and currently they were discussing Kevin’s diet.

“You’re only going to have a salad? That’s rabbit food, man,” Dust said frowning.

“I unlike others I care about my health. There’s nothing wrong with having a salad for dinner,” Kevin said indignantly.

“Dude, of course there’s something wrong with it. There aren’t enough nutrients in a salad, and you like work out and stuff right? I’m telling you, that shit’s not right for you,” Dust said shaking his head.

                How did Dust know that Kevin worked out? I frowned, blatantly staring at them now. They seemed to have no problem being close from the way they were sitting and sharing the menu. It even seemed like it was a familiar discussion for them. Maybe they were closer than I had thought they were?

“It’s fine, alright? I know what I have to eat to get the nutrients my body needs. And why do you care anyway?” Kevin said eyeing Dust.

“I don’t, I’m just saying. You’re gonna collapse one day, man, and when you do I’ll laugh my ass off,” Dust said going back to the menu.

                God. I really didn’t know what the hell was wrong with those two. Dust just seemed to hate Kevin for no reason whatsoever, and that just annoyed the hell out of Kevin. Yet they were always looking for stupid reasons to fight. Those two fought like an old married couple, if you asked me. Meanwhile something similar was going on with Gret and Drew.

“Why don’t you want to order the chickpea sandwich and share it with me?” Gret asked looking annoyed.

“Because you always end up eating it all by yourself and I end up having to eat the salad. And then you bitch at me for eating all the salad. Why don’t you just order the chickpea sandwich and the salad?” Drew asked sounding tired.

                I could tell this was a repetitive argument among them as well.

“Because that’s too much food! I can’t eat all that by myself!” Gret said.

“You’re going to do so anyway. And then when we go out to run in the morning you’ll be grumbling and blaming me for letting you eat all that by yourself. Just order both things and put in a few extra miles of running,” Drew reasoned.

“I do not grumble,” Gret said glaring at Drew.

“Oh, you grumble alright. You’re moody as hell whenever you step out of your diet and guess who was to deal with it?” Drew said eyeing Gret.

“I’m not moody! I’m never moody! I’m always happy!” Gret said indignant.

“No, you’re happy most of the time, the rest of the time you’re moody,” Drew said matter-of-factly.

“How about I order the chickpea sandwich so we can order already? The guy brought our drinks about five minutes ago and has been waiting for us to order ever since,” Em snapped from where she was next to Drew.

“Oh, thanks Em! That’s so nice of you! Unlike other people I know,” Gret said glaring at Drew.

                Drew just shrugged and looked at Em.

“It’s your money, do with it as you please,” He said.

                The waiter had really been looking at everyone fight for going on five minutes.

“Are you ready to order?” He asked.

“Yes. We’ll have a Caesar salad and a Dagwood sandwich,” I said.

“I want a Bodacious Broccoli salad, with no bacon,” Kevin said.

“Make it two Dagwood sandwiches,” Dust said.

“Make it two Caesar salads,” Gret said.

“And two chickpea sandwiches,” Drew said.

                The waiter wrote it all down, but he looked a little confused so Dust asked him to repeat the order.

“Umm… It’ll be two Caesar salads, one Bodacious Broccoli salad with no bacon, two Dagwood sandwiches, and two chickpea sandwiches, right?” He said looking around the table.

                We all nodded and he left to go place the order.

“I seriously can’t believe you’re going to eat all that,” Kevin told Dust as soon as the waiter was gone.

“Got a problem with that?” Dust asked annoyed.

“Oh, not much, besides the fact that that’s too much food for one person,” Kevin said.

“Dude, you’ve watched...” Dust started saying clearly annoyed and then he seemed to realize what he was saying. “I mean, you haven’t watched me eat before, have you?”

“Of course not,” Kevin said indignantly.

                If Kevin hadn’t watched him eat then why had Dust been about to say that he had? God, this two were confusing. It was like there was more to them than they let on.

 “Then shut your trap. Don’t talk about stuff you don’t know, I can eat that sandwich all on my own,” Dust said.

“Fine,” Kevin said ending the conversation, but we all heard him when he hissed, “Pig,” under his breath.

“You should just let him eat whatever he wants. And that goes to both of you,” Em said eyeing them.

“I don’t know about that, the Dagwood sandwich is really a bit too much,” Gret said.

“She’s only saying that because she’s pretending to be on a diet but trust me, she has eaten that sandwich all on her own,” Drew said in a mock whisper.

“I have not!” Gret said indignantly. “Well… Maybe.”

                 We all laughed and the conversation went on like that, the evening finally turning more pleasant. I occasionally leaned in to whisper things into Sal’s ear. I didn’t have any ulterior motive, though, I just wasn’t quite that comfortable speaking out loud yet unless it was completely necessary. The waiter had to make two trips to bring in all of our food. Both Sal and I ate in silence listening to the others talk and share banter. Em was vigilant with how much of the sandwich Gret ate, and they ended up eating half and half of it. Drew looked a little impressed at that. I just figured he didn’t have the strong attitude needed to deal with Gret.

                Dust true to his word, ended up eating the whole sandwich all by himself. Kevin looked a little green around the edges when Dusty put the last piece of ham into his mouth, making a show of it just for Kevin. Oh. He was vegan. Kevin pushed the rest of his salad away saying he was full. I knew he had just lost his appetite watching Dust’s little show. Why didn’t he just come out and say it? Sal stuffed himself like he always did and I ate at my usual slow pace. By the time we were done and the waiter came to pick up the plates the place was packed. Well, what could be considered packed for a place that normally had about five clients. Em looked around eyeing the people in the crowd and grunting.

“You know you should stop being so prejudicial about the emo crowd.” Sal raised his eyebrow at her. “You know you being a fighter for the weak and innocent and all that.”

“I’m not prejudicial,” Em said annoyed.

“Just tell us already what’s your deal with them, woman. You’ve just hated the people since like forever and you’re always mysterious about why,” Dust said sighing.

“It’s just that… I know it’s wrong but I feel like they’re punk wannabes or something. They were even born from the punk crowd. And they’re all so dramatic and mysterious, always thinking up ways to kill themselves,” Em said eyeing the crowd with a critical, clearly prejudiced look.

“I’m not like that,” Gret said glaring at Em.

“I’m not like that either. And most of my friends have a peachy and sunny view of their future and would like to live long enough to see it fulfilled,” Drew said arching his eyebrow at Em.

“Yeah but you’re like one, big, fucking exception. I mean, you only dress like them, and I’m talking about attitude here,” Em said rolling her eyes.

“Well to know someone’s attitude you need to know them, and you don’t know any of this people,” Drew said looking around at the twenty or so people that were spread throughout the place.

“Yeah, Em, you really shouldn’t judge based on looks,” Gret said, sounding a little pissed.

“Whatever,” Em said crossing her arms on her chest and sitting back on the chair.

                What? The punk crowd? The emo crowd? I was just confused. I didn’t really see any difference in the people around us. I finally decided to ask.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

                Everyone looked at me like I was stupid and I felt myself shrink back. Sal glared at them and hurried to explain.

“You see the punk genre of music was born around the ideal of speaking your mind, of fighting for what you believed, and just went against almost any type of government. That genre created a subculture or crowd, as we call it, called punk, of course. The punk crowd are just like the music, they do and dress however the hell they want, and they fight for what they believe, and hate everything that has to do with the establishment. The first punks hated big brands of almost anything, and so bought their stuff from small unknown brands or thrift and vintage shop, if it was clothing. They liked to shock people and so dyed their hair with neon colors and spiked it up, often in Mohawks, or shave off parts of it. They also wore make up and ripped clothes that they stitched together by themselves, and shoes and boots that had seen better days.” Sal pointed around to Em, Dust, Kevin, and ourselves.

“Now the emo crowd, did start within the punk crowd like Em said, but they, at first, were more dark and mysterious, always wearing black clothes, shoes, and make up. The original emo crowd wore big clothes in which they hid themselves in. They were called emo from the word emotional, which is around what they revolve and what their music is about. They’re about expressing the things you would normally keep to yourself, like sadness and depression and suicidal feelings.” Sal this time pointed towards Gret and Drew and the rest of the people in the café.

“Like I said, dramatic,” Em said butting in.

                Sal glared at her and sighed before going on.

“Now, that was back then when both subcultures were born. Now a days punks still wear ripped clothes and all that but they’re mostly brand clothes they rip and adorn themselves or clothes that come torn and adorned already. Emos now wear tight black jeans and band tees and a lot of make-up, some even dye their hair black and straighten it. Also they’re no longer all about sadness, and suicide. In fact they both revolve around the general ideal of speaking your mind, just that punks focus on a community and emos on the individual.” Sal eyed Em who just rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” she said again.

                Now that Sal had mentioned it I did notice the differences but before that I really hadn’t seen the difference. I thought it was stupid to fight for something like that. Stereotyping people just because of how they dress really didn’t seem alright to me. Gret saw the clock and got up telling us it was time to go to the backstage room. This time, though, we could take our time to prepare everything and get ready. I turned towards Sal and pushed a little strand of hair out of his face. He smiled at me and pulled me down into a kiss. When he finally pulled back he gave me one of his devilish smiles and winked at me.

“You look sexy.”

                I blushed and Sal chuckled, pulling me down to kiss me again. Then Gret told us to go on to the stage and try everything. We went out and I felt the nerves start to settle in my stomach. Em plugged in her guitar and tried a few notes telling things to Gret. Sal plugged in his bass and did the same as Em. Kevin did the same as Sal and Em. Dust tried the drums just to be sure. I guessed he wanted to get a hang of the set. I was looking at everyone set up until Em turned towards me and frowned.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She whispered angrily.

“What?” I asked not understanding what she was mad about.

“What the fuck are you doing?! Turn on the mic and try it! We need to get this done quickly!” She whispered at me pointing towards the mic.

                Oh. I had to try the mic too. I turned it on and it made that loud ear-splitting noise that microphones always made when you turned them on. Everyone groaned even the crowd.

“Why the fuck do you have that thing turned on so high?! Lower the volume!” She told Gret.

                Gret complied and the sound finally stopped.

“Speak into it,” Em told me.

“Test. One. Two. Three,” I said into the mic because that’s what I’d always seen people do when they tried a microphone.

“Keep speaking, I’ll tell Gret what to adjust,” Em whispered at me, clearly annoyed.

                Finally the preparations where done and we were ready for the crowd. I swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to work my nerves out of my system. Suddenly I felt a hand on my arm and I turned around. Sal was there giving me one of his warm smiles and looking straight into my eyes. That settled me some and I took another deep breath giving him a small smile.

“We’re going to open the curtain in a minute!” Gret whispered at us.

                I suddenly felt my breathing get a little labored again the nerves settling back in my stomach. Sal was still looking straight into my eyes but that wasn’t doing anything.

“Thirty seconds,” Gret called.

                I went to pull away, thinking it was time to face the music but Sal had other plans. He pulled me back towards him and pulled me down into a scalding kiss. I never even heard Gret when she said the curtain was opening. What I did hear, though, was the gasps of the crowd when the curtain opened and right there in the front were a pair of guys kissing. What I heard next was the round of applause. Sal let me go then and smiled at me before winking and going back to his spot. I turned around and faced the crowd and knew that I had to be blushing beat red. Everyone was applauding, screaming and catcalling for us. Finally the crowd quieted down and I took a deep breath.

“Sorry you had to see that,” I said and I could feel my cheeks heat that much more when a large part of the crowd said that it was no problem. “So, that’s my boyfriend, Sal. For the new people. Because God there have to be new people. There wasn’t this many people last week.”

                The crowd laughed and my nerves eased a little. I remembered what Em had told me. She told me to talk a little to the crowd before the show, introduce us as a band, and maybe do a little background. All in a space of about five minutes before the crowd got bored.

“So, you people don’t know this, not even the ones from before, but actually last week was my first time singing for Tainted,” I said looking through the crowd of about twenty or less people.

                A large part of the crowd called, “No way,” back to me, and I chuckled a little.

“It really was. The singer used to be this gorgeous lady beside me,” I said pointing towards Em who showed off a winning smile and waved. The people in front of us went crazy. Anyone would’ve believed she was always this sunny and smiley.

“She’s Emerald, but we call her Em, and she’s the lead guitarist.” The crowd cheered again and I felt the rest of my nerves leave my system.

“Next up is Kevin, right next to Sal. He also debuted with Tainted last week, and he’s the rhythmic guitarist.” Kev smiled a cocky smile and nodded towards the crowd. I just about went deaf with the screams of the girls.

“Then there’s Dustin, but we all call him Dust or Dusty, and I’ll give you three tries to guess what he plays.”

                The crowd cheered again and Dust chuckled, leaning in to speak into his mic.

“I don’t know, man, that’s a tough guess,” Dust said.

                The crowd laughed as a whole and I smiled at Dust. He winked at me and sat back.

“And, well, you already know him but, this is Salvador. We call him Sal, he’s my boyfriend, and he’s the bassist,” I said walking over to Sal who was turning a pretty dark color of red. Oh now you’re embarrassed?

“And last but not least is me. Hi, I’m Oliver, but everyone calls me Ollie, and I’m the lead singer. To wrap it up, we’re Tainted and we’ll be the ones playing for you tonight.” About half of the people went crazy, screaming and jumping, the other half just cheered.

“How about we move on to the music then? This is Riot by Three Days Grace,” I said and Dust started marking the tempo as the crowd cheered. The song started and I took a deep breath remembering everything Em had told me.

If you feel so empty

So used up, so let down

If you feel so angry

So ripped off, so stepped on

You're not the only one

Refusing to back down

You're not the only one

So get up

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

If you feel so filthy

So dirty, so fucked up

If you feel so walked on

So painful, so pissed off

You're not the only one

Refusing to go down

You're not the only one

So get up

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

If you feel so empty

So used up, so let down

If you feel so angry

Just get up

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

Let's start a riot, a riot

Let's start a riot

                The song ended and the crowd cheered, going crazy. There was more than one person who would go to his house with an aching throat. I continued with the songs doing little jokes or sometimes explaining a little about the song before saying the name just to have a little suspense. We played all of our songs, the four old ones and the two new ones and the crowd cheered even louder. There were even a few people that were singing the chorus along with me. I felt myself burst with pride. They knew the songs, with just hearing them one time they knew the chorus. When it was time to go the crowd asked for more songs just like before. By the time an hour had gone by the crowd had spent half an hour asking for more songs. I decided to finish it with a show like I did last time and racked my brain for something to sing. I looked around for inspiration and my eyes settled on Sal. I smiled at him and he looked a little nervous, probably wondering what I had in mind.

“So, you guys don’t know this but I actually didn’t know I could sing until about a month ago. And guess who the first person I ever sang for was?” I asked looking straight at Sal.

                The crowd yelled Sal’s name and I nodded, which made them go crazy for the millionth time.

“Got it on the first try.” The crowd laughed as a hole and I smiled, turning to look around at the guys. "The song’s The Diary of Jane, do we know it?” Everyone nodded and I turned back to look at Sal. “Well, this is The Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin, just for you babe, because I know you love it.” The crowd started yelling again and Em started the song. The song was perfect. Even though we hadn’t rehearsed it everyone did their part perfectly, and by the time it ended the crowd went crazy again as Sal practically threw himself into my arms. I hugged him for a few seconds before pulling away and going back to the mic.

“That’ll be it for tonight guys, thank you for coming to see us and being a great crowd. We’ll be back here the 19th of next month and I expect to see you all!” Having said that I turned off the mic and waved at the crowd before going off stage with the other guys as the curtain was pulled to one side.

                Once in the backstage room everyone fluttered around me telling me how awesome I was and how well I pulled that through, and stuff like that. My usual shy self decided to come back right that instant making me feel uncomfortable. I did like the praise, I just had never liked attention. Even in school when people had been staring at Sal and I, I was just putting up a brave front for Sal.

                Sal noticed I was uncomfortable and ushered everyone away again. He didn’t even wait for everyone to go. He pulled me down and kissed me with everything he had in him. I kissed him back with just as much feeling. Then things started to get frantic. We wanted more. We wanted to say more and communicate more, but we just didn’t know how to do so. Our teeth clicked together a few times and I just hung on to him desperately. Finally though a throat being cleared brought us back to reality.

                Standing there, looking like she was watching a very funny movie, was Gret, looking at us with an amused look and a raised eyebrow. God. So embarrassing. I leaned into Sal and just hid my face in the hollow of his neck. I wanted nothing more than to disappear.

“Sorry to interrupt your little… thing, but would you hurry up? There’s some people you have to meet out here.”

                Sal nodded and Gret’s amused look turned into a smirk before she went back out again. Sal pulled my head off of his shoulder, making me look at him. His warm smile and the way he looked at me, telling me it was all alright, made some of the embarrassment go away. I took a deep breath and then another one to finally push away the embarrassment.

“You liked the song?” I asked.

                Sal chuckled and pulled me back down for another kiss. When he pulled back he had one of his lazy smiles on his face.

“Oh, I liked it alright, but if you’re planning to end all our gigs with some sappy comment about us Em’s going to be pissed. So you should totally keep doing that.”

                We both laughed at that and just like that the craziness and the frantic need disappeared, and we were back to our old selves.

“I think we should go out now, I don’t want them thinking we’re having sex or something back here.”

                I chuckled and pulled Sal into my arms, hugging him tightly. What would I ever do without him?