Your Name In Lights... Or Maybe Just On Bricks, chapter 1
You can read new chapters of this story and post comments on Mibba.
When I let them shove the dollar-fifty spray paint can in my hands, I should've stopped it there. Writing "Billie Joe must die" on the walls of the Gilman, wasn't exactly how I expected my musical career to begin. Why did I open my mouth?
As I stood on the chair letting the paint cover the bricks, I began to wonder what had happened to life. What happened to Sweet Children? What about the good days when no one cared about major labels?
"I think they're gone," Jennifer said, practically reading my mind as she too stood on the chair next to me. We exchanged nervous glances as the crowd behind cheered us on.
Finishing the job, we hoped down and back into the haze of smoke and alcohol breath. Glass bottles smashed all around in applause, and Jen and I gave fake smiles to our fans.
Jennifer was the second guitar in our band "What She Said." We had known each other since 7th grade back when we were still growing up in Illinois. Our band had five members: Jen, Anna on lead guitar, Katelyn on bass, Darien on drums, and me, Julie, on lead vocals. We didn't get much play, but we were definitely making ourselves known now.
Sweet Children, or Green Day as they are now called, had just been signed to a major label, and it by the current state of things, you'd think the end of the world was near. You've never seen anything more chaotic than the scene at the Gilman for the past week, and the most chaotic thing was that the five of us were the leaders of the rebellion. What's really funny about that is that Billie Joe, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt were the inspiration for everything we had accomplished musically. If it seemed like they were betraying us, I didn't really notice. I was too preoccupied with the betrayal I was committing.
"Why so glum? You guys should be celebrating! After all, the traders are coming back sometime tonight, thinking they're going to be playing," my friend Travis came over to Jen, Katelyn and I sitting on an old table just...looking.
"What exactly did I just do?" I asked no one in particular.
"It's like we became someone we weren't."
"Or were trying to be someone everyone wanted us to be," Katelyn and Jen obviously felt the same way as they responded like someone had put a bullet in their chest.
I lifted my head, and shook off my glum, already bored with our sadness. I couldn't stand being mopy. It drove me nuts.
"Where's Anna? She's supposed to be here. We're performing instead of Green Day." I cringed. Just saying the name felt full of betrayal and guilt, from both ends of the stick. Green Day. What did that even mean anyway?
"Chill, she's backstage setting up with Darien," he said, handing me a drink. "You guys are gonna rock. Don't worry," he added and then left to go join the celebration.
I slid off of the table and looked down at my feet. I didn't want to take the congratulations and smiles as a result of my rebellion. Truth be told, I never wanted to go against Billie and his friends. I did it all for the band. I wanted the fame and glory for myself.
Still looking at my feet, I admired my brand new 'Chuck Taylors'. I had gotten them especially for this, because this meant the world to me. They were black high-tops with black laces- nothing special. Above them, scraps hanging from the hemline of my jeans were gathering dirt from the floor. These jeans were special. I knew these jeans, I was comfortable in these jeans. They were familiar. Aside from the shreds hanging off of the bottom, the gaping holes in the knee were the only other signs that these jeans had seen better days. The only thing I was afraid of was that my jumping around on stage would cause them to tear in otherwise "private" places. The fact was, these jeans could've been made out of paper, they were so worn thin.
I walked away without saying a word to Jen and Katelyn, and I didn't think they noticed. I heard the familiar engine as I approached the doorway, and I saw three familiar faces step out of an old book-mobile. The rest was kind of a blur to me until I saw various people pointing out my handy work with the spray paint and a pair of sad green eyes that I had longed to look into forever at one point, met mine.
As I stood on the chair letting the paint cover the bricks, I began to wonder what had happened to life. What happened to Sweet Children? What about the good days when no one cared about major labels?
"I think they're gone," Jennifer said, practically reading my mind as she too stood on the chair next to me. We exchanged nervous glances as the crowd behind cheered us on.
Finishing the job, we hoped down and back into the haze of smoke and alcohol breath. Glass bottles smashed all around in applause, and Jen and I gave fake smiles to our fans.
Jennifer was the second guitar in our band "What She Said." We had known each other since 7th grade back when we were still growing up in Illinois. Our band had five members: Jen, Anna on lead guitar, Katelyn on bass, Darien on drums, and me, Julie, on lead vocals. We didn't get much play, but we were definitely making ourselves known now.
Sweet Children, or Green Day as they are now called, had just been signed to a major label, and it by the current state of things, you'd think the end of the world was near. You've never seen anything more chaotic than the scene at the Gilman for the past week, and the most chaotic thing was that the five of us were the leaders of the rebellion. What's really funny about that is that Billie Joe, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt were the inspiration for everything we had accomplished musically. If it seemed like they were betraying us, I didn't really notice. I was too preoccupied with the betrayal I was committing.
"Why so glum? You guys should be celebrating! After all, the traders are coming back sometime tonight, thinking they're going to be playing," my friend Travis came over to Jen, Katelyn and I sitting on an old table just...looking.
"What exactly did I just do?" I asked no one in particular.
"It's like we became someone we weren't."
"Or were trying to be someone everyone wanted us to be," Katelyn and Jen obviously felt the same way as they responded like someone had put a bullet in their chest.
I lifted my head, and shook off my glum, already bored with our sadness. I couldn't stand being mopy. It drove me nuts.
"Where's Anna? She's supposed to be here. We're performing instead of Green Day." I cringed. Just saying the name felt full of betrayal and guilt, from both ends of the stick. Green Day. What did that even mean anyway?
"Chill, she's backstage setting up with Darien," he said, handing me a drink. "You guys are gonna rock. Don't worry," he added and then left to go join the celebration.
I slid off of the table and looked down at my feet. I didn't want to take the congratulations and smiles as a result of my rebellion. Truth be told, I never wanted to go against Billie and his friends. I did it all for the band. I wanted the fame and glory for myself.
Still looking at my feet, I admired my brand new 'Chuck Taylors'. I had gotten them especially for this, because this meant the world to me. They were black high-tops with black laces- nothing special. Above them, scraps hanging from the hemline of my jeans were gathering dirt from the floor. These jeans were special. I knew these jeans, I was comfortable in these jeans. They were familiar. Aside from the shreds hanging off of the bottom, the gaping holes in the knee were the only other signs that these jeans had seen better days. The only thing I was afraid of was that my jumping around on stage would cause them to tear in otherwise "private" places. The fact was, these jeans could've been made out of paper, they were so worn thin.
I walked away without saying a word to Jen and Katelyn, and I didn't think they noticed. I heard the familiar engine as I approached the doorway, and I saw three familiar faces step out of an old book-mobile. The rest was kind of a blur to me until I saw various people pointing out my handy work with the spray paint and a pair of sad green eyes that I had longed to look into forever at one point, met mine.
Page 1/7 | Next
