If I Was Perfect Then This Would Be Easy

"Lexa Spades. Call me Ace," I replied, then looked from Alexa to Jason. "So...you guys know eachother or somethin'?"

"Actually, yeah...we used to work together. When you moved to Miami for a while, remember I told you I worked in a guitar shop? JB worked with me there," she explained, smiling widely at him.

"Oh...so you're the friend who moved to Miami?" Jason asked me and I nodded in reply. "Cool. Alexa used to talk all the time about you. Are you visiting Huntington Beach?"

"Actually, I moved back here some years ago. Got tired of Miami, you know," I joked and he smiled.

Jason ended up sitting with us at the table. We talked about everything I could possibly think of and he turned out to be a really nice guy, though insane at times. He seemed really impressed when Alexa told him she sang in a band.

"Are you in the band, too?" he asked me cheerfully, though he was obviously not expecting me to say 'yes'.

"Yeah. Lead-guitar," I replied and he widened his eyes. Alexa stood up and told us she'd be back in a few, leaving me and Jason alone.

"You're a strange one," he stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. I knew he didn't mean it in a very offending way. I always got the same reaction from people. Tall, slim, long black hair with highlights, tattoos all over, ear piercings, almost always wore fingerless gloves and painted my nails black...and 'to top that' (as my brother had said), I 'have insane guitar skills' (again, quoting my brother). I didn't find all of this that strange. I actually found Alexa to be more odd than myself. She had all sorts of colours in her hair, always got dressed in some crazy outfits and sneakers, while I usually stuck to black or red.

"Don't get me wrong, but I don't see alot of chicks that play guitar and have a passion for tattoos..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. I laughed. "You're an A7X fan?" he asked, looking down at my large tattoo.

"Not a really big one. I have to say I only listened to one album, but really liked the name and stuff. Besides, I wanted a tattoo really bad at the time and it just seemed a cool thing to do." It was his turn to laugh.

"What are you two talking about?" Alexa questioned, taking her seat next to Jason. They started talking, but were abruptly interrupted by Jason's phone, which started ringing. I liked the ringtone, to be honest.

"What?" he screamed in the phone and a group of highschool kids from a table near us turned to stare at us. I chuckled and flipped them off, turning to look around at the random people passing on the street. I didn't catch too much of JB's conversation, since I wasn't exactly that interested and decided to look at a highschool chick, dressed up really fancy, obviously from some rich family. But she was crying. Her make-up was ruined and she was talking on the phone with someone, glancing at her stilletto heels every once in a while.

They find you,
Two time you,
Say your the best they've ever seen...

"Alexa," I whispered towards her, not wanting to disturb JB's conversation. "I got some cool lyrics." she laughed, shaking her head and smiling at me. In the band, I was known to be the most spontaneous one and always came up with lyrics when no one needed them.

"Fuck. Girls, I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I would really like to see you around, though," he added and winked at me. "Maybe I could come to one of your shows."

"We actually have one tomorrow evening. It's at this new bar that just opened. A really fancy one, actually. Ace knows someone there and we found out there'll be some important people present..." Jason nodded and he seemed to understand.

We gave him the bar's name and he wanted us to switch phone numbers. I didn't mind and neither did Alexa.

***

"Home sweet home," I muttered as I opened the door to my apartment. "Wilma! I'm home!!" I yelled throughout the apartment and was greeted by a roar of laughter. I looked at the other band members. "I just went out with Alexa and now I run into you."

"Hey, Ace!"

"'Sup?"

"You know, I'm disappointed. Where is all the tequila?"

I grabbed the beer bottle from Dom's hands and answered, "Ask the shithead over there," pointing towards my brother. Corey laughed, while my brother slapped my arm, making me give him the finger. Yeah, we loved each other.

Dom was the bassist in our band and was really damn good...well, we all were really damn good. Corey was our rythm guitar player. He was about my brother's age, who was two years younger than me. They were the youngest in the band. Jack was the drummer and had some awesome skills.

I started playing guitar when I was a teenage kid and loved it ever since. When I wanted to work in some bar to earn some money back then, they refused me, because they needed a drummer and not a guitarist. So, I ended up learning how to play drums and got pretty good at it. That's how my brother discovered his passion for drums. He just saw me play and knew what he wanted.

I taught him the bassics, and then let him do his thing. Same went with Corey. He was Jack's classmate and loved guitars. I taught him everything I could and he still asks for my help when he doesn't succed something. Alexa...well, I had known her ever since we were four. We are inseparable. We met Dom and Corey when Jack brought them home one day, when they were in highschool. We got along very well.

I sat between Dom and Jack on the couch and watched TV with them and talked. We all agreed to meet the next day at the bar a couple of hours before the show started, to get everything set.

Though neither of us showed it, we were nervous. We had been playing in a lot of places, trying to get some attention and make connections. We managed to do that, and we were told that this show could really be our chance.

We had to do our best.