Clash Of The Rockbands
Evil Toasters And Stolen Drumsticks
“OUCH!” I screeched. I stumbled back away from the evil toaster that had just burned my palm. I had been making toast because I was starving and couldn’t work on an empty stomach and then when I tried to take the toast out of the toaster, my palm pressed briefly against the scorching metal and burned me.
I seized my burnt red hand in my unhurt one as the burn started to, well, burn. Really bad.
“Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie,” I moaned as I danced around the little kitchen area of the recording studio in pain. I turned around in time to see James appear in the doorway. He looked at my pained face and then let his gaze slide to my hand caressing my burnt one. Then he noticed the abandoned piece of toast still in the toaster and put two and two together.
James stepped forward into the room.
“Let me see it.” he said, holding out his hand with his palm up.
“No, it’s fine.” I retorted.
“It is clearly not fine, judging by the look on your face.” James replied calmly. “Let me see it.” I slowly released my hand and slid it into his open palm with my palm facing the ceiling. He gently grabbed my wrist and held my hand a little closer to his face, studying the red rectangle where the evil toaster had burned me.
“The evil toaster burned me.” I mumbled even though I knew he knew that already. James gently pushed his finger against the burn. “Ouch! That hurt!”
“Sorry,” he said. He pulled me over to the sink and turned the cold water on. He stuck my singed palm under the torrent of cold water. It instantly soothed the burning away. Probably only because my hand was going numb, but it felt good anyway.
“What’s my diagnosis, Dr. Sullivan?” I joked.
“Eh, I think you’ll live.” James answered. “You might not want to hold a drumstick with this hand any time soon, though. But I think it’s just a surface burn and nothing too dangerous.” He turned the water off and slowly released my wrist. I grabbed the towel to dry my hand off, being careful not to rub it too roughly against my burn.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Can’t get a song just right again?” James asked. I nodded. “Yeah, I can’t either. Ah, drummer’s block and its many consequences,” he added.
“Yeah,” I replied. My stomach roared like an angry lion. James and I both stared down at it. “My tummy’s empty. That’s probably why I can’t work worth crap.”
“Mine’s probably just—“ James began, but his stomach interrupted him with a loud grumble. He looked down at it, slightly surprised. Then he looked back up at me. “—hunger.” he finished. “And there’s nothing good in here.” He waved an arm around to take in the whole kitchen area. “Nothing but energy drinks and coffee and stale bread and old milk.”
“Yeah, and I don’t much trust the toaster anymore.” I told him.
“Well, there’s this little late-night café just down the street that’s open now. It sells damn good muffins and doughnuts.” James said.
“Do they have poppy seed muffins?” I asked.
“I think,” James answered thoughtfully.
“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s go. I’m starved.” I led the way back out of the kitchen.
James and I had kind of...well, we had kind of bonded over many late nights at the studio. We both stayed late at the studio at least once a week, and usually on the same night. So we always ended up running into each other at some point. It usually was when I screamed in frustration—because I do that a lot—but sometimes we just bumped into each other outside of the bathrooms and stopped to chat for a few minutes. Over the course of about two months, we had slowly become friends and I had slowly become more comfortable around him. Not completely comfortable, no, but enough so that I wouldn’t be making a fool of myself left and right.
James pulled the door into Moonlit Café open and stepped back to let me walk in. I stepped into the dim, cool café. Little square tables lined three of the walls and sat in the middle of the room, each with a small, dim light hanging above it. A long counter lined the fourth wall, laden with glass containers full of muffins and doughnuts and little circular cakes. Only a few people sat at the tables, and two of them sat typing on laptops so that the quiet café was filled with the click-click-click-clicks. The smell of sweet confections swirled around the homey room.
“This doesn’t seem to be the kind of place you’d enjoy going to.” I commented as James closed the door behind him. He shrugged, looking fondly around at the small room. “I’d expect you to hang out at this crowded bar, drinking so much alcohol that you wake up next to this strange girl you don’t even remember.”
“Usually that’s what happens, minus the strange girl part,” James told me as he headed over to the counter. “But there aren’t really any good bars nearby and I don’t want to make my drummer’s block worse with alcoholic beverages so whatever.”
A few minutes later, we sat down across from each other at one of the tiny square tables. I instantly began to chow down on my poppy seed muffin. James began to eat his huge glazed doughnut, only a little slower than I was eating my muffin.
Then I noticed how stupid I must look. I put my muffin down slowly as heat rose up my cheeks. I prayed that James wouldn’t notice.
“So, are you guys going to be putting out an album any time soon?” James asked. Either he was ignoring my suddenly red cheeks or he just hadn’t noticed yet. I nodded, unable to speak because my mouth was full of muffin. I quickly swallowed and took a quick drink of my decaf coffee. It burned my tongue, but I didn’t let on about it.
“Yeah, it should be out in two months at the least.” I told him. “Probably more though because we’ll want it to be perfect.”
“What number album will it be?” James asked.
“Number three,” I answered.
“Pretty impressive,” James commented.
“Yeah, we’re excited.” I said. I took another slow drink of my coffee, and it didn’t burn that time. “But what about you?”
“Eh, probably not for a while,” James answered. “We released Avenged Sevenfold not all that long ago. We’ve only finished two songs I think since then.”
“Oh,” I replied. I took another bite out of my muffin. “So, how are the rest of the guys?”
“They’re bastards but that’s nothing new.” James answered. I quickly tried to figure out if I should laugh or ask why he thought they were bastards. I seriously didn’t know if he was being serious or not. My great internal battle must’ve shown on my face because James continued on, “They’re doing well. And we’re all bastards in our own little ways. But what about your band mates?”
“Never been better,” I told him. With a loud crinkling sound, I rolled the little paper holder thing up into a little ball. With a mischievous smile, I threw the little paper ball at James. It hit him right in between the eyes. “Score!” I yelled excitedly, throwing my arms up in triumph. James retrieved the paper ball out of his lap and threw it back at me. It hit me right on the tip of my nose.
“Beat that,” he challenged.
“I can’t.” I pouted. “Loser,” I added under my breath. James chuckled.
“I know I am.” he agreed. He stood up. “I think I still have drummer’s block. Want to go for a walk?”
I nodded and stood up. I drank the rest of my coffee and threw the paper cup in the trash before we both walked out.
“The beach isn’t far from here.” James told me as he led the way down the sidewalk. “We’ll just go there.”
“Okay,” I replied.
A few minutes later, soft sand cushioned our footfalls. James led the way towards the water. Its deep blue depths reflected the full moon and distorted the moon’s silvery image with great, lapping waves. The sound of waves crashing against the shore never ceased, but it was a beautiful sound so I didn’t mind.
James stopped about twenty feet from where the water lapped at the shore. He stared out at the water, his hands in his pockets. I began to wonder what was on his mind.
“So, have you guys made it to the beach yet?” he asked out of the blue, still staring out at the water.
“Yeah,” I answered. “A few weeks ago.”
“Good,” James replied. He sounded kind of distant, like he wasn’t all there. Then he sighed and his mind zoomed back to his body. “I need a girlfriend.”
Okay...? Random much? What do I say to a statement like that?
“I’m sure you’ll find one. There are loads of girls who would give their left butt cheek to be your girlfriend.” WHAT? That’s the best I could come up with? That sounded so stupid! Stupid sympathetic side of females! It needs to learn to think before it acts!
“No, I don’t want any old random fan-girl chick who will gawk at me like I’m a circus freak with fifteen eyes on my chest.” James replied. “I want to find a genuine girl who’s perfect for me. I’ve gone through a lot of girlfriends and none of them were what I was looking for. But I guess I’ll have plenty of opportunities, being a rockstar and all.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll find the perfect one.” I told him. Okay, that sounded better than ‘There are loads of girls who would give their left butt cheek to be your girlfriend’.
“I don’t know.” James said. “All the girls I’ve ever been with just want to be with me because I’m famous and rich and stuff. Women are such shallow creatures.”
I laughed at that. I know, I know. Way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose. I know.
“Some women are shallow, but men are shallower. All men are shallow.” I told him. I looked over to see James looking slightly taken aback. Yep, I definitely broke the sentimental moment. I’m good like that.
“What?” he asked.
“Well, men always want to have a smoking hot wife or girlfriend or fiancé. Women usually look deeper into someone’s soul, no matter what they look like. Some women are gold-diggers, sure, but men are so shallow that they fall for it! As long as that woman has got a nice rack and blonde hair and endless legs, men don’t much care!” I explained. James just stared at me. And then he smiled.
“I see your logic.” he said. I grinned back. I had never noticed how great of a smile he had. “But, great way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose.”
James’s POV
“But, great way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose.” I said. Melrose laughed.
“You know, I was just thinking that same thought.” she told me.
I had been so glad when she had finally warmed up to me. It had taken a bit, but her cheeks had finally stopped turning pink every time she saw me unexpectedly. And when her cheeks turned pink, it felt slightly awkward. But now it wasn’t awkward anymore. Well...it wasn’t awkward most of the time. Awkwardness follows Melrose around like a puppy on a leash, which makes it impossible not to have tiny little moments of awkwardness around her occasionally. I think it’s just because she’s not comfortable around guys. So I consider myself quite lucky because I’m the only guy that Melrose seems to be at least most of the way comfortable around.
Melrose turned her head to look back out at the ocean. I could see the billowing blue water reflected in Melrose’s dark green eyes. The blue reflected off of her pupils, turning them navy blue. They seemed to rise up like the ocean itself. The silver moonlight splashed freely across her face, making her skin shine and shimmer with silvery color. A gentle ocean breeze fluttered her bright red bangs, and shifted them out from behind her ears so that they suddenly flopped down across her left eye, hiding the amazing green depths from sight.
“Stupid wind,” she grumbled, shoving the hair back behind her ear. She looked over at me and seemed shocked to see me scrutinizing her as if she stood beneath a giant microscope.
I quickly grinned to hide that I had been staring at her. She smiled back, revealing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Then, as she looked back at the ocean, I decided to put my flirt on.
I pulled Melrose’s drumsticks out of her back pocket. She spun around, already reaching out to snatch her drumsticks back. I hit her drumsticks teasingly against her wrist, “HA”ed at her, and then turned and sprinted down the beach.
Within seconds though, Melrose landed lightly on my back. I spun quickly before she could tighten her hold or seize a handful of my hair or something like that, and she flew off, landing on her back in the sand. I started to run again, but her arms suddenly fastened tightly around my right leg.
I fell heavily on my stomach, and the drumsticks flew out of my hand. They landed in the brownish sand a few feet away.
“HA! Loser!” Melrose exclaimed. She scrambled over to her drumsticks on all fours and scooped them up. She turned back and stuck her tongue out at me as she tucked them back in her back pocket. “That teaches you to steal my fucking drumsticks, asshole.”
I gasped, acting hurt, as I pushed myself into a sitting position.
“I’m not an asshole!” I said in a hurt voice.
“Yeah, you are,” Melrose replied seriously. “You are an asshole.” She crawled back over to me and sat down beside me. She punched me on the shoulder. “And that’s what you get.”
“Ow!” I hissed, grabbing my shoulder like she had actually hurt me. I actually didn’t even feel her punching me.
“Serves you right,” Melrose snapped.
She shoved herself to her feet, wiping sand off of the seat of her jeans. I stood up beside her, wiping the seat of my pants off too. She looked down at her watch.
“Since I can’t drum with my hand, I guess I’ll just go back home after we get back to the recording studio. And it’s getting late too.” she said to no one in particular.
“Okay,” I replied. We headed back towards the sidewalk, leaving the quiet sloshing sound of waves slamming into the shore behind us.
I seized my burnt red hand in my unhurt one as the burn started to, well, burn. Really bad.
“Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie,” I moaned as I danced around the little kitchen area of the recording studio in pain. I turned around in time to see James appear in the doorway. He looked at my pained face and then let his gaze slide to my hand caressing my burnt one. Then he noticed the abandoned piece of toast still in the toaster and put two and two together.
James stepped forward into the room.
“Let me see it.” he said, holding out his hand with his palm up.
“No, it’s fine.” I retorted.
“It is clearly not fine, judging by the look on your face.” James replied calmly. “Let me see it.” I slowly released my hand and slid it into his open palm with my palm facing the ceiling. He gently grabbed my wrist and held my hand a little closer to his face, studying the red rectangle where the evil toaster had burned me.
“The evil toaster burned me.” I mumbled even though I knew he knew that already. James gently pushed his finger against the burn. “Ouch! That hurt!”
“Sorry,” he said. He pulled me over to the sink and turned the cold water on. He stuck my singed palm under the torrent of cold water. It instantly soothed the burning away. Probably only because my hand was going numb, but it felt good anyway.
“What’s my diagnosis, Dr. Sullivan?” I joked.
“Eh, I think you’ll live.” James answered. “You might not want to hold a drumstick with this hand any time soon, though. But I think it’s just a surface burn and nothing too dangerous.” He turned the water off and slowly released my wrist. I grabbed the towel to dry my hand off, being careful not to rub it too roughly against my burn.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Can’t get a song just right again?” James asked. I nodded. “Yeah, I can’t either. Ah, drummer’s block and its many consequences,” he added.
“Yeah,” I replied. My stomach roared like an angry lion. James and I both stared down at it. “My tummy’s empty. That’s probably why I can’t work worth crap.”
“Mine’s probably just—“ James began, but his stomach interrupted him with a loud grumble. He looked down at it, slightly surprised. Then he looked back up at me. “—hunger.” he finished. “And there’s nothing good in here.” He waved an arm around to take in the whole kitchen area. “Nothing but energy drinks and coffee and stale bread and old milk.”
“Yeah, and I don’t much trust the toaster anymore.” I told him.
“Well, there’s this little late-night café just down the street that’s open now. It sells damn good muffins and doughnuts.” James said.
“Do they have poppy seed muffins?” I asked.
“I think,” James answered thoughtfully.
“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s go. I’m starved.” I led the way back out of the kitchen.
James and I had kind of...well, we had kind of bonded over many late nights at the studio. We both stayed late at the studio at least once a week, and usually on the same night. So we always ended up running into each other at some point. It usually was when I screamed in frustration—because I do that a lot—but sometimes we just bumped into each other outside of the bathrooms and stopped to chat for a few minutes. Over the course of about two months, we had slowly become friends and I had slowly become more comfortable around him. Not completely comfortable, no, but enough so that I wouldn’t be making a fool of myself left and right.
James pulled the door into Moonlit Café open and stepped back to let me walk in. I stepped into the dim, cool café. Little square tables lined three of the walls and sat in the middle of the room, each with a small, dim light hanging above it. A long counter lined the fourth wall, laden with glass containers full of muffins and doughnuts and little circular cakes. Only a few people sat at the tables, and two of them sat typing on laptops so that the quiet café was filled with the click-click-click-clicks. The smell of sweet confections swirled around the homey room.
“This doesn’t seem to be the kind of place you’d enjoy going to.” I commented as James closed the door behind him. He shrugged, looking fondly around at the small room. “I’d expect you to hang out at this crowded bar, drinking so much alcohol that you wake up next to this strange girl you don’t even remember.”
“Usually that’s what happens, minus the strange girl part,” James told me as he headed over to the counter. “But there aren’t really any good bars nearby and I don’t want to make my drummer’s block worse with alcoholic beverages so whatever.”
A few minutes later, we sat down across from each other at one of the tiny square tables. I instantly began to chow down on my poppy seed muffin. James began to eat his huge glazed doughnut, only a little slower than I was eating my muffin.
Then I noticed how stupid I must look. I put my muffin down slowly as heat rose up my cheeks. I prayed that James wouldn’t notice.
“So, are you guys going to be putting out an album any time soon?” James asked. Either he was ignoring my suddenly red cheeks or he just hadn’t noticed yet. I nodded, unable to speak because my mouth was full of muffin. I quickly swallowed and took a quick drink of my decaf coffee. It burned my tongue, but I didn’t let on about it.
“Yeah, it should be out in two months at the least.” I told him. “Probably more though because we’ll want it to be perfect.”
“What number album will it be?” James asked.
“Number three,” I answered.
“Pretty impressive,” James commented.
“Yeah, we’re excited.” I said. I took another slow drink of my coffee, and it didn’t burn that time. “But what about you?”
“Eh, probably not for a while,” James answered. “We released Avenged Sevenfold not all that long ago. We’ve only finished two songs I think since then.”
“Oh,” I replied. I took another bite out of my muffin. “So, how are the rest of the guys?”
“They’re bastards but that’s nothing new.” James answered. I quickly tried to figure out if I should laugh or ask why he thought they were bastards. I seriously didn’t know if he was being serious or not. My great internal battle must’ve shown on my face because James continued on, “They’re doing well. And we’re all bastards in our own little ways. But what about your band mates?”
“Never been better,” I told him. With a loud crinkling sound, I rolled the little paper holder thing up into a little ball. With a mischievous smile, I threw the little paper ball at James. It hit him right in between the eyes. “Score!” I yelled excitedly, throwing my arms up in triumph. James retrieved the paper ball out of his lap and threw it back at me. It hit me right on the tip of my nose.
“Beat that,” he challenged.
“I can’t.” I pouted. “Loser,” I added under my breath. James chuckled.
“I know I am.” he agreed. He stood up. “I think I still have drummer’s block. Want to go for a walk?”
I nodded and stood up. I drank the rest of my coffee and threw the paper cup in the trash before we both walked out.
“The beach isn’t far from here.” James told me as he led the way down the sidewalk. “We’ll just go there.”
“Okay,” I replied.
A few minutes later, soft sand cushioned our footfalls. James led the way towards the water. Its deep blue depths reflected the full moon and distorted the moon’s silvery image with great, lapping waves. The sound of waves crashing against the shore never ceased, but it was a beautiful sound so I didn’t mind.
James stopped about twenty feet from where the water lapped at the shore. He stared out at the water, his hands in his pockets. I began to wonder what was on his mind.
“So, have you guys made it to the beach yet?” he asked out of the blue, still staring out at the water.
“Yeah,” I answered. “A few weeks ago.”
“Good,” James replied. He sounded kind of distant, like he wasn’t all there. Then he sighed and his mind zoomed back to his body. “I need a girlfriend.”
Okay...? Random much? What do I say to a statement like that?
“I’m sure you’ll find one. There are loads of girls who would give their left butt cheek to be your girlfriend.” WHAT? That’s the best I could come up with? That sounded so stupid! Stupid sympathetic side of females! It needs to learn to think before it acts!
“No, I don’t want any old random fan-girl chick who will gawk at me like I’m a circus freak with fifteen eyes on my chest.” James replied. “I want to find a genuine girl who’s perfect for me. I’ve gone through a lot of girlfriends and none of them were what I was looking for. But I guess I’ll have plenty of opportunities, being a rockstar and all.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll find the perfect one.” I told him. Okay, that sounded better than ‘There are loads of girls who would give their left butt cheek to be your girlfriend’.
“I don’t know.” James said. “All the girls I’ve ever been with just want to be with me because I’m famous and rich and stuff. Women are such shallow creatures.”
I laughed at that. I know, I know. Way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose. I know.
“Some women are shallow, but men are shallower. All men are shallow.” I told him. I looked over to see James looking slightly taken aback. Yep, I definitely broke the sentimental moment. I’m good like that.
“What?” he asked.
“Well, men always want to have a smoking hot wife or girlfriend or fiancé. Women usually look deeper into someone’s soul, no matter what they look like. Some women are gold-diggers, sure, but men are so shallow that they fall for it! As long as that woman has got a nice rack and blonde hair and endless legs, men don’t much care!” I explained. James just stared at me. And then he smiled.
“I see your logic.” he said. I grinned back. I had never noticed how great of a smile he had. “But, great way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose.”
James’s POV
“But, great way to break the sentimental moment, Melrose.” I said. Melrose laughed.
“You know, I was just thinking that same thought.” she told me.
I had been so glad when she had finally warmed up to me. It had taken a bit, but her cheeks had finally stopped turning pink every time she saw me unexpectedly. And when her cheeks turned pink, it felt slightly awkward. But now it wasn’t awkward anymore. Well...it wasn’t awkward most of the time. Awkwardness follows Melrose around like a puppy on a leash, which makes it impossible not to have tiny little moments of awkwardness around her occasionally. I think it’s just because she’s not comfortable around guys. So I consider myself quite lucky because I’m the only guy that Melrose seems to be at least most of the way comfortable around.
Melrose turned her head to look back out at the ocean. I could see the billowing blue water reflected in Melrose’s dark green eyes. The blue reflected off of her pupils, turning them navy blue. They seemed to rise up like the ocean itself. The silver moonlight splashed freely across her face, making her skin shine and shimmer with silvery color. A gentle ocean breeze fluttered her bright red bangs, and shifted them out from behind her ears so that they suddenly flopped down across her left eye, hiding the amazing green depths from sight.
“Stupid wind,” she grumbled, shoving the hair back behind her ear. She looked over at me and seemed shocked to see me scrutinizing her as if she stood beneath a giant microscope.
I quickly grinned to hide that I had been staring at her. She smiled back, revealing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Then, as she looked back at the ocean, I decided to put my flirt on.
I pulled Melrose’s drumsticks out of her back pocket. She spun around, already reaching out to snatch her drumsticks back. I hit her drumsticks teasingly against her wrist, “HA”ed at her, and then turned and sprinted down the beach.
Within seconds though, Melrose landed lightly on my back. I spun quickly before she could tighten her hold or seize a handful of my hair or something like that, and she flew off, landing on her back in the sand. I started to run again, but her arms suddenly fastened tightly around my right leg.
I fell heavily on my stomach, and the drumsticks flew out of my hand. They landed in the brownish sand a few feet away.
“HA! Loser!” Melrose exclaimed. She scrambled over to her drumsticks on all fours and scooped them up. She turned back and stuck her tongue out at me as she tucked them back in her back pocket. “That teaches you to steal my fucking drumsticks, asshole.”
I gasped, acting hurt, as I pushed myself into a sitting position.
“I’m not an asshole!” I said in a hurt voice.
“Yeah, you are,” Melrose replied seriously. “You are an asshole.” She crawled back over to me and sat down beside me. She punched me on the shoulder. “And that’s what you get.”
“Ow!” I hissed, grabbing my shoulder like she had actually hurt me. I actually didn’t even feel her punching me.
“Serves you right,” Melrose snapped.
She shoved herself to her feet, wiping sand off of the seat of her jeans. I stood up beside her, wiping the seat of my pants off too. She looked down at her watch.
“Since I can’t drum with my hand, I guess I’ll just go back home after we get back to the recording studio. And it’s getting late too.” she said to no one in particular.
“Okay,” I replied. We headed back towards the sidewalk, leaving the quiet sloshing sound of waves slamming into the shore behind us.
♠ ♠ ♠
Heyloo.Comments, anyone? Please?