The Songs of Leslie Orange

Leslie walked out of her hotel room and made her way down the hallway. Her guitar was the only thing on her back as she stepped into the elevator. She hummed a song as she rode the elevator down. A man in the elevator gave her a look. She turned to him and smiled.
“Hello,” she said. The man nodded in silence. Leslie stopped humming. The elevator doors opened, and the two of them stepped out. Leslie smiled and took in a deep breath. She felt as if she had been sleeping a long time, like the last few weeks had been some kind of dream. In all honesty, she had taken a long break from the music scene, but she had been keeping with her guitar playing on the regular basis. Leslie wasn’t worried about rustiness at the festival this afternoon. She arrived in New York last night for it, and she had been looking forward to it since she heard Benjamin and Marcus would be attending it as well. She hadn’t seen either of them in months.

The festival grounds were already buzzing with fans, musicians, and media personnel by the time she got there. A reporter approached her as she showed security her musician pass.
“Leslie!” The reported called. Leslie stopped and watched as Nadine Hutchinson, a writer for a blog online, ran up to her.
“Hey Nadine,” Leslie said as Nadine caught up with her. Security stopped her from crossing the gates. Leslie came up to the barrier. “How’re you?” She asked. Nadine shrugged.
“Great,” she said, more as a phrase than an actual response, “I just need to talk to someone before the festival begins.” Leslie smiled. Nadine conducted her interview with Leslie over the next few minutes, and as they did so, more and more musicians started to show up.

A practice session with Benjamin Crickett proved how much Leslie had been practicing. Benjamin shook his head as Leslie missed not one note.
“Of course, while I’m sitting on my tale back in Washington, you’ve been traveling around and only getting better,” he said. Leslie nodded.
“Thanks Ben,” she said. Ben noted the lack of emotion in her face and in her voice. He was always trying to provoke something in her. He was about to say something when Marcus entered the room. He gave Ben a look, and then turned his attention to Leslie.
“I heard Callait-esque music playing and knew it was you,” he said. Ben raised an eyebrow. Leslie focused on tuning her guitar.
“Thank you,” she said. The three of them stood in silence, interrupted every so often by Leslie’s guitar tuning. She finished up, and as she put her guitar in its case, realized she had forgotten something. “Oh!” She said. Ben and Marcus looked at her. Leslie stood from her chair.
“Ben, this is Marcus Black, an electric guitarist,” Leslie started. Marcus placed his guitar case on the floor when Ben got up to shake his hand. “And Marcus, this is Ben Crickett, a violin player,” she said. The two of them eyed each other carefully. Leslie noticed the time on Ben’s watch. “And Joel will be here any minute,” she said. Ben and Marcus looked at her.
“Joel?” They asked in unison.

Joel Barish unloaded his drum set from the back of his truck. When he finished, he gave Leslie a big hug.
“I haven’t seen you in ages Clementine,” he said, calling Leslie by the nickname he gave her. He was clearly had a good ten years on her. She remained expressionless at the name.
“It has been too long Joely,” she said. He shook Ben and Marcus’ hand.
“Hello boys,” he said. Ben nodded as he shook Joel’s hand. Marcus hardly tried to hide the look of disdain on his face. Leslie spoke before he could.
“I’ve been working with Joel to form a band,” she started. Ben looked at her.
“Who else is in it?” He asked. Leslie eyed Ben and Marcus. Marcus shook his head. Ben agreed. “Yeah, I don’t do bands,” he said.
“Neither do I,” Leslie said, “But I was hoping, for this festival only, that we could combine our efforts and please the crowd with something they never expected.” Joel nodded.
“Plus, this is technically Leslie’s return gig, I think we should do something special for her,” Joel said. Ben looked at Joel.
“You have a point there,” he said. Marcus sighed.
“I guess I won’t be the bad guy today,” he said. Leslie said nothing, but everyone knew she was happy to hear it.

“Thank you, very much,” Karen said as she and her band, the Why Why Whys, walked off the stage. Leslie met Karen backstage.
“Karen, that was great,” Leslie said. Karen smiled at her.
“Thank you Leslie,” she said, half-out-of-breath, “Good luck out there.” Leslie smiled and walked onto the stage. Ben, Joel, and Marcus were waiting for her. The crowd cheered as she grabbed her guitar. Marcus spoke into the microphone.
“For this time only; just for Leslie and you lucky roaches in the audience, I’m in a band,” Marcus half-joked. Ben shook his head. Joel clapped and cheered with the crowd. Leslie readied herself for their song. She was on base tonight. She decided instead that Marcus should sing. He cleared his throat and dove right into it. He and Joel started with the slow melody Leslie had written herself. She joined in after a while, and so did Ben. Marcus seemed to adjust himself to the song’s melody, and started singing the lyrics he wrote.

Ler-click.
The sound…of a broken heart.
Stay tuned.
For this…is just the start.
That girl,
She tore…my love apart.
And now,
Ler cick…goes…my…heart.

Access denied.
My heart’s not open anymore.
To shut the hurt out,
I’ve gone and closed the door.
Why must my open heart cause me so much pain?
Why must my open heart cause me so much pain?

My love…for her,
It was oh so true.
But she…told me,
She had better things to do.
But I couldn’t let her go.
What was I to do?
Her absence hurts as much,
As when she was here too.

Access denied.
My heart’s not open anymore.
To shut her out,
I’ve gone and closed the door.
Why must my open heart cause me so much pain?
Why does this hurting feeling make me go insane?

So…go back,
And then you’ll see.
Just how hurt I was,
When she said that she was leaving me.
Feel my pain,
And then, I think, that you’ll agree,
That the only way to fix my broken heart,
Is to cut it off completely.

Access denied.
My heart’s not open anymore.
To shut the pain out,
I’ve gone and closed the door.
Why must my open heart cause me so much pain?

Why does this hurting feeling make me go insane?

Why can’t I get her face out of my broken brain?

Why…do…I…feel…like…this…again…and…again?

The crowd cheered as they finished up. Leslie was proud of Marcus. She chose him specifically for his punky vocals. Joel and Ben seemed pretty happy too. She was glad her break was over.