Romance of a Rock Band

Annie

We were all sitting around; just hanging out in Ren’s basement. I couldn’t believe how well the practice had gone. We played three more songs after the first and we seemed to get better and better with each one.

There was one thing that was bothering me though. Hawk wasn’t talking to me. I couldn’t figure it out. Did I do something wrong? Was I somehow rude to him? And the worst part is that I couldn’t stop staring at him. His deep blue eyes were so hypnotizing with his long, shiny black hair hanging in front of them. I found myself wondering if he dyed it.

“Earth to Annie,” I heard Ren say.

“Sorry, did you say something?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I was asking you what other bands you had been in,” he said.

“This is the first one,” I told him. They all seemed shocked. “Something wrong?”

“You play too well to not have been in a band before,” said Hawk.

“I played in a coffee shop by myself a couple of years ago,” I told him.

“Still…” said Felix.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not she’s been in another band,” said Hawk. “It only matters that she plays well.”

“Right,” Ren agreed.

“Yeah,” said Felix. We talked idly about a few things. Turns out Hawk lives a few blocks from
my house and Ren’s parents are both bankers.

“I think we should go home, don’t you Annie?” said Felix after it started to get dark.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I answered.

“Alright,” he said. “See you guys later.”

“Yeah,” said Hawk.

“Later,” said Ren. “Thursday?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Felix. I nodded as we were leaving.

“Tuesday it is then,” said Hawk.

I couldn’t help but smile as we walked back out to the bus. I liked them all. Ren was really smart. Especially with numbers. I wondered if he was the band’s manager as well as the bassist. Felix was really sweet and nice. He seemed like the normal one, aside from being a werewolf. And then there was Hawk. I really can’t describe what I like about him. There’s just this sort of aura around him that draws me in. I think if I can get him to talk to me I’ll find something there. I’m just not sure what that is yet.

“What did you think, Annie?” Felix asked after we had gotten on the road.

“Of what?” I said.

“The band,” he said laughing. “Are you coming back on Thursday?”

“Yeah, definitely!” I said.

“Good,” he said. “We’ve never played as good as that.”

“I don’t think Hawk likes me though,” I said.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“He hardly said a word to me,” I told him.

“He’s like that sometimes,” he said, but I got the feeling that wasn’t true.

“If you say so,” I said.

“He likes you,” he said. “It’s just that the last guitarist we had ditched us for another band on
a really big night for us. He just doesn’t want the same thing to happen again.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, I won’t. I’m with you guys for the wherever this takes us.”

“That’s good to know,” he said. “Now you just have to make sure Hawk believes that.”

“Yeah,” I said. The only way I knew how to do that was never miss a practice. We didn’t talk
until Felix pulled up at my house.

“Thanks for the ride, Felix,” I said.

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll pick you up on Thursday too.”

“Thanks,” I repeated. “See you later, Felix.”

“Yeah, later,” he said as he started off down the street. I watched him until I saw the bus pull into his driveway. Well, I thought it was his driveway. I wasn’t exactly sure which house was his.

I walked up to the door and knocked. Tony and Monique hadn’t given me a key yet. It took them a few minutes to answer.

“Hey, Annie,” Tony said after he opened the door. “How was it?”

“Well—“ I started.

“Let her get in the door and sit down,” said Monique. I laughed and he let me through the
door. I sat down in the chair in the corner of the room.

“How’d it go?” Tony asked again.

“Pretty well,” I said. “I think I’m in.”

“How do you know?” asked Tony.

“They told me,” I said smiling. “I’m in.”

They asked some more questions and then Monique went to make dinner. Tony and I sat in the living room and watched television and talked about how there was never really anything good on. After supper I went up to my room and played my guitar for a couple of hours.

When I played my guitar, I wasn’t always thinking about the guitar. I liked to let my thoughts wander. That’s why I never sing when I play, although people have told me I sing really well. I thought about a lot of things that night. The one I thought hardest about was Hawk – how he wouldn’t talk to me, but defended me to Ren and Felix; how much his not talking had bothered me; how great I felt when he stood up for me; that damn hair always in those blue eyes. Those were the thoughts running through my head as I drifted off to sleep, guitar still in my hands.