You Were Too Good to Be True

“You can’t be back here.”

The man guarding the back door of the abandoned-looking building I See Stars and the band they were opening for were going to play looked down his nose at Alex and I. He was easily over six feet tall – which made him over a foot taller than us – bald, with muscles built up so much that if he was walking in the woods, he could easily be mistaken for a small bear.

Alex cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, which reflected into my eyes, blinding me temporarily. I didn’t mind, the guy freaked me out. “Sir, Zach and Jimmy invited us backstage before the show. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but D and I –”

“I’m going to ask you to either go to the front doors to wait or to leave. I don’t want you causing any trouble,” He growled, exposing shiny white teeth that contrasted against his skin.

“But…” She began to protest, but after a moment, Alex sighed and looked at me with sad eyes. “I guess we’ll go to the doors. Come on, Dev.”

We both turned back to walk towards the front, shoulders slumping and feet dragging on the ground so badly that the sound of pebbles against asphalt started to annoy me.

“Hey Devin! Alex!”

Alex and I both spun back around, hopeful. We both recognized the voice.

“Aren’t you guys going to come party with us?” Zach waved from behind the guard.

“Wait, they are with you?” He asked Zach, surprised.

“Of course! Well… We haven’t gotten them passes or anything yet, but they’re new friends.”

“Well, I can let it slide, I guess. At least they’re polite.” The man relaxed a bit, stepping aside. “Get them passes while you’re in there, though. I don’t want anymore confusion.”

“Will do! Come on, you two,” Zach stepped out of the building. “We were wondering what was taking you so long.” He motioned that he wanted us to follow. Alex and I exchanged glances and Alex suppressed a giggle. We raced to be by his side.

Alex looked up at the guard and opened her mouth to say something, but I grabbed at her arm and tugged. I was trying to teach her when to shut up, if she would’ve said anything, she’d ruin my chances of getting in.

“We were scared he wasn’t even going to let us in to see you play,” I told Zach as he opened the door for me. Alex caught it before it hit her as she trailed behind.

“Yeah, he’s pretty intense. I mean, fans can get pretty nuts. We’ll have to find you passes,” Zach beamed as he stepped backstage, looking back to make sure Alex was with us. “Here, I’ll give you proper introductions.”

“These are the girls Jimmy was talking about, right, Zach? Which one’s D? Which one’s Alex? It’ll be really confusing when someone calls for Devin, don’t you think?” Devin Oliver padded over to us, looking Alex and I up and down, analyzing. “If you want them backstage, they’ll need passes or they’ll get eaten alive.”

“I’m Alex,” My friend announced, holding out her hand to shake his.

“Hey. I’m Devin. Jimmy said you guys are cool. He’s probably in the bathroom or something; I don’t really know where he went. That’s my brother on the couch. His name’s Andy, I’m sure you already know. It’s nice to meet you. Hello, D,” He smiled briefly, not offering me his hand. “I’m going to warm up, jump around, get ready, whatever. You know. Enjoy yourselves. Oh, and Zach, like I said. They’re alright. So make sure you get them something so that they can stay. But put them to work, too. Got it?”

“Will do, Devin,” Zach smiled at him tightly and nodded. Devin flashed Alex and I a toothy grin and then slipped behind us and rushed out of the door.

“He’s chatty,” Alex giggled.

“Like you aren’t,” I told her, joking. We exchanged false angry glares, and then smiled at each other.

“Girls are weird. This way,” Zach pulled at Alex’s sleeve gently. “Andrew! Come meet Alex and D.”

Andy stood up quickly to take a spot in front of us, eyeing my friend and I suspiciously. After a moment, his expression melted into a much friendlier one, and he offered his hand to Alex. She offered her arms instead, and he accepted the hug. “Well, hi!”

“They other guys are going to start checking,” A man in a plain, black outfit stepped into the room from the stage’s entry.

“Is it that time already?” Zach whined as the man nodded and left. “Listen. Since Devin wants you to help with something, could you go find Jimmy? We’ll need him. Here’s some all-access passes. They’re extras dated for last week, but no one’s going to care.”

Alex took the passes, grinning at him. “Thank you. We’ll be right back with him.

Zach waved at us and mumbled something about his throat and screaming. After returning the wave, Alex seized my arm and we began searching for Jimmy.

Like I hadn’t been doing that since we got in sight of the venue.