God Bless the Children of the Beast

I got off the bus and hefted my guitar case. It was the only thing I had brought with me besides a few bucks in my pocket. I had long since traded in my tiny acoustic for a Dean and small amp. The first time I heard Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath I was in love. Back home posters lined my small bedroom wall. I heard about a possibly revolutionary movement in LA and I didn’t believe it, so I had to come see for myself. Some ragtag band Motley something had just put out their own record and it was selling like hotcakes. In fact, not long after getting off the bus I saw a flier stapled to a pole, one that stood out over the millions of other little papers nailed there. “’Mötley Crüe’ tonight at the Whiskey?” I said to myself. The black and white photo looked like four chicks with less makeup. I figured I would check them out to see what the hype was all about.
“Better get there early if you want to even see them.” A voice behind me said. I hefted my guitar bag to my other shoulder and turned around. “Geez does everybody in this town look like them?” I asked the blonde guy who talked to me. He raised an eyebrow at me. “Welcome to LA new girl, you look pretty ‘glam’ yourself.” I made my annoyed face at him. “I’m wearing less makeup than you are dude.” I retorted. He smiled. “Anyway, better get there early or you won’t have a chance of getting in. Band’s pretty popular now.” I stared at the guy, trying not to look like an idiot since I was obviously new to LA. “Who are you anyway?” I asked. He stuck his hand out. “Name’s Vince. Nice to meet ya newbie.” I scowled and returned his greeting. “Sami.” I replied. LA was my new beginning, my new identity. “Cute name.” Said the blonde, giving me what I assumed was a flirty look. “Anyway, I’ll see you tonight?” I nodded. “Might as well.” “Great! See you then.” He said behind him as he walked away. I watched him dart across the street into a bar and noticed it was the Whiskey like the flier said. I made a mental note of where it was so I could return later. I gave myself about a few hours of leeway in case what he said about the crowds was true.
I found a small restaurant a few blocks over and settled on the porch outside. I used one of my dollars to buy a tea and watched the goings on of the street. I had already scoped out several bars, a few apartments, and various other knick-knack stores. I couldn’t think of any place I could stay the night, not even a halfway decent place to get a job. Getting a good band was my only bet at surviving. Thankfully that’s exactly what I had come here for. I considered advertising my skills in the paper, but how was that any fun? I didn’t want to meet people I didn’t know, I just wanted fate to take its course. Just then two guys walked out of the restaurant. From the corner of my vision I saw one nudge the other, and after a small confrontation he walked over to me, taking the seat in front of me without asking.
“Hi, nice day isn’t it?” He asked. I purposely took any flirt out of my personality. “Yeah, I guess so.” I replied. I could hear the frown in his voice, “Well, uh, I’m Jake.” I forced back a yawn. This guy was horrible at anything to do with girls. “That’s nice.” I said coldly. I wasn’t interested in guys who couldn’t even hold a conversation. He stared at me. I got up to leave, but he grabbed my arm and spun me around as he stood up. I glared at him, preparing a fist to knock him out. He let go and put his hands up in front of him innocently. “Woah woah, I’m sorry.” He piped. I could feel my temper waning. “I just…I’m sorry I’m such a clutz. I fuck up everything. I didn’t want to let you go so easy, there’s something about you-please don’t hit me!” He squeaked as my fist tightened. “Something about me? What kind of bullshit line is that?” I almost yelled. “You’re right, sorry.” He said. He went to leave and I noticed his shirt. “You like Sabbath?” I asked. He looked at me. “Yeah.” “You play?” “Drums.” He said, sounding interested. “You in a band?” “No.” he replied. “Are you?” I sat down and sipped my tea. “Not yet.”
He sat back down across from me. “What do you play?” I smirked. “Guitar.” “Get out!” He gasped. Just then his friend walked over. “What’s goin on man?” the other guy asked. “Dude, she plays guitar!” he said like I was abnormal. “No way.” “Yes way. This is Austin by the way, Austin this is…actually, she never told me her name.” They looked at me expectantly. I sighed. “Sami.” They smiled. I glanced up at the Austin kid. He was dirty blonde with brown eyes. I guessed he was in his 20s, but he looked more like 16 with his shaggy hair and Nikes. His friend Jake however had long black hair and looked more like he should be in a band. “What do you do Austin?” I asked him. He got a scared look. “Oh, me? Nothing. I don’t do anything, I’m not into that music stuff…” he looked away. I snickered. “That music stuff? Get lost dude. I’m here for one reason and one reason only. Music. It’s on my veins, in my heart, and if you don’t like it well then you can fuck off.” I laughed at myself. I noticed Jake smile at me. “So, about this music stuff…how would you like to jam sometime?” he offered. Austin looked at his friend like he had just broken up with him. I returned the smile, not a sarcastic one this time. “I would love to.”
“So how long have you been in LA?” he asked. My smile faded and I rubbed my head, messing up my hair. “Well actually I just got here today.” “No way! You got a place to stay?” I didn’t know where he was going with this, but I thought it over. On one hand he could just want sex and be a freak, but in that case I could beat his ass and take care of myself. On the other it could be a temporary place to stay, which I liked a lot better than some of the alleys I passed by. “No.” I answered cautiously. “You could room with me if you want, I got a spare room that I just keep my drumming shit in. It would be okay until you got your own place at least.” I could tell that he was also being cautious of offending me, which I found to be a good thing. Meanwhile Austin looked on in horror. He had the I-just-got-dumped-for-a-girl look on his face. I found this quite funny though, because his fears were unnecessary. I didn’t like Jake at all, I just wanted a band. “So uh, watcha doin tonight?” Jake asked, taking my attention away from his gaping friend. “Gonna go to some show at the Whiskey.” I replied nonchalantly. “Motley?!” He said instantly. I was shocked at his enthusiasm. “Uh, yeah.” “Some show…” he mocked me, shaking his head. “Tell ya what, I’ll meet you there tonight. At the bar after the show. There’s no way I’ll find you during the show.” “They’re really that popular?” I asked. He again seemed shocked. “That band…” he mused. I exhaled dramatically. “I’m sure we can be better than them.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “We’ll see.”