Louder Than Thunder

Two weeks later, the album was finished. The Leatherjackets flew to Chicago to meet them and they flew back together on a sleepy plane ride from Chicago to London. The ride was quiet and dark. Both bands were tired from touring and, in the case of The Rag Dolls, recording.
Darlene and Eric were silently playing a game of cards, each with a bottle of beer and a cigarette lit. Darlene, whose cigarette hung from her mouth like a gangster, checked through the cards in her hand again; her eyes wandering over each one. Eric smirked as he waited for Darlene to make her play. She finally tossed a card in and Eric smiled satisfactorily before revealing his cards and claiming the bills in the middle of the table. Darlene put a hand on his to stop him before revealing the rest of her cards. With her child-like smile, she pulled in the pile of green.
Mary was halfway down the plane, far away from Keith. She was reading, but her eyes threatened to close, lids feeling heavy and sore. She flipped another page lazily, waiting for sleep to take her from a story to her dreams. Keith, meanwhile, casually looked through a men’s magazine and scanned through the pages, making little notes on the sides of each page.
Michelle and Sidney, who sat a few rows ahead of Mary, were sound asleep on each other’s shoulders. Hardly snoring, they shared a blanket. The notebook they were scribbling in still lay over top of them. A movement from Sidney shifted the notebook and it tumbled onto the ground, alongside a single pencil. Sidney’s arm reached over Michelle, holding her shoulders near his chest.
Kurt sat over the wing, gazing longingly out the window and daydreaming to his heart’s content. He knew no one may ever know what he thought about when he allowed himself to think.

They arrived in England slightly before noon and made their way to the hotel on yet another long ride.
They had their first London gig that next evening, so everyone went out and did their own thing during the day. Michelle and Mary stayed back at the hotel and started working on their clothes for the next gig while Darlene decided to head out with Eric for a few drinks.
“What to wear for tonight?” Mary said aloud, laying out a couple dresses on the bed.
Just then, Kimberly entered the room. She walked over to them and looked out over the dresses on the bed.
“That one’s nice,” she said, pointing at a black dress with white polka dots.
“Maybe I’ll wear that one then.”
“I came here, though, because I have some interesting news.”
“Interesting how?” Michelle asked.
“From what I hear, the place you’re playing tonight is mostly a greaser hang-out.”
“Rocker,” Mary corrected her.
“Well, I know you and rockers don’t really get along.”
“Well, we should’ve seen this coming. We are opening for the quintessential rocker act and, now that we’re back in England, it was bound to be.”
“What should we do, then?” Kim asked.
“Maybe the guys will let us borrow their leather jackets,” Michelle suggested.
“That might help. They don’t have to like our music,” Mary added.
“Where’s the American, anyway?”
“She’s out with Eric,” Kim explained.
“Should have known.”
“Well, where’d you think she was?” Mary asked.
A loud thump was heard in the hallway.
“I think she’s in the hallway.”
Mary ran over to the door and peaked outside.
“Darlene?”
“Just leave me alone!” Darlene’s usually low-toned voice shrieked.
Mary backed off as Darlene entered quickly and closed the door in one swift motion. She marched over to Michelle and slung her arms around her, crying into her shoulder with her body half on the bed. Michelle was taken aback, but proceeded to slowly pat Darlene on the back.
“There, there?” she tried but Darlene continued to bawl.
Mary walked around and worded Okay? and Michelle shrugged back at her.
“Umm, Darlene, I don’t mean to be rude while you’re sad or anything but my shirt-“
“Michelle!”
“-you’re getting eyeliner-“
“Chell, she’s crying!”
“-on it.” Realizing Darlene wasn’t about to move, she cleared her throat before kindly asking, “What’s wrong? Come on, we’re your friends.”
“Eric’s a jerk, that’s what!”
“Are you drunk, then?”
“I bet he was too,” Mary chimed in as she sat next to them.
She also began patting Darlene on the back.
“Well, that’s Eric and Keith. I’m sure you thought you were his friend but he’s just a bloody bastard and an angry drunk and that’s how it is.”
“What did he say to you?” Michelle asked, hoping for a more useful answer.
Still, she just sobbed.
“Did he do anything to you?” Still no answer. “Do you want to talk about it at all?”
“Here, Darlene, let’s go to a party.”
“We’ve got a show tonight!”
“No, it’s tomorrow night. This morning at breakfast I met some girls. They said that we should go with them.”
“I don’t know, Mary. What if the boys know about it and invite some rocker friends again? I’m sure they met some already and are probably planning to crash it.”
“Well, it can’t happen everytime we go to a party. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Alright.”
“Don’t worry so much, Chell.”
“Okay.”
Their concert went more smoothly than they could have hoped for. The audience bought up that they were rockers more easily than they ever dreamed.
The next day, the girls went for a walk to the nearby shops. Many of them were shops they frequented before the tour.
“I missed this place,” Mary said, waving an arm wondrously at all the coloured mini dresses.
“You know, I’m actually excited about going,” Darlene said as she took another dress of the rack.
“Hey, that’s great! That’s what it’s all about, having fun!” Mary said, looking at a velvet dress in the slightly dimmed light of the boutique.
Michelle grabbed a couple dresses and headed immediately to try them on.
“Michelle, you okay?” Darlene asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Michelle closed the curtain but Mary pulled it back open, looking worried for her friend. Michelle returned a hard look.
“Are you okay? Really?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“I have a bad feeling about that party.”
“Nothing will happen!”
“I don’t know about that.”
“If you’re really that worried and it’ll make you feel better about this, you can go ask Sidney if any of the boys even know about it. He would never lie to you.”
“I suppose not.”
“Ask him when we get back to the hotel. He’ll tell it to you straight.”
“Alright, I’ll ask him,” Michelle said as she closed the curtain again.
Later that same day, Michelle knocked at Sidney’s room. He opened the door quickly, smiling upon seeing her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly in a loving hug.
“Hey, doll.”
“Hey, Sid. I wanted to talk to you.”
“What about?” he asked, parting and inviting her in.
“See, Mary, Darlene and I are going to a party tomorrow.”
“Right, I think Mary mentioned in front of me the other day. I thought she said it was tonight.”
“Then they added on the show tonight, now we’re going to one tomorrow. It’s supposed to be better anyways.”
“Alright. Anyways, what about it?”
“I have a bad feeling about it. Like something is gonna go wrong if we go.”
“Nothing specific though?”
“No. I mean, Keith and Eric aren’t planning anything, are they?”
“You mean, like, if Eric wanted to get back at Darlene? No, not that I’ve heard.”
“But if they were planning to ambush this party tonight, you would tell me about it and tell us to not go, right?”
“Yes, of course I would. I’ve seen how rough those rockers get. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of you.”
“Alright. What do you mean ‘get back at Darlene’ though? What happened? Darlene wouldn’t tell us.”
“Eric wouldn’t tell either, but he seemed angry. It’s most likely just a misunderstanding between angry drunks. It’s probably nothing.”
“Alright,” Michelle said, sitting down on the couch.
“Could I come to this one?” he asked, walking around the couch.
“This one’s for Darlene to feel better. I think it’s best if we go just the three of us. Like the old days, when we’d go and meet some guys there and hang out. Oh, and I guess Kim will come too.”
Sidney sat down beside her, placing a hand on her lap. Michelle felt his warm hand lightly rubbing her thigh in comfort.
“You worry too much,” Sidney said with a smile.
“I know. I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”
“You keep worrying like this and you’ll stress yourself to death.”
“I know.”
She stared down at her knees, dreaming off to the possibilities that the evening carried. Sidney noticed her drifting off and tried to bring her back.
“You won’t go off with another guy, will ya?”
“If I did, how would you feel?” she asked, turning towards him.
He shrugged, following her downward stare.
“I really like you, you know?”
“I really like you too. I won’t go off with anyone else.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m just saying that I like you. That’s all. I don’t know beyond that. I like being with you and talking with you, writing songs together, and just. . .I feel like I’ve known you for a long time.”
“I guess it’s a songwriter thing,” Sidney said with a smile.
“I guess.”
Sidney, put an arm on the back of the couch, leaning against it as he gazed into her frosty blue eyes, nearly covered by her mop of dark hair. She looked up at his as well – dark puppy eyes with an uncharacteristically eternal sadness to them. Her thin lips pulled into a half-smile.
“Can I try something?”
“What?”
Without answering, he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet embrace. He held her face close, not wanting to break it too early; however, he didn’t have to worry. Michelle kissed back gently, never having really been the romantic type though still thoroughly enjoying the moment.
Sidney pulled away, a thoughtful look on his face. Michelle was dazed by his sudden expression of affection.
“Hmm, are you busy for the next, say, twenty minutes?”
“No,” she said, musing.
“I’d like to try something else. Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
The word slipped out of her mouth before she could even consider declining. She knew she didn’t want to decline. For once in her life, Michelle gave in to a primal desire.