The Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

“You guys ready for tonight?” Joe yelled as he walked into the practice room in Pete and Patricks house.

“Hell yeah man!” I said, giving him a high five as he walked past me.

“Tonight is gonna be dope” He said, getting his guitar and putting the strap over his shoulder. “We’re totally gonna kill it”

“I heard someone from Fueled by Ramen is gonna be there” Patrick said as he walked through the door with a cup of tea in his hands, Pete following right behind.

“No way!” I said. “My old band was being checked out by them, but since I had to leave, they just broke up instead of replacing me.”

“So we kind of have our foot in the door then!” Pete exclaimed. “I knew we made the right choice picking you for our drummer” He added.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up. They're probably there to check out the headlining band, not some small pop punk band that no one knows.” Patrick said.

“Thanks for being optimistic Patrick” Joe said

“Well I’m just saying” He said

“So you guys just wanna go over a few songs right now? Like just the set for tonight?” I asked, directing the conversation away from possible stardom

“Yeah, so We’re only gonna get to play like 4 songs, so I was thinking, Grand Theft Autumn, Saturday, Calm Before the Storm and Dead on Arrival.” Pete said

“That sounds good to me. What about you guys?” Patrick asked.

Joe and I both nodded in agreement. Pete and Patrick were basically the ones who made the decisions on almost everything. They wrote the songs and Joe and I just did our part and stuck to the music. I was happy in my place in the band. I liked not having to do a lot of the work. I just got to play my drums and be happy.

After we finished going through the set list once, Patrick decided that he didn't really want to strain his voice so he went on vocal rest meaning that we couldn't really rehearse without our singer.

We ended up just playing video games on Petes Xbox until we had to leave for soundcheck. We all went in the Patricks van. It was so beat up and it didn't even have back seats, so Joe and I were stuck sitting on the floor of the van.

We got there around 5 and started soundcheck. I completely forgotten that I hadn’t even talked to Nicolette since this morning when I left. I decided to call her and see how her meet went, since I wasn't able to make it.

“Hey babe” I heard her say after the third ring.

“Hey, how was your meet?” I asked

“It was good. We got first as a team and I got 5th, Erika got first.”

“Thats so awesome! Good job babe.” I said “So I was thinking you guys should come by around 6:30 and hang out backstage a little and meet the guys. You could watch the show from backstage.”

“Okay. We’ll be there. And guess what?”

“What?”

“I told my mom I was gonna spend the night at Erika’s, and her parents aren't here this weekend, so…” She trailed off and my eyebrows went up.

“Well Pete is having a party after the show, he said it was cool if we all crashed there. I don’t think he would mind if you stayed too.” I said

“Perfect” She said, “I’ll see you soon”

“See you soon” I said, and hung up the phone.

“Yo man, was that you girl?” Joe asked

“Yeah, she's gonna come hang out backstage for a little before we go on, if thats cool” I said

“No yeah man, it’s cool. I think we all wanna meet her.” Pete said

“And Erika is coming too, don’t even think about trying to play matchmaker Pete” I said, giving him a warning point.

“Me?” He said putting his arms up in defense, “I would do no such thing” He said, giving a menacing smile.

Patrick walked in the green room we were in, with his headphones in and a bottle of water in his hands, singing along to Ushers Dj Got us Falling in Love. We all just sat in the dressing room and let Patrick do his thing while the rest of us were just fucking around.

I heard my phone ring and I checked to see who it was. It was Nicolette

WE R HERE

OK STAY PUT. B RITE THERE

“I’ll be right back, Nicolette and Erika are here” I told the guys. I got up from the seat I was in and walked to the back door of the venue and told the security guard standing at the gate that they were with me. The man let them in and they met me at the door.

“Hey babe” I said when Nicolette walked up and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

“Hey” She said, giving me another one, this one longer and softer.

“Oh hi Andy I’m here too, just in case you didn’t notice” I heard Erika say.

I pulled away from Nicolette when I heard Erika and smiled embarrassed “Sorry.” I told her. “I noticed you but I was really excited to see Nicolette. But I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Well, so far, I’m regretting it” She said jokingly.

“Come on, come meet the guys” I said. I grabbed Nicolettes hand and led them over to the dressing room. When we walked in, Pete and Joe were entangled on the couch and Joe was on top, keeping Pete in a headlock.

“Hey guys” I said, turning the attention towards us. Pete and Joe looked up at the three of us and immediately got up.

“HEY!” Pete exclaimed, throwing his arms up “Now we can put a face to the name!” He walked over to Erika, Nicolette and me and pulled us all into a hug. Classic Pete.

“I’m Pete” He said, letting us go.

“Uh, hi!” Nicolette said, a little flustered, “I’m Nicolette. This is my friend Erika” She said pointing to her.

“Come on in! Hang out for a little while and meet the other guys” He said

“Wow, nice of you to acknowledge us.” Joe said, walking up right behind him. “I’m Joe, play guitar, kind of a big deal in this band” He said, acting tough and reaching his hand out towards Erika. I could tell he was trying to impress her because I saw his eyes go wide when he saw her and I knew what that meant.

“Nice, well I’m Erika. It’s nice to meet you Joe.” She said, giving him a smile.

Patrick still had his headphones in, so we all sat down wherever we could find a place to sit. Pete got Patricks attention and he came up to where Nicolette and I were sitting

“Hey, sorry. I was a little focused on warming up. I’m Patrick.” He offered her his hand for a handshake

“Oh no its cool. I’m Nicolette, and this is my friend Erika.” She said, motioning over to Erika, who was talking to Joe. “You're really good by the way.” She added

“Oh thanks” he said as he messed with the hat on his head.

“So we’ve heard a lot about you” Joe said as he came and put his arm around Nicolette.

“Really?” She said, looking at me with curious eyes.

“Oh yeah, Andy doesn’t talk about anyone else” Pete Joined in.

I signaled to the guys to shut up cause I felt myself getting flustered.

“Awe, well I’ve heard a lot about you guys too!” Nicolette said

“Awe, you talk about us Andy? How sweet” Joe said, giving me a innocent little boy smile.

“I don’t talk about you that often, so don’t be flattered.” I said, jokingly shoving Joe onto the couch.

“Don’t start with me man. You saw how I had Pete in that headlock.” Joe said, standing up and getting in a fighting stance.

“Yeah right, your boy here laid out Nicolette’s ex boyfriend in one punch the other day” Erika said.

“Wait what?” Pete exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us about this!?”

“I knew about it already” Joe piped up “But I think I could still take him”

“Oh yeah?” I said, getting in a fighting stance and stepping towards him, picking him up and throwing him over my shoulder and spinning him around the dressing room.

“No wait, but seriously, you knocked a guy out?” Patrick asked.

Nicolette answered for me. “Well he didn’t knock him out, but he definitely did some major damage in just one swing.”

“Why?” Patrick asked

“Well, my ex got jealous that we started dating and confronted up at out practice on Monday and wouldn’t get out of Andys face, so I told him to punch him, cause thats the only way he would leave us alone.” She said

“Damn dude! How could you not tell us this?” Pete exclaimed, putting his hand up for a high five.

“I don’t know, It didn't seem that important”

“It is important! Thats so dope!” He said

“Okay okay, well it happened and now its over okay?” I said, trying to forget about the whole situation.

“Fine, whatever.” Patrick said

Just then, a man peeked his head through the door. “Five minutes guys” he warned

“Okay thanks!” Pete told the man

We all headed out the the wings on the side of the stage. I led Nicolette and Erika to a spot where they could stay and watch from the side.

“Good luck” she said, then gave me a kiss on the cheek. I just smiled and gave her a kiss before I turned around and walked out on stage with the guys.

Being out on stage was the best feeling I had in a long time. I missed performing live. It gave me such a rush with my old band and I was just so happy to be back on stage with a group.

We played the four songs that we planned on performing, but we had time for one more so we decided to play one that we just recently finished called Sugar We’re Going Down. The crowd went wild for it and when we finally finished our set, they were chanting out name.

“Well, looks like the headlining band will have a hard time following you” Nicolette said as we walked off the stage. She had a towel in her hand and handed it to me. I wrapped her up in my arms and gave her a big hug and wiped my face off.

“Dude we totally killed it!” Joe exclaimed, jumping up and down as he came up behind me and Nicolette.

He actually went up to Erika and wrapped her in a bear hug. It took her by surprise but she went along with him and hugged him back, ignoring how sweaty he was.

“They fucking loved us man” Pete said “And tonight was so perfect to play Sugar, especially since that Fueled by Ramen Guy is here”

“Even I have to say, theres no way he won’t like us after tonight” Patrick joined in, high living Pete.

“You guys did amazing” Nicolette said, as I let her go but kept one arm around her shoulder. “Do you guys think you’ll get signed?”

“Well, I don’t think it’ll happen like super fast, and I wouldn’t hold my breath but, I fucking hope we do!” Patrick said, high living Joe and me.

“Even I’m really glad I came. This isn't really my scene but, I really liked your guys’ set” Erika chimed in.

“You’re always welcome to any of our shows!” Joe said. I can’t believe he’s still flirting with her since I told him that he had a boyfriend.

“I’d totally come to another one!” She said.

We all started walking back to the dressing room we were in before the show and the main band went on. We hung out in there for a little while until the other band was finished with their set.

“So, Pete and I are having a party at my place, are you guys coming?” Patrick asked Nicolette and Erika.

Nicolette looked at Erika and the exchanged a silent remark for a second.

“We’re down” Nicolette said

“Sweet!” Pete exclaimed.

After the other band finished with their set and we packed up our equipment and instruments, we told the girls that they could follow us to Petes and Patricks house.

“So You’ll just follow us then?” I asked Erika

“Yeah, don’t worry about it” She said as she got in her car.

“I told Joe not to flirt with her” I admitted to Nicolette once Erika was in the car.

She just laughed “She was definitely vibing with him too, I’ll tell you that.”

“She has a boyfriend though”

“Yeah well, she would never cheat on him but they have been dating for over a year now and they're not doing so well. I don’t see it lasting much longer to be completely honest” She said

“Damn. I actually really liked Luis too.” I said. I actually did. We hung out a little whenever Erika and Nicolette would drag us to do something with them. He became a pretty cool friend.

“Yeah well, you’ll get over it” She said smiling up at me.

I heard the horn of the van and Joe popped his head out and screamed at us

“Can you kiss her bye already, you’ll see her in like 10 minutes” He said

I rolled my eyes and looked at her

“Well gotta go. I’ll see you soon.” I kissed her and she pulled back and said bye.

I walked up to the van and got in. I shoved Joe jokingly “You’re an asshole” I said, trying to hold back from laughing

“Eh he’s just bitter. He’s the only one of us not getting laid” Pete joked

“Shut up man. And technically Andy isn’t getting laid either.” He said

“Dude!” I said

“Well at least he’s closer to getting laid than you are!” Patrick added, laughing

Joe just slumped back in his seat as we all teased him.

He jumped back up “But hey, I think Erika was into me. Whats her deal? I thought you said she had a boyfriend?”

“She does” I said

“Well there was definitely something there, it was obvious that she wants me” He said, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back.

I debated telling him what Nicolette had told me, but decided not to, because it would just provoke him even more.

“Whatever dude. Thats just her personality, don’t flatter yourself” I said, trying to cover the fact that she actually was slightly into him.

The rest of the ride we talked about the show and wondered what the Fueled by Ramen guy thought about us. Once we pulled up to Petes and Patricks house, me, Patrick and Joe unloaded the van, there were already people there and they were waiting for Pete to let them in. Once he opened the door, everyone swarmed in and headed straight towards the keg already set up in the kitchen.

Pete and Patrick really knew how to throw a party. They started playing some loud hip hop music and people started dancing and mingling around the house.

I found Nicolette and Erika and pulled them towards the kitchen where the rest of the guys were hanging out. Pete already had about 3 shots and two beers in him so he was starting to get a little drunk. Joe and Patrick had a beer in their hands and once the three of us joined them, Joe’s face brightened up and he walked over to Erika and pulled her over and they got into some deep intellectual conversation.

“Andy what are you doing? Get your girlfriend a drink!” Pete exclaimed

“Do you want a drink?” I asked

“Do you mind?” She asked, referring to me being straight edge. I didn’t care that she drank, really. I just don’t think I want to see her drunk, I don’t feel like babying anyone tonight.

“No I don’t mind. Just as long as you don’t get wasted” I told her

“Okay. Then yeah I’ll take a beer” She said. I went over the the keg and got her a beer and I also grabbed me a water from the fridge.

“Are you sure you're okay with me drinking?” She asked when I handed her the drink

“Yes. Don’t worry about it. Seriously its fine.” I said. Grabbing her waist with my free hand and pulled her in for a kiss before she had alcohol breath.

She took a sip and finally started to loosen up a little bit. She finished her first beer and she pulled me out onto the dance floor when Big Sean’s I Don’t Fuck With You came on, and she was a really good dancer. Well, she was really good at grinding, I should say, and believe me, I had no problem with it. We danced for a good while and even Erika got Joe to dance, and he was an awkward mess, but it helped his confidence that he was drunk.

We were all having a really good time, but honestly, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Nicolette only had one drink, so she was still very sober, and from how she was acting with me all night, I think we had a really fun night ahead of us.