Status: Hoping to upload a chapter every Saturday, a little weekend treat :)

Getting Surreal

III

Frank sighed as he looked up at the grotesque neon sign for the Twelfth Ave. bar and venue above him. He kind of hated the place. His old band, Pencey Prep, had played here a few times and the management and overall staff had been less than stellar to them. Not to mention that one very awkward incident involving two underage girls and a body guard. Frank shivered at the thought.

Pushing any frustrations and negative memories of the venue aside, Frank stepped inside, showing his ID to the bouncer, his only thought being that he hoped this guitar player was really good because, honestly, she was his last shot at not letting his band down in his quest for a new guitar tech for their tour.

Which started in three days’ time.

Shit.

Frank rubbed his face in an attempt to scrub away his anxiety and pushed himself into the considerable crowd to see if this girl was going to truly be as good as he had been assured that morning.

---

As the first few bands came and went, Frank’s doubts started to mount. Maybe this was a mistake. None of these bands seemed to be anything special to him and maybe his old friend Jake just had a crush on this guitar player chick he was talking about this morning, and that was the only reason he was repping the show.

Maybe it was a mistake and a complete waste of time. Maybe he should just be back home writing his speech of how he lied to his band about having a replacement tech before he fired Andy from the job.

Maybe…maybe it wasn’t too late to just call Andy back up and rehire him even though nobody in the band liked him and he was a scuzzy kind of person that stole from the band employing him and he was just an overall douche.

But at least he could tune a guitar?

Frank sighed as his doubts started to get the best of him. He shook his head from the shadowy corner of the room he stood in, convinced that it was a mistake and a waste of time to come out to the show that evening.

He was just heading towards the door when he ran into Jake for the second time that day.

“Hey, Frank!” he shouted. Wow. Clearly, Jake had been there awhile and was a little more than a little drunk.

“H-hey, Jake,” Frank acknowledged a little frustratedly. He had hoped to make a quick and quiet exit.

“Where you going, bro? The show’s just about to start!”

“I-uh,” Frank looked around then back at Jake.

Maybe it was because he had been so wound up the last few weeks and this could be a good chance for him to just chill. Maybe it was the longing (albeit drunk) look in his old school friend’s eyes and he didn’t want to disappoint him. Maybe it was because Frank knew deep down that he needed to give this chick a shot, even against the rest of his (perhaps, better) logical judgement.

Whatever the reason, Frank resolved right then and there that he would stick out this long shot venture and see what this guitar player supposedly had to show for the way Jake talked her up.

“I was just grabbing a drink!” Frank shouted over the crowd to his buddy.

“Yeah!” Was the dazed response he received.

“Yeah. I’ll, uh…I’ll be right back,” Frank said and, suddenly feeling resolute in his decision to stay, he added, “I was standing over there, keep that table free for me, yeah?”

Jake gave him a dopey double thumbs up and Frank nodded and turned towards the bar, ordering a beer once he’d made it there then working his way back through the crowd to go stand with his friend in the corner. Just as he’d made it and was about to start some idle chit-chat with his buddy, the lights went up and he heard a guitar shriek from the stage in the most amazing way possible.

Head whipping around, Frank scanned the stage to see who was responsible for the epic solo that was currently shredding his face off.

As if guessing what Frank was thinking, Jake leaned over and shouted in his ear, “That’s her playing!” When Frank turned his head to glance at Jake wide-eyed, he smiled. “I know, right? She’s freaking awesome!” Frank just nodded and turned his head back to watch the stage, not taking his eyes off the guitar player for a moment through their whole set. From the distance and the lighting, he wasn’t able to make out what she looked like, but that wasn’t really important to him. She could have two heads and he’d still search her out for the position with guitar skills like that, the desperation of his situation be damned. She was way more than good.

---

“Thank you all!” The lead singer shouted into the mic and the crowd cheered. “We’ve got one last song with you tonight, and sadly, this will also be our last song with our beautiful guitar-slaying beast of a woman, Becks!” He gestured to the woman standing to his right with her head bowed as the crowd let out a small cry of dismay. “I know, I know. But she’s a sly fox, it’s hard for us to keep her around, she’s off to bigger and better things, I’m sure,” he joked into the mic. Frank still couldn’t see her face, but he could tell that she was pissed.

“Dick,” Jake shouted out and some people yelled in agreeance. Frank looked at Jake. “He’s kicking her out because he’s intimidated by her and is telling everybody that she’s the one causing the split.” Frank quirked an eyebrow at Jake’s angry explanation and watched the stage again as the last song began. There was a clear dissension between the guitar player and the singer; just looking at them, you could tell that they were not on good terms, something he was able to notice from the beginning of the show. He watched on silently, trying to think of the best way to ask somebody to drop their lives and go on tour for the next eight months with complete strangers….

---

“Frank!” Jake shouted, waving his hand in front of Frank’s eyes, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hm?”

“Dude, this is Becks,” Jake said.
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Chapters are finally getting a little longer! Hope you enjoy and do feel free to drop any thoughts in the comment box :)