THE BIG DEAL: PART ONE
I want you… I want you so ba-a-a-a-ad… I want yo-o-o-ou… I want you so ba-a-a-ad, it’s drivin’ me mad, it’s drivin’ me mad…
Miss Cherry Magic, or to her friends, just Cherry-- flicked the switch on the old FM radio to off. Why did it seem that everywhere she turned, music seemed to follow her and narrate her stupid life? It got worse every time they started touring. They’d be on stage, music pounding- the same damn music she’d been hearing all year at rehearsal- and suddenly she’d start wondering about things.
What if he’d written that song for me? It’s not, but what if he had? Has anyone really felt that way about me? No, but if it were him it’d be so great, so, so great…
And then she’d return to the real world where the song was probably about some girl Sweet had known in high school. She had no idea. She didn’t really know much about Sweet, despite seeing him nearly every day for the past four years. Hell, she figured he’d probably saved her life by letting her into the band. How could you not adore someone who had saved your life? He’d even made her go to rehab when nobody else could convince her. There had to be some care there, right? He didn’t seem like the kind to just help people he didn’t even care about. Then again, she didn’t really know what kind he was. The kind she adored, she supposed… she loved to just watch him.
He was tall and slender, with long blonde hair and the strangest, prettiest eye colour Cherry’d ever seen- they were almost purple. She figured she could get lost in those eyes without even trying. And then when he sang, well, Cherry felt herself getting faint until she could finally focus on her trombone enough that it didn’t matter, but watching him sing felt even more sinful to her, the way his lips formed around every sound sent shivers up her spine. His whole performance commanded attention from his audience and that didn’t just include the people who paid to get in. She couldn’t have been the only girl in the band who adored him so much, could she?
She wasn’t quite sure if she could call it love. She’d “loved” too many boys. Biker boys, football boys, band nerd boys, stoner boys, and girly boys. But god, god, she’d never actually loved someone, with all her heart and emotion and being and all. That was for people who weren’t in bands. Everyone who was in a band knew that was a really fucking stupid idea, to fall for someone in your band. Especially if that person was your boss and if he wasn’t happy with you, he could throw you out. Cherry cringed. She had nowhere else to go. Most bands weren’t looking for a trombonist, and she wasn’t nearly good enough to play in an orchestra or anything like that. And there was no way she could get a normal job, except maybe at Burger King for the rest of her life. She shuddered. There was no way she’d ever lower herself to that level. So was Sweet’s affection really such a great thing to gamble for? She didn’t think he’d kick her out for something like an awkward failed relationship, but if it got really bad, maybe. She sighed.
And what if he already had someone? She hadn’t heard about a girlfriend or anything, but he seemed to be a private person. Her mind flashed back to the club they’d all gone to for Cherry’s 21st birthday and she let out a giggle. Okay. Semi private. But what if he did have a girlfriend that just never came up in conversation? She’d heard about musicians so private they had wives no one knew about. She sat up on her hotel bed. What if he had a secret wife? She cringed. Secret children? It was possible! She was going to worry herself sick over a man who probably didn’t want anything to do with her outside of being friends!
She scrunched up her face and threw herself on the bed, kicking her legs like a five year old having a tantrum, though with much less noise and screaming. She just wanted someone to like her, dammit!
She froze when she heard a knock on her door.
Miss Cherry Magic, or to her friends, just Cherry-- flicked the switch on the old FM radio to off. Why did it seem that everywhere she turned, music seemed to follow her and narrate her stupid life? It got worse every time they started touring. They’d be on stage, music pounding- the same damn music she’d been hearing all year at rehearsal- and suddenly she’d start wondering about things.
What if he’d written that song for me? It’s not, but what if he had? Has anyone really felt that way about me? No, but if it were him it’d be so great, so, so great…
And then she’d return to the real world where the song was probably about some girl Sweet had known in high school. She had no idea. She didn’t really know much about Sweet, despite seeing him nearly every day for the past four years. Hell, she figured he’d probably saved her life by letting her into the band. How could you not adore someone who had saved your life? He’d even made her go to rehab when nobody else could convince her. There had to be some care there, right? He didn’t seem like the kind to just help people he didn’t even care about. Then again, she didn’t really know what kind he was. The kind she adored, she supposed… she loved to just watch him.
He was tall and slender, with long blonde hair and the strangest, prettiest eye colour Cherry’d ever seen- they were almost purple. She figured she could get lost in those eyes without even trying. And then when he sang, well, Cherry felt herself getting faint until she could finally focus on her trombone enough that it didn’t matter, but watching him sing felt even more sinful to her, the way his lips formed around every sound sent shivers up her spine. His whole performance commanded attention from his audience and that didn’t just include the people who paid to get in. She couldn’t have been the only girl in the band who adored him so much, could she?
She wasn’t quite sure if she could call it love. She’d “loved” too many boys. Biker boys, football boys, band nerd boys, stoner boys, and girly boys. But god, god, she’d never actually loved someone, with all her heart and emotion and being and all. That was for people who weren’t in bands. Everyone who was in a band knew that was a really fucking stupid idea, to fall for someone in your band. Especially if that person was your boss and if he wasn’t happy with you, he could throw you out. Cherry cringed. She had nowhere else to go. Most bands weren’t looking for a trombonist, and she wasn’t nearly good enough to play in an orchestra or anything like that. And there was no way she could get a normal job, except maybe at Burger King for the rest of her life. She shuddered. There was no way she’d ever lower herself to that level. So was Sweet’s affection really such a great thing to gamble for? She didn’t think he’d kick her out for something like an awkward failed relationship, but if it got really bad, maybe. She sighed.
And what if he already had someone? She hadn’t heard about a girlfriend or anything, but he seemed to be a private person. Her mind flashed back to the club they’d all gone to for Cherry’s 21st birthday and she let out a giggle. Okay. Semi private. But what if he did have a girlfriend that just never came up in conversation? She’d heard about musicians so private they had wives no one knew about. She sat up on her hotel bed. What if he had a secret wife? She cringed. Secret children? It was possible! She was going to worry herself sick over a man who probably didn’t want anything to do with her outside of being friends!
She scrunched up her face and threw herself on the bed, kicking her legs like a five year old having a tantrum, though with much less noise and screaming. She just wanted someone to like her, dammit!
She froze when she heard a knock on her door.