Chapter II - The Clash

I'm at Alison's house, downstairs, in the kitchen with her mother. I am talking to Elizabeth, as if she were my friend instead of my best friend's mother. I've known her since I was little, because we've always been neighbors, so she's like a second mother to me. I and my family have always loved them very much and we want her to be happy. Since her husband left, she cries a lot, sometimes, I can hear her while I am in my room because her wall is against mine, but I don't want to bother Allie, so I don't say anything. I love the way she laughs while I am telling her dumb stuff.

I can hear Alison's steps, going downstairs, so I walk towards her with a big smile.— Hey! You look... good— She really looks good, but so normal. I forgot to tell her that it's a rock bar, so maybe she looks so different, luckily my uncle has clothes for his dancers there, so it's not a real problem.— Ready for our first day of work? I am hyped. My uncle has managed to get a famous group that will be playing this weekend and the next. There will be two weeks to raise funds for a charitable cause. I do not know them, but it's going to be full. The tips will be great.— I explain putting my jacket on. I can drive, so my car is waiting for us outside.

Before I go, I hug Elizabeth and give her a kiss on her cheek.— Bye, Bye, Mommy Ellie, I'll take care of her. If you need something you can call my uncle and my mom is on the next house.— I say and walk outside, getting in to my car. When Allie is inside too, I turn on the music and I start driving.— The group is called something about a man and his mother, I can't remember it, but I remember it was something funny. And they look hot on the poster. They are very famous on the... rock community— I finally say, I totally forgot about that and I hope she forgive me.— That's why I wear all black... Don't kill me, I am a disaster.— I say, parking in front of the big-ass bar. There's a lot of people waiting outside, as if it was a big concert. Luckily we can enter to the staff door, so we don't have to wait.

Klaus and my mom are down in the kitchen, because I have to get ready for my first day at work. The school week was shit, so I hope at least at work I am going to have fun. When I am done, I go downstairs and I grab my jacket, which is hanging on the chair in the hallway. Then I kiss my mom's cheek before me and my friend leave the house. —Good luck and have fun!— My mother yells after us. She was very thankful when I told her about that I want to start working, to help her with our problems. Seeing her smile makes me happy, so it's worth it.

When we arrive at the bar, I stare at Klaus and punch him in the arm, looking kinda shocked. —Klaus! God, I can't go in there looking like that, it's embarrassing.—I say while putting my hand on my forehead. Suddenly, my bestie gets out of the car, opens my door and drags me with him. Many people are standing around, but gladly we can enter the bar from another private entrance. Then, we are inside and you can hear the people screaming hyped. I put my bag on the table and look down to my body, thinking about what I could do now.

We arrive to the staff room. We have to do something with Allie's clothes, that's sure, so I leave my jacket on the table next to her bag and I walk towards another room, holding her hand. That room is the change room for the dancers. As the owner is my uncle I feel free to enter and I start searching some cool stuff for my friend. I wear black leather pants, military boots and a transparent-backish tshirt so maybe something alike would be great.

I stop searching when I hear voices on the other side of the wall. The room next to this one is where the band will rest and change, so I am a little bit curious. There's a tiny window, so high that anyone can see through it, but I grab a chair and take a look.—There's two of them that are so hot— I tell to my friend, whispering and I see again.— I think the big one is the singer, green eyes, a lot of muscles and tattoos. I want one like him, to be honest.— I try not to laugh because I don't want to get caught so I continue, putting my hand on my mouth.— There's one with black hair and black eyeliner. Wish he is gay, he looks so yummy.— I say and I laugh louder than I should so one of them, the bassist, looks up. I get so nervous that I fall on my back, directly to where the clothes are hanging on. Luckily I am ok. I look at my friend and I start laughing, hard. I grab a transparent tshirt that is on my head and I show it to her.— What about this one?— I say and I stand up.

My uncle knocks the door, we can hear him telling everyone that we have to be outside working in five minutes.

I follow Klaus to the room next to this one. —What are you - ?— I start to say while he is climbing on the chair, but I can't continue, because I start laughing. I put a hand on my mouth, watching him up there, stalking the band members. Then suddenly, he falls from the chair and now I can't help but laugh out loud. I help my friend up and take the shirt he holds in his hand. I change my upper clothing and then I look down to my blue jeans, they still look too 'normal'. I take the scissors, which are laying on the commode and cut my trowsers short. When I am done, I look into the mirror in front of me. *Better* I think. Now, Klaus' uncle is calling us to prepare for work, so we leave the room. I introduce myself to the boss and he explains to me what I have to do. He seems pretty nice and the bar looks cool as well.

We have been laughing in the dressing room for a while. Apparently, some kind of crazy fan has spied on us from the small window of ventilation and Johnny, the bassist of the band, has seen him fall just at the moment in which he had been discovered. We always had funny anecdotes to tell about our tours, and this was going to be one of them.

We are already dressed, the stage is set up and we can listen to the people outside, shout the name of our band ... or at least part of it, because it is very long. "FREUD, FREUD, FREUD..." The audience shouts in chorus and we walk backstage. I am used to bigger and more crowded public concerts, but this is for a good cause, so we are satisfied.

The charitable motive for which we raise funds is for something that affects me very closely. It's for a kind of project to help young people with drug problems. My brother, who had heart problems, died from consume some of these substances. Tomorrow will be a year since his death and although being on stage without him is not the same, I know what he would have wanted that. Music was our life, since we were little.

I'm thinking about that, looking at a fixed point, until someone hits me on the shoulder. It's time, so I take a deep breath, hang up my guitar and wait for the lights to go out. The audience shouts, cheers our name and claps excitedly because of the mysterious music that begins to sound. Little by little we go on stage. The lights turn on and Matt screams on the microphone "He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man". Everyone knows which song it is. It's our first hit.

I start playing the guitar just in the moment that the rest does it too, and two columns of fire rise for a couple of seconds. Everyone is jumping and singing now. I move around the stage, playing and feeling the music, as always. Being on stage makes me forget the bad times, during the hours the show lasts, I feel like nothing is wrong and partly I keep going thanks to that.

After that the songs are happening almost without realizing it and in the blink of an eye, an hour and a half has passed. The concert is over, but being a small, private and safe place, we can stay at the bar. People have paid a lot of money to be there and see us in person, so the next step after go to the dress room and take a quick shower is to go to the bar again, take photos with our fans and maybe, drink and find a girl for this night.

We go outside and spend almost an hour or more taking pictures. Everyone wants to talk to us, but the security guards have made it clear that if they overwhelm us, we will leave. At the end, among the crowd, I see a young girl who catches my attention. She is beautiful, with an angelic face and she has not even approached us ... I would remember her.

I make my way through the people to go to her. I can see that she is a waitress and that she is working, but I do not care. A blonde girl, looking like a groupie, stops me, putting her hand on my chest and I look at her for a second. -I am Ashley, I came from far away to...- She starts saying, but I am staring at the other girl, so I continue walking.— Yeah, whatever— I say to her as I leave her behind. Finally, I am in front of the angelic woman I saw in the distance.— Hey— I say to her, smiling seductive. I know every girl in the world desires to stay with me, so it's not going to be difficult to end the night with her between my bed sheets.

I take the tablet and go through the people, offering drinks to them. Then the band begins to play. Everyone starts to jump and scream, enjoying the music. I focus on the work, but I am watching them anyway. They are really good I have to admit. More than 2 hours pass until it's more calm and relaxed in the bar. I am taking orders and watching the barkeeper mixing drinks, because he told me I have to do it too the next times I will work. After I picked up some empty glasses, I walk back to the bar, to clean them. Then I can see someone coming towards me. It's one of the members of the band as I saw. —Hi— I say. —What can I do for you?—

I smile sideways, devouring her with my eyes in a cheeky way.— I would love to have a drink with you. It's up to me. I can tell your boss you're free since now— I go one step closer to her, at first I thought she was pretending to be difficult, but it seems she does not recognize me. Before I can say anything else I can hear a scream "Bite him, bitch" I turn around to see another worker, with curls and green eyes, laughing loud. I turn to stare at her again, ignoring that boy, maybe he is drunk.— Synyster Gates— I say, offering my hand.— But you know that already, huh?

I stare at the guy until I can hear Klaus' voice. I shake my head, laughing a little before I look back to the man in front of me. I take his hand. —Should I?— I ask him, raising my eyebrows, smiling while going behind the bar. I take one glass and fill it with tequila. —I am here to work and I can't drink, but you, enjoy it — I say and see a guest raising her hand, calling me. —Excuse me— Then I go over to take her order.

I drink the shot of tequila in one gulp and then I look at her, while serving another client, smiling. I like it when women are difficult, but usually end up yielding to my charms fast, very fast. I raise my hand so she comes back to where I am, as if I was about to ask for another drink.—Did your licence get suspended for driving all these guys crazy...? or you can take me to a better bar when you finish?— I invite her to go out, smiling and staring directly into her eyes. She's so damn beautiful she has to be mine.

I note down the people's orders and then go back. I give the barkeeper the paper and stare at the guy again. I laugh, even if I usually I hate when boys talk to me like that, but he does it in a funny way. —Well no, because I don't have one— I say the truth. —What about you? Do you use a app or something? Those pick up lines are actually not the baddest I heard—

I lean on the bar to get closer to her.— You do not have a driving license? I do not have a car in denver, but ...— I smile, as if I was a little kid about to do something really bad.— Have you ever been on a tour bus— I say, It is not the first time that I do some crazy and the rest of the band wants to kill me, but tomorrow is a hard day and I need it. Stealing the bus tour to take that girl my bed? I don't think it's a bad idea. It sounds fun, I just hope she accepts.— Come on, It will be funny.

I raise one eyebrow, looking surprised about his offer. —Hmm well, I have to work until they close the bar— I say, making him believe i would say yes. Then the barkeeper gives me the finised drinks for the guests and I put them on the tablet. —And after that all I want to be is: sleeping in my bed—

I smile when she mentions her bed.— Yeah, we have that in common— I say, smiling devilish and I take the tablet, so if she wants it back, she has to leave the bar and come close to me.— I have a pretty comfortable bed in that bus too, just for you to know... but if you don't want to go outside, I am going to date you here.— I raise the tablet so she can take it back.

I stare at him, with my mouth a little open. This guy is super ambitious and doesn't want to give up. I roll my eyes, smiling before I go around the bar, so that I stand in front of him now. I look up to the tablet, then at his eyes. —How can you date me if you don't even know my name?— I ask and try to reach the tablet, but I can't get it, because he is taller than me.

I smile looking down at her, she's so close to me now, trying to reach the tablet, that for a moment her breasts crash against my chest.— Well, I am not the one who is trying to have skin contact, lady. But you are right... What's your name? Let me guess— I say, playing, with my hands still raised.— Angel.— I say and I give her the tablet.— You can continue with your work now, but it's still a date.

I take it from him, still staring at his face. —And who decided that?— I ask him before I go over to bring the guests their drinks. More and more people are leaving the bar, what means soon I will finish my work. I go back to the bar and start putting the dirty glasses in the dish washer.

—Me— I say before she leaves and I go to take a seat on the bar, drinking tequila while she does her job. My band mates aren't here anymore, so maybe they are with some girls having fun.

When she turns back I stare at her, the whole time, directly.—So this is ending, right? Are you still thinking about sleep?— I ask, leaving the empty glass in front of her.

I close the dish washer and stare at him again. Klaus' uncle is telling the rest to leave, because he wants to close the bar now. —Yeah. That's what people do after work, except you are a rockstar— I say, taking his glass and filling it with tequila. Then I drink it empty. I cough a little, because I don't have a lot of experience with that kind of alcohol.

I laugh a little, she looked badass until she drank that tequila.— Tell me your name and I'll leave you alone for now— I say, taking the little glass that has her lip prints because of her lipstick.— I'll keep this. —I say and I stand up, still with a dumb smile on my face.

I watch him taking the glass and cross my arms, smiling a little. *Tell him your name, so you can go home finally* I think and go around the bar. —Alison— I say and before he can reply anything, I go to Klaus to help him cleaning everything.

I stare at her, cleaning with that guy, the same one who screamed to her. "Alison" I think an a little smile appears on my face. It's a nice name.

I walk out of there, going to the dressing room to put my jacket on and grab my hotel key. When I turn back she's not there anymore.

I walk outside and I can see her and her friend walking towards a old red car.— Hey, Alison!— I say from the distance.—Tie your shoes! I don’t want you falling for anyone else!— I laugh a little. I hope she works tomorrow too, in our second concert.