Page 14 of False Start

“He wasn’t the drummer.” I said, feeling a little smug about correcting her about my favorite late 2000s one-hit wonder. The one bit of music trivia I actually knew. “Arch Cassen was the drummer.”

“He wasn’t the original drummer. Cassen subbed in as drummer after Piper slept with Mike Hill’s girlfriend, but Piper played on the original album.”

I shook my head. “No. This was my favorite band in high school. I knew everything about them.”

“Well, apparently you don’t, because Piper was the original drummer before he got kicked out and joined The Lunatics.”

Kit's unflappable confidence was impressive, but she didn’t know what she was talking about.

I smiled. “No. That’s so wrong. I’d know that.”

Kit opened her mouth to argue when the DJ interrupted us. “Name the band who sang this one-hit wonder and the name of the album. Bonus point for the drummer credited on the album.”

“See,” Kit said, her lips set in a line. “Drummer. It wasn’t Arch Cassen. It was Gideon Piper. Derek, Monkey Station,Play, Monkey, Play, and Gideon Piper for the bonus point.”

“No,” I reached across Kit, covering the answer sheet so Liam couldn’t fill it out. “Arch Cassen was the drummer.”

Kit batted my arm away. “Gideon Piper.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Idon’t know what I’m talking about?Me?Excuse me, Texas, but why else would they ask about the drummer if it wasn’t Piper? What the hell has Arch Cassen done in the last fifteen years other than play with shitty cover bands?”

She had a point, but I was in too deep. “I don’t know. Maybe because he didn’t get famous while Mike played with Hot Tea and Rich became a director.”

“Please, someone, back me up,” Kit appealed to the rest of the table. Our teammates exchanged a few confused shrugs, but no one came to bat for either of us.

“So, what should I put?” Gavin asked nervously, pencil poised above the answer sheet.

“Gideon Piper,” Kit said.

“Arch Cassen,” I said louder.

“What should I put?” Gavin asked Derek in a hushed tone.

“Just leave it blank,” Derek muttered under his breath.

Kit opened her mouth, ready to argue, and then shut it again. Her brown eyes narrowed. “Actually, you know what? Put down Arch Cassen and when we get it wrong, you’ll look like an absolute idiot in front of everyone.”

Gavin coughed. “No one else even knew the song, so I’m not sure he’ll look like anabsoluteidiot.”

We both glared at Gavin. He shrank into his seat.

But a win was a win. I slipped the paper out of Gavin’s hand and scratched down my answers with a smug smile. Gavin eyed Kit before taking the paper up to the DJ.

She sipped her beer. “Favorite band? Sure.”

“That was my favorite band in high school. I know everything about them. You’re misinformed.”

She snorted but kept quiet.

“Alright, looks like everyone knows their early 2000s alt rock bands,” the DJ said over the speaker. I rested an arm over the back of Kit’s chair just to annoy her. She slanted her eyes at mewith a frown and leaned away. “But it looks like only one team guessed the bonus question right.”

“Not us,” she murmured.

“Monkey Station was the band, and their debut album wasPlay, Monkey, Play.” The DJ paused for dramatic effect, drumming his hands on the table in front of him. I grinned at the thought of Kit’s incoming apology. “And the drummer on the EP was Gideon Piper.”

My stomach dropped, but I tamed my expression before Kit’s incoming gloat.

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