Page 64 of Faux Real
I feel happier already.
twenty
Almost Famous
OLIVER
“Wantabeer?”Rickyasks, handing me a tall can of Pabst Blue Ribbon from the minifridge as Jaime slumps down beside me and pulls out a baggy of weed. “You played your ass off today, dude. If you keep going at this rate, we might be able to play Battle of the Bands in December.”
“Battle of the Bands?” I ask, grabbing the beer from his hands, the cool sensation pleasant against the calluses forming on my fingers. Fucking rights, I played well.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be sick,” Colt adds, slumping down in the tattered armchair. “We camethis closeto winning last year but Jaime had to go and get shitfaced the night before and fuck up his solo.” He glares at our guitarist. “Butthisyear, we’re not going to shotgun before our set,right?”
“Oh fuck off, Colt, let it go man, I had one too many. Lesson fucking learned,” Jaime mutters as he rolls a fat spliff. “We’re going to kill it this year, don’t worry.”
“What happens if you win?” I ask.
“Winning band gets ten grand,” Colt explains. “Plus, a chance to play in front of an indie label. It’s a pretty sick opportunity.”
“Where’s it held?” I ask, taking a sip of beer. A few thousand dollars of my own? Sign me the fuck up. “Is this a local thing?”
“Final show is upstairs,” Ricky replies, kicking his feet up on the run-down coffee table littered with empties, blunt guts, and assorted fast-food wrappers. “So we have home-field advantage. Bobby, the owner of the bar is one of the sponsors.”
“Really? That’s cool,” I say, my phone vibrating in my pocket. If he has ten grand to throw around, maybe he should spend some of it on fixing up the joint. “Well, I’m game.”
“Fuck yeah you are,” Colt exclaims as I read a text from Kennedy.
Kenny: Did you see the article yet? It’s full of complete bullshit but at least we look good LOL Here’s the link. Now I have evidence that you take showers :P
I open the link, grinning as I zoom into the touched-up photo from the fundraiser. If all librarians looked like Kennedy, I might actually read more books.
Ollie: Can’t even tell that you were seconds away from slaughtering Corrine. A+ on that fake smile
Kenny: Hah, I’ve been fake smiling since ‘03 babyyy...lots of practice
Ollie: Not gonna lie, that’s a tad depressing...babbyyy
Ollie: You drunk or something?
Kenny: LOL drunk on homework, shit keeps me wired
Kenny: We still on for a movie tmrw?
Ollie: For sure, pop by after dinner. I’ll kick Cliff out so we can be alone ;)
Kenny: Yeaaah...we’re keeping the door WIDE open
Ollie: Where’s the fun in that? You worried something will happen?
The blue texting bubble ebbs and flows as I stare at my phone screen. She’s way too much fun to mess with.
Kenny: Door open, Ollie. Non-negotiable
Ollie: We’ll see about that. You can only resist me for so long ;)
Kenny: You’re impossible
Ollie: I’m quite easy actually...all it takes is a little poke
