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“Oh gosh do we really have to have rehearsal today? I just got off a 9 hour shift man….” Robin says putting her bass strap around her. Her Steve Jonathan and Nancy started a band a few months back and people seem to really like them.
Their band is called The Cicadas. They started off as a cover band covering songs most people know and love. Robin was the first to start writing the bands music with some of Steve’s help. And with Nancy’s beautiful Angel voice the band has been catching the attention of some major record labels and artists.
“Dude we have a huge gig tomorrow there could be someone from a record label , lock in” Steve says checking the tuning of his drums. “No way you’re telling me to lock in when you missed the past 2 rehearsals over some stupid dates” Robin says slowly side eyeing Steve.
“THEY WERENT STUPID I’m just trying to find the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with and you know what maybe YOU should go on some dates to save your life….” Steve starts rambling to Robin trying to defend himself. “Both of you shut up please.” Nancy walks in setting up her microphone. “Yes ma’am” both Robin and Steve say gulping. “Where’s Jonathan?” Nancy says clearly annoyed , she was honestly just nervous about tomorrow.
“IM HERE” Jonathan says bursting the door open with his guitar case and camera both around his shoulder. “cmon set up quicklyyyy” Nancy says through the microphone. “Alright guys first song on our list , beaches.”
The song starts with Jonathan strumming the chords. Robin quickly puts all her focus onto the instrument in her hand and plays her part. This was one of her favorite songs to play because the bass line she came with was super fun to play. Nancy had actually wrote this song and it was truly amazing.
“WOOO” Steve says “that was probably one of our best takes” Jonathan says smiling. “Good job guys we’re gonna do great tomorrow” Nancy says clapping her hands together. “I’m so exciteddddd!!! Imagine the amount of babes that will be there right Steve?” Robin says giving a smile towards him. “I guess bro” Steve says facepalming himself.
Rehearsal ends and the band gets into their own cars honking at each other as a bye. Robin is the last to leave since it was her turn to put the mixers and amps up. She grabs her bass amp and bass and heads to her car. She starts her engine but just sits there , what Steve said earlier about how she should go on dates find a woman and stuff was somewhat bothering her.
The band already knew Robin is into women but Robin has never really had a girlfriend. The most action she has had was during senior year with some chick she met at a random party , she was really weird tho Robin starts to remember. “Whatever he’s buggin” Robin whispers to herself. She doesn’t need to find love right now she’s young and in a really cool rock band dammit!! Robin shrugs it off and starts driving. But deep down she really wanted a girlfriend she could protect and call beautiful every morning and do corny couple things with.
“GUYS PLEASE HURRY WE GOTTA BE THERE AT 7:00” Steve yells from the drivers seat. Today is the big day , the band will be performing at one of the most popular clubs in Indiana. Robin is nervous which is weird she never get nervous when going to a gig but she’s also so excited to show an audience the songs they spent weeks working on.
Robin puts her bass and amp into the van. Yes van , they all had put their money together to buy a ‘band van’ with the bands logo on the side of the vehicle. Robin thought it was pretty tuff , Steve on the other hand felt like a grandma driving a van.
The band successfully arrives to the venue. ‘Holy shit… you sure this is the right address nance?!’ Jonathan says under his breath , “yup. You guys better behave.” Nancy says back. The place was huge and there was security everywhere. They walk into the big space and admire the stage. It was so nice way nicer than the other places they performed at.
“Hey are you guys the members of ‘The Cicadas’?” A man carrying an iPad says. “Oh yes that would be us sir” Nancy responds , “Perfect! You guys can come with me backstage” the man says gesturing them to follow him. “Oh um sir we haven’t unloaded our equipment yet could we go do that first?” Jonathan asks. “Don’t worry about that man our crew will do that for you guys , my name is Malcolm by the way” he says.
Damn this was a first , they had other people unloading their equipment for them Robin thought to herself. Is this how she knew they made it? They follow Malcolm backstage and into the lounge. “You guys can stay here until it’s time to perform good luck guys” Malcolm says with a smile and shuts the door.
“Guys were lowkey being treated like celebrities” Steve says with a huge grin on his face. “Right!! I feel like we just won a Grammy or something” Jonathan says dapping up Steve. “Alright guys tonight to the big night , so we really have to play our asses off” Nancy says to all of them. “WE CAN DO THIS! And if we suck it’s Steve’s fault” Robin says putting her fist in the air. “Shut up Buckley” Steve says making a disgusted face towards her.
9:00pm it’s time for them to get on stage. “Good luck to you all” some of the crew says to them as they head towards the stage. Robin shakes off her nervousness and wipes the sweat off of her palms. They all get onto the stage and pick up their instruments. Robin is using her Fender jaguar bass tonight , while Jonathan has his navy blue telecaster. ‘Our instruments are so tuff’ Robin thought to herself.
“And tonight we would love to introduce a rising band from Hawkins.….The Cicadas!!!” The announcer says through the mic. They get on stage and holy shit there was so many people there. “Hello everyone I’m Nancy thats Jonathan to my right and to my left is Robin and back there is Steve” Robin gives the crowd a shy wave when Nancy said her name. “Our first song is a new one actually it’s called the right side of my neck please enjoy and thank you for being here tonight!!” Nancy says , the crowd cheers and claps loudly. She gives Jonathan a signal to start the song and he nods.
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“Cmonnnn Vick it will be fun!!!” Vickie’s friend Maria says to her. “I don’t know I feel like I’m going to be bored…” Vickie says back pouring some water into a glass. “You never wanna go outttt anymore please just this one time , the whole campus is gonna be there” Maria reply’s back.
“O-ok fine! But I’m only going cause you want me to so you better not leave my side at all tonight” Vickie says giving in. “I WONT I PROMISE” Maria says fake saluting.
They arrive at the venue and it’s packed. “Jeez Mari I didn’t know it was gonna be this packed” Vickie says with her eyes wide open. “That means twice the amount of hotties are gonna be there” Maria says excitingly. They eventually find parking a whole block away but still hear the loud music from inside. “Wow the singer sounds really good” Vickie says to her friend.
They get inside and take a seat near the bar. “What would you ladies like tonight” the bartender asks. “Oh I dont drin-“ , “some tequila sir thank you!!” Maria says cutting Vickie off. “You I don’t drink Maria….” Vickie says with a fown. “Cmonnnn it’s just one drink you’ll be fine” Maria says back , Vickie turns her head towards the stage looking at the band. ‘The Cicadas’ she reads on the kick drum of the drumkit . ‘They sound really good’ Vickie thought to herself.
She then turns her eyes towards the bassist. Woah shes hot….. Vickie thinks to herself. She likes the way she’s moving her fingers up and down the fretboard and she notices a little blood dripping down from how hard she’s been playing. She somewhat found the bleeding attractive tho , the song ends and the bassist looks up.
She makes eye contact with her. ‘Holy shit she’s beautiful’ Vickie thought to herself now seeing her face clearly. They stare into each other’s eyes for a good minute until the singer speaks up , “we have one more song for you guys tonight written by our very own bassist Robin Buckley” . “This song is called show me how!”
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Robins fingers are absolutely killing her right now. They have been playing for a good hour now and the venue just keeps getting more and more packed. They are onto their 2nd to last song which is lovefool a song they added last minute to cover. She saw couples in the crowd dancing and it was the sweetest thing Robin has seen.
The song ends and she looks up and makes eye contact with a very beautiful girl , she has red hair and a face you would die for. Robin is star struck she never believed love at first sight but this was different she keeps admiring until Nancy says her name to the crowd. ‘Oh right- I wrote this song’ Robin says to herself and waves at the crowd with a smile.
They get backstage and get into a group hug. “WE PLAYED OUR ASSES OFF” Steve says with a huge smile , “I’m so proud of us I love you guys” Jonathan adds jumping up and down. “You all did amazing!! we should celebrate by getting a few drinks” Nancy adds pointing towards the door.
They get to the bar of the venue and the bartender recognizes them. “Oh Cicadas!! You guys were amazing” he says , “free drinks for you guys tonight” he adds. “Oh sir you really don’t have to but thank you” Nancy says with a smile. Robin grabs the shot glass and looks to her left , she sees her the girl she was making eye contact with while performing. Robin just stares at the back of her head ‘even her head beautiful’ she thought to herself.
10 minutes have gone by and Robin has yet to move her eyes. “You know you only live once , go talk to her” Steve says sitting next to her. “Huh- uh what I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about…” Robin says making a fake confused face towards her best friend. “Oh cmon rob you have been looking to your left ever since we sat down” , “the worst she could say is no just think about it”.
‘The worst she can say is no…..’ , “you know what fuck it, wish me luck dingus” Robin says back to him. “YOU GOT THAT ROB” Steve says patting her back. Robin gets up and starts walking towards the red haired girl.
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“UGhhhhhh whyd he leave me Vick why…” Maria says to Vickie , she is clearly not sober and now she’s rambling about her ex boyfriend. “Come on Mari we should get home really.” Vickie says rubbing her friends back hoping to make her feel better. She then feels a tap on her shoulder. It’s her the bassist from the band. ‘Wow she’s much taller this closer’ Vickie thought to herself.
Robin gulps she’s even prettier closer up. “Um hey I’m Robin…?” Robin says nervous ‘lock in Buckley just play it cool’. “Oh hey! You’re the one who was performing earlier right!?” Vickie says back , “y-yeah that’s me!” Robin says fake playing an air bass. “You guys were really amazing! I loved the last song you guys performed truly a work of art-“ Vickie gets cut off by her friend “UGHHHHH VICKIE WHY” Maria says putting her face into the table. “Is she okay?” Robin asks with a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah she’s fine just had to much drink” Vickie says while opening her phone looking at the time. “Shit we should really get going tho it was nice talking to you Robin.” Vickie says attempting to lift her friend up clearly struggling. “Hey do you need some help there!?” Robin asks pointing her finger , “yeah I think so…”
They are now walking down the sidewalk in the cold. Robin and Vickie both carrying Maria on each of their shoulders , “I’m really sorry about this you didn’t have to…” Vickie says to Robin with an apologetic look on her face. “It’s fine don’t worry about it seriously!” Robin says giving Vickie a small smile making Vickie’s cheeks turn a shade of red. “But jeez how far did y’all park” Robin says to her , “there was barely any parking up there , you guys seem really popular I’m surprised I didn’t know of you guys till tonight” Vickie says to Robin.
“Oh haha I guess we are kinda but thank you for coming out tonight and seeing us” Robin reply’s. “So how long have you been playing your instrument?” Vickie says trying to spark conversation. “Oh ever since middle school this is my first time being in a band actually” Robin says back. “You look really cool playing bass by the way” Vickie says to Robin making the taller girl blush.
They get to Vickie’s car and they push Maria into the passenger seat. “Thank you for your help , you really didn’t have” Vickie says slowly. She is dying of the cold right now she had forgot to bring a jacket. “Of course anytime!!” Robin reply’s back “….um are you okay? You’re shaking really bad” Robin notices. “Oh- um I’m fine!! Just forgot to bring a jacket unfortunately”. This is her sign to make a move Robin thought to herself.
She takes off her leather jacket and puts it around Vickie. Vickie’s heart is racing at the sweet gesture and smiles at Robin. “You really didn’t have to it’s fine” Vickie says to Robin looking into her eyes. “Keep it. I have like a bunch of these at home” Robin says , her ass does not have a bunch of these at home matter of fact that was her favorite jacket but seeing a really pretty girl wearing her jacket brings straight joy to her.
“Well I have to go now but thank you for everything you’re really sweet.” Vickie says to Robin. She goes on her tippy toes and says into Robin’s ears “My name is Vickie by the way.” Robin blushes at this until she feels a pair of warm lips on her cheek. Holy shit she made it in life Robin thought to herself. “Vickie….” , “I like your name it suits you I-it’s pretty….” Robin says to her making Vickie smile. “Youre very sweet Robin” Vickie says back to her. “Call me” Vickie slips a paper into Robins palm. They stand there for a few seconds with their fingers holding onto each other.
“Well I’ll see you around Vickie…”
“I’ll see you around Robin…”
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Robin heads back to the venue parking lot , that’s where she sees her other band mates. “ROBIN DUDE WE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU” Steve says to her putting his hands up , “you look like you been love struck” Jonathan adds. “I been love struck man….i been love struck..” Robin says zoning into space with heart eyes. “Holy shit you really did it” Steve realizes , “I did it Steve I actually did it” Robin jumps into the air while Steve daps her up.
“GUYS I HAVE HUGE NEWS” Nancy runs towards them with a huge smile , “What happened nance” Jonathan asks. “I just talked to one of the people from Columbia records…they want to have a meeting with us and maybe sign us to the label.”
“NO FUCKINGGG WAY ARE U SERIOUS!?” Steve says with his hands on his head , “YOURE JOKING U HAVE TO BE THE BIG C?” Jonathan adds with his mouth wide open. “WE MADE IT GUYS WE REALLY DID IT” Robin says pulling all of them into a group hug. “I’m so proud of everyone.” Nancy says with her voice cracking slightly , tears building up. This is huge for them.