Chapter Text
Joel lays on the cold floor, dried tear stains on his face and his phone weighing heavy in his hand. He couldn’t stop thinking about what happened in the last few minutes.
Getting a call from his girlfriend, hoping they could go on their date they agreed. Yet she had a serious tone, and wasn’t interested in anything that was considered small talk. She spoke directly to what she wanted to say.
“Joel. You’re a good guy, but I don’t think this could work out. I don’t see any future with you. I found someone who could be stable for us. Good bye Joel. Don’t contact me again.”
Click
The phone call went silent. Joel felt his eyes burn up. He blinked multiple times to try not to cry. But he felt a tear roll down his face. He didn’t stop the tears from falling. He instead felt his legs give out and he slipped to the floor.
He laid there on the wooden floor and felt the coldness spread through his body. His phone, a reminder of his guilt and betrayal of the one he thought he loved, suddenly rang with his obnoxious ring tone.
He lifts up his arm to see the caller’s id. To his surprise, and disappointment, it was Jimmy. Joel rolls his eyes to himself, thinking she would call him again and apologize. Joel taps the screen and Jimmy's voice breaks through.
“Hey Joel… what’s up man…?” he tries to be upbeat but it was clear that they both know what happened. The question is how did Jimmy know that quickly. It's been like, 7 hours? Joel groans, too into his emotions to fully respond. It took a couple seconds before Jimmy’s voice came on the other side.
“It’s alright big man. We’re here for you. I mean, you got me to love.” Jimmy tries to sneak in a bit of playful flirting in comfort, but it doesn't seem to help. “You’ll get over her, and you’ll find someone new!”
Joel wipes the stains of his face as he looks at the clock in his room. 7:56; It was getting pretty close to night soon. Joel raises the phone to his ear and mutters, “Thanks for the comfort Jim… But I don't think I can just move on from her. Everything just feels.. so sudden.”
He can hear Jimmy sigh on the other end. Who can blame him really? “Listen.. The reason I know she’s gone is that she resigned from the band. Grian just got a call from her a few minutes ago. He tried to call her about it, but she blocked both of our numbers.” Jimmy manages to say through gritted teeth.
Joel’s eyes widened but they shut just as quickly. Joel could tell he was frustrated and helpless as Joel was. It was good that she left the group, or Joel would have to see her every practice. It’s not great seeing your ex every day, even after a break up where he didn’t get to say anything. Not even to defend himself. Yet, he would miss her anyway. He was going to miss the not-so-hidden glances and the soft laughs after practices. Joel would miss everything.
As more tears started to form up once again, Jimmy's voice broke through once again. “We still need a vocalist. Remember? We’re gonna play at the Clocker’s again,” he groaned into his phone, “I still don’t get why we play there so often. I mean, we do get paid pretty good—but still!”
“I still don’t understand why we hate them so much.”
“Joel, you hated them more than we do!”
“Pfft, so?”
Joel scoffs at the idea of Jimmy rolling his eyes at his comment. Jimmy was right. Even though they worked with the Clocker’s and considered them as close family, they had a dislike of them. “It was like we were rivals in a past life or universe.” Jimmy thought out loud once.
“Okay, whatever. We just need someone to sing for us or like… I dunno… actually work, willingly, for us.”
Joel sits up, wiping the stains on his face. He leans on his bare wall to find better support than whatever Jimmy was doing. “So, we set up a Craglist ad?”
“Are you kidding? That’s way too risky.”
“What? What are you talking about, Jim? We clearly need a singer so we need to find one Plus, it should be easier and quicker to find someone online.”
“I am not trusting anyone from freaking Craglist.”
“Then what else can we do?? We need someone now and we need them fast.”
The call went silent. Either of them not knowing what to do. Seconds ticked by as no sound came on the other end.
Joel could tell Jimmy was thinking long and hard, something he usually doesn’t do. Even after a few seconds, Jimmy didn’t have his answer. For a while Joel just sat there as he looked around his empty room. Before long Jimmy had his answer. Maybe more of a question.
“Joel, are you free tonight?”
“Of course I am… Why?”
“Let’s go bar hopping.”
Without hesitation, Joel agreed to go drink at bars. On a random Thursday. He couldn’t mop around the whole night. He needs some drinks first.
After two bars and no sign of someone who could actually understand what a song is, Joel was losing hope. Maybe not Jimmy or Grian but they weren’t saying anything about it. Joel watched multiple people get on stage, each person worse than the last. It makes him wonder why he even came to the Clocker’s Bar as a third resort.
“Well, this is pretty boring.” Jimmy appears behind Joel, seemingly interested at the stage. “Should’ve guessed that Grian would be flirting with Scar again.” Joel snorts at the comment. Every time they perform, or go for a drink, at the Clocker’s Bar, Grian always finds an excuse to go see Scar. If it was to ask a question or get a free drink, Scar was there every time. Even if it meant chatting the whole time.
“I wonder who the next person that’s gonna sing is. They even changed the speakers for them.” Joel thought out loud as his eyes directed Jimmy to Etho and Cleo talking while connecting new speakers to the mic. Jimmy sighs and fidgets with a small paper in his hand. With something else, or someone else on his mind, Jimmy leans back on the chair next to Joel.
“Hey, Jim. Do you have something in your hands? It looks like a number.” Joel decides to ask with a smile appearing on his face. Jimmy immediately jerks up and straightens his posture, clearly hiding something. He clears his throat while trying to hide his face. “I don’t know what you mean.” Joel raised an eyebrow as Jimmy’s face got even redder. He stuffs the small piece of paper in his jean pocket, directing his sight to the stage. Jimmy cleared his throat, covering the bottom of face with his fist.
“Anyways-”
“Anyways isn’t a word.”
“Anyway.” Jimmy glared at Joel as he looked back onto the stage. “A new singer is going onto the stage.” Jimmy was right, the stage lit up once again for the night for the next singer.
It was a girl with a red hoodie hiding long dark brown hair with blonde highlights draping her shoulders. She wore black shorts and had a scatter of light freckles across her face. She also just so happened to glance over in Joel's direction, and then sparked ignited between each other. Her blue eyes meeting his brown just made the whole room stop in time for just a few seconds. The normal music of the bar hung in the air as no one else seemed important. Her eyes looked so familiar, but Joel couldn't place where he'd seen her eyes before. Where did he see that shade of blue before? She then looked away quickly as their small interaction ended.
It was quick, not lasting a minute or more. Yet, he felt some sort of connection. Not to sound creepy, then he probably is right now.
She stood up straight, adjusting the mic stand. The music started and it shifted the ambiance of the whole room. It was slow but a quick-paced romance song. A song that Joel really enjoyed in his free time. When the lyrics come up, the girl breathes in before singing the first verse. The moment she started singing, Joel was immediately hooked. Her voice was warm, soft, yet so passionate. It was like she knew the song by heart, like it was a part of her. And when she sang one of his favorite verses of the song, it made Joel even more entranced.
"Hey, our drummer boy got an eye on someone." Jimmy's voice breaks through Joel's trance. Joel glares daggers at Jimmy. He doesn't believe in love at first sight. Including when he was with his ex. They met in middle school and got together in high school. They were high school sweethearts. It’s not really sweet now, is it?
"I don't blame him, she is pretty good. I mean, they even changed the song style for her. She must be a special guest to the Clockers." Grian's voice cuts through Joel’s entrance state. Seemingly back from Scar’s awful attempt at flirting.
"Don't you have a little boy toy to mess with? Why don't you ask him?" Joel playfully snaps at Grian. He crosses his hands and leans onto the bar table. "And get me a free drink too."
Grian scoffs but obliges and walks to Scar once again. Jimmy then leans with Joel and glances at the girl as the song starts to end.
"You know, you can always ask for her number."
Joel snickers and rolls his eyes before then turning his attention to the girl going down the stage. He didn't want to. He wants time to rest and be able to feel like himself. As much as he love his ex, he actually didn't feel like himself. She felt controlling and felt embarrassed when she was with him at times. Joel would brush it off as not a big deal. He’d thought it was normal even. But after all the negative comments, he still gave everything he had to her. But that wasn’t enough apparently. Even Jimmy and Grian would point out the obvious remarks and actions she did. But Joel was a blind man wearing rose tinted glasses.
"Let's see what Grian got first. We don't know if she's some kind of crazy person." Joel finally says, putting down his empty glass.
"Ey, you could be into that." Jimmy laughs as he nudges Joel’s shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Joel punches him playfully with a smile on his face. They both stopped goofing off when they saw Grian walk into view.
"So, her name's Pearl. Got this part-time job for some extra bucks on her side. Scar says she's a real goodfella. After some discussion, we came up with a deal." Grian says with Joel's drink in his hand.
"What's the deal?" Joel asks while taking the drink from Grian.
"After pulling some strings, we agreed that he would talk to her and ask to meet up. We just need to talk to her and convince her to join our group."
"That's a good start. But we could've had this done more quickly if Joel had asked her number earlier." Jimmy sighs and rolls his eyes at Joel.
“I’m not asking for a girl's number in a bar. I’m going to look like a creep that just wants to hook up with her and it’s on your hands." Joel downs the drink in one go. “I don’t even know her that well.”
"Well, you can make a better impression at the cafe downtown later this week." Grian yawns as he’s tired of the night and its events. Yet he only drank what Scar made him.
Joel whips his head around to fully look at Grian. "You asked to meet in the same place I get coffee every day? How do you know that?" he asks in shock while the lighter-haired boy shrugs.
"Where else do you want to meet? An office building? Our messy band recording room? Why are you even acting surprised when we know where you get your coffee? It’s a block away from our studio.”
"Okay okay, I get it. We'll meet her soon." Joel mumbles as he tries to wipe the tiredness from his face.
“Are we ready to leave? It’s almost midnight.” Jimmy asks, already getting his jacket.
Grian stretches his arms, “Probably. I am getting a bit tired. Don’t wanna crash at another bar again.”
“Let’s head out.”
The late night felt particularly chilly, the winds rushing past Joel’s ears. The moon lay veiled under clouds in the night sky. Its soft glow dimly illuminates in the dark. Joel couldn’t help but be excited yet afraid for what’s to come. But that tingle of déjà vu still lingered, as it was waiting for the right time for Joel to feel stupid for not knowing.
“Joel! C’mon!”
“Hurry up!”
His friend’s voices cut through his thoughts. Joel sighed knowing he couldn’t do anything at the moment. He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets as he started to walk towards Jimmy and Grian. His mind still buzzing at the thought of uncertainty.