Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I stood off stage listening to the clamor that my band and the backstage crew were making. I tuned into a couple of select sounds like my manager yelling at the electrical crew, my new recruit tune her guitar, and my veteran members, Dragon and Phoenix, snickering off into one corner over some prank I was sure that they had just pulled.
This would be our first performance with someone other than me playing the guitar. This fact shook my nerves a bit but I was excited nonetheless. The girl had talent; I made sure of that. She also got along with my keyboardist and drummer. Mostly because she already knew the two pranksters.
"You idiots! Give me back my eyeliner!" the curly-haired brunette girl shrieked at the raven-haired drummer and the silvery blond keyboardist. They looked up at her, the grey and green of their eyes clashing with the chocolate brown of her own. Both boys' eyes glinted with a mischievous light that sent an ominous shiver down my spine. I groaned. They just had to steal that of all things. Sure, she probably wore too much but she is on the warpath her eyeliner is stolen.
"What ever are you referring to, Athena dear?" replied my keyboardist in such a sickly sweet manner it made Phoenix fake gag.
A smile tugged at the edges of my lips as I watched the scene continue to play out. A few taunting words were exchanged and the race, well more of a chase, was on. Stumbling over a cymbal and a couple of people that didn't get out of the way fast enough, Phoenix attempted to escape Athena's wrath, with the eyeliner in his hand. I shook my head and looked to the stage. Just beyond the curtains I could hear the slowly rising chatter of our audience as they flooded in. the tension in the air was heavy with excitement and anticipation as well as a couple of choice words of profanity from my frustrated manager.
"Yo, Arc! Are you ready for the concert?" whispered the blond. He was standing beside me now. I looked behind him to see my drummer being tackled to the ground by the newest addition to the band. Grinning, I took out a cigarette and put it between my lips before lighting it. I took a brief whiff before taking it out and letting a chuckle escape that promised of the laughs a chaos to come.
"I'm more than ready, Dragon." I said as I brushed back a loose red strand of hair out of my face. He let out a sigh of relief and chuckled a bit.
"Just checking if ya chickened out." teased the keyboardist. I just smiled again and we watched in silence as Athena wrestled with phoenix for her eyeliner.
"Spunky little thing isn't she." I stated to break the silence. Dragon nodded not saying anything. I took another drag of the cigarette before putting it out. Truthfully, I just didn't want to deal with Athena's nagging again. I looked over at the manager. He looked haggard but when he caught my eye, he gave me the signal for ten minutes until show time. I nodded and turned to Dragon. "Yo, Drake, go break those two loons up would you? We go on in ten."
With that, I walked to my place at center stage, adjusted the mic, and checked the sound. After I was finished, my band had already taken their places. I looked back at them, smiled one of my almost signature Cheshire cat smiles to reassure them, before turning my attention to the rising curtains.