Two-Bits squealed, happily, flopping onto her bed. She'd been doing things like that ever since the end of Christmas break, and her friends were starting to worry. Normally, Two-Bits despised school with a passion, and never said anything remotely nice until fourth period, but she'd been all happy-go-lucky, nicey, sickeningly-sweet-to-the-point-of-annoyance since the beginning of the year.
…Which wasn't very impressive, considering today was the fourth.
For Christmas, Two-Bits hadn't gotten a lot. Some new clothes, a couple books here and there, and a poster of Newfound Glory. But she had gotten an electric guitar.
Brilliant sapphire blue, shiny, made of solid basswood, not plywood with a maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard…A Dean Cadillac X. She was one happy little guitarist.
Poor Two-Bits had been playing on a beat up guitar she had borrowed from her guitar teacher, since she was a rock girl, lead guitarist in her band, and all she had was an acoustic. It was sad.
But now she had her Dean, which she had fondly named James, because that was her favorite name (courtesy of Harry Potter). She had been upbeat for the past day-and-a-half, and her friends were on the point of strangling her.
Strumming a chord, experimentally, she squirmed with pleasure, and then began picking out a tune.
I spend my days
Figurin' all the ways
To weasel in and out
Of this crazy little town
An alley here
A ladder there
I know these streets
Like I know the fare
Of the bus that comes by
Two bucks for a ride?
That's insane, but I don't waver
The street is my savior
I never have to pay
'Cause there's never a day
When I get lost in this crazy town
'Cause I'm streetwise
That's what I said
And I'm never going down
You think you know this place?
You tell it to my face!
I'll show you how it's done
Not a soul can outrun
The master's feet
'Cause I rule the streets
It's a crazy world out there
But if you know the ropes
On every brick you, thrive
In this big city
You might survive
"What's this?" came a cheerful voice. "A new song?" Two-Bits grinned, sheepishly, as her best friend, Dodger, came into the room.
"Yeah, you caught me. What do you think?" Dodger grinned and pulled the drumsticks out of her back pocket.
"I like it. Just needs the finishing touches." Two-Bits smirked.
"Like an awesome drum solo, bass, and a chorus?" Dodger grinned, happily.
"Yeah, something like that. What're you gonna call it?" Two-Bits shrugged.
"Eh, something along the lines of 'Streetwise.'" Dodger grinned.
"That's a nice title: Something Along the Lines of Streetwise. But the disk jockey's will have a hard time saying it really fast." Two-Bits rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, they'll have to suck it up," she said, switching to an Irish accent. Dodger snickered.
"It is so weird how you do that!" Two-Bits rolled her eyes.
"Are the others coming?" she asked, returning to 'her baby.'
"Yeah. You did say band practice today. Boomerang called me while I was on the way here. She said her mom's sending her to the store, and then she'll be over."
"M'kay. That won't take long. We can figure out this beat while she's gone. What about Jenny?"
"I dunno. I haven't talked to her." As if on cue, the phone rang. Two-Bits snatched it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Bits. It's Jenny."
"Ah, we were just wondering if you were coming," Two-Bits said, rolling onto her stomach.
"Yeah. I'm on my way. I was coming here from Cyrus's place, but my pick snapped in half—"
"I'm not surprised. You've used the same pick for two years!" Two-Bits interjected.
"Yeah, well, I had to stop by home to get another one. So I'll be at your house in five minutes."
"Okay, see you later."
She hung up, and the two friends began picking through the song, trying to figure out a beat, while they waited for their bassist and their second guitarist.
Two-Bits, Dodger, Boomerang, and Jenny had their own band. They were pretty well-known at school, and for good reason. They were good. They had started their band a year ago, but all four had been playing for a long time. Two-Bits and Jenny had been playing guitar since they were fourteen, Dodger had been playing drums since she was eleven, and Boomerang had started bass at fifteen. Since Dodger couldn't sing to save her life, and Jenny refused to, Boomerang served as back-up singer for Two-Bits.
"Good morning, Capricorn Rhyming!" came a new voice. Dodger and Two-Bits turned to see their bassist, Boomerang, come into the room, her guitar bag slung over one shoulder.
"Boomer…It's four o'clock. Hardly morning," Two-Bits pointed out, smirking. Boomer rolled her eyes.
"Not the point. The point is…" She paused. "I don't have a point." Dodger laughed.
"When do you ever have a point?" called Jenny, stepping into the room. Boomer grinned and unzipped her bag.
"Never. Now, are we going to practice, or what?" Two-Bits nodded, and stood up.
"Come, Robin—To the Batcave!" Boomer said, jubilantly, leaping down the stairs to the garage, where they held their practice. Yes, they were the classic garage band.
"Okay, how 'bout Firebolt Escape? I like that one," Dodger suggested, pounding out a beat on her drums. Dodger lived next door to Two-Bits, and she didn't have a garage, so she kept her drum set in Two-Bits's garage instead.
"Yeah, sounds good." Boomer started with a rhythmic bass beat, and after a minute, Two-Bits played a riff over her. Then she burst into song, one that she had written, having just finished another teen-angst chapter of Harry Potter.
There was a time when
My life seemed so perfect
And everything was just as I planned
It was all under control
Nothing ever changed…
And then it hit
Like a ton of bricks
So much worry and fear
How it pained me
To see my mother's tears
But you were there for me
You took me away from my hurt
And I followed you
Till the ends of the earth
Firebolt escape
Fly with my arms stretched to the heavens
I'll fly away
From the darkness and the pain
You took me to a place
Like nowhere else before
And I saw beauty in this world
And so much more…
I saw angels spread their wings
I saw every little thing
That could make this
Worth living for…
Firebolt escape
Fly with my arms stretched to the heavens
I'll fly away
From the darkness and the pain
And I shall not rest until I've reached
A world of unicorns and pegasi
And magic like no one has seen…
And I will dance with the angels
Sing with the Selkies
Spin in a world that is new,
That is free to me
On my Firebolt escape…
"Did you know that the drums are considered an instrument of the devil?" Two-Bits said, randomly, tuning one of her strings.
"Um…no…"
"HA! No wonder Dodger plays the drums! She's the DEVIL CHILD!" Boomer cried, jubilantly.
"I thought Sarah already decided you were the spawn of evil," Two-Bits pointed out.
"Yeah, well, Sarah's a pansy. No offense," she added, glancing at Dodger. Dodger was Sarah's step-sister. She wrinkled her nose.
"None taken. Can you believe her? She listens to…dare I say it…the Simpson sisters…" All four girls shuddered, compulsively.
"I hate them," Jenny said, nonchalantly, adjusting her guitar strap.
"So does the entire punk/rock culture." Two-Bits sat down on a stool and surveyed the rest of the band.
"Okay, so which songs are we going to do for The War?" She was actually referring to their school dance, which doubled as a band competition.
"Well," Jenny said, thoughtfully. "We only have three—"
"Four," Dodger interrupted. "Two-Bits wrote a new song this afternoon. But we haven't figured out the bass yet. Wanna play it?" Two-Bits shrugged.
"Sure thing," she said, and quickly played the song. Jenny and Boomerang seemed satisfied.
"That's awesome!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Yeah. We've still got two weeks, so we can figure out the rest of the stuff for it. Anyway, we can play that…"
"What about Untouched World?" Jenny mused. "You know, as our slow song, for the sap-happy couples." There was a murmur of agreement.
"We'll have to get my keyboard set up, but sure," Two-Bits said. "The other two songs aren't very…I dunno…"
"We should probably just play a few of the classics. You know, Clash, Chili Peppers, U2…Those songs," Dodger said. "People like that stuff."
"And some new stuff, too. Newfound Glory, Green Day, Three Days Grace…We could play I Hate Everything About You!" Boomer said, excitedly.
"I—" Chord "—Hate—" Chord "Everything about you!" Two-Bits sang. "I love that song…"
"Of course, we have to play The Outcast," Jenny said, referring to Dropkick Murphy's song. "That's our signature song." Boomerang, who was fond—ahem—of Good Charlotte, piped up.
"OOH! Can we play Predictable?"
"AND I JUST WANNA LIVE!" Two-Bits added. She was also fond—ahem—of Good Charlotte.
"I just wanna live is too…pop-ish," Jenny said, wrinkling her nose.
"But it's SO funny! But you're right. It would completely ruin our reputation. But Predictable is good."
"Yeah, it is. How 'bout London Calling, Untouched World, The Outcast, your new song, I Hate Everything About You, Predictable, and American Idiot. That's a fun one," Dodger suggested. The rest nodded in agreement.
"We'll have to 'beep' out American Idiot, though," Jenny pointed out. Boomerang shrugged. "Eh…Just one word. They won't kill us if we say it."
"Okay. Let's run through those, and then we can grab pizza at the mall," Dodger suggested, before slamming out the riff for American Idiot.