A/N: This is my short story for English. It's part of my final (makes face). We're supposed to be really detailed and stuff. PLEASE review and tell me what you think! Tell me things I can improve or whatever. I need constructive criticism. So don't just say "Great job," in your review, because that won't help me at all. Don't flame either! ;-)
See You Saturday
"We're on in five," Roger told his fellow band members. They ignored him, but Roger knew that they had heard what he'd said. He went out from backstage to talk to Jake, their sound guy, and took note of the crowd. No one new had come to hear the Well Hungarians play their latest gig except for the usual groupies. The only people that were in the small, dingy bar other than college-age girls were the alcoholics who were too drunk to notice that anything was going on around them. After one more sound check, Roger returned to the backstage area, thankful that none of the girls had seen him.
"All right, everyone," said Roger loudly. Dave and Alex, the drummer and bass player, respectfully, turned to him. Dave, the resident heroin junkie, had his arm tied up and held a syringe in one hand. "Put that away," Roger snapped, and Dave reluctantly obliged. "Can't you wait until later to get high?"
"Just one hit," begged Dave, making a puppy face at Roger. He stopped when he saw the murderous look on Roger's face.
"Thank you. Now, guys, we're on. Dave, you still haven't untied your arm."
Dave grumbled and took the belt off of his upper arm and let his blood continue to circulate. He ran his fingers through his short, muddy blonde curls and followed Roger and Alex onstage.
All of the girls squealed except for one, April Erickson, who had been dragged to the bar by her friend Jennie. April wasn't much of a rock music person, and she certainly didn't want to be in a bar at midnight, particularly this one. It was dark, dank, and smelled like a mixture of bleach, beer, and mildew. She was in the bad part of the city, surrounded by drunks and half-senseless fangirls, just to keep her friend company.
Jennie, however, was completely ignoring April because she was in a heated argument with another girl about who Roger was more likely to ask out. April didn't think he'd ask any of them out, and she thought that he was probably taken. When she voiced her opinions, Jennie and the groupie gave her the same murderous look Roger had given Dave; April rolled her eyes and turned towards the stage.
Roger had taken the front mike, and he was singing his soul out. He sang with his eyes closed, opening them occasionally to smile at the audience. April didn't see any amazing talent among them, except for maybe the drummer, but they sure knew how to work the crowd. Not a person in the room was able to resist his bright smile.
Surprisingly, April found herself nodding along to the beat and actually enjoying herself. The song ended, and she clapped and cheered along with everyone else in the place. Roger, Dave, and Alex beamed at the audience. As Roger started the intro for the next song, his hazel eyes met April's blue-green ones, and he smiled directly at her. She turned bright red and tucked a piece of her coarse, shoulder-length, auburn hair behind her ear. His gaze left her face and went to the back of the room. The moment had been a mere second, but to April, it had lasted forever.
Elated, she turned to Jennie, expecting her companion to be happy for her. April, the girl who never went to prom in high school because she never was asked, the girl who sat at home reading on weekends, had finally had gotten the attention of a guy, and a hot one at that. But when she saw Jennie glowering at her, she knew that Roger, or anyone else in the band, was an exception.
"You stole my man," Jennie pouted between songs.
"Stole? I never stole anything! He wasn't ever yours in the first place!" But there was no talking to Jennie. Her pretty round face had turned stony, and her big chocolate eyes flashed red. April rolled her eyes, and the friends watched the rest of the performance in silence.
"Hey, April…" said Jennie, giving her friend a puppy face, "since you're dating the lead singer and all, do you think you could get me an autograph?"
"What? We're not…" April started, but she couldn't resist the look on Jennie's face. "Fine."
Meanwhile, backstage, Roger congratulated them all on a good performance. Dave didn't hear him, mainly because he was preparing to shoot up. Alex and Roger shared a knowing look and went to give Jake their headsets back.
"Good performance tonight, man," Alex said to Roger, but Roger wasn't paying attention either. He was staring, dreamy-eyed, at some redhead groupie. "Oh, come on, Rog, you wouldn't fall for a groupie, would ya?"
Roger didn't reply.
"Come on, Roger, let's go! Let's get out of here!"
Instead of following Alex out, Roger walked over to April and Jennie. As soon as she saw him heading towards them, Jennie's eyes lit up.
"He's coming! He's coming to talk to us!" she squealed, grabbing April's arm and jumping up and down like a little girl. April pulled her arm away and continued to put her coat on, turning her back on them in the process. "Roger Davis…" sighed Jennie as he joined them.
Roger smiled at her and tapped April on the shoulder.
April, thinking that it was Jennie trying to pull a prank, ignored him.
"April!" hissed Jennie, tugging a black scarf out of her friend's hand.
"Give that back!" moaned April, grabbing the scarf back. When she saw Roger, she stopped and inhaled sharply.
"April," said Roger, "um, can I, er, talk to you for a minute?"
"I'll take your coat, honey," said Jennie, pulling her comrade out of the hot pink winter jacket. After teasingly giving Jennie a glare, she followed Roger to the side of the bar that was populated by all the drunks.
He was about a head taller than her, and he had short blonde hair. From far away, he was good-looking enough, but when she saw him up close, he was just plain gorgeous. No wonder there were girls lining up to go out with him.
"Um, well, April, right?" he asked, twiddling his thumbs. Offstage, talking one on one to a girl, he lost all confidence. April nodded. "I was, er, wondering if you wanted to, well, you know?" he finished lamely.
April smiled, revealing teeth that still had stains from her braces on them. She kept her own hands clasped firmly behind her back. "If I'd like to see you again?" she prompted gently.
"Yeah!" he said. "I mean, only if you want to…"
"I can't, I have plans…"
"Oh. Well, that's all right, I suppose."
"But I'm free on Saturday."
It took Roger a couple of seconds to digest what April had said. "Saturday? Saturday! See you then. See you Saturday."
April giggled.
He grinned back. "Well, see you…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" she teased. His face turned into a tomato. "I'll see you this weekend."
They stood there, not looking at each other. April had suddenly become interested in her beige imitation Ugg boots, and Roger was staring at his fingers.
"Hey, April! Get your butt over here! I'm not waiting all night!" Jennie called from across the room.
April reached out and gave Roger's hand an affectionate squeeze. "See you Saturday," she said sweetly. Her small hand was lost in his large one.
He looked up and met her eyes. "Yeah," said Roger.
She walked back towards her friend. Just before she reached Jennie, she remembered her promise. April ran back over to Roger, thankful that she had chosen to wear her favorite distressed jeans instead of a skirt. "My friend wants an autograph," she said to him breathlessly. As soon as it came out, she was ashamed, and tugged the sleeves of her fuzzy, pale blue sweater closer to her hands.
Roger just laughed, borrowed a pen from the bartender, and signed a napkin. "Will this do?"
"That's perfect. Thank you so much." She ran back to Jennie.
"So?" her friend asked as she handed April her coat. "When's the date?"
"Saturday."
"I still say you stole my man." When April gave her a glare, she laughed. "I'm only kidding! Maybe he'll loosen you up. Kidding again!" she added nervously as April cracked her knuckles threateningly.
"You're probably right, though. Or I'll make him more uptight."
"If you do that, I'll crash every single date you two ever go on."
April scowled, and she and Jennie went back into the brisk January air.
