Skater Boy and Complications
Exhilaration that was the emotion Robbie felt as he once more went airborne. It had been too long since he had last done this; he had forgotten the power of that board and those four wheels under his feet, and the rush as he broke the bonds of gravity. The wind whipping by his face as he spun in the air, his hair trailing behind him in an almost non-existent ponytail, made his blood pound louder in his ears. As he came down he leaned a little too forward and his skateboard hit the lip of the half-pipe, causing him to be thrown from it. With some luck he managed to land on his knees as he slid down the ramp, finally coming to a halt most of the way down he flopped onto his back and kicked his feet out from under him. Lying there staring up at the morning sky, breathing hard, smile on his face he felt happier than he had in a long time.
"Hey I think you dropped this." A shadow fell over him as the voice spoke. Looking over he saw a guy, his age maybe a little older, one hand on the handlebars of a bicycle the other holding his board out and looking at him. Standing up he takes his skateboard back and nods to the other teen.
"Thanks, I'm Robbie." He says as he holds out his hand, which the other teen quickly grabs for a fast shake.
"I know, I'm a year ahead of you at HA. My names Tucker." 'Hmm someone from my school, other than my friends, knows me…..weird.' "You don't recognize me, do you?" Robbie responded with an embarrassed smile and a shake of his head. "I'm in the house band; we backed you up during The Jam. I was the…"
Robbie snapped his fingers and pointed to Tucker. "The drummer."
"Yeah," Tucker responded with a smile. "Okay now this might sound a little weird, and feel free to refuse, but at least hear me out. Come to my house and sing."
"Uhm…."
"It's nothing weird, me and the rest of the guys get together every now and them and just play. I mean we have to be on stage a lot so we make sure we sound good. And some of the guys write their own stuff but nobody's really got the voice to sing them so…." Tuckers hand rose up to rub at the back of his neck. "I was hoping you could come by and give it a shot. And if everything goes well, we could play some of our stuff together instead of just playing backup for other people."
"Uh okay, that sounds cool." Robbie said as he adjusted his grip on the front truck of his board to keep from fidgeting.
Tucker face lit up. "Alright!" taking a moment to look at his watch before looking back at Robbie "the rest of the guys should be at my house pretty soon, so we should motor." When Robbie nodded Tucker got on his bike and started to pedal away.
As Tucker pedaled away Robbie drop his board hopped on and follow behind him, grabbing his backpack off the ground as he skated by the spot it rested on.
.
An hour and five minutes later
The ride to Tuckers house had been fairly quick, before he was escorted into the garage (which brought a smile to his face, he was going to sing with a real life garage band) where the rest of the band was talking and waiting. After a brief introduction to the rest of the band- James (lead guitar), Eric (bass), Alexi (keyboard) and Delia (rhythm guitar) - he had listen to then play for a while, during which he read some of their songs. They were good and he could probably sing most them, then there were the ones he wasn't sure he had the vocal range to even think of trying to sing and he told them that. They decided on trial by fire and after a quick discussion found a song they all knew and liked. That led to the current situation.
Robbie was having the time of his life as he let himself get lost in the sound and power of the song the band was playing, microphone in hand as he just let lose.
"Back in black,
I hit the sack,
It's been too long I'm glad to be back,
Yes, I'm let loose,
From the noose,
That's kept me hanging around.
I'm just looking at the sky
'Cause it's getting me high
Forget the hearse, 'cause I'll never die
I got nine lives
Cat's eyes
Abusin' every one of them and running wild."
As he sang one of his favorite AC/DC hits, Robbie couldn't get the smile off his face even if he wanted to. Partially because he loved the song and Brain Johnson's vocals on it, the other reason was because at the moment this song could be used to define him. In essence he had cut himself loose from his own self tied noose and was letting the real him come back.
"'Cause I'm back,
Yes, I'm back
Oooh… I'm back now,
Yes, I'm back
Oooh, I'm back…. Back,
Back in black
(Well) I'm back in black!"
"Back in the back
Of a Cadillac
Number one with a bullet, I'm a power pack
Yes I'm in a bang
With a gang
They've got to catch me if they want me to hang
Cause I'm down on the track
And I'm beatin' the pack
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap
So look at me now
I'm just makin' my pay
Don't try to push your luck just get out of my way!"
As he sang he strode across the garage as if he was on stage. Hopping up and down here, standing next to and singing with a band member here, doing whatever felt right in that moment. So caught up in his performance, Robbie didn't notice the small audience that had gathered in front of the opened garage door. Not until he turned to face it, while pushing his sweaty bangs backwards into his messy hair.
"'Cos, I'm back,
Yes I'm back.
Oooh, I'm back now,
Yes, I'm back!
Oooh, I'm back…. back….now
Back in black
Well I'm back in black….."
Upon seeing the gathered crowd, mostly teens around his age, a couple younger kids and even two adults (who were singing along) the slight fatigue that had accumulated during his stage performance receded. Using his second wind Robbie powered through the final verses of the song as he replaced the mike in its stand, holding it close to his face as he sang while smiling.
"Oooh…. yeah
Oooh yeah
Yes I am
Oooh yeah, yeah oh yeah
Back in now
Well I'm back, I'm back
Back, I'm back
Back, I'm back
Back, I'm back
Back, I'm back
Back
Back in black
Yes I'm back in black."
Huffing as the song drew to a close and the band stopped playing, he grinned at the applauding crowd. "Thank you folks, we'll be here all afternoon." Robbie heard Tucker yell to the crowd, who smiled and started to walk away. Robbie turned his head as an arm wrapped around his shoulder and found James grinning at him. "That was great man." Similar complements were given by the rest of the band, making his confidence soar.
"You were a little shaky on the second verse and you could have used a little more body to your voice. But overall its workable." A new voice stated from behind the band. Turning around Robbie spotted a girl walking in through a door that he guessed lead into the house proper.
(A/N: Think Jessica Stroup from 90210)
"And that would be my sister. Who while she can't sing worth a damn, is a very accurate critic." Robbie knew he was being rude by staring at Tuckers sister, but she was beautiful. Her jeans and tee accentuating but not flashing her body, light pink streaks in her raven black hair and a pair of slim square shaped glasses that drew attention to her amber eyes. She smirked at him and for a moment he swore that he could see Jade. Jade. He was trying to win her heart and didn't need to add difficulties by becoming infatuated with other girls.
.
Monday Morning
Robbie sat on the wall across the street from Hollywood Arts High School taking a much needed minute to gather his nerves. It had been pretty easy to make his intentions known at the Full Moon Jam but this would be the first time that he had seen or spoken to Jade (and his friends) since then. Over the weekend he had avoided the places that he could usually be found, spending his time mostly at the skate park, Tuckers house and roaming the city on his skateboard.
Taking a deep breathe Robbie hopped off the wall and started towards the school building. 'Maybe it wasn't too late to go home, grab Rex and hope nobody remembers the Jam.' He thought as he opened the door and entered the hallway, heading to his locker.