A man handed Roman $45, and they shook hands. The man continued walking down the street, as Roman got into the passenger seat of Seth's car.
"Who buys drugs at 6 in the morning?" Seth asked.
Roman shrugged.
"That guy."
"I'll see if Charlotte's up."
"Why?"
"I'll ask if she wants to go to breakfast."
"So you can get stood up again?"
Seth said nothing, silently seething. He put the car in drive.
"You alright, Seth?"
Roman got no response.
"Seth, I was just-"
"Stop talking, dude."
Roman sighed. The two continued to ride in silence.
A few hours later, Charlotte and Dana were walking down the 2nd floor hallway of the abandoned building. An hour before, Charlotte received a text from Becky, saying that she needed to grab Dana and come to The BO$$'s Office immediately. The shorter of the blonde girls knocked on the door and Becky immediately opened it. Bayley and Sasha were sitting on the bed.
"Guys! We're performing tonight!" She exclaimed.
"What?" Dana asked, confused.
Bayley sighed, explaining because Becky was too excited to.
"Becky said that live music bar and grill downtown needed a last minute replacement because one of those East Coast Movement girls is sick, so since they can't perform, she got us their spot."
"How?" Charlotte asked.
"Xavier." Becky smiled.
"How long is our set?"
"6PM to 8PM." Sasha said, her first words since Charlotte and Dana arrived.
Charlotte glared at Becky.
"2 hours worth of songs!? We don't know two hours worth of songs!"
"We did like 2 hours downtown to earn the money for the guitar." Becky shrugged.
"And we did Nature Girl like 10 times!"
"Correction, 14." Bayley said.
Charlotte turned to Sasha.
"We need a longer setlist. Boss, what can you play?"
"Anything."
"I need song titles."
"Black Magic Woman, Even Flow, Crazy Train, I Don't Wanna Stop, Survivor, Nature Boy, Anarchy In The U.K., Paint It Black, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, My Name Is Jonas, Cherry Pie, Free Bird, You Really Got Me, Heart Shaped Box, Beat It, most of Cliffs Of Dover, 21st Century Schizoid Man, every song on the Gorillaz's first album, Devil In A New Dress-"
"The Kanye and Rick Ross song?" Dana asked, cutting her off.
"Yeah. Bulls On Parade, Mississippi Queen, Cult Of Personality-"
"ALRIGHT, I GET IT!" Charlotte yelled, cutting her off.
Sasha shrugged.
"You asked."
"Becky, can you play any of those?"
"Crazy Train and Paint It Black...oh, and Nature Boy of course."
"Beat It is really simple, Carrot Top could learn that by 6."
"Do you have nicknames for everyone?" Dana asked, closing the door and sitting down.
Charlotte rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." Sasha said, shrugging again.
"So, Becky is Carrot Top, Charlotte is Trust Fund, Bayley is..."
"Genius."
"Why?" Bayley and Dana said in unison.
"She figured out the sharpies."
"Well, who am I?" Dana asked, nervously.
"Plus One."
"Guys, focus! We need 2 hours worth of music we can play." Charlotte said, standing in the middle of the room.
Sasha simply nodded, adding up the times of the songs they decided on.
"Nature Girl, Crazy Train, Beat It and Paint It Black is 18 minutes. You know the words to Hit Me With Your Best Shot, right?"
Charlotte nodded.
"That's 21 minutes."
"We could knock out a huge chunk of time if we do Bohemian Rhapsody." Dana shrugged.
"That's a great idea!" Becky exclaimed.
"Bohemian Rhapsody? With one singer? Who else besides Trust Fund can sing?"
Becky raised her hand.
"I can carry a tune." Bayley shrugged.
"What songs did you learn in class, Plus One?"
Dana nervously looked down.
"Just Bohemian Rhapsody."
"Okay, here's the set. We'll start out with Nature Girl to get us comfortable, go into Paint It Black, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Train, Space Mountain, Beat It, and Survivor, that's like 40 minutes. We can do that and then just repeat it. Carrot Top, all the songs you don't know, just keep time. Plus One, go get your guitar, class is in session." Sasha smiled.
"Damn, Ambrose. You must have hella connections on the outside."
Dean shrugged, picking around at the grey food on his trey.
"I got a couple loyal guys."
"When you going to trial?" Another inmate at the table asked.
"Supposedly in 3 months. Unless they push it back. And they WILL push it back."
"Why so confident, Ambrose?"
"Cause my lawyer's fucking top notch. We're trying to get me on house arrest right now."
A prison guard approached the table.
"Ambrose, get your junk out of your cell and come with me."
Dean smiled.
"Damn, already? Otunga's good."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The guard said, leading Dean back to his cell.
The other inmates looked at each other in shock and confusion.
"So is my P.O. here to pick me up yet? I believe I'm owed 1 Galaxy S5 with an Arkham Asylum case, a pair of pants, my Black Sabbath shirt, I think I had some gum in my pocket too."
"What the fuck are you going on about, Ambrose?"
"Don't you gimme my shit back when I get released?"
"Yeah, we do. You're not getting released."
"What? Then why did you tell me to get my stuff out of my-"
"Because you're on lock down. Solitary confinement. We found the phone. Since this is only your first instance of contraband, you're spending 2 days in the hole."
"The hole!? This isn't a real prison, this is a city jail! You can't put me in solitary!" Dean laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, you're just lucky you deleted all the messages and call logs from the phone before we found it." The guard said, pushing Dean into the dark, padded cell. The only light shone through a very high window.
"You'll get your 3 meals a day through this little slot. 6am, 12pm, 6pm. Your throne is over there."
The guard pointed to the small silver toilet in the corner of the cell.
"When can I shower?"
"Well, it's Monday so... Thursday."
Dean rolled his eyes.
"What am I supposed to do in here alone in the dark for 48 hours?"
"You can fuck yourself for all I care."
"Well, if you insist." Dean shrugged, as the guard walked away.
"It was a joke." Roman said, into the phone.
"Okay?" Seth replied, emotionlessly shrugging.
"You've been moping around about it all day."
"I have NOT been moping."
"You've been acting like you're in the first half of an antidepressant commercial."
"Look, have you heard anything else from Dean?"
"Nope." Roman said, scrolling his messages.
"Well call me back when you do."
Before Roman could respond, Seth hung up.
5 hours later, the girls were at the end of their first 40 minute set, and MOSTLY everyone in the crowd had been enjoying it the whole time.
"SOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUL SURVIVOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"
As Charlotte finished the song, the crowd erupted in applause. Except for Alicia Fox and Nia Jax, who stood silently, glaring at them, in the middle of the cheering crowd.
The host grabbed the microphone.
"Keep it going for The Four Horsewomen!"
"Plus one!" Dana exclaimed, trying to shout over the roaring crowd.
"They'll return to the stage in 20 minutes!"
The girls got off the stage and made their way over to the bar.
"What can I get you ladies?" The bartender asked.
"Dr. Pepper." Becky smiled.
Bayley thought for a bit.
"Diet Coke."
"Same." Dana added.
"Sprite please." Charlotte said.
"I'll take a Dirty Shirley with Grey Goose. Hold the cherries."
"Can I see some I.D.?"
"On second thought, a regular Shirley Temple will be fine." Sasha said, as the girls laughed.
Alica and Nia joined them.
"You guys were great!" Alicia exclaimed.
Charlotte blushed a bit.
"Thanks, you guys are even better."
"No way!" Nia said, putting her arm around Sasha.
"Anyway, after the show, you guys should come to O2 with us." Alicia smiled.
Becky looked confused.
"O2?" she asked.
"Sorry, she's new in town." Bayley smiled.
Sasha looked over her shoulder at Nia suspiciously.
"I don't know if-"
"Yeah, we'd love to go!" Charlotte said, cutting Sasha off.
"Great!"
Nia and Alicia left.
"Is it just me, or were they overly nice?" Sasha asked.
The girls all shrugged.
"O2 is this under 21 nightclub on 3rd Street, by the way." Charlotte explained.
"Oh." Becky nodded, as the bartender brought their sodas.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!" Dean yelled, unable to see anything. The only light he was provided was the sun through the window, which had now set.
He heard nothing but the chattering of inmates.
"I KNOW SOMEONE CAN HEAR ME!"
He got no response.
"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE! THERE'S GOTTA BE SOME KIND OF LAW AGAINST THIS SHIT!"
"BRO, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He heard an inmate yell.
"OH YEAH!? OR WHAT!?" Dean yelled back.
"OR I'LL SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU CAN FLOSS WITH MY SHOELACES!"
"I GOT MYSTERY MEAT STUCK IN MY TEETH ANYWAY!"
"YEAH, WHATEVER!"
Dean sat down, running his hands through his hair. He already warned Seth and Roman to never text him first, because the phone could be taken at anytime, so at least he didn't have to worry about that. But a new problem now presented itself. He was stuck here for two days, with no way to contact Seth and Roman.
"Yeah we'll just drop the instruments off at my place." Sasha said, from the back of the van.
Sasha, Becky, Bayley, Dana, and Charlotte all sat in the back of the van with the instruments, while Alicia drove, and Nia sat in the passenger seat.
"Take the next turn on Main Street."
Once they arrived, the girls began moving their instruments into the building, while Alicia sat in the van, with Nia. She began to call Tamina.
"Yeah, they practice in that abandoned building on Main Street. They were pretty good. We're about to take them to O2... yeah I'll let you know... alright, talk to you later... bye."
Alicia hung up as the girls began walking out of the building and towards the van.
When they got in, Alicia drove them the short distance to the nightclub.
"You should invite Seth." Dana whispered to Charlotte.
"You're right, I've been blowing him off a lot lately."
Charlotte began to call Seth. After a two rings, it went to voicemail.
She looked at the phone, confused.
"He hit ignore."
"What!? Are you sure?" Dana asked, as the girls got out of the van.
"It didn't go straight to voicemail, it rang twice, he saw it was me, and he hit ignore... maybe he hit it by accident."
Charlotte called again. After two more rings, it went to voicemail again.
"What the fuck?"
"What?" Sasha asked.
"He did it again."
"Who did what?"
"Seth hit ignore on my call. Twice."
"Maybe Roman has his phone." Bayley shrugged.
"Wait, which one is Roman again?" Becky asked.
"The cuter one." Dana said.
"Cuter!? Are you out of your mind!?" Charlotte asked, turning to Dana.
Sasha shrugged.
"They kinda look the same to me."
The conversation was ended by the loud music of Club O2 as they walked inside. They made it to the soda bar, when Becky felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She turned around to see Finn, holding her book.
"Finn!?"
"Small world, huh?"
"I... I thought... how old are you?"
"20."
"Really? You look older."
"Can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult."
Becky nervously chuckled.
"Can you wait right here for a sec? Like a long sec?"
"Sure."
"Hey, can you guys please take me home and back really quick? There's this book I really need, and-"
"Sure." Alicia said, as she and Nia began walking out of O2.
Becky left with them as Finn sat down at the bar.
"So... how do you know Becky?" Bayley asked.
"I've seen her around." Finn shrugged.
"After 2AM?"
"I don't wear a watch, I wouldn't know."
Bayley eyed Finn.
"So what's with the book?"
"What book? This one?" Finn asked, holding up the bland book with a red cover.
"The 'Demon King' book."
"Oh. That's mine. Becky was borrowing it."
"What's it about?"
"Well... hard to explain actually. It's like... a picture book. And a different story is being told by a different author on every page, through a picture. And all the stories culminate in one big story about an artist who's traveled and met other amazing artists. It's a pretty beautiful story actually."
Bayley rolled her eyes, not realizing how close she was to uncovering Becky's secret.
After about 8 more minutes, Becky returned, without Alicia and Nia.
"Thank you." Finn smiled, taking his book and handing Becky hers.
"Thank YOU." She smiled back, sitting next to Bayley, as Finn left the nightclub.
"Where'd those girls go?" Sasha asked.
"They didn't come in behind me?" Becky responded, confused.
Sasha shook her head no.
"I guess they're outside?"
"That's weird." Sasha said, getting up and walking towards the exit.
"What!?" Becky called after her.
"Why are they just sitting outside? That's weird."
Out of curiosity, the girls followed Sasha outside.
Once the exited the loud club, they heard the sirens of fire trucks.
"What's going on!?" Dana yelled over the sirens, as they looked around.
"THE BUILDING! OUR INSTRUMENTS!" Bayley shouted, pointing to the cloud of smoke emanating from Main Street.
Sasha immediately began running towards the building.
"BOSS! BOSS WAIT!" Charlotte yelled, as the rest of the girls tried to catch up to her.
Sasha managed to make it to Main Street, seeing several firemen dousing the burning building with hoses, to no avail. She kept running towards the building before she was stopped by a police officer.
"MA'AM, YOU NEED TO BACK UP!"
"NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Sasha screamed, trying to push him out of the way.
"RELAX!" Charlotte yelled, grabbing and restraining her.
Sasha began fighting and kicking to get free from Charlotte's grasp.
"BOSS!...BOSS!"
"FUCKING LET ME GO!" Sasha yelled, before elbowing Charlotte in the mouth, knocking her onto the ground.
"Charlotte!" Dana screamed, kneeling down next to her.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, TRUST FUND!"
Charlotte looked up at Sasha, confused, as she wiped the blood from her busted lip.
"What did I do!?"
"'YEAH WE'D LOVE TO GO'? I KNEW THEY WERE UP TO SOMETHING!"
The rest of the girls looked at each other in shock.
"Okay guys, I really, really don't think Alicia and Nia had anything to do with this. They were so nice! Why would they do that?" Becky said, putting her hands on her head.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT? WE'RE THEIR COMPETITION!"
"Look, Boss. I'm sorry. I'll talk to my dad and see if he'll buy us new-"
"I DON'T NEED YOUR DAD'S HANDOUTS AND I DON'T NEED YOU!"
"Boss, please! Just calm down!"
Sasha took a few deep breaths and turned around, taking a few steps away from the girls. She turned back around and kneeled down, next to Charlotte.
"Next time you see me... you better cross the fucking street."
Sasha stood up, and began walking away again.
"Boss!... How is this my fault!?... Boss!...Boss where are you gonna stay tonight!?...BOSS!?"
Sasha ignored Charlotte, and kept walking.
Dana, Becky, and Bayley stood in shock, looking between the burning building, Charlotte, still on the ground, and Sasha, disappearing in the distance.