Meet the Green!
6 months ago...
The local mall was a favorite hangout spot for teens in the area. Several teens were hanging out there today, including the members of the Gangreen Gang, who were just about to have lunch.
"Alright," said Ace as he was handed his lunch tray. "Where shall we sit?" He looked all around at the seating area. "Hey, Arturo, Billy. Grab us that one way over there." He pointed at a table toward the far edge of the food court. "That way, if Grubber does a… massive belch…we'll get some air!"
The three sped towards it, laughing loudly while Ace stayed behind with Snake, who was waiting for his soda.
"You sssure you're not coming to the movie later?" asked Snake.
"Snake, I told you," said Ace. "They're having a guitar session at Guitar Zone today."
"I thought you already played," said Snake.
"Yeah," said Ace smiling. "But, this time, they're gonna let you play on THEIR guitars. There's no way I'm gonna miss it!"
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Jessie was coming out of Coffee Scene, on her cell phone.
"Yeah," she said to the person on the other line. "Can you believe they ran out? She laughed. "I'll see if they have any more tomorrow." She paused as the person on the other line spoke. "Yeah, the guitar session at Guitar Zone…at four." She paused again. "Okay. I'll see you later. Bye." She hung up and went down escalator.
Back at the food court, Ace and Snake were still waiting for Snake's soda. "Thisss movie isss gonna be ssso sssick," Snake said. He turned to face the counter. "Too bad they aren't ssshowing it at the guitar session. Wouldn't that be cool, Ace?"
"Huh?" asked Ace half-listening. "Uh, sure." He looked around the mall and suddenly saw Jessie getting off the escalator. He lifted his sunglasses and looked at her with a surprised expression.
"Wow," he said under his breath.
Snake was handed his soda and started to go to the table when he noticed Ace was not with him.
"Ace!" he called.
"What?" he said quickly turning to Snake.
"You coming?" he asked impatiently.
Ace looked at Jessie again. "Uhh…yeah," he said in a distracted way. He picked up his tray and they made their way to their table.
About an hour later, the Gangreen Gang were just about finished eating. Arturo and Grubber were playing with the few left over French Fries that were scattered in their bags.
"You'll never stop me!" said Arturo as he played with the fries.
Grubber raspberried as he took his last French fry out of his bag.
"Oh, yeah?" retorted Arturo. "Well, "Miss Jessica Field. You failed to notice my…" he grabbed a ketchup packet. "…ketchup blast of doom!" Then, Arturo laughed loudly as he squirted ketchup onto Grubber's French fry. Then, the two started fighting over it.
"Duh, who's Jessica Field?" asked Billy.
"That new sssuper powered girl," said Snake. "The one who'sss been ssstopping all the villainsss in the city." He sighed in annoyed way.
Ace scoffed. "Yeah, well, Jessica Field is no match for us. That's fo' sure." He stood up. "Once she meets us, she'll be running straight back to where she came from!"
"Yeah!" said Snake, Arturo, and Billy. Grubber raspberried again.
The Gangreen Gang finally left the food court and they were headed towards the movie theater.
"See ya guys at the hideout later," said Ace.
"Sssee you," said Snake. He along with Arturo, Billy, and Grubber rushed to the ticket booth as Ace walked off.
Meanwhile, Jessie came back through the mall entrance. She took a large guitar pick out of her pocket. It was purple and had a picture of the sun and a crescent moon fitting together with a shooting star soaring above both of them. It was the symbol of her favorite rock band, Astroquest. She looked at it happily.
"I can't wait to play today," she told herself. She looked at her watch.
"Hmm," she told herself. "An hour 'til the session. Maybe I can try to-" Just then, she inadvertently bumped into a businessman who was on his cell phone and accidentally dropped her guitar pick!
Ace, only a few feet away, turned and saw what just happened.
"I'm sorry," she said to the businessman. "I didn't see you."
"Ah, don't worry about it," said the businessman nonchalantly. "I don't see where I'm going half the time." He continued with his conversation on his phone and walked off.
Jessie looked for her guitar pick, and then found it a little to her left. She reached for it when, suddenly, another hand quickly picked it up.
"Here," said Ace as he rushed over. "I got it for you."
"Thank you," said Jessie happily as she looked at Ace. She was silent for a few seconds as he gave her the pick. He noticed the band Astroquest's symbol on the guitar pick.
"Astroquest is cool," he said motioning to the pick. "I've seen them five times."
"Really?" asked Jessie. "I've seen them three."
Ace smiled. "I'm Ace."
Jessie looked at him. He looked familiar, and then she realized who he was. 'That's Ace from the Gangreen Gang,' she thought to herself! "I'm Jessie," she told him.
"Jessie," he said smiling. "Hey, are you going to the guitar session at Guitar Zone later?"
"Yeah," replied Jessie. "Are you?"
"Sure," said Ace. "I guess I'll see you there."
"See you there," said Jessie with intrigue.
After a few seconds, Jessie walked off. Ace started to walk in the other direction.
'So…THAT'S the leader of the Gangreen Gang,' Jessie thought to herself. She knew about the Gangreen Gang, yet she could not help but be curious about who she just met.
Later at Guitar Zone, the guitar session was almost about to begin. There were three rows of chairs set up with song books on stands. Several people were seated with guitars from the store, including Ace.
Jessie came in and looked around. She saw several guitars on stands.
"Take a guitar and then take your seat," the instructor said to the students. "Any guitar, except the Golden Strat."
Jessie looked at the special guitar. It was a shimmering gold color and autographed by all the members of the rock band, the Royal Gems.
"It's here from the Rock History Museum and is for display only," continued the instructor.
Jessie chose a purple guitar and took a seat in the second row. She looked to her right and noticed that Ace, with a crimson guitar, was five chairs down from her. He looked over at her and smiled. Then, she smiled.
"Okay, everyone," said the instructor. "We'll get started now."
The room slowly quieted down.
"My name is Nick and I will be your instructor for today," he said. He looked at the students. "Now, I want to show you that music is about connecting with your audience and with your peers. So, I want you all to find a partner and pick a song. Practice that song and then you both will perform it together for the rest of the class."
Everyone in the room started looking for a partner. Ace looked in Jessie's direction and started to go over to her. Jessie turned and saw him coming over.
"Hey, Jessie," he said. "…do you wanna be…partners?"
"Hi, Ace," she replied. "Sure."
He sat next to her and they started to look through their song book. Ace slowly looked over all of the songs. He looked at Jessie.
'Come on,' he told himself. 'Say something to her!'
"So…uh…" began Ace. "…hopefully they have Astroquest in here to pick from."
"Yeah," replied Jessie. "They're the best. I actually know how to play 'Rockin' On.'"
"Really?" asked Ace. "I can play that, too. Do you wanna do that one?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Okay."
They started strumming their guitars and started to practice their song.
Later, people were ready to perform their songs. After three couples, it was Jessie and Ace's turn.
They started playing the intro.
"When things are looking down," sang Ace. "And nothin' fades your blue."
"If your world's turned completely around," sang Jessie. "There's only one thing to do."
"Rock," they sang together. "Yeah, you gotta rock."
Jessie performed her guitar solo. During that time, Ace looked at her with complete wonder and awe. Ace followed with his guitar solo and Jessie looked at him with surprise…she was really intrigued.
"From space to sea," sang Ace.
"And dusk to dawn," sang Jessie.
"We'll be rockin' on," they finished together.
The audience applauded and the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
After the class, Ace and Jessie were walking out together.
"You rocked it in there!" said Ace. "Your playing and your singing."
"Thanks!" replied Jessie. "So did you."
"Jessie," he started. "Do you maybe wanna…um…you know…maybe-" He was suddenly cut off by some of the students gasping and yelping.
They turned around and saw the famous Golden Strat guitar starting to fall. Before it could hit the ground, Jessie enclosed it in a force field bubble and put it back on its stand.
Nick sighed in relief. "Thank you, so much, Jessie!" he said in gratitude. "You saved one of the most valuable guitars in the world!"
"Oh, no problem," said Jessie. "Glad to help."
Nick left and Ace looked at her with an expression of complete shock.
"You're…you're…Jessica Field?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said. "I help out from time to time."
Ace stood for a second, completely at a loss for words. He could not believe that the girl he was interested in was the city's new superhero!
Just then, Jessie's communicator buzzed.
"Oh, I gotta go," she said. "But, I'll see you around?"
Ace paused for a second. "Yeah," he said smiling. "See you around."
Jessie smiled and then went in the direction of the mall's exit. Jessie turned around and looked at Ace again and then continued walking.
Once Jessie was outside the mall, Ace started to walk in the opposite direction. He turned around just in time to see Jessie launch herself into the air. After a few seconds, he smiled.
Later that night, Ace was back at the hideout with his gang. He was lying awake while the rest of the gang was sleeping. As he lied awake, he thought about Jessie.
'She's…wow,' Ace thought, smiling. 'Not only does she have super-powers, but she's sweet…smart…talented…beautiful. Man, is she beautiful.' He blushed. 'Those eyes…that smile…' He sighed.
He turned on his side and looked at his friends. He knew he couldn't tell them how he felt, at least not yet. But, he really liked Jessie and wanted to know more about her. He thought about her for a few more minutes before finally going to sleep.