AUTHORS NOTE: I put the lyrics to the New Found Glory song "These Girls Are Crazy" in the mouth of Shiro. Shutting up now...
***
Shiro peeked out at the crowd in the club to see what kind of turnout they got. There were two levels in the club; the upper was reserved for those under the drinking age while the lower had the bar. Shiro was pleased to see that both levels were pretty full. He happened to see a familiar face and raised his hand in greeting.
"Marron...your uncle is here." Shiro called over his shoulder. Marron ducked under his arm and peeked out as well. She saw Yamucha over by the bar and waved to him. He beckoned her over with an urgent look on his face.
"Back in a sec." She told Shiro who tried to grab her by the back of the dress since they were about to go on. Marron ducked into the crowd and made her way over to Yamucha.
"I don't want to panic you but I saw Goten here." Yamucha told her when she reached him. She nodded.
"Did you see where he went?" She asked.
"Upstairs." Yamucha told her. Marron breathed a sigh of relief, from the second floor and with her wig there's no way he'd recognize her.
"Just Goten?" She asked. Yamucha nodded. Marron stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before disappearing into the crowd again to make her way to the stage.
She caught Shiro's arm as they were going onstage just outside the edge of the lights. He looked down at her as she slung her guitar over her shoulder. She turned her face up to him and he leaned down to hear her over the applause of the crowd, as the other band members appeared onstage.
"I know you don't understand the wig thing and all Shiro...but I need you to NOT say my name when you introduce the band. I'll explain later." She promised. He looked at her with a sad expression in his brown eyes. It was the same as when they had been together...she was so afraid of someone finding out about her talent.
"Oh I understand it all too well Marron...you're STILL hiding." He said and walked out onstage before she could argue.
***
Trunks leaned on the upstairs railing and waited for Goten to come back with their drinks. He may have agreed to come to the show, and he may have to stay upstairs in the underage section because of Bra and Pan but that didn't mean he had to drink the kiddie drinks they were serving at the upstairs bar. He had standards, damnit.
Goten came back with their beers and joined him at the railing, Paris had decided not to come because she had to get up early for a photo shoot and needed her rest. Trunks had tried to weasel out of it too but Goten had told him there was no way he was going to be in charge of two teenaged girls in the club by himself. He found himself wishing Marron was there...at least then being trapped in teenybopper HFIL, or listening to Goten go on and on about this band would be tolerable.
The lights on the stage dimmed and then came back up indicating the start of the show. Three band members walked out, a tall pretty girl with green hair took her place behind an impressive set of keyboards. Goten grinned next to him and pointed.
"That's Aya." He told him. Trunks just sipped his beer and said nothing. Goten then pointed to the bass player a tall guy with long blonde hair. "That's Kenji...he's really funny. And Harmon's the drummer, nice guy even if he reminds you of Yajirobe." Goten told him.
"I take it you know these people." Trunks said. Goten nodded and drank his beer.
"I dated Aya for awhile before I met Paris. Paris-chan and I saw this band awhile back and we ended up hanging out with them after their show. We probably will tonight too...I wanna meet the new guitarist since Roy left. Wonder where Shiro is?"
As if in answer to Goten's question two figures appeared from the shadows at the back of the stage to applause. Trunks found himself jostled as Bra and Pan squirmed their way in front of Goten and Trunks to get a place at the railing where they could see. Pan gave him one of her you-know-you-love-it looks and turned back toward the stage as Trunks rolled his eyes and stood behind her relinquishing his prime viewing spot to her.
The one who was obviously Shiro walked up to the microphone amid cheers and some female screams. Trunks supposed the guy was good-looking enough; he was tall and slender with an unruly thatch of black hair that fell in his eyes. He hung his guitar over his shoulder and smiled at the crowd. When the applause and catcalls died down a bit he spoke.
"Wow, thanks a lot for the warm welcome. For our first song, and in honor of our newest band member...this pink haired kook right here..." He said grinning and jerked his thumb at the slender magenta haired girl in pink glasses next to him. "...We're going to start with a favorite."
Marron gnashed her teeth, she knew Shiro was just teasing her but she wished he'd stop calling her a 'pink haired kook'. So it was almost with a vengeance that she stepped to the edge of the stage and ripped out the opening chords of the song. The instant the music hit her ears and the hot lights turned her vision to a rose colored haze Marron relaxed. She suddenly didn't care what Shiro called her as the joy of making music caught her up like it always did. She tipped her head to look at Shiro as he started playing too and leaned into the microphone for the first verse looking at her with a pointed gaze.
Some girls are crazy...
Just listen to what I have to say about it.
You gotta watch out for the beautiful ones
They'll twist your head right off your neck,
And laugh about it with their friends...
Marron smirked and turned away as she played. So it was going to be like that was it?
It's just one night for them...
They'll target you with their eyes
And move with their lips...
Kenji moved to his microphone for the harmony and Marron was really getting into the fast hard beat of the song...it was different from what she and Shiro had written together or what she wrote on her own. She hoped that with the way the crowd was eating up this song that they'd like it when it was her turn to sing.
And now...are you listening?
This song goes out to girls
That we haven't met just yet...
She jumped and danced around the stage as she played enjoying herself thoroughly. It was almost as if in the magenta wig she was another person so she just let herself go, since she was the only one not tied to a microphone or other non-portable instruments. Shiro kept half turning his head to see what she was doing and grinned as he kept singing.
These girls are crazy...
Just listen to what I have to say about it...
You gotta watch out for those younger ones,
They'll tightly wrap you round their fingers
And brag to all their friends
It's nothing but a game to them...
Marron grinned back at him as he turned back to the crowd. She was in the center of the stage with Shiro on her left and Kenji and Aya on the right. The sound of Harmon's drumming almost like a second pulse. There is no better place to be; she thought other than in Trunks' arms.
And it pulls you in,
She shuts you down with her voice again
And now...are you listening?
She looked down at the stage so no one could see her frown. She didn't want to think about Trunks while she was playing or she'd get distracted. She would be thinking about him soon enough when she played the new song she wrote for him...she wished she could play it just for him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and kept playing.
You think you're on top of the world...
When all the eyes are on you
Just wait until your heart breaks
And you'll know...how I felt...
When I wrote this song...
She ignored Shiro's gaze when he sang the last part. She knew she had hurt him badly when she left, it was evident in many of the songs he had written since they parted. They were good songs though she had to give him that, as she cranked out the ending chords and the crowd cheered.
***
Trunks had to admit the band was really good. Even with a new member they sounded like they had played together forever as they ripped and stomped their way through the first set then had a break. Bra and Pan were having a great time and moved away from the railing to dance with some friends from school, leaving Trunks and Goten to drink their beers and feel old.
"The new guitarist is really something. They never sounded that good when Roy was playing with them." Goten told him as they waited for the band to come back.
Trunks had found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the magenta haired girl, and it disturbed him. He had a girlfriend now...one he cared about a lot even if he hadn't had the chance to tell her yet. But there was something about the girl onstage, the way she jumped and danced around in wild abandon while she played in her black dress and electric blue socks that made him smile...she was cute.
"You get the next round." Goten said when they had finished their beers. Trunks made his way downstairs to the bar after ignoring Pan and Bra's requests to get them 'real drinks'. He was waiting for the drinks when he sensed a familiar ki. He looked around the floor at the crowd who were dancing to a DJ while they waited for the band to return. He took the beers as he scanned the room trying to locate the person. He looked up at Goten who was talking to the pretty green haired keyboard player as he leaned against the railing with his back to him...he'd be no help. Then over by the side of the stage he saw a familiar profile.
Yamucha? What's he doing here? Trunks wondered. He didn't seem like the type to like this kind of music. He watched and as Yamucha moved to the side he saw that he was in an animated discussion with the magenta haired guitarist. She was gesturing emphatically and looked upset. She stabbed a finger toward the upper level before folding her arms and scowling at Yamucha. Trunks cocked his head to the side, something about the scowl...
The beers in his hands forgotten he started making his way toward them when he saw the tall singer come and tap the girl on the shoulder. She said something to Yamucha and disappeared backstage. Trunks was moving to intercept Yamucha when he lost him in the crowd. Trunks turned trying to see if he could see him but couldn't so he made his way back upstairs to Goten and the others.
***
"Thanks a lot." Shiro told the crowd when the band came back onstage to cheers. They had slightly changed the set up; there were now three microphones and in front of the drum kit there were several guitars lined up in stands. The magenta haired girl now had an acoustic guitar that seemed huge on her.
"This next part of our show is a little different from what those of you who have seen us before are used to." Shiro said when the applause had once again died down.
Marron stood a few steps back with her head down and her eyes lowered. She rested her arms on her guitar as she studied the toe of her boot and thought about the argument she'd just had with Yamucha.
She'd sought Yamucha out when during the break Aya had pointed toward the upstairs and said she was going to go and talk to her old boyfriend. She'd followed Aya's finger to where Goten stood at the railing drinking a beer and talking to Trunks. Trunks was here!
Her heart had started running like a rabbit and she excused herself and found Yamucha. Panicking she'd mentioned that both Goten and Trunks were there. And predictably Yamucha had advised just coming clean and stop trying to hide who she was. She was getting really sick of everyone saying that to her. She wished they would just understand she didn't want to disappoint her father, she doubted her mother would care as long as she was happy and made money.
She lifted her head and tried to see out past the lights...to see if she could see Trunks somewhere among the crowd. She took a deep breath, Yamucha and Shiro were right...she was hiding.
_Make your own future...be who YOU want to be, do what YOU want to do..._ She heard Yamucha's voice in her head again. She reached up and twined a lock of the magenta wig around her finger, she may not be ready to tell her father about her career choice but there was no reason not to tell Trunks after all he was her...what? Boyfriend? Lover? Who knew which? All those things aside he was her friend. He should understand.
Shiro was explaining to the crowd that he and the guitarist, he introduced her as 'Kuri' she noticed with a wry smile, had worked together in several bands before and that they would now be playing music they had written together during that time.
She was keeping the wig for now so she wouldn't be recognized as Trunks' girlfriend from the picture in the paper, but if Trunks and Goten recognized her so be it. And I'm definitely telling Trunks after the show...if he's still speaking to me by then, she thought, since a lot of the songs she and Shiro had written had been about their relationship.
She took off the rose colored glasses and tossed them behind her before stepping up to her microphone. Shiro saw her out of the corner of his eye and stopped talking his words dying on his lips when he saw the determined look on her face. She looked at him and put her hand over the mike.
"No more hiding..." She said and started to play.
***
Shiro peeked out at the crowd in the club to see what kind of turnout they got. There were two levels in the club; the upper was reserved for those under the drinking age while the lower had the bar. Shiro was pleased to see that both levels were pretty full. He happened to see a familiar face and raised his hand in greeting.
"Marron...your uncle is here." Shiro called over his shoulder. Marron ducked under his arm and peeked out as well. She saw Yamucha over by the bar and waved to him. He beckoned her over with an urgent look on his face.
"Back in a sec." She told Shiro who tried to grab her by the back of the dress since they were about to go on. Marron ducked into the crowd and made her way over to Yamucha.
"I don't want to panic you but I saw Goten here." Yamucha told her when she reached him. She nodded.
"Did you see where he went?" She asked.
"Upstairs." Yamucha told her. Marron breathed a sigh of relief, from the second floor and with her wig there's no way he'd recognize her.
"Just Goten?" She asked. Yamucha nodded. Marron stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before disappearing into the crowd again to make her way to the stage.
She caught Shiro's arm as they were going onstage just outside the edge of the lights. He looked down at her as she slung her guitar over her shoulder. She turned her face up to him and he leaned down to hear her over the applause of the crowd, as the other band members appeared onstage.
"I know you don't understand the wig thing and all Shiro...but I need you to NOT say my name when you introduce the band. I'll explain later." She promised. He looked at her with a sad expression in his brown eyes. It was the same as when they had been together...she was so afraid of someone finding out about her talent.
"Oh I understand it all too well Marron...you're STILL hiding." He said and walked out onstage before she could argue.
***
Trunks leaned on the upstairs railing and waited for Goten to come back with their drinks. He may have agreed to come to the show, and he may have to stay upstairs in the underage section because of Bra and Pan but that didn't mean he had to drink the kiddie drinks they were serving at the upstairs bar. He had standards, damnit.
Goten came back with their beers and joined him at the railing, Paris had decided not to come because she had to get up early for a photo shoot and needed her rest. Trunks had tried to weasel out of it too but Goten had told him there was no way he was going to be in charge of two teenaged girls in the club by himself. He found himself wishing Marron was there...at least then being trapped in teenybopper HFIL, or listening to Goten go on and on about this band would be tolerable.
The lights on the stage dimmed and then came back up indicating the start of the show. Three band members walked out, a tall pretty girl with green hair took her place behind an impressive set of keyboards. Goten grinned next to him and pointed.
"That's Aya." He told him. Trunks just sipped his beer and said nothing. Goten then pointed to the bass player a tall guy with long blonde hair. "That's Kenji...he's really funny. And Harmon's the drummer, nice guy even if he reminds you of Yajirobe." Goten told him.
"I take it you know these people." Trunks said. Goten nodded and drank his beer.
"I dated Aya for awhile before I met Paris. Paris-chan and I saw this band awhile back and we ended up hanging out with them after their show. We probably will tonight too...I wanna meet the new guitarist since Roy left. Wonder where Shiro is?"
As if in answer to Goten's question two figures appeared from the shadows at the back of the stage to applause. Trunks found himself jostled as Bra and Pan squirmed their way in front of Goten and Trunks to get a place at the railing where they could see. Pan gave him one of her you-know-you-love-it looks and turned back toward the stage as Trunks rolled his eyes and stood behind her relinquishing his prime viewing spot to her.
The one who was obviously Shiro walked up to the microphone amid cheers and some female screams. Trunks supposed the guy was good-looking enough; he was tall and slender with an unruly thatch of black hair that fell in his eyes. He hung his guitar over his shoulder and smiled at the crowd. When the applause and catcalls died down a bit he spoke.
"Wow, thanks a lot for the warm welcome. For our first song, and in honor of our newest band member...this pink haired kook right here..." He said grinning and jerked his thumb at the slender magenta haired girl in pink glasses next to him. "...We're going to start with a favorite."
Marron gnashed her teeth, she knew Shiro was just teasing her but she wished he'd stop calling her a 'pink haired kook'. So it was almost with a vengeance that she stepped to the edge of the stage and ripped out the opening chords of the song. The instant the music hit her ears and the hot lights turned her vision to a rose colored haze Marron relaxed. She suddenly didn't care what Shiro called her as the joy of making music caught her up like it always did. She tipped her head to look at Shiro as he started playing too and leaned into the microphone for the first verse looking at her with a pointed gaze.
Some girls are crazy...
Just listen to what I have to say about it.
You gotta watch out for the beautiful ones
They'll twist your head right off your neck,
And laugh about it with their friends...
Marron smirked and turned away as she played. So it was going to be like that was it?
It's just one night for them...
They'll target you with their eyes
And move with their lips...
Kenji moved to his microphone for the harmony and Marron was really getting into the fast hard beat of the song...it was different from what she and Shiro had written together or what she wrote on her own. She hoped that with the way the crowd was eating up this song that they'd like it when it was her turn to sing.
And now...are you listening?
This song goes out to girls
That we haven't met just yet...
She jumped and danced around the stage as she played enjoying herself thoroughly. It was almost as if in the magenta wig she was another person so she just let herself go, since she was the only one not tied to a microphone or other non-portable instruments. Shiro kept half turning his head to see what she was doing and grinned as he kept singing.
These girls are crazy...
Just listen to what I have to say about it...
You gotta watch out for those younger ones,
They'll tightly wrap you round their fingers
And brag to all their friends
It's nothing but a game to them...
Marron grinned back at him as he turned back to the crowd. She was in the center of the stage with Shiro on her left and Kenji and Aya on the right. The sound of Harmon's drumming almost like a second pulse. There is no better place to be; she thought other than in Trunks' arms.
And it pulls you in,
She shuts you down with her voice again
And now...are you listening?
She looked down at the stage so no one could see her frown. She didn't want to think about Trunks while she was playing or she'd get distracted. She would be thinking about him soon enough when she played the new song she wrote for him...she wished she could play it just for him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and kept playing.
You think you're on top of the world...
When all the eyes are on you
Just wait until your heart breaks
And you'll know...how I felt...
When I wrote this song...
She ignored Shiro's gaze when he sang the last part. She knew she had hurt him badly when she left, it was evident in many of the songs he had written since they parted. They were good songs though she had to give him that, as she cranked out the ending chords and the crowd cheered.
***
Trunks had to admit the band was really good. Even with a new member they sounded like they had played together forever as they ripped and stomped their way through the first set then had a break. Bra and Pan were having a great time and moved away from the railing to dance with some friends from school, leaving Trunks and Goten to drink their beers and feel old.
"The new guitarist is really something. They never sounded that good when Roy was playing with them." Goten told him as they waited for the band to come back.
Trunks had found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the magenta haired girl, and it disturbed him. He had a girlfriend now...one he cared about a lot even if he hadn't had the chance to tell her yet. But there was something about the girl onstage, the way she jumped and danced around in wild abandon while she played in her black dress and electric blue socks that made him smile...she was cute.
"You get the next round." Goten said when they had finished their beers. Trunks made his way downstairs to the bar after ignoring Pan and Bra's requests to get them 'real drinks'. He was waiting for the drinks when he sensed a familiar ki. He looked around the floor at the crowd who were dancing to a DJ while they waited for the band to return. He took the beers as he scanned the room trying to locate the person. He looked up at Goten who was talking to the pretty green haired keyboard player as he leaned against the railing with his back to him...he'd be no help. Then over by the side of the stage he saw a familiar profile.
Yamucha? What's he doing here? Trunks wondered. He didn't seem like the type to like this kind of music. He watched and as Yamucha moved to the side he saw that he was in an animated discussion with the magenta haired guitarist. She was gesturing emphatically and looked upset. She stabbed a finger toward the upper level before folding her arms and scowling at Yamucha. Trunks cocked his head to the side, something about the scowl...
The beers in his hands forgotten he started making his way toward them when he saw the tall singer come and tap the girl on the shoulder. She said something to Yamucha and disappeared backstage. Trunks was moving to intercept Yamucha when he lost him in the crowd. Trunks turned trying to see if he could see him but couldn't so he made his way back upstairs to Goten and the others.
***
"Thanks a lot." Shiro told the crowd when the band came back onstage to cheers. They had slightly changed the set up; there were now three microphones and in front of the drum kit there were several guitars lined up in stands. The magenta haired girl now had an acoustic guitar that seemed huge on her.
"This next part of our show is a little different from what those of you who have seen us before are used to." Shiro said when the applause had once again died down.
Marron stood a few steps back with her head down and her eyes lowered. She rested her arms on her guitar as she studied the toe of her boot and thought about the argument she'd just had with Yamucha.
She'd sought Yamucha out when during the break Aya had pointed toward the upstairs and said she was going to go and talk to her old boyfriend. She'd followed Aya's finger to where Goten stood at the railing drinking a beer and talking to Trunks. Trunks was here!
Her heart had started running like a rabbit and she excused herself and found Yamucha. Panicking she'd mentioned that both Goten and Trunks were there. And predictably Yamucha had advised just coming clean and stop trying to hide who she was. She was getting really sick of everyone saying that to her. She wished they would just understand she didn't want to disappoint her father, she doubted her mother would care as long as she was happy and made money.
She lifted her head and tried to see out past the lights...to see if she could see Trunks somewhere among the crowd. She took a deep breath, Yamucha and Shiro were right...she was hiding.
_Make your own future...be who YOU want to be, do what YOU want to do..._ She heard Yamucha's voice in her head again. She reached up and twined a lock of the magenta wig around her finger, she may not be ready to tell her father about her career choice but there was no reason not to tell Trunks after all he was her...what? Boyfriend? Lover? Who knew which? All those things aside he was her friend. He should understand.
Shiro was explaining to the crowd that he and the guitarist, he introduced her as 'Kuri' she noticed with a wry smile, had worked together in several bands before and that they would now be playing music they had written together during that time.
She was keeping the wig for now so she wouldn't be recognized as Trunks' girlfriend from the picture in the paper, but if Trunks and Goten recognized her so be it. And I'm definitely telling Trunks after the show...if he's still speaking to me by then, she thought, since a lot of the songs she and Shiro had written had been about their relationship.
She took off the rose colored glasses and tossed them behind her before stepping up to her microphone. Shiro saw her out of the corner of his eye and stopped talking his words dying on his lips when he saw the determined look on her face. She looked at him and put her hand over the mike.
"No more hiding..." She said and started to play.