After the security guard had checked their purses, the girls stepped
inside. Vanessa looked around as the lights flashed and rotated in time
with the music. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the stage, where she saw
six teenagers of ages ranging from fourteen to nineteen from the looks of
it.
There were two lead singers: a guy with one ear pierced and wavy brown hair, and a girl wearing a light-blue dress covered in sequins that came down to her knees, and huge gold hoop earrings. Her short, blond hair whipped about her face as he spun her into his muscular arms.
On either side of them were a girl with a slightly round face and a fluffy, multi-colored barrette pulling her shoulder-length dirty-blond hair off of her face, and a boy with short, light brown hair dressed in khakis and a blue tee-shirt. His cheeks puffed out as he played his saxophone like no one Vanessa had ever heard before. The girl wore an orange halter top and black slacks with tiny silver beads that seemed to play games with the lights. Her hand moved so quickly over the strings that it was near impossible to see.
On the far right was a girl on the drum set with long, reddish-brown hair streaked with a different color, but all of the flashing lights made it hard to tell what color it was. She wore a blue tank top covered with beads and ribbons. She seemed oblivious to all around her except for the driving beat of her own drums. The sticks in her hands seemed to move of their own volition. It seemed so effortless that Vanessa thought that if she let go, the sticks would continue to fly by themselves.
The boy on the far left was on the keyboard. He leaned forward on the accented notes to further articulate the pulsing beat. He had scruffy brown hair, strewn disobediently every which-way. He was awkwardly tall and as skinny as a twig. He had to bend down to reach the keys. But clumsy as he appeared, his keyboarding talent was incomparable!
"Aren't they great?" Catty whispered, noticing how Vanessa was staring.
She turned to Catty, casting one last glance at the stage before shrugging her shoulders and responding, "They're okay. They're not that good, though."
Catty laughed. "Yeah right! You're just saying that because they're competition for Michael's band."
"I am not!" she cried indignantly.
Just then, her boyfriend, Michael Saratoga, came up behind her and spun her around. "Michael. . ."
"Hey Vanessa," he said, brushing a few strands of yellow hair off of her forehead. His own curly, black bangs fell over his forehead. He jerked his head toward the stage to indicate Sniper. "Amazing, aren't they?" he asked with a smile.
Vanessa smiled brightly and answered "Yeah! They're incredible!" Catty, Jimena, Tianna, and Serena looked at each other and rolled their eyes as Michael took Vanessa's hand.
"What makes them even better is that they give me a chance to get off the stage and onto the dance floor. . .with you."
Vanessa blushed as the song came to an end and the two lead singers each took a step up to the microphone. The guy shouted into it and the sound reverberated through the room. "GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENIN' L.A!!!" The crowd cheered as he chuckled and continued. "I always wanted to do that. So I hope y'all are havin' a good time tonight! ARE Y'ALL HAVIN' A GOOD TIME?" The whoops and applause came like a roar of thunder when it's directly overhead.
Then the blonde girl took over. "Well for any of you who don't know who we are, we're gonna introduce ourselves! This guy right here who's entirely insane but mostly harmless is JAAAAAKE ATKINS!!!"
Then Jake shouted over the wild applause. "And this beauty by my side goes by the name of NATALIEEEEE HIRSCHA!!!"
"Tearin' it up on the saxophone is LERATO PARSONS!!! We found him on the side of the road and decided to take him with us!!!" He improvised a few bars of solo, and then nodded to Jake to continue the introductions.
"Over there, dominating the drums is my adorable kid sister with the sticks that do tricks, FAAAAAITH ATIKINS!!!" She waved one of her sticks in the air and played about 10 seconds of drum solo, then pointed her sticks at Natalie so she could introduce the next band member.
"This lovely lady thrashing on the guitar is my long lost sister, raised by wolves. . .AIMEEEEE HIRSCHA!!!" Aimee struck a few dissonant chords on her electric guitar and howled into her microphone.
And once again, Jake took the microphone back from Natalie and indicated the lanky guy on the keyboard. "And over here on the keyboard is my big brother, KEVIN ATKINS!" Then he lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "Don't worry. He plays better than he looks."
Once the applause died down, he continued. "But put us all together, and we're. . ."
All six of them shouted together, "SNIPER!!!" They all moved their arms as though they were aiming invisible bows and arrows, and they all exhaled together in a short puff to create the sound effect of the arrow being released. "Hoo!"
"Oh shoot! I missed the target!" Jake shouted over the crowd. Suddenly there was silence. No one laughed.
Then Natalie playfully shoved him aside and spoke into the mike. "But you didn't come here to listen to Jake's corny jokes, did you? You guys all came here to DANCE!!!" Once again, the crowd roared.
"What to you think?" Jake asked, "Should we give them what they want?" Everyone whooped and screamed as Lerato heralded the next song with a trill on his saxophone.
There were two lead singers: a guy with one ear pierced and wavy brown hair, and a girl wearing a light-blue dress covered in sequins that came down to her knees, and huge gold hoop earrings. Her short, blond hair whipped about her face as he spun her into his muscular arms.
On either side of them were a girl with a slightly round face and a fluffy, multi-colored barrette pulling her shoulder-length dirty-blond hair off of her face, and a boy with short, light brown hair dressed in khakis and a blue tee-shirt. His cheeks puffed out as he played his saxophone like no one Vanessa had ever heard before. The girl wore an orange halter top and black slacks with tiny silver beads that seemed to play games with the lights. Her hand moved so quickly over the strings that it was near impossible to see.
On the far right was a girl on the drum set with long, reddish-brown hair streaked with a different color, but all of the flashing lights made it hard to tell what color it was. She wore a blue tank top covered with beads and ribbons. She seemed oblivious to all around her except for the driving beat of her own drums. The sticks in her hands seemed to move of their own volition. It seemed so effortless that Vanessa thought that if she let go, the sticks would continue to fly by themselves.
The boy on the far left was on the keyboard. He leaned forward on the accented notes to further articulate the pulsing beat. He had scruffy brown hair, strewn disobediently every which-way. He was awkwardly tall and as skinny as a twig. He had to bend down to reach the keys. But clumsy as he appeared, his keyboarding talent was incomparable!
"Aren't they great?" Catty whispered, noticing how Vanessa was staring.
She turned to Catty, casting one last glance at the stage before shrugging her shoulders and responding, "They're okay. They're not that good, though."
Catty laughed. "Yeah right! You're just saying that because they're competition for Michael's band."
"I am not!" she cried indignantly.
Just then, her boyfriend, Michael Saratoga, came up behind her and spun her around. "Michael. . ."
"Hey Vanessa," he said, brushing a few strands of yellow hair off of her forehead. His own curly, black bangs fell over his forehead. He jerked his head toward the stage to indicate Sniper. "Amazing, aren't they?" he asked with a smile.
Vanessa smiled brightly and answered "Yeah! They're incredible!" Catty, Jimena, Tianna, and Serena looked at each other and rolled their eyes as Michael took Vanessa's hand.
"What makes them even better is that they give me a chance to get off the stage and onto the dance floor. . .with you."
Vanessa blushed as the song came to an end and the two lead singers each took a step up to the microphone. The guy shouted into it and the sound reverberated through the room. "GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENIN' L.A!!!" The crowd cheered as he chuckled and continued. "I always wanted to do that. So I hope y'all are havin' a good time tonight! ARE Y'ALL HAVIN' A GOOD TIME?" The whoops and applause came like a roar of thunder when it's directly overhead.
Then the blonde girl took over. "Well for any of you who don't know who we are, we're gonna introduce ourselves! This guy right here who's entirely insane but mostly harmless is JAAAAAKE ATKINS!!!"
Then Jake shouted over the wild applause. "And this beauty by my side goes by the name of NATALIEEEEE HIRSCHA!!!"
"Tearin' it up on the saxophone is LERATO PARSONS!!! We found him on the side of the road and decided to take him with us!!!" He improvised a few bars of solo, and then nodded to Jake to continue the introductions.
"Over there, dominating the drums is my adorable kid sister with the sticks that do tricks, FAAAAAITH ATIKINS!!!" She waved one of her sticks in the air and played about 10 seconds of drum solo, then pointed her sticks at Natalie so she could introduce the next band member.
"This lovely lady thrashing on the guitar is my long lost sister, raised by wolves. . .AIMEEEEE HIRSCHA!!!" Aimee struck a few dissonant chords on her electric guitar and howled into her microphone.
And once again, Jake took the microphone back from Natalie and indicated the lanky guy on the keyboard. "And over here on the keyboard is my big brother, KEVIN ATKINS!" Then he lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "Don't worry. He plays better than he looks."
Once the applause died down, he continued. "But put us all together, and we're. . ."
All six of them shouted together, "SNIPER!!!" They all moved their arms as though they were aiming invisible bows and arrows, and they all exhaled together in a short puff to create the sound effect of the arrow being released. "Hoo!"
"Oh shoot! I missed the target!" Jake shouted over the crowd. Suddenly there was silence. No one laughed.
Then Natalie playfully shoved him aside and spoke into the mike. "But you didn't come here to listen to Jake's corny jokes, did you? You guys all came here to DANCE!!!" Once again, the crowd roared.
"What to you think?" Jake asked, "Should we give them what they want?" Everyone whooped and screamed as Lerato heralded the next song with a trill on his saxophone.
