Chapter 8: Slap The Bass

(Disclaimer!)

Peridot's P.O.V

I couldn't believe it; someone actually was volunteering to audition.

She sure was beautiful.

I was about to speak but the Amethyst jumped in front of me.

"So where are you from, what instrument do you play, what's your favorite music, how do you….." She said.

"Whoa whoa, back up Amethyst," I said pulling her back, "Take it easy with the questions. Sorry about that Lapis was it?"

Lapis chuckled and said, "Well it looks like she's an eager person."

She was looking at me.

"You look even cooler in person," she said, "I've seen you at the open mic."

Those words made me blush a bit.

She thinks I'm cool?

"Wait a second," Amethyst said, "Weren't you in another band a while back."

"Yeah but things got…. complicated," Lapis said.

It was obvious she didn't want to tell us what really happened.

"Well that was then and this is now," I said comforting her.

"So what are you waiting for?" Amethyst asked, "Show us what you can do!"

She was singing an old K's Choice hit "Everything for Free."

Her voice was perfect for what we were setting up.

She had that angst and moody tone, and it was incredible.

She stopped and looked at us both.

"That was….."

"Incredible!" I finished, "You're amazing."

Lapis smiled.

"Thanks Peridot."

Amethyst was jumping up and down on a bed.

Lapis look to me and I was blushing a bit.

Lapis looked at me funny.

"Um… why are you staring at my boobs?"

"Gah!" I said blushing madly, "I didn't mean to look I swear, they were just eye level and I…"

Lapis laughed.

"Chillax, its alright," Lapis said smiling, "I often get stared at a lot but I don't let it bother me."

Amethyst pulled me to the side.

"Moving on," she said, "So aside from doing the music thing for fun, I also want to participate in this upcoming battle of the bands which is in a couple of months."

"Shining Champions?" Lapis asked, "I've heard about that. Top 4 winners get a big cash prize right?"

"That's right," I said fixing my glasses, "Thought it'd be best to be to the point about our reasons."

Lapis chuckled and said, "Well let's not dwell on that. What's important is we stick together through good and bad."

"This is awesome," Amethyst said, "With the three of us united we're gonna dominate the world of rock!"

Lapis calmed her down.

"Easy there tiger, we're not quite there yet."

"What do you mean?" Amethyst asked.

"Don't get me wrong, when we did the audition we sounded good together, but there's one instrument that's just as important," Lapis explained, "What do you think it is?"

Amethyst was dumbstruck, but I had an idea.

"A bassist," Lapis and I surprisingly said in unison.

A small blush appeared on my face.

"Don't you play bass?" Amethyst asked.

"Nope," Lapis answered, "While I do play some occasional guitar, it won't be enough. We're gonna need that bottom sound to fully complete the band."

"Fair enough."

"Well you'll be happy to know that I'm sort of a music geek, so anything you guys might need advice on, I more than likely know about."

"So where exactly are we gonna find a bass player?" Amethyst asked, "We can't just recruit everyone from the open mic."

Lapis had an idea.

"I know just the place," she said.

Later we were walking to an underground pub.

"So why are we here again?" Amethyst asked.

"There's a show that happens here each month, and only the best bands get the slots," Lapis explained, "This band in particular has a stand-in bassist who is a monster."

We were all getting to the stage.

Lapis squeezed next to me.

"You don't mind if I squeeze in next to you right?"

"Yes…. no….. I mean, its alright with me," I said flustered.

Amethyst chuckled.

The lights went down and a band came out.

The bassist was a long blond haired chick with some kind of gem on her outfit.

They started playing a song.

I took this as an opportunity to use this band as a reference for my guitar playing.

"Tri closing your eyes," Lapis said, "Focus on the sound of the instruments."

I did as she told me.

I could hear how the bass is complementing the guitar with its harmonies.

"This bassist is on a whole new level."

"IT doesn't really sound like she matches the band's genre," I commented.

"That shouldn't matter. She's fusing her separate genre with their to make a new sound. As a guitarist or bassist, it is important to match the band, I won't lie, but its also important to make up a style. Try to make different genres flow together."

I was having fun, but Amethyst wasn't as amused.

"Ok I'll admit she's good but what makes her different from the others?"

"Wait for it," Lapis answered grinning.

As they got to the next song, the bass player was doing the technique known as 'Slap Bass.'

Amethyst's eyes widened.

"Holy fry bits!"

"I know right," I said.

"That's Pearl for ya," Lapis said, "I've been seeing her play a few gigs around town."

After the gig we went to the back of the stage.

"I've seen bass players in action but nothing like this," Amethyst said, "We've gotta get her in our group."

"PEarl is a beast when it comes to the bass," I said.

"Oh Pearl's just her nickname Peridot," Lapis said, "Her real name is (Truck horn) but everyone calls her Pearl."

"Question," I asked, "How did you manage to sneak us backstage?"

"Backstage passes," she answered showing them to us, "Won them for seeing 5 concerts in a row and they last for almost a year."

We went to the room where Pearl was.

I was about to knock but she opened the door.

"Yes can I help you?" She asked.

She noticed Amethyst.

"Oh hey, I haven't seen you in a while," Pearl said.

I was a bit nervous cause I was practically talking to a celebrity.

"Well…. This is kinda awkward for me to ask but….."

Lapis spoke for me.

"We'd like to have you as the bassist for our group," she said, "We came to see your show, and the skills you have are spectacular."

Pearl thought for a moment.

Amethyst was biting her toenails.

"Alright, sure," she said.

I rubbed my ears.

"I'm a little hard of hearing can you repeat that?" I asked.

"I'd be happy to join your group," Pearl repeated herself, "One one condition. You find me a song that can grab me the attention of a groovy chick."

"Ok that doesn't sound too hard," Lapis said, "But what song are you looking for in particular?"

"Anything that sounds good. Just meet me back here when you have something, ok? Ok good."

We were outside.

"Now we just gotta find out who's the groovy chick that Pearl likes."

"Oh that's easy," Lapis explained pointing at a pink haired girl.

"She looks like Rose Quartz," Amethyst said.

The pink haired girl turned around and she wasn't Rose Quartz.

"Who is that mysterious woman?" I asked.

"That's exactly what her name is; 'Mystery Girl'," Lapis said, "And she's even got a nice name. Its… (Truck Horn), but everyone calls her Mystery Girl."

"Well that's one problem solved," Amethyst said, "Now we need to find a song."

Back at the apartment, Amethyst and I were looking at songs.

"So many song choices," I said, "I doubt we'll be able to find something by tonight."

Amethyst was laid back relaxing on the couch.

"Don't worry P-dot, if you need help I'm here," she said, "I can stay up all night."

"Oh really?" I asked, "All night?"

"All night."

The next morning she was asleep.

"Amethyst wake up!" I said, "I found something!"

We were listening to a Red Hot Chili Pepper's tune, "By The Way."

Lapis listened to it and gave me a thumbs up.

"I think this is gonna work."

We were listening to it with Pearl.

She seemed a bit skeptical about it.

"Well….. that was interesting," she said.

I quickly spoke.

"Its ok if you think its terrible, but don't you worry," I said, "I'll find you another one, and if you don't like that one, I'll keep searching until I find one that you do like, no matter how long it takes."

"While that is appreciated, your friend Lapis also had a song that I found interesting," Pearl explained.

She put headphones on me and I listened to the song.

"And I think you'd be perfect to play it with Peridot," she said.

Stars formed in my eyes.

Later we were back at the cave playing the song.

Amethyst and Lapis were cheering us on.

"Isn't Peri amazing?" She asked to Lapis.

Lapis nodded.

"She is," she said, "Pretty cool you guys met at the same Open Mic."

Pearl was wowing the audience with her incredible slap bass techniques.

To match the tone of the song I was about to switch to a Funk setting until I remembered what Lapis said.

Try to make different genres flow together.

I kept at my setting I was at and did a guitar solo.

Pearl complimented it with a bass groove.

Amethyst held up a sign that said "You Rock Peridot!"

Pearl did a slap bass solo and ended the tune.

The crowd went nuts for what we just did.

I met the others back stage and Amethyst gave me a high five.

"Awesome stuff Peri," she said, "Looks like your guitar technology is useful for something."

Lapis gave me a tight hug.

I was blushing a dark red and Amethyst grinned.

"Don't. Say. A word." I mouthed.

Lapis then faced me.

"Looks like my advice helped out after all," she said, "Makes me glad I'm part of your band."

Amethyst was looking at Pearl talk with the mystery girl.

"Looks like she's laughing, but is she laughing with her, or at her?"

"Looks like its with her."

Pearl came back to us.

"So how did your talk go?" Lapis asked.

"Well we had a nice chit chat about music, she told me that my bass playing was out of this world."

"Sweet," Amethyst said.

"I asked her how she did her hair and she asked how I did mine and I told her, my appearance just mirrors the genre of music that I like and she chuckled saying, 'I know how that is'."

"Wow," I said.

"She also walked off after giving me her bra with some kind of code on it."

Amethyst looked at it.

"Dude… she just gave you her number!" She explained, "She wants you to call/text her and talk about stuff!"

Pearl was happy.

"Well, a deal's a deal," she said, "I'm in the band."

Amethyst and I high fives each other.

"Well what do you know?" I said, "A 4 piece band filled with outsiders from other areas in life."

Amethyst had a light bulb.

"Per, you just gave us the band name!" She said, "The Outsiders!"

"I like that," Lapis said, "Looks like we got a real genius on our hands."

I smiled at that comment.

Amethyst put her hand in the middle and we all did the same.

"1, 2, 3…"

OUTSIDERS!

Meanwhile…..

"You guys can't be serious!" Jasper said, "After everything I've done for you!"

"What you did to Lapis was cruel," Jade said, "She helped us and this is how you repay her, by dumping her for another chick and kicking her from the band."

"A necessary sacrifice," Jasper snapped, "Everything I did was for the good of this band."

"Bullshit," Amber said, "The only person you did this for is yourself. And honestly we've had enough of your attitude, so we found replacements."

A new singer and guitarist arrived.

"Am I being kicked out of the band that I put together?" Jasper said.

"We're done with your shit," Jade shouted, "We don't need this, and we don't need you. Just go!"

Jasper's girlfriend pulled her back.

"You know don't even think I'm coming back," she said.

"We don't," Jade said.

"Well that's cause I'm not."

"Good."

Jasper turned her back on them.

She was furious that her band would betray her like this.

She had wanted to make it to stardom with her as they were her childhood friends.

"Fine," she said.

She was putting up posters for auditions for her band.

"I'll do it myself."

She looked to the sky and grinned.