Hi readers! Here's the first official chapter of Bittersweet Memories. This takes place a while after the prologue. Enjoy~
Just to clear things up, the backstories were done in this order: Leaf, Dawn, May, Misty. I felt like they seem really OOC, so hopefully this chapter makes them more in-character.
I really recommend listening to the song while they're 'preforming'. It'll help you imagine whats going on. (:
[EDIT:] So I decided to extend this chapter and re-write some of it since it was really rushed. So... yeah. Here we go!
Disclaimer: I don't nor will ever own Pokemon or it's characters.
Suggested for ages 13+. There will be mentions of many T-Rated subjects. (Swearing, Drugs, Alcohol...) It won't be graphic, and I'll keep it as vague as I can, but the plot involves it so, sorry!
Bittersweet Memories
Chapter 1: The Competition
"Are you ready?"
A steady clapping arose from behind closed curtains.
"IF YOU AIN'T GOT NO MONEY TAKE YOUR BROKE ASS HOME."
The stage's velvet curtains drew back to reveal four dark silhouettes posed together in the center of the stage.
"IF YOU AIN'T GOT NO MONEY TAKE YOUR BROKE ASS HOME-"
The shortest figure snapped her fingers and the entire stadium was momentarily enveloped in a blinding white light.
"G-L-A-M-" the same figure started to sing, her navy hair swishing with each step as she took towards the front of the stage, grinning. "-O-R-O-U-S, yeah." She whipped around as the remaining girls chorused behind her. "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S"
"We flying the first class, up in the sky," A green-eyed brunette took the stage and strutted down the stage to join the bluenette. "Poppin' champagne, livin' the life." They exchanged a unenthusiastic glance as they moved to the set choreography. "In the fast lane, And I won't change, By the Glamorous, ooh the flossy flossy."
The crowd cheered wildly, singing the lyrics along with the girls and calling out their favorite band member's names. Behind the curtain, their manager studied her band's actions, her face tinged with disapproval. Something would have to be done about that.
...
"Thank God that's finally over." The bluenette sighed as she collapsed onto one of the dressing room's three bean bags.
Her ginger haired friend, Misty, nodded in agreement, grabbing a bottle of water from their mini-fridge. They had just finished another one of their infamous concerts in Hoenn. Who knew rocking out on stage alongside your friends and in front of thousands of adoring fans could be so... Tiring? Repetitive? Boring? She took a sip of her drink and studied the room. Decent. Small and under-decorated, but it gets the job done. Maybe her expectations are just high. She shrugged then tuned back in to what her friends were fussing about.
"...I just don't see why they have to make us do the meet and greet right now," a blue-eyed brunette whined, childishly stomping her feet. "The fans can just go Google us, right? Or go on eBay and buy autographs or something. They should go take a picture with the cardboard cut-outs. Use a green screen or something! Anything really! But right now? At least do it when I'm not sooo hungry..." She pouted and sunk into an unoccupied beanbag.
Misty nearly face palmed at her complaining band mate. "May... we have fifteen minutes of freedom right now. Instead of complaining, you should go get a quick bite to eat." May blinked at this revelation. After a few seconds of processing the information, she ran out of the room and in a blink of an eye was back, carrying a sandwich far too large for human consumption.
Well. Average human consumption.
After a few bizarre looks from the remaining members of the room, Misty just shook her head then plopped down on May's previous beanbag.
"mrphffff-EY." May shouted will a mouthful of sandwich. After swallowing, she continued, "My beanbag! ...Uhh Misty, speaking of which, what happened to yours? There are only three here."
The redhead nonchalantly whistled, while in the last beanbag, the other brunette sweat dropped and spoke up. "The Mallet happened." The green-eyed girl said, earning her knowing, but slightly terrified looks. "While you and Dawn were out doing who-knows-what," she paused and raised a brow accusingly, "we were finishing up our outfits and well... the beanbag got in her way." She shook her head then dismissively waved her hand to the corner of the room when in tattered pieces, fluff and little bits of yellow and red leather were strewn about.
Misty opened her mouth to protest when-
"GIRLS! GET OUT HERE. YOU HAVE TO MEET YOUR FANS, DARLINGS!" A shrill, effeminate voice rang out through the entire backstage of the stadium.
It was voice so scarring that it could make Misty become passive, Dawn hate shopping, Leaf be apathetic, and even May stop devouring her sandwich- key word: could. After a brief moment of horror, she continued to eat her sandwich happily. Which was already three-fourths of the way done, mind you.
The overly-enthusiastic, peppy, disturbing, man-lady-err... person... flounced in, his purple locks bouncing about. "Let's goooo!" He giggled, grabbing the wrists of each band member and dragging them out. Including a very peeved May, whose sandwich laid tragically on the floor.
...
The girls were seated at a simple table against a wall of a fairly large room. They sat side by side- Leaf, Misty, May, and Dawn; Smiling at the crowd, calming her still-irritated neighbor, being that still-irritated neighbor, and in deep thought, respectively.
"Quiet down darlings," Their manager's assistant, aka the 'one-and-only' Harley, cooed. The once excitedly chattering crowd began to quiet down into whispers, their attention drawn to the grinning purple-haired man. "Now I know you all want a chance to take a picture with the girls and get their autographs," A few cheers and 'hell yeahs' scattered through the audience, "But that will be done after this Q&A. Wouldn't you like to get to know them more? Okay. Well let's make this quick and start off already. Remember, you have 30 minutes. Aaaaand...go!" He winked and scooted to the side of the room.
A series of hands shot up. "Umm... you in the back." Misty pointed to a short man with a curly 'fro.
"Hi, Adam, from MYX TV(*)." He stood up curtly and waved a hand. "So, I was wondering..."
Dawn tuned out of the conversation. He was probably just asking what their favorite Pokemon was or something like that. She sighed and picked at her nails. Something kept tugging at the girl's mind. This was their last show for a while, but where would the band go on to next? Probably just take a break to write more songs then go back and do even more concerts. She wasn't even sure if she wanted this life. The blunette was positive her friends felt the same way too. In their latest concerts they've been going through routine. Every step, every song, every smile. Nothing was real lately, but their fans didn't seem to notice. Don't get them wrong, they truly loved to perform. The girls just had a lack of inspiration that's all. And lack of inspiration means no new songs.
Being famous wasn't the plan, but each and every one of them had their own purpose for it. Misty was here because of image. She wanted to prove to her sisters that she could but just as amazing as they were. It wasn't her ideal way to live her life, but no one could complain about fame and fortune. One look at her and you would think she's this gorgeous, cute, fashionista. But those who got to know her truly saw her hard-core, athletic, violent-but-caring personality. She was forced to pretend to be someone she was not, just to fit her sister's standards.
Leaf on the other hand was here because of support. They've all been together since the very beginning, and this band was formed as a way for the girls to stick together and express themselves. She was an unwanted child, with no one to turn to. And ever since certain... incidents, she hadn't been able to trust anyone else as easily. Not like they'd even let anyone remotely near her who could cause her pain. Sure, they were overprotective, but she couldn't get hurt. Not again. She inspired them to make this band. She put so much emotion into her songs and words, it all had to be from past experience.
May... She's such a sweet heart. One look and her natural personality makes her seems like a dense, innocent little girl. She'd be through so much tragedy, too much for one person alone to take. She turned to the girls in her time of need and they were there to support her. They always will be. As shallow as it sounds, she's in all of this for the money. Until you realize every penny goes straight to her little brother's medical bills. Though to be in the spotlight all the time wasn't her intention, it was a hell of a step up from her days at the fast food joints.
And as for herself, Dawn was here to set herself straight and be with her friends. During her younger years as a teenager she was all screwed up. Joined the wrong crowd, got involved in some seriously bad stuff... She was addicted to it all. Something deep inside of her just wants to go back to how it used to be. Though unbeknownst to her girls, once in a while temptation really gets to her. It was all so easy; skipping school, stealing, drugs. Oh man. Those really made you feel on top of the- 'No. I have my friends to support me, and no way in hell am I gonna go back to how it used to be.'
"What about you, Miss Dawn?"
'...what. Oh yeah, we're in a Q&A. My bad.'
"Um... could you repeat the question please?" She grinned sheepishly. She did tend to zone out. Dawn wondered how long the conference has gone for already.
"Do you have any siblings? Miss Leaf said she had none, as did Miss May." The young, pre-teen fangirl questioned.
'Great. She's one of those people who add 'Miss' in front of our names. It can get pretty annoying, even though they're just being polite. I mean, do I look old to you? Pft. 'Miss'. Whatever.'
Wait, did she say May had no siblings? Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. May didn't want for Max to be known, the media would probably tear up that story to pieces and not leave her-or him- alone.
"Umm... No I don't sweetie." She put on a cheesy smile as the girl nodded and sat back down.
Out of nowhere good ol' Harley jumped out to stop the curious audience from asking any more questions. "Okay dolls, times up! Hope you got to know your favorite band even better now. Now they'll be glad to take some pictures and sign some autographs if you can get into a straight, orderly line..."
Poor guy never got to finish before he was tackled down.
...
After the session with the fans, the girls sauntered back to their rooms, tired, grouchy, but relieved it was all over.
"You guys," Dawn, still thinking about her earlier question, spoke up. "What are we doing after this?"
"Visiting my brother." May responded, changing into a comfortable pair of sweats and a v-neck. "He'll be glad to know this thing is over. For now, at least."
"No... I mean, after this concert?" She gestured to her surroundings. "We don't have any more performance dates coming up for some reason."
"I'll tell you what you girls will be doing." A new voice cut in. Sounding smooth, but impatient.
"Solidad? What do you mean?" Leaf jumped up from her beanbag and walked over to her manager.
"I mean, what happened to you guys? You haven't been giving it your all lately." The pinkette's eyebrows gathered together in a 'v' as she demanded answers.
"We've just lost inspiration lately." Misty piped up, shrugging her shoulders. "It's no big deal. You know we have a lot going on."
Solidad sighed and brought her hand to her temples. "I know, but your producer doesn't. Your contract is ending soon, and if you don't shape up, he might not renew it."
A series of gasps were heard throughout the room. "You can't be serious." Dawn said, flabbergasted. "We've been working under him for years! He can't do that!"
Their manager shook her head. "You know perfectly well he can. He never dared to, since you guys were his main source of profit. But he recently discovered a new group- one that is a major threat to you guys. He's trying them out now, so if their album sells, you'll have serious competition." She paused, looking at her band's gaping faces. "You guys will have a few months or so to show him you really can do it. And work your butts off damn it!"
After their initial shock wore off, May raised her fist. "Hell yeah we will. He'll regret even thinking of letting us go!" She said with a determined expression.
Solidad smiled a small, but proud smile. The smile faded away quickly as she sheepishly added, "Oh yeah. And remember what I said about telling you what you're going to do next?"
She received a round of nods and 'uh-huhs'.
"Weeeell... To see which group he'll decide on, either you or his new band," She rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of their reaction. "You'll be going on tour with them."
The room was eerily quiet for a while as some of the band members exchanged glances. Leaf turned around slowly to face Solidad with an unreadable expression on her face.
"You mean we have to tour... With the girls who are trying to make us lose our job..." There was a silence as they uneasily watched a ridiculously calm Leaf, waiting for an explosion of fury and murderous threats.
What they got was even scarier.
Leaf threw her head back and started laughing maniacally, rubbing her hands together as her chortle boomed through the entire room.
"MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA... HAHAHAHAHA..HAHA..Hah." Her fit of evil laughter slowly died down as her friends stared at her awkwardly, unsure at how to react to the strange situation.
Misty shook her head and looked and her questionably. "Sometimes I'm worried about your sanity." She sighed, "I don't know if it's even safe to ask, but what are you planning, Leaf?"
"You better not be thinking about doing anything mean." Dawn reprimanded. "They could be nice for all we know. In fact, we might be really good friends with them! Oooh!"
Leaf turned to her red-headed friend with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Oh nothing... I agree with Dawn, I'm just really excited to meet our new friends."
Dawn grinned triumphantly, ignorant to the skeptical stares from the others.
"Umm. Okay then..." Solidad stated unsurely, "Well then, go home and get some sleep- You'll be meeting them in the morning."
The girls nodded together and grabbed their bags, filing out of the room. A certain pair of brunettes were left alone, one of them sending a curious expression to the other.
"I have a feeling that this isn't going to be pretty."
"You betcha. Our lovely competition is going to get a welcoming present. You know... Welcome them to the business."
The blue-eyed one smirked. "Just don't get carried away now."
"No promises there."
(*) This one show I found while on vacation a long time ago. It shows like the latest top songs and info about the music and has cute little hosts.
Leaf is plotting... I thought we needed a few pranks for next chapter, no? ;) Boys will be in next chapter.
A few people have told me how they usually don't read fics where they're popstars/in a band/etcetc. Just wanted to put it out there that this /will/ be one, but like I said in the prologue, a ton of my inspiration came from music, and I had to find a way to incorporate it in without them getting too high school musical-like. I'll make sure to keep it interesting with plot twists, though.
Also: I need a band name people! For both the guys, and the girls. I was thinking of just making the girls' "Bittersweet" to tie into the story. What do you think?
& Feel free to give me OCs. Some maybe big characters, or maybe they'll just have a quick
Don't forget to review. ;)
~Brie