Rising Phoenix Dojo

October 27, 200

6:37 PM

"Hey, Beanpole, is that you kicking around a bag of cats? Can you turn that racket down so the rest of us don't have our hearing ruined? I'm surprised the speakers haven't been shredded by that crap." Ben called out across the parking lot in front of the dojo, a smirk breaking out of his mouth. The truth was the guitar riffs coming from the open top of his friend's Mustang were very good, but somehow different than how he and Paul liked to play songs. He couldn't put his finger on exactly why, though.

Paul turned to find the source of the complaint and grinned when he saw the five foot tall brown haired boy approaching the convertible. "That's enough from the peanut gallery, Mouse! You wouldn't know real shredding if it tore your jacket to pieces!" He jumped out of the driver's seat over the car door as Ben stopped a few steps away, both automatically bringing their arms up for the high five that had become their typical way to say hello - and goodbye, nice job, and a variety of other phrases. It was more expressive than the head nod thing boys often did, and it had the added benefit of simultaneously driving the Dweeb nuts and bringing out her smile whenever they did it.

"That something new?" Ben said, nodding towards the car. "I haven't heard you play that before. Expanding your repertoire?", unconsciously using a Parisian accent and ignoring the momentary sour cherry taste the last word induced.

Paul grinned at his friend's reference to one of their earliest music conversations. "Yeah, I'm catching up on more mainstream rock. I'm gonna be playing some gigs soon with a dance music cover band; my usual song list won't go over so well."

"No shit?" Ben replied excitedly, adopting Paul's preference for colorful language. "That's really cool! How'd you get into that?"

"A couple weeks ago a guy I know from hanging out at the music store was bitching that the lead guitarist for his band just bailed to join up with some grunge guys in the City, the same day they got another school gig. I told him I could sit in and played a few licks on the demo rig, and - short story - now I'm in the band! ... At least for a few dances." Paul reached into the car and turned down the volume, then straightened back up.

"I've got to learn their song list now, and only the guitar parts so I don't overpower the guy singing and the rest of the band. Like this one. Recognize it?" He nodded towards the car's radio. Ben shook his head, although there was something about it that was familiar. Paul laughed. "Dude! That's Eddie Van Halen! Hang on..." he said as he reached in and advanced the cassette to the next track. "Here's the whole song instead of just the guitar track." Ben listened as David Lee Roth started belting out Dance the Night Away, grinning when he recognized the guitar riffs in the song. That's what was different - Paul was only playing the lead guitar line, not trying to cover guitar and vocals at once.

"That sounds like it would be a blast to play" he said.

"Yeah, doing Van Halen and Foo Fighters and stuff like that is OK. The dances are at a couple high schools and a junior high, so a lot of the songs are more pop and yacht rock than what I like, though. Including the obligatory make out tunes." He scowled and shook his head. "But that's what the paying customer wants, so..." He made a half frown and shrugged his shoulders.

"Make out tunes?" Ben said, raising his eyebrows along with the pitch of his voice.

"Yeah, you know, ballads and love songs and crap like that for slow dances." He laughed at Ben's puzzled look. "Have you been to a school dance, Squirt? Maybe you haven't seen it yet, but they're prime date bait. The slow tunes are a chance for kids to get up close and personal. ... Something I think you have recent experience with!" he grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah... That." Ben said slowly. He felt his face start to burn as Paul broke into a laugh. He had told Gwen he wanted Paul to know about them, but he didn't anticipate how his friend would stumble on them making out in semi-public. Not that it mattered; he knew his buddy would be OK with their situation, if not actually encouraging it. And Ben liked that he could be at least a little up front about his feelings for his more-than-best-friend. Even Paul's good natured ribbing was a relief from always having to hide their relationship.

"Heh, yeah that! ... it's not so bad when all they're doing is basically hugging and swaying side to side, even if that shows a serious lack of originality. Honestly, learning how to dance to a ballad isn't really that hard, you know ... and pretty fun with the right partner, I gotta admit." he said with a wistful look. "But the ones that get all handsy and just grope each other and try to swallow each other's tongues - not something I want to look at. I've seen it get really gross, to the point the chaperones end up separating kids like they're dogs in heat." Paul shook his head to clear away the vision. "That's just nasty!" he said, making a sour face.

Ben started to nod his head absently before giving his friend a sharp look. "Wait... You and Shiela were getting pretty personal when we played mini golf! How is that different?" he asked with a confused frown. Paul and his date mostly just did quick hugs and kisses that day, but it seemed to him - and Gwen, too, from the deep blush she got before she grabbed his hand and yanked him to the next tee - they got pretty carried away once, too. He'd seen his parents put on an embarrassing display more often than he could count (talk about gross!), and even his aunt and uncle a few times - in front of him and Gwen, to both their horror. It was one thing to see his parents do it, but to watch hers while he was standing right next to her? They both would have been happy to face Animo's bugs again rather than endure that! Ben thought he knew what the rules were for this sort of thing, but now he definitely wasn't sure.

Paul smiled ruefully and snorted. "Think so, huh? ... We might have gotten a little too into it, I guess. ... Listen, I'm not gonna dish on what Shiela and I do in private, that's between us - unlike what some of the douchebags in my school brag about - but we have the same idea of what not to do in public. The idea isn't to be as in your face as possible. Know what I mean?" Paul gave him an apologetic grin. "You two can figure out what you're OK with, but really, you don't need to maul each other when you're around other people."

Both boys stared at the car radio without talking as the Van Halen tune faded away and a new song started. Paul looked back at his friend, eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, speaking of date bait, this might be an opportunity! Don't you go to Bellwood Middle?" Ben nodded his head as Paul went on. "That's one of the gigs, in November before Thanksgiving. You should ask Feet to go." he grinned, shortening the Dweeb's nickname at the dojo. Then he remembered, cringing in response to Ben folding his arms and staring at his shoes.

"Oh shit, sorry dude, you two still aren't official. ... Hmmn. Maybe she could go with her friend..." he said, thinking out loud. He snapped his fingers a couple times with a look of concentration, "You know, the dark hair girl who came to the tournament last May... Michelle, isn't it? ... Lots of kids go in a group without dates. You could meet them there. Tell your folks you're going to see me play - which would be the truth. Just not all of it." He gave his buddy a conspiratorial grin and pitched his left eyebrow.

Ben looked up, thinking. "Yeah, that might work..." he said slowly.

He knew about the winter dance, of course - it was all the popular girls at school could talk about it seemed, and there were posters for it all over the friggin school. Not something he ever thought of going to, but now... He smiled at the memory of Joel's wedding and how his Dweeb taught him how to dance in the Rust Bucket; truth was he liked her lesson better than his actual dance with Lucy, even more than when things got messy and they got to go hero. It would be fun to be with her where she was unknown and they wouldn't have to be on guard every second. Gwen liked to dance, but she didn't have many opportunities for it.

Having Michelle tag along was a good call - she was cool to hang out with, their parents would see her as a workable substitute for 'adult supervision' (if they only knew!), and her snark when they got a little, er, personal was a small price to pay for getting out with Gwen for an evening. It would be a lot to ask, though; leaving her alone while he danced with his Dweeb might be hard for her to take. Then again, she'd have plenty of opportunities to dance if she wanted to - Ben wasn't blind, he had to admit Army Girl was pretty hot, too, even next to Gwen (and he was never going to say that out loud around either of them). She'd get all the attention she wanted to put up with; he could warn her about the biggest jerks when they got there.

Paul saw his smile but didn't say anything about it. Even so, a sly grin crept over his face while Ben was pondering how to get the girls to go. "I see I got you thinking, so here's something else for you to chew on. Remember I said performing for a crowd is fun? ... You have a pretty good handle on some of the songs these guys play - Everlong, some Gin Blossoms, that sort of thing."

"Yeeaaah..." Ben cocked his head to the right and furrowed his eyebrows, not sure where Paul was leading.

"The band likes to play an instrumental about five minutes before they get started to get the crowd to pay attention, sort of their signature thing. Know what I mean? They asked me if I could do that, but... what if you did it? Then stayed for another song to get things going? A lot of the songs they play really need two guitars."

Paul opened his eyes wider and cocked his head forward as Ben was about to explain just why that was a really, really awful idea. Playing for his classmates? He had fantasies about his adoring fans cheering his awesome licks when he was doing a concert, screaming his name and chanting 'HERE-OH, HERE-OH' ... But actually playing in front of the lame kids that barely gave him a first thought? He'd rather have another run in with that creep Zombozo, all things considered.

"Wait, wait... hear me out! I'll see if I can talk the band into letting you do it as a ... a special PR thing for other school gigs they're trying to snag. I'll figure something out. We played some tunes together pretty well before, I know you can get a couple ready if you want to. This gives you a chance to find out what it's like. And strut a little in front of your school - don't try to tell me you've never thought about doing something like that ! And if Gwen goes you can be her guitar hero for the night!" Paul was getting more animated as he kept talking.

He stopped talking for a few seconds with an earnest expression to let his idea take hold, then steam-rolled on before Ben could say no.

"While you're cogitating on that... You got any instrumentals that could work?"

Still very unsure about the whole idea, Ben replied cautiously "Um, well, I've gotten pretty good at the solo in My Sharona..." Paul grimaced and shook his head at that, so he considered his other options - he was working on some new tunes and almost had one down, but it wasn't a high energy piece like the tunes Paul was practicing. And there was the electrified William Tell thing... Nah, that wouldn't work - it really needed him playing two guitars, and as much fun as that fantasy was, it wasn't gonna happen - so the only thing left that he had solid was Cliffs.

"I could play Cliffs of Dover. I've gotten pretty good at it." His Dad always said it isn't bragging if you can back it up, and lately he was tearing the piece up, nailing the fast pick work and throwing in some short cadenzas and runs of his own. Besides, the Dweeb liked when he played it. He added an alternative in case Paul didn't think it was right for a dance, though. "I'm learning some Satriani tunes, too, but they're kinda low key for a dance."

Paul cocked his head sideways and murmured "No shit?" when he mentioned Cliffs, then laughed at the last bit. "Satriani?! I can just guess - low key as in serenade for a certain red head?" He laughed some more as Ben's face matched her hair color again. "No, that wouldn't be the right setting at all. ... All right, here's the deal - send me a recording so the band can listen and have a think about it and I'll let you know what they say. OK?"

Ben was about to argue when a flash of the parking lot flood lights off the dojo's glass door opening caught Paul's attention. He looked past Ben and said "Speaking of that red head..." in a low voice - a warning to change the subject, given the circumstances. Then he called out "About time you got out of there, Gwen. Dedication to the sport is one thing, but if you keep spending so much time in there Sensei will need to put a cot in the equipment room! It's not like you aren't ready for the blue test right now, you know."

Ben turned to see her walking their way in her immaculate white gi with his green windbreaker over top, her eyes lighting up as she locked them with his, and the curl at the corners of her lips expanding into her bright smile. He returned it with the one he kept for her and didn't bother trying to hide the shiver she sent down his spine.

"You're one to talk! I saw you smacking the training dummy around before I even walked in the front door today. And before the class last week when you were practicing the blue kata." Gwen said as she stopped next to Ben, dropping her gym bag next to his, brushing shoulders and smirking at the older boy, daring him for a come back.

Paul opened his mouth to try, came up empty and closed it back up. He held up his hands in surrender with a sheepish grin, "Well... ah, shit! ... I got nothing."

They all missed the minivan pull behind his Mustang and were startled by a short toot of the horn, Ben's mother behind the wheel with her usual smile. The two tweens picked up their stuff and headed to the van as Paul said "Don't forget, Squirt, send me that recording. Talk to you later."

As they settled into the back seat, Gwen gave her cousin a puzzled look. "What was Paul talking about? What recording?"

"Oh, we were talking music and I said I was getting pretty good at Cliffs of Dover. He called BS on me, the dirtbag, so he wants me to make a recording and send it to him as proof." He scowled for effect for a second.

"I'm gonna shred it and see what he says about that! ... After dinner you can help me with it!" Ben said, smiling happily again. It was true, as far as it went, and it was way easier than explaining the plot Paul was trying to hatch to her. Besides, if they could pull it off he wanted to make it a surprise.

Gwen returned his expression. "Yeah, OK!" she bubbled, followed by a noisy, exaggerated sniff and a wrinkled nose as she edged away from him. "First you've got to take a shower, though. Soccer practice makes you stink!"

"Give it a rest, Mom!" he yelled at the peals of laughter coming from the driver's seat, joined a second later from the obnoxiously awesome girl next to him.

"You too, Dweeb! You know I hate you, right?" he muttered with a mock scowl. "Evil, evil witch..."

She just laughed harder.

/