Chapter 3

*Zing*

"No no no! The timing's off!" MJ shouted at her bandmates.

"What are you talking about?" Betty furrowed her brows in frustration. "I'm following Gwen's beat,"

Gwen gave them a slight shrug while removing one of her earphones. "Don't look at me. It's the same beat like we always do,"

"Well this time isn't 'like we always do' is it? We gotta amp it up," MJ said, frustration tinging her voice. "Come on girls, we talked about this before!"

"MJ relax!" Betty shouted back at MJ "We're doing a gig! Not an F1 race!"

"Or pod-racing," Glory joked under her breath to Gwen. Gwen snickered at the quip.

"What's that supposed to mean?" MJ glared at Betty.

Betty stared back at her defiantly. "It means, we do like we always do. None of this 'high octane, high energy' nonsense you've been blabbing about,"

MJ slammed the mic she was using into the ground.

*BANG, Zonk, Whizzzz*

Gwen flinched at the ringing caused by MJ.

"Blabbing? Do you even hear yourself now Brant?" MJ gritted her teeth.

"Are you Watson?" Betty retorted back.

"Uggghhh!" MJ groaned in frustration. "Don't you get it? The first gig makes or breaks a band! We've gotta make sure it's perfect!"

"No it doesn't!" Betty shouted back at her. "Come on MJ, the whole point is for experience & exposure. We're all a nervous wreck right now, but you're taking it to a whole new level,"

MJ nostrils starts to flare out in anger. "No I'm not. I'm being careful," she fumed back at Betty. "I want us to do well for a change," she said in a slight accusatory tone.

"Yeah? So do I. What's your point Watson?" Betty stood her corner, and is now facing MJ head on.

Gwen lets out a low sigh as she looked at her two best friends fighting each other. Gwen picked up her sticks and slammed her cymbals hard.

*CRASH*

"Ok people, COOL IT!" She shouted, as her friends flinched at the crash of her cymbals. "Maybe we've done enough practice for today,"

MJ started to open her mouth to argue, but Gwen stopped her in time. "Uh-uh, no, we've gotta take a break MJ," Gwen argued. "Otherwise, all we'll end up doing is just tire ourselves out before the show,"

MJ looked around at her bandmates, who all shrugged in agreement with Gwen. "Ughhhh! FINE!" MJ exclaimed as she slumped down in a nearby couch. "Fine, fine, fine," she continued with her shoulders slumped in defeat. "You're right," she lets out a soft sigh.

"Whooo! Thanks 'Captain' Stacy!" Glory chuckled as she gave Gwen a salute.

"Grant, shut up," Gwen rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'll go grab us a drink," Gwen said as she got up and head towards the door.

"There's a honey-herb tea I asked my mom to make up in the fridge," MJ said, head still slumped by her shoulders. "Thanks Gwen,"

"Plain water's fine for us," Betty added, as she gestured towards herself & Glory.

"So, heard Flash made quite a commotion earlier," Glory said casually, as they sat around tuning their respective instruments.

MJ scoffed at her remark. "It's Flash, it's always about him. His world only revolves around him, what'd you expect,"

"That's rich, coming from someone who used to date him," Betty smirked slightly.

MJ stuck out her tongue & pretended to vomit. "Don't remind me, please,"

"Man you two's taste in men, sucks!" Glory chuckled at Gwen & MJ.

Gwen rolled her eyes while giving her a slight smirk. "I'm not exactly proud of Young Gwen moments,"

"Hey! That just means we're destined to be besties," MJ placed her hand on Gwen's shoulders before dragging her for a quick hug. "Just another thing for us to bond over,"

Betty scoffed at MJ. "What? Over your terrible tastes in men? No thanks," This time it was Betty's turn to pretend to gag.

"Right, and you dating that washed-up reporter, just screams 'Good Taste'," Gwen retorted as she flashed Betty her most condescending smile.

Betty stuck her middle her finger out towards Gwen. "Leave Eddie out of this," she said off-handedly, while chewing on her gums.

"At least you & Betty have a taste," Glory quipped towards Gwen, before turning towards MJ. "What's this I hear about you being into nerds now?"

"Ugh, shut up," MJ smiled as she threw a nearby cushion towards Glory (Hey!). "What's wrong with getting more people to watch our gig?" MJ grinned to herself. "Besides, I'm inviting him coz he's my t-,"

"Tutor. Yeah, yeah, spare us the bullshit," Betty rolled her eyes at MJ's remark. "We know you have a crush on him,"

"W-What?! Noo!" MJ denied, her face blushing slightly at the accusation. "Ok fine, maybe a little," she continued, her smile slowly growing wider and wider. "I just wanna tease him so bad u know," she said as she scrunched up her face in delight.

Gwen shifted uncomfortably at her seat, away from everyone's gaze, as they continued with their conversation.

"Besides, Peter's not as big of a nerd as you think," MJ added.

Betty lets out a small laugh at MJ's remark. "Look at you, backing up your new boyfriend,"

"Fuck off," MJ threw another cushion at Betty, which she avoided handily. "He's not though,"

"Even a blind person can see Parker's a sweaty nerd," Betty scoffed.

"They say love is blind," Glory mulled out to herself loudly. "But I guess it's also deaf, mute & crazy," she chuckled out loud.

" 'Fuck', right, off, Grant," MJ shoved her middle finger towards Glory, all the while smiling at her friends.

Glory chuckled as she turned her attention back towards her Bass Guitar. "So did 'tiny tutor' have anything to do with Flash earlier?"

MJ took a big gulp from her Honey-Herb-Lemon extract, before wiping her mouth with her sleeves. "Donno, Flash being flash I guess,"

"Blegh, stereotypical jocks," Betty blench in disgust.

"I donno, I wasn't there when it started," MJ shrugged her shoulders. "I guess Peter must've pissed him off or something,"

"Pfft, your nerdy boyfriend doesn't have the guts," Betty scoffed.

"MJ's right," Gwen added nonchalantly. The other girls eyes widened in surprise, as they stared at her. "She's right, Peter kinda started it," Gwen shifted in her seat uncomfortably at their collective stare. "Well, technically it was between Flash & Ned b-,"

"NO WAY?!" MJ drowned out Gwen's last statement. "Seriously?!"

Gwen blinked in surprise for a few moments. "Y-yeah, he was standing up for Ned,"

Betty mulled it over for a few moments before continuing. "Wow, guess tiny tutor Peter, had it in him after all,"

MJ leaned back in her seat, still slightly surprised. "Woah, Peter's like, a whole different person these days huh?"

Glory turned her attention towards Gwen. "Come on Gwen, dish," Glory went right up to her face. "You've known Parker the longest,"

MJ raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her statement. Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "We're neighbors, and we went to the same middle school, I guess," Gwen answered, leaving a few details out to avoid the question.

"Come on Miss Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy," Glory smirked at her. "I've seen you two talking before," Glory continued to tease Gwen, with MJ chewing her drink nonchalantly.

Gwen rolled her eyes, as she glared back at Glory. "He's always late to class, he hangs out with his nerdy friends, he has terrible fashion sense, he spaces out & dozes off all the time," Gwen fires back a retort. "I doubt I'd even call him a nerd, more like 'slacker'," Gwen said with as much venom as he could in her voice.

Glory blinked back in surprise, slightly taken aback at Gwen's response. "O-okay,"

"Yeah, I wish he'd dress better," MJ chimed in. "He's wasting all that Nerdy Cuteness,"

"Yeah! Who even wears baggy sweaters in the middle of summer!" Gwen continued her rant. "For one, they're clearly two sizes too big for him. And it's the middle of frickin' summer, just wear a t-shirt! Talk about common sense!"

Betty held her hand up in mock fear, trying to calm Gwen down. "Woah, there, Mom, chill," Betty grinned as she listened to her rant. "Who knows, maybe he's hiding some rocket abs under there?" she joked before chuckling in unison with the rest of the girls.

"Ugh, all this girl talk is making me hungry," Betty remarked as she rubbed her growling stomach. "MJ, mind getting us something to eat before we starve to death?"

"Yeah, I can't perform on an empty stomach," Glory chimed in.

MJ rolled her eyes in annoyance at her friend's antics. "Fine, I'll go grab us something," she murmured as she went to grab her keys. "Anything specific?"

"Nope, just whatever's fine," Betty brushed her off nonchalantly.

"I'll go with you then," Gwen said as she brushed her pants down, as she got up from her drum set. "I'll help you carry some of the stuff,"

MJ looked at her in exaggerated shock. "Whoa, what's gotten into you Stacy?"

Gwen brushed it off. "Or, I could stay here & be lazy, like the rest," (Hey!)

MJ grinned at her best friend. "Chill there ice queen, I'm just teasing. Come on," MJ said, as she dragged Gwen into her van. "Dad! I'm borrowing the van!" She shouted up into her house, before entering the van.

"The van? Why not just walk over to Harold's like usual?" Gwen said as she wore her seatbelts.

MJ brushed it off casually. "Nah, I'm feeling Chinese today,"

Gwen nodded off-handedly. "Ni zai zuo shenme?"

MJ blinked in confusion for a few moments. "The fuck?"

Gwen blushed slightly before brushing it off. "N-nothing, just drive Watson," Gwen sighed in exasperation.

As they eased out off the driveway, Gwen stared out the window onto the driveway. "You got your license?"

"Pfft, relax officer, I learned how to drive with my dad since last month," MJ brushed her off. "Besides, who's gonna bring our sets along to all our gigs in the future eh?"

"So that's a no then?"

MJ rolled her eyes, a small smirk playing on her lips. "What, you're gonna report me to your dad now Stacy?"

Gwen smiled slightly at the suggestion. "Just shut up & drive Watson," she said while shaking her head.

They continued to drive in silence for a few minutes, Gwen noting the setting sun by her side window. "So, MJ. You said something about Peter flaking on you before?"