It Stays As It Was Left

2014.1991

November 15, 2014

The Time Warp Festival sat in the middle of the desert, swirls of orange sand dusting through the venue. If the festival were in a cartoon, a tumbleweed would've flown across the screen. Instead, Stevie traced her fingers along the smooth varnish of her guitar, taking deep breaths as she eyed her friends.

It had been almost twenty years since she performed on stage with the girls and she wondered if she still had what it took. She was forty-two, shit, her knees already ached and they hadn't even begun. Her days of jumping up and down, falling to her knees, and jumping into the crowd were over. Now, her performances consisted of her softly strumming a guitar, seated on a chair in the middle of the stage, chirping out the lyrics she thought up during sleepless nights.

Stevie let out another deep breath and Becca, her bassist and best friend since they played hopscotch over thirty years ago, pat her back softly.

"You're okay," She rasped out. "We're gonna go out there and kick ass just like we did in the nineties."

"Yeah!" Jeong-Hui, or Jenni to the fans, piped in. "And if we go out there and embarrass ourselves, at least we did it as a group."

Stevie let out an airy chuckle, trying her best to ignore the chants coming from the crowd. Camila, the band's second guitarist, breezed through the small crowd of technicians ensuring Jeong-Hui's drums were in perfect condition. She stopped for a second at the salt-and-pepper-haired man holding her guitar out for her and sent him a sweet smile, giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

Jimmy and Camila had been together since they were fifteen and had remained inseparable ever since. He had been her technician ever since the band started performing in the clubs they snuck into using fake IDs. She trusted no one else with her guitar and he trusted no one else with her safety.

"The crowd is huge," Camila laughed out. "I can't believe so many people still give a shit about us."

"Why wouldn't they?" Becca asked rhetorically. "We fucking rocked."

"Yeah," Camila agreed. "It's just crazy to me. The Chili Peppers are in the crowd. They wanna see us."

Stevie let out another breath. "Please, stop."

The girls let out a laugh.

"What's wrong?" Jeong-Hui asked. "You perform all the time."

"I don't know," She said earnestly. "It's just different."

"Is it 'cause your kids are here?" Camila asked, gesturing over to Zoë, who held Lola and Nakoa's hands tightly.

"No," Stevie smiled, watching as the little ones placed large headphones over their ears. "It's just been a while since I've played any of these songs."

"You be fine," Jeong-Hui reassured as she walked toward the stage.

It had been a tradition since their first big tour that Jeong-Hui would get on stage first, then Camila, then Becca, and finally, Stevie, who would flash the crowd a coy smile and begin to play.

She took her seat behind the drums and sent her husband, Sung-tae a shy smile. The crowd erupted as she pulled sticks out of her back pocket and she let out a giggle. Stevie felt a smile pull at her lips and she twirled a loc around her finger as Camila began her entrance.

Yet again, the crowd erupted in noise as she did a quick riff, disguising her nerves as testing the sound.

"Looks like it's my cue," Becca rasped out with a laugh. "I'll be right next to you the whole time. Don't worry."

She stood on the side of the stage, peeking out at the crowd.

"Holy shit," She chuckled. "Mila was right, The Chili's are here."