FAUX REAL

20

"Want a beer?" Chanyeol asks, handing me a tall can of Pabst Blue Ribbon from the mini-fridge as Suga slumps down beside me and pulls out a baggy of weed. "You played your ass off today, dude. If you keep going at this rate, we might be able to play Battle of the Bands in December."

"Battle of the Bands?" I ask, grabbing the beer from his hands, the cool sensation pleasant against my fingers. Fucking rights I played well.

"Yeah, it's gonna be sick," Jihyo adds, slumping down in the tattered armchair. "We came this close to winning last year but suga had to go and get shitfaced the night before and fuck up his solo." she glares at our guitarist. "But this year, we're not going to shotgun before our set, right?"

"Oh fuck off, let it go girl, I had one too many. Lesson fucking learned," he mutters as he rolls a fat spliff. "We're going to kill it this year, don't worry."

"What happens if you win?" I ask.

"Winning band gets ten grand," she explains. "Plus a chance to play in front of an indie label. It's a pretty sick opportunity."

"Where's it held?" I ask, taking a sip of beer. A few thousand dollars of my own? Sign me the fuck up. "Is this a local thing?"

"Final show is upstairs," Chanyeol replies, kicking his feet up on the run-down coffee table littered with empties, blunt guts, and assorted fast-food wrappers. "So we have home-field advantage. Bobby, the owner of the bar is one of the sponsors."

"Really? That's cool," I say, my phone vibrating in my pocket. If he has ten grand to throw around, maybe he should spend some of it on fixing up the joint. "Well, I'm game."

"Fuck yeah you are," Jihyo exclaims as I read a text from Lisa.

Lisa: Did you see the article yet? It's full of complete bullshit but at least we look good LOL. Here's the link. Now I have evidence that you take showers :p

I open the link, grinning as I zoom into the touched-up photo from the fundraiser. If all librarians looked like her, I might actually read more books.

Jennie: Can't even tell that you were seconds away from slaughtering seulgi. A+ on that fake smile

Lisa: hah, I've been fake smiling since '03 babyyy... lots of practice

Jennie: Not gonna lie, that's a tad depressing...babyyy

Jennie: You drunk or something?

Lisa: LOL drunk on homework, shit keeps me wired

Lisa: We still on for a movie tmrw?

Jennie: for sure, pop by after dinner. I'll kick jisoo out so we can be alone ;)

Lisa: yeaaah...we're keeping the door WIDE open

Jennie: where's the fun in that? You worried something will happen?

The blue texting bubble ebbs and flows as I stare at my phone screen. She's way too much fun to mess with.

Lisa: door open. Non-negotiable

Jennie: we'll see about that, you can only resist me for so long ;)

Lisa: you're impossible

Jennie: I'm quite easy actually...all it takes is a little touch