make-believe | jason newsted

ii

chapter two: there's the girl

It all started when the band's agent decided it would be a good (bad) idea to do a surprise pop-up concert in a bar. 

He explained that since they were going to be back in the studio recording for their next album in a couple weeks, they should do a one-off show for the "fans."

The "fans" in question were some random people who would just happen to see Metallica. Tickets weren't being sold, no ads were going to be out, it was just going to be Metallica showing up at this random place to perform. 

Jason didn't understand the point of this. If they wanted to a send-off for the fans while they went back to the studio, shouldn't they do it for real fans? Not some person who's heard nothing from them?

He kept his complaints to himself and just decided to go along with the rest of the band. As long as he was performing music, he was going to do it. Even if he hated the idea of a surprise concert.

To his delight, while they were setting up, some people recognized the band and got excited for what was to come. That gave him some relief, at least some of the people in the room were going to appreciate this. 

But still, Jason really didn't want to be doing this for regular people. It was out of his control, so he was going to push through it like the rest of the band would.

The band started playing not long after they were set up. They seemed to get the attention of people who were in the bar who may have heard of them. Some enjoyed the music, others not so much.

If he was being honest, Jason wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. It was a short set which wasn't a bad thing, but he would much rather be doing something else than play for some casual listener.

In the middle of their set, Jason's eyes landed on a girl in the crowd, one that stuck out like a blooming flower. She was looking Jason in the eye, a soft smile present on her face.

She was staring at him with so much affection in her eyes, it was almost creepy. Maybe she was high on something and was stuck in a trance. When Jason looked over, she winked at him.

Dancing to metal wasn't something that people did. Sure, there were mosh pits, which was most definitely not happening in an establishment full of non-metalheads.

But dancing? Nobody really dances to metal.

That didn't seem to apply to her. She was twirling around to the music, her movements somehow fitting with the aggressive sound. She didn't care about who was watching, simply letting the music flow through her.

Falling in love at first sight was something everyone thought of as a cliché. But at that moment, Jason almost messed up some bass lines from watching her. For him, it was love at first sight. Everything about her was perfect.

The freckles that adorned her skin, her soft pink hair, and her personality radiated with freedom and carelessness. It was like watching an angel in the middle of the dance floor, taking up the space to her delight.

Her eyes never left Jason for a second, and that boosted his ego a bit. He was making sure he was putting on the best performance to impress her, which was pointless. Jason's talent alone was enough to impress anyone.

Just like her eyes never left him, he never let up his gaze on her either. When given the chance, he would glance at her and that charming smile was ever present on her face.

It was obvious that she liked him, and she liked him a lot. He wondered if she knew who they were, but even if she didn't, he was still going to find a way to talk to her after their set was done.

Everyone's eyes were on her, and she didn't seem to care about being the center of attention. She sang along with the music and danced to her heart's content until they finished their set.

She kept her eyes on Jason as he and the band walked away at the end of their performance. He needed to take a second to calm down from all the energy from the show, but as soon as he was done, he would come back to meet her. 

Jason wondered if the rest of the band also noticed the girl in the midst of the crowd, but he wasn't going to reveal his new crush to them yet. He just hoped nobody got to her first.

The small crowd that formed had dispersed once the band was done, and most of the people in the bar had gone back to what they were doing.

Some of the fans had stuck around to see if they get a picture with the band, momentarily distracting Jason from his task at hand: finding the mysterious girl from earlier. 

Once he was done, he started to look around for her. It shouldn't be hard, she had all the qualities that would make her the easiest person to spot in a group of people.

But as he continued to try and search for her (without being a creep), he realized that the girl of his dreams was gone.