𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟎𝟏 | 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥

"Don't look now, but they're coming this way," I said as I reached Rose.

"What?"

"Twelve o'clock."

"I know where the stage is!"

"What do we do?" I panicked.

"Act cool."

"I am cool!"

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am!"

"Then turn around!"

I swung around and casually folded my arms, placing them on the bar Rose had just wiped down. That's just how cool I am.

"Hey, Bobby! Where you going?"

"I'm good," The guitarist turned to us. "Vegetarian, I could never hurt an animal."

I snorted. Rose nudged me in the side, so I placed my hand half under my chin, half over my mouth. So, very, incredibly, cool.

"You guys are really good," Rose said.

"Thank you," The messy-haired boy smiled.

"I see a lot of bands. Been in a couple myself," Rose continued. "I was really feeling it."

"Ditto," I added, too cool to say more than one word. Totally unbothered and nonchalant.

"That's what we do this for," The messy-haired boy beamed. "I'm Luke, by the way."

"Hi, I'm Reggie!" The bassist waved.

"Alex," The drummer smiled.

"Bobby," The guitarist smirked.

"Nice meeting you guys," Rose smiled. "I'm Rose."

The boys turned to me. When I didn't say anything, Rose nudged me in the side once again.

"Ruth. Hi," I blurted out. "I'm Ruth."

Too. Cool. For. School.

Reggie proceeded to hand us CDs and t-shirts. A free concert and free merchandise? Yes, please!

Rose continued to chat to the guys as I quietly listened. Being best friends with Rose Molina meant you didn't have to do a lot of talking. I was completely fine with that.

As I looked down at their demo, I couldn't help but feel someone's eyes on me. I looked up to see all of the guys were focused on Rose, so I must've been imagining things.

I left the merchandise on the bar and observed the guys. Alex appeared shy and a little on the awkward side. Reggie seemed really upbeat and excitable. I didn't know what to make of Luke, I couldn't tell if he was cocky or just confident. Bobby, on the other hand, looked a little irritated.

"Don't you guys have to go get hot dogs?" He asked his bandmates.

"Yeah," Luke leaned over the bar to whisper to us. "He had a hamburger for lunch."

"Seems like the type," I joked.

"Care to join us?" Luke asked me, gesturing toward Bobby and Rose.

I picked up on the hint. "Yeah, sure."

Rose looked at me with pleading eyes as I made my way to the other side of the bar. I gave her a mocking thumbs up as I followed the remaining band members.

"You don't seem to talk much," Reggie observed as we made our way through the venue.

"Aw, are you shy or something?" Luke teased.

I never really thought about it. Like I said, Rose usually did most of the talking. It's not that I was shy, I just didn't talk much. I started to realise I had not been playing it as cool as I thought I was. Luckily, I had a comeback for the shy accusation.

"Nope," I replied. "I'm just waiting to see if you're worth my words."

"Whoa, ruthless!" Luke clenched his chest, mockingly hurt.

"Haha! Ruth-less," Reggie chimed.

"Comedic," I deadpanned. "Never heard that one before."

"At least we know we're worth your words now," Luke smirked, to which I rolled my eyes playfully.

"I can't wait for the show tonight," Reggie said, changing the subject.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Luke beamed as he opened the side door.

"The smell of Sunset Boulevard?" Alex asked.

"No," Luke playfully shoved Alex. "It's what that girl said in there tonight."

"You mean Rose?" I asked, to which Luke nodded.

"About our music, right?" Luke continued. "It's like an energy - it connects us to people. They can feel us when we play. I want that connection with everybody."

"Then we're gonna need more t- shirts," Reggie suggested, to which we all snickered.

As we came to the end of the alleyway, Luke put up his hood and Alex turned away from the group of fans that had gathered outside the Orpheum. Reggie, on the other hand, walked right up to them and handed them some t-shirts. As soon as they realised what was happening, the girls began to squeal.

"You famous, or something?" I teased.

"Nah, we just have that effect on girls," Luke replied, to which I raised my eyebrows. "Fine. Most girls."

We all laughed as we crossed the road.

"So, are you in school?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately," I sighed. "I hate it there. I just want to be done with it so I can get a job and move on with my life."

"What do you want to do?" Reggie asked, stepping over a puddle.

"I want to be a sound engineer," I smiled. "Music producer, if we're being bold."

"Oh really?" Luke beamed.

"Yeah," I replied. "My uncle has a studio. Well, had a studio. Pretty sure he's renting it out right now. Anyway, I spent most of my time in there growing up. Mom was ... working a lot, so I used to stay with him and he used to always be in there working on something."

"That's sick!" Luke exclaimed.

We continued to talk about music as we made our way to Sam 'N' Ella's. When the guys said they were going for hot dogs, I didn't think they meant hot dogs from the back of a car.

"Is this even safe?" I asked skeptically as the guys picked their toppings.

"Sure it is!" Reggie said.

Who was I to question it? I shrugged and proceeded to put ketchup on my hot dog.

"This is awesome you guys," Luke said as we sat down on an old sofa. "We're playing the Orpheum! I can't even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being huge. We're gonna be legends!"

"Hell yeah, you are!" I chimed.

"Eat up boys ... " Luke turned to me. " ... And girl. 'Cause after tonight, everything changes."

Famous. Last. Words.