Under the Starlight

Jellyfish

"Hey! Celeste!" Sam called after me as I walked through downtown, arms full of bags from Pierre's. "I'm glad I caught you." Sam was out of breath. I set my bags down, "What do you need?" Sam took a moment to speak, letting himself fully catch his breath, "Sebastian didn't want me to ask you this, but it's kind of a big favour. As you know you recommended to him that we play that one song Dark Signs. We thought it was going good but we are kind of struggling. Abigail doesn't sing, and neither of us can hit the high notes. We thought you could trade off the vocals with Sebastian. It's early on our set so you can still enjoy the party." I made a face, "Well I don't want to pressure you guys into me making an appearance in the band..." Sam shook his head, "You wouldn't! We totally need you. Heard you were looking for a band yourself. We are looking at possibly getting a fourth member, think of this as an audition." I nodded my head and smiled, "I'll do it! Need me to play any guitars on the song or anything? I've had it learned for awhile now." "That would be awesome!" Sam exclaimed, "We normally have practice tomorrow, but as you know we had to switch some things around so it'll be tonight and Thursday at my place. I'll give you my number and text you the deets." We exchanged phone numbers and I set off on my way home. As I was unloading my groceries my phone lit up.

Meet me at 7 at my place. Oh, and by the way we only need you for practice for this song. The rest of the setlist is top secret :) -Sam

I finished unloading my groceries and got out my guitar. I had the prettiest baby pink guitar littered with stickers, I made sure she was tuned and got to practicing early, I didn't want to make a fool of myself!

I waved to everyone and started setting up my guitar. We spent the first ten minutes of practice shooting the breeze whilst we tuned our instruments. I kept a safe distance from Sebastian so I could appear as professional as possible, this was my audition after all. "Alright," Sebastian started, talking into the microphone, "Celeste, you'll sing the opening, I'll sing the verses, you sing the pre chorus while I sing the background vocals. And when the last part with the guitars comes in you do the background vocals and I do the chorus." I nodded. "Alright! Let's run the instrumental, no vocals. Vocals will be next. Abigail, count us in." It was such a blast playing in a real band, I was determined to make this song memorable.
"Sebastian," Abigail moaned, "You keep playing the synths too late. Remember, it's 4/4 time, let's start it from the top." It took a bit but it was finally time to practice with vocals. That was the easiest part to practice and I was soon kicked out. "Sorry!" Sam gave an apologetic look as I packed up my things, "Told you the set list was top secret." Sebastian offered to walk me outside, a small excuse for us to be alone for a few minutes. "With the way things are going I'm sure you're gonna be a shoe-in." Sebastian said as he took a drag of his cigarette. I smiled at him, "I sure hope so, this is the best. I can't believe you guys do this every week." Sebastian butt out his smoke and grabbed my hand, pulling me closer. "I better get back inside, Abigail rules band practice with a tight grip," He looks down then looks back up at me, "I can't wait for our date tomorrow, Celeste. I planned some exciting things." "I can't wait either." I replied as I swung our arms back and forth. He kissed me goodbye and I held him in a tight embrace before making the short trek home.

"Sebastian!" Abigail snapped, "You're doing it wrong once again! Do it once, and do it right." Sebastian groaned, "Okay, mother." Abigail looked more annoyed with each jab. "I'm the drummer, I think you forgot I ground the whole song." Sebastian placed his guitar on the stand, "You ever think you could be playing wrong?! Yes, I said it. You." "You know, it's not always about you," Abigail huffed and stood up, "If you weren't so obsessed with Celeste you'd learn to play better." Sebastian inched closer to Abigail, Sam was worried someone might start swinging. "Uh, guys?" He started as he tried to get in between them, "Let's all be nice, we can practice and be angry after. This is the last song..." Sam pointed to his face, a big fake smile plastered on it. Abigail threw her drumsticks on the ground, "Then tell Sebby, oh right, he hates that nickname, or so I thought, to stop shoving his tongue down Celeste's throat at the saloon." Sam walked back cautiously, "You know guys... I'm gonna leave you two alone for a minute. Yeah, uh, bye!" Sam quickly retreated to the living room. "What's your problem anyways, Abigail? I've been nothing but a good friend." Abigail went right up to Sebastian and yelled in his face, "I like you, you idiot! I thought you liked me, I guess I was wrong." Abigail spun on her heels and started to walk away. Sebastian tried to stop her, "Wait! Don't go just yet." Abigail stopped in her tracks, turning around. She stood there with a scowl on her face, arms crossed. "I did like you, at some point. But you just strung me along and you know it. As soon as Celeste moved here I knew she was for me, she never strung me along and was direct right away. If you said you liked me two months ago I would've asked you out in a heartbeat. But that was then and this is now, it's different." "I'll see you around." Abigail tired to hold back tears as she ran home. Once inside the tears could not be contained, she laid down and cried it all out. "Abby? You okay?" Caroline softly knocked on the door and let herself in, "Oh honey..." Abigail looked up, "Please don't tell dad." Her voice was muffled. Caroline sat down on the bed and rubbed Abigail's back. She told Caroline about everything, including the blow up at band practice. Caroline gave her some advice, "You are totally allowed to be hurt and sad about Sebastian, that's normal, and you can only heal on your own time. But I think you should apologize and try to keep the peace. I know you meant no harm in the things you did when he liked you but it clearly hurt him and you can't change that. I'm sure sooner than later an amazing guy will show up. Sebastian wasn't right for you, but that just means that bigger and better things are coming." Caroline gave Abigail a sympathetic smile and walked away. Abigail laid down for a while more and thought it all out. Although she was hurt she knew it was the right thing to apologize, she'd never want something so trivial to ruin a friendship.