Battle of the bands

Battle

"It's the battle of the bands!" the announcer screamed into the microphone."Give it up for-" Luka tuned out the announcer as he blew a breath as the band before them exited the stage, the girls roughly his age chattering away in English passed by the members of Kitty Section. Seven bands were competing for the best amateur band in Paris.

The crowd was still cheering. "That's going to be a tough act to follow, but give it up for Kitty Section!"

A polite applause echoed throughout the club, a stark contrast from the thunderous applause from the prior act, Luka noted. Ivan tapped his drumsticks and rhythmically and counted the band in.

"It's the final round!" The announcer screamed and the club roared. "Our final two bands are going head to head, come on out Kitty Section and Chick Flick!"

The other band came on stage opposite them. All female Luka noticed.

"These two bands are going to head to head with a cover and an original song each, and you dear audience will choose the winner! Will Kitty Section hang on to the title or history be made and the first all female band take the title? Let's find out. Chick Flick, going into the finals, you had the higher score, are you going first or second?"

A brief look between the girls in unspoken conversation and they nodded to each other and the keyboardist answered, "We'll go second, Alec." Luka wished Kitty Section knew each other that well like they did.

Luka frowned slightly. Second was giving them the advantage. And the looks on their faces knew they knew it.

Ivan counted them off again. Luka bemoaned silently, We need new material. Their song ended and before Luka's last note on Claire even finished reverberating, The female guitarist started a riff that made Luka jealous and his sister's jaw dropped. Where did this band come from?

The guitarist and singer worked magic on the crowd (and his eyes, holy cow those pants were doing magic for her legs and backside, he shifted his own stance to hide exactly what he was feeling, stupid teenage boy hormones). The crowd was singing along with their cover song (they hadn't with Kitty Section's Jagged Stone cover) a hit originally performed by the American band Evanescence, and cheers broke out when she launched into a guitar solo that made his dad look like an amateur. This was an amateur band?! The song ended and the crowd roared. The members of Kitty Section stood stunned. They still had one more song. Luka nodded to Ivan and the band started their final song. It was clear they did not have the crowd on their side. Luka glanced at the other band sharing the stage to his surprise they were cheering them on. Luka half expected them to be smug. He made eye contact with his fellow guitarist and -well why not - ( what she did to him she didn't realize with those pants of hers) - he winked at her. Color rushed to her cheeks and she immediately looked at the floor. Luka couldn't help but grin.

Kitty Section's song ended and like, last time, the opposing band wasted no time. As soon as the last note played, the guitar girl blasted a power riff that rattled Luka's teeth. Their original song was thousands of times better than anything they could come up with. It sounded professional. He glanced out over the club. His friends over by the bar, getting their iced coffees and teas. As he continued to look around he noticed the other band had a merch table? Kitty Section definitely had to up their game. They ended their song.

Alec called both to either side of him.

"Now, who wins? Is it Kitty Section?-"

Respectable applause. Marinette and Mylene were cheering as loud as she could with their small group of friends at their table, but Luka knew it wasn't enough.

"-or- Chick Flick?"

Roar of cheers and applause.

Alec smiled broadly at the group of young ladies, "The crowd's choice is clear, the winner of the battle of the bands is Chick Flick!' The keyboardist took the mic.