“Rach, this is going to be so great!” Your best friend, Emily, squeals as she jumps up and down excitedly. “I’m so hyper!”
“Yeah,” You say, unenthused. “It’s going to be amazing,”
You hate Nickelback with every fibre of your being. You’re only there because you have to be. It’s Emily’s 18th, and you’d promised you’d be there. You just weren’t expecting Nickelback. Tapping your foot impatiently, you wish you could get the concert over with while trying to find some excitement. It was live music, and that had to be a good thing, right? Emily had insisted on getting there extremely early so you could get to the barrier. Yeah, you were going to be battered and bruised at the end of the night, but you needed to be at the barrier if you wanted to have any fun.
“Rach, do you know who the support is?”
You shake your head and check inside your bag. The rubber glove that you’d filled with water was still there, unburst. Personally, you thought that it was a work of art. You’d spent the best part of a tense fifteen minutes carefully drawing on the glove until it resembled a jellyfish. Smirking to yourself, you feel bad because it’s Emily’s favourite band, but you’ve got to have some fun, haven’t you?
The doors open and you rush inside the venue.
“By the way,” Emily shouts. “The security guard said that the support is Panic! At The Disco!”
At least there’s going to be some decent music.
You’re at the barrier, your heart thundering in your chest. Ryan Ross, a man that you’ve always idolised and adored for years, is going to be standing right in front of you. Hopefully. Admittedly, Nickleback and Panic! At The Disco were a pretty weird touring combination, seeing as they were pretty different, but you tried not to let it bother you too much.
The lights go down, causing screams and cheers to resonate around the venue. When they go up, there he is, complete with his eyeliner and his crazy brown hair. You cheer and grip the barrier with one hand, keeping the other on your bag, your mind mainly on the show in front of you, but also with the jellyfish in your bag. Panic!’s set passes by in a blur of sweat, euphoria and screaming lyrics. But then they’re gone and the venue is dark once again.
“It’s almost time!” Emily squeaks, her voice still intact after not singing a word, unlike you. “They’re going to be on soon!”
You flash Emily a smile, and hope it looks genuine. You couldn’t care less about Nickelback. You’d just seen Panic! At The Disco, so that was one more band to tick off your ‘bands I need to see’ bucket list. Nickelback, however, definitely were not on that list.
After about half an hour of waiting, the lights dim even more, plunging you into total darkness. Around you, the fans of (really bad) music scream their heads off, stamping their feet and demanding to see the band that they were there to see.
And all of a sudden, there they are, standing right in front of you in all their not-really glory. As you’d predicted, they opened with Rockstar.
The show begins to drag on, and you wait for a break in the songs so you can put your plan into action. Finally, they stop, giving your ears a break.
“How are you all doing?” Chad asks, a smile across his face.
I’d be doing better if you stopped making music, you think. Instead of voicing your thoughts, you slip your hand into your bag, where you’d been carefully protecting the jellyfish. Taking it out of your bag, you take aim. Glancing to the side of the stage, you see none other than Ryan Ross standing there, watching. You could have been seeing things, but you could have sworn he was staring straight at you. When you catch his eye, he winks at you and you wink back. Then you throw it.
The jellyfish soars majestically through the air, its fronds waving beautifully, as if saying hello to the crowd. Then it hits Chad Kroger straight in the face. And just as had happened with your test jellyfish, the loose elastic band slips and water drenches him.
“Rachel!” Emily screams. “How could you do that?!”
You look at her, laughter spilling from your lips, alarmingly loud in the shocked silence of the venue. “I’m really sorry, Em, but as much as I love you, I really hate Nickelback.”
Bowing your head, you work your way through the crowd, ignoring the hisses and angry comments that are thrown your way.
Outside of the venue, you throw your head back and laugh. Tears stream down your face as your laughter echoes through the quiet of the car park. Then you realise that you’re not alone.
“Nice shot,” Ryan compliments, stepping out from the shadows.
“Thanks,” You reply. “I’ve been working on my aim,”
“And all because you don’t like Nickelback,”
You shrug. “I’ve got to have some fun somehow, haven’t I?”
“Then why are you here?” He asks. “If you don’t like them, I mean,”
“It’s my friend’s eighteenth. You can’t really get out of an eighteenth celebration, y’know?”
He holds out his hand. “I like you. What’s your name?”
“Rachel,” You smile, taking his hand.
He takes you onto their bus, where you find Spencer, Brendon and Jon sitting in the front lounge, playing a card game of some sort. They stop playing when they hear you enter, their eyes swivelling to your hand, linked with Ryan’s.
“Who’s this?” Brendon says, an eyebrow creeping up his forehead.
“A cool chick,” Ryan says offhandedly, leading you to the table where they’re all playing. Brendon’s eyebrow climbs even higher.
“I think your eyebrow is trying to escape, Brendon,” You say, without even thinking about it. Sniggers escape the rest of the band.
“I like her,” Spencer smiles. “Can we keep her?”
You tilt your head to the side. “Why, do you guys want me around?”
“Maybe,” Jon smiles. “I mean, we’ll have to check with our TM and the Nickelback guys,”
You supress a smirk when Chad Kroger’s face after being hit with rubber glove masquerading as a jellyfish flashes through your mind. “Somehow, I don’t think Chad is going to be a happy camper if I’m around,”
“How’d you mean?” Brendon smiles.
“I, uh, threw a rubber glove filled with water that was masquerading as a jellyfish at his face,”
“And hit him!” Ryan quips. “It was awesome!”
High fives are shared between everyone. You’re all having a good time until the bus door flies open and none other than Chad Kroger storms in, his eyes wild with rage.
“I fucking hate the UK!” He screams. But he stops when he sees you.
You smile sweetly and wave, waggling your fingers at him, just like the fronds of your jellyfish had before it hit him. “What’s the matter, Chad? Is jellyfish not your favourite animal?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you're a happy camper after reading this, my wonderful Cabbage Farmer of the West
YOU ARE READING
Band One Shots - CLOSED
Fanfiction**OPEN** One shot requests for band members of your choice.
