"Blacklisted! That is the only possible reason this could be happening to us," I exclaimed matter-of-factly.
"You're crazy. I mean, yeah, we're not doing so hot, but come on! Who would blacklist us? For what reason?"
"Y'know, maybe Mai is right, Sana," wailed Rickey in between his sobs, "Maybe we are doomed to be rejected by every single record label because of some shady rich guy who has a grudge against us. My only option is to go live in a box because all I know how to do is play drums!"
We were beginning to make a scene in the office building of ExMusic Records as several more hotshots in suits passed by while eyeing us curiously. This was the fifth time a label turned us down immediately after hearing our names.
"Don't be ridiculous. If music fails, you could always go into baking. Actually, all three of us could establish a posh cafe called Le Cofeh and sell overpriced cookies," I said.
Rickey wasn't buying it. He was still huddled up on the ground next to my keyboard.
"You guys aren't making any sense. Why would some rich shady guy, as you so put it, have a grudge against us? Hm? Do any of us know a shady rich guy? Rickey, dont let Mai fool you. We all know her mind isn't a healthy place," said a smirking Sana. My good ol' friend for twelve years and guitarist for nine.
"Bu--"
"Oh, shut up, Rickey!"
"Hey, that's not nice." I told her as I took advantage of the opportunity to glomp Rickey. I nuzzled my face against his silky brown hair. He was nineteen, the same age as me, but I just couldn't resist his super adorable crying face.
The veins on Sana's forehead were just about ready to pop. "You're an idiot."
Idiot. That's where I drew the line. With a long history of D's and F's, and a hard to please mom, the word idiot just hits to close to him.
Realizing her mistake she tried to apologize, "Uh-- I mea-- what I meant to sa--," but before she could finish, I was running blindly across the lobby and into closed off hallway. That is, closed off until I ran right through it. Leaving a giant hole in the high security door.
Rickey, who I had accidentally dragged along with me in my unnecessary emotional outburst, had stopped crying. Now he was in a state of panic.
"M-Mai! Are you crazy!?" he shrieked, his fingers grabbing at his hair like he normally did when he was nervous. "You're freaking hard head put a hole in the door! How are we going to pay for that? What if we get arrested for damaging property or something? Isn't this part of the building off limits? We are so in trouble! Why do you always go around busting through walls and doors? Is it really that hard to just twist a door knob for once? Honestly!"
"...oops," was all I had to say along with a weak laugh while I rubbed my sore forehead.
Oh, yeah. I was seriously embarrassed. I was going to have to walk out of here and tell an employee that I've accidentally broke their door with my head. Or! Maybe I could sneak out of a window, no questions asked. Oh, but they most likely have a surveillance camera. Plus, I have to go find Sana. Unless she already left. I bet she left. She's probably vexed with me.
"So, Rickey, what do you think we should d-- Whoa!"
Rickey had his hand over my mouth, and we were crouching behind a trash can.
"Shh. I hear someone coming."
"Hey, what are you doing behind that trash can, you hooligans?"
"GAHH!" Rickey and I screamed in unison, "Run for it!" I shouted, but before I could start, someone had grabbed at my collar.
"Sana! Oh, how great, it's you. Have I ever told you how much I love seeing that lovely blonde hair of yours?" Both Rickey and I tackled her to the ground. We were so relieved that it was her and not some security guard.
"Okay, guys. Let's go home before someone catches us about the door."
"How did you know it was me?"
"Mai, you are the only one who frequently breaks through doors, windows and walls," Rickey chimed in.
"Anyway, we can just try another label some other time, right? So cheer up."
"No! You dont understand. I'm telling you we've been blacklisted! Why don't you believe me?"
"Because no one has a reason to blackli--"
"You know what? I bet you are the one causing this. I know what happened. Oh, yeah, I know. It all happened on a Saturday morning."
"Oh, boy," said Rickey, "We all know where this is going."
"Don't interrupt me. It all happened on a Thursday mornin--"
"But you said it was a Saturday," said Sana.
"Oh, whatever. It was on some morning. Sana, you were going on your everyday morning jog when you came across a little old man in the park who was feeding the pidgeons. You being the jerk that you are, decided to kill one of the pidgeons."
"What!? Why would I do something like that?"
Ignoring her, I continued, "Sana killed the bird with the pipe she always carries around with her."
"Since when?"
"The poor old man was terrified, but he was willing to try and understand why she did it. In his wise voice he asked, Young lady. May I ask why you bashed that pidgeon with a pipe? and she replied, because I wanted to! Muahaha! So the little old man lifted his cap from his face and said, there will come a time when every young lady must learn the difference between a YourFace and a MyFace."
"You mean a MySpace?"
"And then Sana responded by chopping down the nearest tree using only her hands and then used the tree to hit the old man. But the old man was strong! He got up and said, you will regret this day. Then the old man flew away into the darkness."
And then Rickey had to go and ruin my dreams, "Why did he fly into the darkness if it was morning?"
"UGH!" I shouted, banging my head into the nearest wall.
"MAI! Uh... Mai."
I ignored them and continued to bang my head against the wall. If Im lucky, this is all a dream and I will wake up any second now. I will wake up only to find out that Ive been accepted into a major record label and have become a famous rock star.
"...oh, please, Mai. Stop it. You're going to wish you listened to me, Mai."
"Yeah, Sana is right, uhh, Mai?"
"Hey, kid? Listen to your friends. I think think they're on to something," said a voice I most definitely recognized.
And that's when I froze. I swear, I could not move even if I wanted to. Why? Because Jaime, the lead singer of Circulation, the guy who inspired me to start singing. The guy I've idolized for years. Yeah, this guy? He was staring wide eyed down at me like I was some sort of freak as I bashed my head on the wall outside his dressing room. Damnit.
