Call it Fate, Call it Karma

Show Time

"Woah, this place is huge!" I gaped, in awe of the venue we were all stood inside. It was much larger than any other club or bar The Strokes had played in before. I guess it kinda showed that they were moving up in the business.

"Theres a room for you guys down that hall." said Ryan, pointing to the left.

"A room? You mean like a dressing room?" Fab asked, his eyes widening with excitement. "How the hell did you score us this gig?"

Ryan chuckled. "Something like that, sure."

"Holy shit!" Nick exclaimed, racing beside Fab into the room. Albert, Julian and Nikolai followed them in shortly after setting a few things down on the stage.

Adam nudged me. "Let's go check it out!"

"Okay!" I linked arms with him and we headed into the room. It was nothing too incredibly fancy, but it was still awesome. There was a long, red velvet couch on one side of the room and a mahogany table in front of it full of booze and snacks. It was quite amazing, because we were used to chilling in dimly lit alleyways that wreaked of piss and garbage before shows, so this was a big step up. Posters covered the burgundy walls and we all stood in silence, our mouths agape until we heard a packet crinkling.

"This is legit, man." said Fab through a mouthful of some chips he'd snagged while we were all busy ogling.

"Fabrizio Moretti, are you stoned?!" I snatched the bag from his hands and stuffed a chip in my mouth.

Everyone laughed at our exchange and dove onto the couch, erupting into friendly conversation.

Later, I found Karen, Kimya and a couple of their and Adam's other friends and we invited them in, starting a little dressing room party. We had an hour before the show started, so it all worked out fine. I just kept in mind to make sure none of the guys drank excessively so they'd play a smooth show.

Somehow, I'd managed to avoid Julian all night. It felt wrong, but I just didn't know what to say to him yet. It would have to wait until after the show.

"You guys are on in five!" Ryan announced with a huge grin. "I just got told the venue is full. There's people lined up around the block waiting to get in!"

I watched the bands reactions attentively. Nick, and Fab and Albert hugged each other excitedly, Nikolai nodded to himself with a smile, and Julian...where was Julian?!

I left the room unnoticed and wandered the venue for a minute until I found the bathrooms. "Jules...?" I called out, my voice echoing in the empty space. I heard coughing coming from the mens bathroom and I took a deep breath before gingerly stepping inside. I gasped at the site of Julian sitting in one of the stalls, his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. His pale face was buried in his hands and he cursed to himself in mumbles.

"Julian!" I ran to him and dropped onto my knees. "Are you okay? Are you drunk?" He couldn't be drunk, so I don't know why I asked. I'd been watching him like a hawk all night and he only had one beer.

"I can't do it." he croaked. "There's too many people, Jade. We're not that good. I'm not that good."

"Woah, Jules! Shut the fuck up, man!" I said with a frown. "I don't wanna hear this bullshit. You're fucking great and you deserve to be here. Everyone's here to see you guys, Jules! You can't let us all down. Get out there right now!"

"I can't. I'm sick."

I caught a glance of his puke in the toilet bowl and I sighed. "You're just nervous. You've got this, okay?" I wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him off the cold tiled floor, then pulling him into a tight hug. "You're gonna play a great show. Just forget about everything except the music and give it your all. Can you do that?"

"I..."

I pulled away from him, not letting go of his shoulders. "Think about the music, Jules. It's why you're here. You've made it, man. It's why we're all here."

"...I can do it." he said in a whisper.

"Yes!" I squealed, excitedly planting kisses on his cheeks. "Go, go, go!"

Julian took a deep breath, and with a small smile, he turned around and jogged out the door. I followed close behind him, grinning from ear to ear as I screamed, "It's show time, baby!"

The Strokes all made to the backstage in one piece, surprisingly. Adam, Kimya, Karen, their friends, Ryan and I all stampeded out into the rather large crowd and spread out. Adam, Ryan and I somehow stayed together and pushed our way to the front for a better view. We danced for the last minute of the opening bands song, and before we knew it, on came The Strokes.

Julian took in a deep breath and stepped up to the mic, then introducing the band and himself to the crowd. His nerves seemed to have calmed down a little and a big grin appeared on his face as their first song started up. "Well, I lived this life, I was just...seventeen," he sang, gripping the mic so tightly his knuckles turned white.

The crowd cheered and went absolutely crazy, including Ryan, Adam and I, who hugged each other tightly as we jumped up and down. 

"They're rockstars!" screamed Adam. "They're famous!" He pulled away from us and looked up at Julian. "You're fucking great!"

"Is he drunk?" Ryan shouted in my ear.

"No shit!" I yelled back, giggling. I then took his hands in mine, raised them above his head and made him dance. "That's your band, man!" I yelped. Ryan grinned in response and started going crazy.

I looked back up at Julian and blew him a kiss. My heart felt so warm. He looked so happy as he sang and looked out at the crowd. Fab was smiling like a kid in a candy store and Albert had on his usual goofy grin. Nikolai smiled sweetly as he focused on his bass line and Nick was busy whispering something to Julian that made him smile even more. Not one person in the area wasn't smiling. It was a spectacular feeling.