Strings Attached

III

Alex-

She was waiting on her porch when Sara's car pulled up in her driveway. She had a feeling that it was going to be quite an eventful night, or maybe that was just her stomach acting up.

"Get in the damn car, Alex, we're gonna be late!"

"Okay, okay, damn. Calm the hell down, Sara. Why are you so worried about being late, it just hit six, we have an hour to waste."

"Because, my dearest Alex, I heard the band members are really fucking hot. That's the only reason I know about the concert in the first place. Now get in the car, I'm trying to get there early so we can catch them before the show starts."

"Fine, but I'm only going for the music, okay?"

"Alright, just get in so we can go!"

Alex climbed into the car and they were on their way. The ride lasted only ten minutes. Sara parked the car and they walked inside.

"Wait, Sara, do you have tickets?"

"Of course I do, take yours."

She handed her a ticket. In big bold letters, the ticket read, 'Social Closure.'

They walked through the small security check in and headed towards the pit. For a local band, it was a bit excessive, unless they were on the verge of a record deal or something.

"Alex! This way, backstage. The band members, remember? Come on!"

"Are you sure?" Alex asked, tugging on the hem of her shirt. "I don't think we're allowed back there, honestly. I'll just wait here. You can handle it by yourself."

"Ugh, Alex, you're seriously so boring sometimes, live a little! Whatever, I'll see you when the show starts."

Sara walked backstage with a flirty smile plastered on her face, ready to meet the band members.

Quinn-

Quinn sat backstage, tuning his guitar and warming his throat for the vocals before the show started. A girl walked into the room, and he looked up to see her staring at him and his bandmates with a huge grin on her face.

"Um, can we help you? You're not supposed to be back here, did you get lost or something?"

"Oh, no, I just wanted to come and meet you guys, my name's Sara." She smiled even wider. "What about you guys?"

"I'm Quinn, that guy over there, the drummer, his name is Johnny."

Johnny gave a small wave. "And the guy next to him, the bassist, his name is Clarke."

Clarke spoke up, annoyance beginning to take over his face.

"Yeah, and Quinn here plays guitar and sings. Hey, uh, do you mind going back to the pit please? We have to go on stage in fifteen minutes, and we need to warm up."

"Oh um, yeah. If you guys want to talk after the concert, just call my name, I'll be sure to hear you." She smiled once again. "Bye now, I'm really looking forward to seeing you guys play!"

Sara walked out of the room, and the band was left in awkward silence for a solid three minutes until Johnny broke the silence.

"Dude, that was fucking weird. She just waltzed right into the room like it was nothing."

"Yeah, well, we can talk about it later, we need to go on stage now! I checked the ticket sales, it's fucking sold out. That's like three hundred people!"

They all made their way to the stage. The crowd burst into ear piercing screams when they took their spots on stage.

"Can we get this shit any fucking louder, motherfuckers!"

Quinn knew how to hype up a crowd really well.

"Let's get this show fucking started!"

He started playing heavy chords in a punk beat, and started to run across the stage to get the crowd moving and louder. He ran and jumped off a speaker doing a kick in the air while hitting the hardest note when he hit the ground. He grabbed the microphone, and started singing his lungs out with lyrics. Just then, he locked eyes with someone in the crowd. It was the girl from earlier at the shop. Their eyes were only locked together for a split second, but the feeling in his chest made it seem much longer.

Alex-

She couldn't believe it. The cute guy from the skate shop was in the band that she was at a concert for. For some reason, she couldn't help but smile when she saw him. But then they locked eyes. It happened over and over throughout the whole show, until it ended, and he shouted,

"Thanks for coming out tonight you anarchist fucks, fuck the system and everyone who follows it!"

He raised his hands in the air and pointed his middle fingers into the crowd. Just before he stepped off stage, he walked towards Alex and flicked his guitar pick towards her. People jumped and pushed each other at an attempt to catch the pick, but they didn't notice that Alex had caught it way before they had time to react. She studied the pick before slipping it into her pocket, and then she walked towards the exit. Quinn was standing there, greeting fans and taking pictures. When he saw her, he took one last picture before going to her.

"Hey, wait up!" Alex stopped walking, waiting for him to catch up.

"Um, I noticed that you're the same girl from the shop this morning. It's nice to see you again."

"Oh, uh, yeah, it's nice to see you again, too," she said shyly. "You were really great out there."

"Thanks. Hey, um, I was wondering, it looks like you came here alone, do you need a ride home? And you don't have any jacket on, it's cold out there. Here, take my hoodie."

He took off his black and grey hoodie and put it on Alex, giving her no time to protest- not that she wanted to, he was a cute guy and it smelled really good.

"That should keep you warm. But anyways, need a ride?"

"Um, yeah ,actually. My friend brought me here, but her car's gone, so she probably got invited to a party and ditched me." Surprise, surprise, she thought to herself.

"Alright. Do you mind waiting a few minutes, and then we'll go?"

"Yeah, of course, that's fine."

Quinn walked back to the exit and kept taking pictures and signing t-shirts. About fifteen minutes went by and Quinn came back."Alright then, I guess we should get going, it's almost two in the morning." They walked out the door and headed towards where Quinn's car was parked."So, I never got your name, but I'm pretty sure you already know my name's Quinn."

"Yeah, my name's Alex. Don't you think it's a little strange to offer somebody you don't know a ride?"

"Yeah but I can tell you're a nice person, I trust you, even though I barely know you. I know this is really random but I just wanna say, you look insanely pretty. Honestly, I would've said something earlier but ya know, I was working."

"Well uh, thanks, you look pretty to- I mean you look really cute, yeah I'll just stop talking now, I've made myself look like an idiot."

Quinn just smiled and let out a small laugh."Well I'm glad the feeling is mutual, for a second I thought I was gonna be the only one who caught feelings. Here's my car."

They stopped in front of a jet black 1969 Charger."It's a nice car, I inherited it from my dad two years ago when he passed away. Let's get going." His voice was a little choked up now."I don't think your family would appreciate you coming home so late."