Chapter 23

14 2 0
                                    

The rehearsal went as any rehearsal would be expected to go. It lasted four hours which took us to 11 o clock.

During the first hour, Adam had already picked up on several errors which were honestly impossible to pick out when you were sitting in the audience. Skye made this clear to him but he insisted that if they didn't sound right to themselves then they weren't good enough. Adam was a stubborn little son of a bitch sometimes, but he was a great laugh as well. It was the perfect balance between great, hard leadership and friendliness that kept them together.

James kept them in perfect timing. Not once did Adam pick up any errors in the drumming. Not once.

Lewis was an exceptional bassist. I could hear him hitting all the low notes, effectively backing up the melody and making the more sinister songs; like "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" exceedingly so. It was awesome.

Corey jumped around the room and head banged as much as he could. Of course, he did this topless in his velvet shorts and converse, which drew Skye in even more. By the end of every song, we could see his chest palpitate and his ribs push in and out repeatedly.

Sam; however, seemed to have this luring, sexy look about him. He performed in tight black jeans, a black tank top and a brown, choppy wig, made to look like Malcolm young. His eyes were mostly covered and the Marshalls seemed to envelop him in their noise, but every now and again, under the brown choppy wig, I could see his blue eyes flash at me or his grateful smile drawn on his face. I watched carefully as his strong fingers slid up and down the solid metal string and pushed them down and up, creating a rhythmic sound that seemed to enlighten my hearing senses. He was a gorgeous rhythmic guitarist!

By ten o'clock, we had all had snacks and a deep, heart to heart talk about how they all loved performing and even why they loved Sam's most recent choice of woman. Most of them were along the lines of "you're not fake." Or "you like AC/DC." Pretty pathetic, but 98% of me didn't care, I had already started to view them as brothers.

Skye had remained suspiciously quiet during their rehearsal whilst staring uncontrollably at Corey. It was a subtle stare, but I could feel her eyes move up and down his body, absorbing all his perfections and imperfections into her retina. I had never seen Skye so in love and for a second I didn't care that she had a boyfriend. In fact, for a second, I completely forgot.

At half ten, I felt a weight on my right forearm. I looked down to see Skye had zonked out on me and was now in a deep sleep, possibly triggered by her staring at Corey all evening. I retrieved my arm out from under her heavy hair and transferred her head onto my leg where it was easier to hold her. With my hand, I rhythmically stroked her hair along to the tune of "Hells Bells".

When the rehearsal finished half and hour later, all boys looked to me and Skye. Some were quite surprised to see that Skye was fast asleep on me and that I was keeping her propped up. "What?" Corey laughed and faced Lewis who started to laugh too. Sam scowled at them but proceeded to explain. "It's just strange that we've got such a kindhearted member. On the train back from a gig in Hull, James fell asleep and instead of propping him up, Corey smashed his face against a window, surprisingly, he didn't wake up and he ended up getting left on the train. He got off on the next stop and walked down to meet us." I giggled a bit and looked to a frowning James, you could see his blatant upturned face under his long black hair. I stopped giggling when I saw how hurt he was. "Such a poor mother fucker!" Yelled Lewis at the top of his voice to which I felt Skye wriggle in my arms. I shot Lewis a disapproving look and he fell silent. "jesus christ, mum. Don't kill me!" He gasped. He continued laughing hysterically but Sam stopped this by making his speech. "So, are we ready to shred some fucking ass tomorrow?!" He screamed. It was equally as surprising that he was just as loud as Corey. I knew Skye was a light sleeper, she once woke up, startled, when I opened the door to check on her at another concert somewhere in the world. She had had an awful stomach bug and we had to leave halfway through.

"Guys can you please quieten down." This time, I raised my voice, and Skye unexpectedly woke up. Her eyes were red and her hair was flat. She looked like a sleeping baby when she was asleep, but some sort of drunk rhinoceros when she woke up. "Woah!" Screamed Lewis, shocked and seconds into a brand new laughing fit of hysteria. "Goddamn. How can such an attractive girl like you look like such an...ugly girl with just half an hour of sleep." Skye grunted and laid back down on my leg, not giving a fuck in the world. "Oh fuck off." She muttered, half heartedly sticking her middle finger up at Lewis. Who jumped back in response. Surprisingly, Corey jumped forward and stood, looming over her. She had quickly drifted off into another deep sleep. "You girls do look tired." Sam quickly interjected, "Just one of you more than the other." He stupidly aimed this at Skye who was now fast asleep again. "Do you want me to help you back to the hotel?" Corey kindly asked. He too, had been staring at Skye for the past three hours. Lovingly, of course. It was blatant that they both were already madly in love. I sighed and 'ummed' for a few seconds until Sam filled in. "Lottie will be staying with me tonight." He took my hand and pulled me up into a warm embrace. "What about Skye, she can't walk back like this." I gestured towards Skye who had her face implanted into a cushion. Corey smiled at me as if to say he had the perfect plan. "I'll carry her to the hotel and stay the night." I stuttered my commencing line, forcing myself into silence. I hadn't known Corey long enough to trust him with someone so irresponsible. I stared at Skye before turning back to Corey. He had the cutest dimples and long blonde hair that reminded me of the rhythmic guitarist in the ACDC tribute band of my first gig. "Fine." I knelt down to say good night to Skye before letting Corey effortlessly scoop her up and walk out with her. She seemed to be unaware of everything as she let her head flop back and her legs hang over his arm.

Dear LottieWhere stories live. Discover now