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January 1980, St. Mary Episcopal Church
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"You sure I can live here?"
"Absolutely."
"An abandoned church? You never get, I don't know, kinda paranoid? Anxious?"
"Eh, not really. I've been living here for a while. Besides,"
Peter picked up a guitar from the corner and strummed.
"Great acoustics."
"Wow, you play?"
"Yeah, guitar is kind of my mental resort, my sanctuary, my nirvana. That's a pretty good band name, 'Nirvana'. Anyway, I've been saving up for a good one."
Peter held up a poster of a guitar for sale and handed it to Michael.
"A Rickenbacker. These are good," Michael noted.
"They really are. How about you, any instruments?"
"Meh, I do guitar here and there. I did accordion as a kid, that was cool. I sing a bit too."
"Go on,"
"Go on?"
"Sing. I played guitar for you, now you've gotta return the favour."
Michael stuttered, "Um... I don't- I mean, I-"
"BUCK! PETER BUCK!"
Michael sighed in relief. No way he was gonna sing for a guy he just met.
They both turned torwards the door.
A pretty girl stood in the doorway.
Michael turned to Peter. "Your girlfriend?"
"No, that's Kathleen O'Brien. We've known eachother since high school. Brainy as hell. Her being academically superior to me in every way makes me way out of her league. I'm super close to being a dropout, but I guess I'm used to it."
Dropout. That word rang in Michael's ears. Was he going to drop out? What would become of him? Shut up, he thought to himself. Shut up. You are 20 years old and you do not have to worry about this bullshit.
"Okay, Buck, here's the deal. My birthday is in a month and I would like you to play something there."
"Kathy, I-"
"Kathleen. Only Bill gets to call me Kathy."
"Ehem. Kathleen, I would love to, but you know I'm not a real musician yet. Sure I've played a little at school, but that's all. I'm an amateur. Shit, I don't even have a band yet."
"Uh huh? Thought you might say that." Kathleen hands him a note and leaves.
Peter opens the note and reads: 'Tonight, 11pm, 40 Watt Club, bring Michael too'
Michael broke in, "How'd she know me?"
"She's kinda creepy, to be honest."
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11pm at The 40 Watt Club
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"...heh, and- and then she was all like 'Well, maybe I don't want that windowpane,' and then my pa said 'Adora, a windowpane is a windowpane, get over yourself,' and y'know what she did?"
"Mike, this conversation started with me asking you how much more you'll be drinking tonight. Since then, you've had several large shots of whiskey. Please stop, we have new people to meet."
"Ah, fuck off Berry, you ain't any fun."
Bill felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey, Bill."
Bill smiled and turned around.
"Hey, gorgeous."
Kathleen kissed his cheek solftly and hooked her arm in his.
She spotted his friend almost falling off his chair and displeasingly looked him up and down. "Mike."
"Kathleen."
Peter and Michael were last to enter.
"Kathleen, I really hope this won't become a regular thing. You're fucking up my sleeping patterns." Peter mumbled annoyedly.
"Oh, Peter! Michael! You made it." she exclaimed. "Oh, you guys probably haven't met each other. Buck, Stipe, meet my boyfriend, Bill Berry,"
"Hey."
"...and his, ehm, friend, Mike Mills."
By that point, Mike had fallen to the floor. He wanted to reach his drink but, for obvious reasons, failed. He just grunted helplessly.
"Hey, it's nice to meet you guys. Right, Michael?"
Michael just stared at the embarassingly drunken Mike Mills not knowing what to say. "Should I...?"
Bill reassured him, "Oh no, he's alright. He's just got one hell of a morning ahead of him." Bill smiled. "This your first time at 40 Watt?"
"Yeah," Michael awkwardly laughed.
Kathleen returned to the conversation.
"So, I guess you guys are wondering why I gathered you together..."
"Yep." Bill, Peter and Michael said simultaneously. Mike grunted something.
"I talked to Peter and Michael about this earlier today. So, about my birthday, April 5th to be exact..."
YOU ARE READING
Chronic Town - An R.E.M. Fanfiction
RandomWelcome to the most unnecessarily researched and factual band fanfic you will ever read! A mixture of fiction and nonfiction, with a hint of comedy and angst, this story is about R.E.M. through their career, from their beginning to their disbanding...
