Waterline

Her Voice

Mae places her shoes in the small cubby that was always situated by the door. She only took a few steps until Penelope come running towards her. "How was the first day on the job?" Penelope asked she was oddly excited. It made Mae think there was something interesting going on while she was working. "It was good, I just need to work on getting to know Darrel" Mae answered.
"Anyways, there is something more important I need to tell you," Penelope said taking a pause.
"Albany just got a gig to play at the boardwalk concert. It's such a big deal here" Penelope said, excited for the band.

Mae also felt joyous about the greats deal that Albany got. She didn't recall seeing a band play at the concert, so it must be tough to get a gig there. "That's great, would we get to see them?" Mae asked. Then it hit Penelope, Mae has never seen or heard the band play. This would be a great opportunity for Mae. "Yeah, we would be stupid not to" Penelope answered. Mae smiled at her response, she felt excited about the band and to listen to them.

"Okay, 1...2...3!" Toby yelled as he hit his drums to the best of their song. A few seconds later Conor joined in playing his guitar. Finally, Pj started singing the lyrics to "Skipping Stone." It's their newest song so why not play it at the concert. Logan picked the other two songs, most likely choosing the popular ones or his personal favorites. The group of three could feel the pressure of performing, one mistake could destroy the whole concert. Practicing was the only way to get a successful performance.

Ashley and Allen both walked down the stairs. Both were going to help the band get ready to be on stage. Pj held his hand up to stop the music, Toby and Conor both stopped playing. "Do you have anything new for us?" Pj asked, hoping he stopped the band for nothing. "Yeah, we both finished schedule for the week," Allen said.
"Let us hear it," Pj said, sitting down on his stool. It was mostly used when he had to play guitar and sing.

"Tomorrow you'll meet up with Jonas for some discussions. On Thursday, we'll set up the equipment. Leaving the rest of the days for the band to practice" Ashley read what she had on her paper. "That'll work out perfectly," Pj said.
"Also, sorry about bringing Logan along. I know you both aren't on good terms" Pj apologized.
"It's fine, I was the one who broke it off," Ashley said as she walked up the stairs. Allen followed right behind her.

"I don't mean to be nosy, but what happened?" Toby asked.
"Ashley and Logan dated a few years ago but a month later Ashley broke up with him. Then the following months, Logan goes to her house and begs for forgiveness" Pj explained.
"That's tough" Toby commented. He sighed before looking to the ground.
"That's not the worse part," Conor said looking down slightly.
"Yeah, turns out Molly lives across from Ashley and got a video of him trying to get back together with Ashley" Pj explained.
"Then she posted it on the internet, showing everyone that he's a creepy stalker" Conor continued for Pj.
"So his relationship life is ruined," Pj said. Toby nod, kinda wishing that he didn't ask but curiosity got the better of him. He's only been at Silverfish for a year and there is a lot he doesn't know. It still bothered him a bit about the new information.

"We should get back to practice, Allen would want his basement back soon," Pj said. With that, the band went back to playing.

The rest of the week turned out well. The practices were complete and the band had confidence in their performance. Jonas was excited to meet the band, he was honored to talk to each of them. Then came Thursday. It was cloudy outside so not many people were out of the boardwalk. Everyone came out to help set up even Darrel and Mae closed early to help the cause. It was mostly heavy lifting and electrical stuff. Mae could barely help out.

"Darrel, move the drums more to your right" Ashley instructed. Darrel did as he was told and moved them until Ashley was satisfied with the position. "Alright! Everyone stand in your places!" Jonas yelled out to the band. He stood between Ashley and Allen in the first row. Pj, Conor, and Toby stood in the positions they were assigned. "Conor move back a little" Ashley instructed. Conor stood back, Ashley nod satisfied with the positions. "Lucas! Tape!" Jonas yelled. Lucas scurried our with a roll of tape and placed it on the floor from where they are standing.

"You are dismissed, my crew will take care of the rest" Jonas dismissed them. The group was relieved to finally be done. It was hard to believe they've worked all morning to get everything set up. Maybe it's cause they have a perfectionist setting everything up. Ashley was also strict with what should be put up on the screen behind them. It goes from a range of band covers, individual pictures, and a live close up of them.

"Finally, I thought we would never be done," Darrel said taking a puff of air. He's been doing a lot of the heavy lifting along with Pj and Toby. "Good hustle, we should go out to eat" Penelope suggested.
"Great idea, but we need to wait for Ashley," Pj said.
"But Where's Mae?" Darrel asked.
"Oh, she took a walk along the dock," Penelope told them.
"Conor, could you go get her?" Pj asked, the quiet boy.
"Yeah," Conor said as he walked towards the direction of the dock.

Conor walked along the railing looking down onto the water. As he closed into the end of the dock, he started hearing something. Someone was singing, it was lightly pitched and sounded sweet. The song on the other had given him s creepy vibe and felt lured by it. Conor stood at the cent end of the dock. He took a step towards the direction of the song. The noise went pass the railing. Conor looked down.

Mae sat on the ladder singing a song that meant a lot to her. "M-Mae..." Conor said looking down at her. Mae looked up and quickly gasped upon seeing him. "Conor, please... don't say anything about the song you heard or me singing" Mae quickly said trying to regain her posture. Panic could be seen by her expression. She quickly climbed over the railing with Conor helping her across. "But, why not?" Conor asked.
"It's something I wouldn't want to talk about," Mae said as she started walking back to the boardwalk. Conor was puzzled with Mae's change in mood and her reason for hiding her singing.

Penelope smiled and waved as she saw Mae approach them with Conor right behind her. "We are going out to eat! Hurry up!" She called out to them. It caused Mae to walk slightly faster, to not keep her friends waiting.

The car situation was troubling for the group. Darrel brought his truck and Pj brought his car. Darrel could only hold two more people while Pj can hold four. The group consists of (not including Darrel and Pj but also including Logan) seven. In the end, five people sat in Pj's car. Logan and Toby were able to sit in Darrel's truck. Conor sat in the front seat of Pj's car while the rest squished in the back. Choosing the four smallest was easy, Allen did have a small body shape.

The ride turned out to be soothing for both vehicles. Toby was able to talk to Logan for the first time and got to know a lot about him and his relations with Ashley. Darrel was listening and humming along to his music, not bothered by the conversation. Pj and Penelope kept the car ride alive with a lot of small talks. Both were talkative people while the rest tried to relax and just listen to what they have to say.

Both vehicles were parked outside of Mama Rita's Pizzeria. A popular Italian restaurant that captures the culture of Italy. "Hey, we were discussing the three pizzas to get and we came up with the vegetarian, cheese, and deluxe" Pj said to Toby, Darrel, and Logan, making sure if they were alright with the pizza choices. The group didn't complain and agreed with the choices.

Inside the restaurant, it was beautifully decorated with historical paintings, woodwork, and glass lamps. A waitress walked up to them and showed the group to their seats. She had to pull up one chair at the end to fit the uneven number. Pj took that seat claiming to be the royal one of the day. His bubbly personality made the waitress's day and she couldn't help but giggle at whatever he does.

The night turned out to be wonderful for them. Everyone devoured all of the pizzas before 30 minutes. With a big group like them, it wasn't that shocking. The group decided not to leave as soon as possible, instead, they stayed for a few minutes to finish their drinks and talk a little more. Ashley left early to walk back to her house and get her car to pick up Libby at the airport. Allen didn't go since he ended up drinking along with Toby and Logan. It would be best to let them stay over at someone else's house. Everyone enjoyed the rest of the night before they could stress over the concert the next day.