The Best You Ever Had

Competition- Friendly Or Otherwise

Sound check went as expected. We did it once, quick and dirty, and our techs would do it again to be sure before the show. It wasn't until we were walking off the stage set up in the middle of the desert that I noticed an extra face hanging around to the side of the stage, watching. But just as quickly as I noticed him, Brendon was gone. Spying? Two could play that game.

****

I made myself obvious as Panic! took the stage. Brendon shot me a look, but nobody was about to tell Piper James to leave. Piper James could go anywhere she wanted at this festival, before, during, or after any performance of any band. So I planted myself where I was sure I could be seen and watched. 

Their soundcheck was more thorough than ours had been, surprising me. Maybe Brendon was more picky than I remembered him. At one point he pulled his ears out and shouted instructions, blatantly ignoring me, even though he had to look directly over my shoulder to shout at whoever. I smiled at him and walked away, back towards my bus (yes, the bus was here, even though I was staying in a hotel. Closer and more convenient than getting a ride back to the hotel every time I wanted to rest or hang out between acts. You'd better believe I was gonna be watching some bands). I have my own, and the band has another, though they're welcome on mine anytime. I opened the door to find Jenny plucking at her bass, scowling.

"Thought I was onto a new bassline for that song you've been stuck on, but I'm just as stuck as you, I guess. How was spying?"

I grabbed her bass from her and played a few notes from a song we'd written years ago, before handing it back to her. 

"Not very exciting. Though they take longer than us to sound check."

"Yeah, well, we're pros," she joked. 

"Could be that," I laughed. 

She smiled and went back to her plucking. "Sing that opening line slash chorus you wrote for me again?"

I smirked. She was either all work or all play. Obviously she was in work mode right now. 

I hummed a bit, then launched into lyrics, "Sink my bones into the sea, you'll never hear those words from me."

"Rad," she said, before playing back a complex bassline.

"No, that was rad. Hurry! Write that down!"

She picked up the pencil she had tossed on the table and scribbled it down. At least one of us was able to create something.

"How are the boys?" I asked her, referring to our lead guitarist and drummer, Mark and Ronnie.

"Ronnie is asleep, which is why I'm here. Even unplugged he gets grumpy with me. Mark is on Skype with Amanda."

Ronnie would be single forever, and Jenny dated here and there, but Mark had found the love of his life, Amanda, two years ago, and they were wedding planning. It was sweet. It made me a little jealous, because I'd been with Brian longer, but I thought a proposal might be coming soon, so I just stayed happy for Mark.

"Guess we'll see them later then," I said, picking up a magazine. Panic! was on the cover and I threw it back down. "And I'll see Brendon everywhere."

"Maybe it's a cosmic sign that you two should work it out," Jenny said, laughing. 

"I would have been willing until our run-in earlier. Now I don't think there's any way we'll ever fix things."

****

The sweat dripped down my back as the stage rumbled beneath me with the release of the final pyrotechnics of the night. I found my fist in the air and my breathing coming raggedly. The cheers from the crowd hit me as a wave and I was alive.