"take off, last stop, count down till we blast open the top!"
"face first, full charge, electric hammer to the heart!"
"clocks move forward, but we don't get older,no," gwen sang, gripping the microphone while grinning over at her brother. her brown hair, streaked with pink, flew back like a girl in a movie as she tilted her head back to hit the note. bobby looked admiringly over at the girl, and gwen pretended not to notice, instead just slightly rolling her eyes.
the chorus built up, and the siblings gave it their all, each trying to outdo the other in a comedic way. gwen would shove luke out of the way, and in return, he'd sing over her, or play the guitar to try to mask gwen's classically trained voice.
"keep dreaming like we'll live forever, but live it like it's now or never!"
the band finished with a flourish, basking in the minimal applause of the orpheum employees. gwen threw up her arms in the air, heavily breathing as that post-performance high hit her and her bandmates.
"alex, you were smoking!" reggie complimented, slapping his hand down on alex's shoulder.
alex shrugged. "nah, i was just warming up. you guys were the ones on fire."
"dude, can't you just own your awesomeness for once?" reggie shook his head.
"yeah, alex, own your awesomeness," gwen agreed, messing with the shoulder strap on her electric guitar. "you're an amazing drummer. i'm so proud of how far you've come."
alex smiled softly at his best friend. "thanks, gwen, i appreciate it."
"okay, let's go fuel up before the show. i'm thinking street dogs," luke told the group, whispering to preserve his voice. reggie ooo'ed approvingly, earning an eye roll from gwen.
"yes!" alex fist pumped.
"i'm forever grateful that one day, we won't be eating hot dogs cooked on someone's car battery." gwen sighed. "not saying i won't eat them, this time, but still. we gotta do better than this, guys."
"so, is dreaming of out-of-reach things a patterson family trait, or...."
gwen flipped off reggie as she jumped off the stage. "c'mon, let's go. i'm starving. bobby, you coming?"
"he's off talking to the roadie," luke told his sister, jerking his thumb in their direction. gwen turned her head to see bobby taking the ear off an impossibly pretty girl, and she immediately decided to join them. the other three trailed behind her, knowing it was hopeless. gwen and bobby were alike in that way- once they saw a pretty girl, there was no talking them out of doing the most to impress her.
"you guys were really good," the girl complimented them, once the band joined bobby next to him.
"thank you! that means a lot," gwen responded, her grin stretching from ear to ear.
"i've seen a lot of bands. been in a couple myself. i was really feeling it." the girl smiled at the assembled group.
"that's what we do it for. i'm luke."
"i'm gwen."
"reggie."
"alex."
"are we going to eat, or what?" reggie pulls on gwen's sleeve. the pink-haired girl nodded, and alex and luke trailed behind them as they walked out the door.
***
"eat up, boys and girl," luke declared. "it's only gonna go up from here." the four clinked their hotdogs together and chewed, each of their faces contorting with disgust.
"that's a new flavor," reggie remarked, swallowing anyway.
"you know what? since we left mom, it's not like we can be picky about food." gwen wolfed down the rest of her dog, ignoring the glare from luke.
"you didn't leave mom, gwen. she kicked you out when you came out as a lesbian."
gwen shot him a look, and so did alex, putting a protective arm around his sister's shoulder. luke cast his eyes down. "i'm sorry."
"it's fine," gwen said shortly. she leaned back against the wall, finishing her hot dog. "well, boys, who's ready to go have the show of our lives?"
we all know what happens next.
addie articulates!
here it is, finally lol
