The South Side

Chapter 3

Ryder walks into his penthouse and kicks off his shoes. The room gives off an orange hue from the sunset that can be seen from the balcony. The light further reflecting off of the white, modern furniture that came with the penthouse.

He places his wallet on the counter in the kitchen and proceeds up the glass spiral stairs to his room. He opens the door and plops down on his dark grey bed, and just lies there.

Since the start of his career, Ryder had never taken a break. He was constantly on the move. Recording. Filming. Tours. Meet and greets. Red carpet. Late nights. Early mornings. But now, he had nothing to do.

The idea seemed strange to Ryder.

After lying there for a while, Ryder decides to go for a walk. He quickly grabs a black Beene, dark aviator glasses, and a worn leather jacket. Although it's not a much of a disguise, it seems to work well for Ryder, but he thinks it only works so well because people see what they want to see. They assumed a big name like him would run around in designer brands and not his favorite clothing items he bought back in high school. Once he gathered his accessories, he heads towards the elevator.

He pushes the lobby button and goes down. As the elevator descends, Ryder pulls the Beene over his head, puts his aviator glasses on, and throws on his jacket. Just as he finishes adjusting the jacket collar, the elevator door opens and he walks out.

He exists the building and walks down the street. He has no specific place in mind as he walks and take in the surroundings.

The sun had set, and the lights of the city lit up the streets. Skyscrapers tower above, completely lit, while the street itself is lined with bright neon and LED signs, making it nearly seem that the street lights were unnecessary. The sidewalks are bustling with people from shoppers to partygoers to families, while cars go up and down the streets.

As a cool breeze passes through, Ryder starts thinking of where to go. After thinking a little while more, he heads towards the Music District, the place that started it all for him.

Ryder had not visited the Music District ever since his career took off. He had just been too busy, but he still vividly remembers his time there. Booking gigs. Playing at bars. Building a fan base.  Joining the crowd to watch the next band. It was something he truly missed.

After walking for a few blocks, he found what he had been looking for. Percussive Repercussions. The first gig he had ever gotten. Not as a person who plays covers but as an original artist.

The building looks ageless and Ryder is hit with a sense of nostalgia, bringing him back to his performance there.

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Ryder walks into the alley by Percussive Repercussion and heads to the backdoor. He walks up the door and knocks on it. Not a moment later, the door opens.

"You must be the opening act."

"Yes, I'm-"

The man cuts Ryder off. "Great. We're finishing setting up, then you can help us with some equipment checks. We had an hour before you have to take the stage, so we've got to be quick."

The man turns around and leaves Ryder standing in the doorway.

Ryder just stood there in awe. Everyone was rushing about. Setting up equipment. Testing the audio. Tuning instruments.

But what really caught his eyes was the stage. Although it was not a fancy stadium stage with any crazy features, its presence was something else entirely. It was opposite to the bar on the other side of the room, leaving a ton of floor space in between. The stage had stairs on either side of the stage and the lighting seemed nearly perfect. To a rookie musican like Ryder, it was truly an amazing sight to behold.

Once snapping out of his daze, Ryder got out of everyone's way. He sat backstage with a clear view of the stage and started to tune his guitar. It did not take long since he had tuned it after practice earlier that day, but Ryder figured it is better to be safe than sorry. Once he had finished, Ryder sat back and watched everyone work.

Time passed quickly as Ryder watched. Before he knew it, it was time to perform. If it were not for the fact that he would be playing, he would have been devastated about his time sitting there coming to a close. He wanted to keep on taking it in.

Ryder stood up, grabbed his guitar, and headed over to the stage manager.

"Hello," Ryder said as he reached the manager, "I'm the opening act."

"Great," responded the manager, "It's time for you to go on."

Ryder nods and walks onto the stage. He reaches the microphone in the center, adjusts his guitar, and faces the audience.

"Hey guys," Ryder speaks into the microphone while facing the audience, "I'm Ryder Reeds and I'll be your opening act tonight. Hope you guys enjoy."

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Shaking away his thoughts, Ryder walks up to the bar and heads to the door. Before Ryder can enter, someone stops him.

"Hey," a gruff voice barks, "You can't go in."

Ryder turns around to find the bar's bouncer behind him.

"Hey man," Ryder responds, "I'm an old friend of the owner."

"Ya right man. Ya think that's the first time I've heard that line?"

"I swear man. Just tell him that Ry-"

"Aye man! Fuck off! Ya think the owner would know someone like you! Ryder Reeds used to play here! But based on your clothes, you could probably barely afford rent! Stop begging and scram!"

Ryder just stood there baffled. Just because he did not look rich, the bouncer would not let him in? Is that all it really came down to now? Just because he use to play there? Before he was famous, Percussive Repercussions welcomed everyone from any and every walk of life. It was a place where people who enjoyed music could hang out. At that point, Ryder was beginning to think going out was a mistake-

"You retarded?!"

The bouncer's shout snapped Ryder out of his thoughts. 

Ryder turns to the bouncer and tries one more time. "Hey man, if you could just let me see him-"

The bouncer just shoves Ryder from the door, and shouts at him. "Fuck off, wannabe! This bar ain't a place for people like you!"

As Ryder stumbles back, he trips on the cracked sidewalk, sending him to the ground. As he falls, so does his aviator glasses. Once he slams to the ground, his glasses do too. Ryder quickly grabs his glasses and shoved them into his pocket.

He stands up and starts to walk away. However, before he starts to walk, he says something to the bouncer, just quiet enough so only he could hear.

"Ya. I did play here before, but if this is how it is now, I don't think I want my name attached to that."

The bouncer just looks in complete shock as Ryder walks off and down the block.

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A/N: Wow. I wrote a third chapter. That's crazy! I'm not even that committed to sleep!
I hope my writing is a lot smoother than I think it is.
I started writing so that I can become more creative, but to be honest, most of stuff is really REALLY bad and sounds like a research paper and not a story (with extremely poor plots too).

Word count: 1206
Date chapter finished: 12/15/2021
Date chapter published: 10/19/2022