SHATTERED

seven

saylor

i walked into our practice building. my brows immediately furrowed together when i didn't see anybody here yet. i gently closed the door and let it shut almost without a sound. i locked it back, and i walked further into the building.

i walked over to the refrigerator. i was going to grab a drink, but i stopped as i heard voices, which sounded like they were coming from upstairs. i didn't mean to eavesdrop, but at the same time, it's not my fault that the sound of their voices traveled downstairs. i recognized who it was after a moment.

jessie and alex.

i paused for a moment as i grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator.

"no, i get that. it's okay. you really don't want to go over there though?" jessie asked.

"no. i can't— i can't deal with that shit anymore," alex replied. "what are you doing for christmas?"

"i was gonna go visit my brother, maybe my parents. they all still live in los angeles. you're welcome to join though," jess offered.

"i guess i'll see what you think is so great about los angeles," alex muttered. "i'd like that. thank you."

"yeah, of course."

my eyes widened a bit as i heard their footsteps start to head downstairs. i popped the lid off my bottle, and i started to take a sip. i acted as if i didn't hear their conversation.

when they reached the bottom of the stairs, i glanced over at them. alex glanced over too, and i watched as their jaw clenched a bit as they saw that i was here. they then shoved their hands into their pockets as they made their way to the couch.

"oh, hey, saylor," jessie flashed a grin.

"hi, jj," i gave a smile.

"how long have you been here?" alex asked. they seemed completely disinterested now as they pulled a pack of cigarettes out of their pocket.

"barely long enough to get a beer," i held up the bottle as my eyes slightly narrowed at them.

they hummed as they pulled a cigarette out, placed it between their lips, and lit it. they took a drag from it.

i wonder what's so bad at their house that they don't want to spend christmas there... they were just there for thanksgiving; or at least, i overheard them talking to miguel about going there for thanksgiving.

not that i care. it's none of my business, and i don't want it to be.

i took another sip of my beer.

"saylor..." alex caught my attention. i raised a brow. "have you heard the joke about the gaslighter?"

"no...?" i made a face.

alex tilted their head as they took another drag from their cigarette. "yeah, you have."

"no, i haven't," i shook my head.

"dude... you literally have," they claimed.

"i literally haven't," i mocked as i sent them a look.

"you're fucking crazy, because you have," they let out a mix of a scoff and a chuckle.

i paused for a moment to take yet another sip of my beer and to think back. "i'm not crazy. i've never heard that joke before."

"yes, you have," alex continued to insist.

i started to argue again that i haven't, but jessie stopped me. "pookie... you realize that they're gaslighting you, right? that's the joke," she explained, which made me form a small "o" shake with my mouth.

alex let out a loud laugh. "this shit is too easy, man."

i narrowed my eyes at them. "haha. so funny," i commented sarcastically as i let out a scoff.

i ignored alex as i pulled my phone out of my pocket and leaned back against the counter. jessie moved past me, and they got a soda out of the fridge. i started to text miguel to ask where he was, but i stopped as i heard the door open. i turned around, and i saw that it was miggy, so i put my phone back in my pocket.

"there's my favorite band member," i teased as he made his way over to me and jess.

"what the fuck, pookie bear?!" jessie asked loudly as they looked at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

"sorry, jess, but me and miggy go way back," i sucked my teeth as i shrugged. "you're a close second though."

"there's only three of us!" she threw her hands up. "and we all know that you and alex aren't each other's favorites, so i really had no other competition!"

"facts," i heard alex agree from their spot on the couch; they were still smoking their cigarette. i rolled my eyes.

"i don't know what to tell you," i made a face. "like i said, me and miggy go way back."

"we do," miguel nodded.

"i guess i can accept that," she sighed. they pointed at miguel. "i think it's homophobic that you waited so long to introduce us to saylor though!"

"i'm definitely not homophobic," miguel grabbed jessie's finger and moved it away from his face. "but my bad...?"

"you are!" they huffed before they walked away.

•

later that night, we're all at some bar doing a gig. there's a considerable amount of people here. most of them seem pretty into the band and the songs we've been playing, which is good.

any exposure is good.

most of the people in the bar seem no more than thirty years old, all of them being in their twenty's, which would definitely be around the target audience of our music (though anyone is welcome to listen to it, of course). i've even seen a few of them try to search for some of the lyrics to find a song, but i'm not too sure how helpful that was considering the fact that we only have a handful of songs on soundcloud.

alex, even since the incident of me hitting my guitar against their's, still insists on standing directly in front of me a majority of the time. they only move to stand at the front of the stage when they do a solo, just to impress any women that are watching.

they seriously get on my nerves.

after we performed a few songs, we took a break. we all started to head towards the bar, but we were stopped by a woman who seemed to be in her early forty's. she was dressed entirely too formal to be in this bar.

"you're all the band shattered, correct?" she asked with a smile as she glanced between us all.

alex spoke up. "yeah. who are you?" their eyes narrowed a bit at the slightly shorter woman.

"i'm laura solace, but you can just call me laura," she told us. "i just wanted to say, that your band's music is amazing. i see a lot of potential in it."

she paused to reach into her purse for something. the four of us all shared a somewhat puzzled look. she pulled out a business card, and she handed it to alex. "here you go. if you could give that number a call, after the holidays, maybe january first, we could discuss the possibilities of the future of your band," she explained vaguely with a smile before she walked off.

of course, that only increased the puzzled looks on all of our faces. we all leaned forward to look at the business card and read it. all of our eyes widened as we did.

holy shit.

•

a/n ayooo

thoughts?

predictions?

words:
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