No Strings Attached

Chapter 2: Maybe

Freen had been one of the best students and participants at the prestigious Bangkok Institute of Music and had a bright career ahead of her. Driven forward by her mother to make the most of her studies and performances, she had learned every in and out of music through and through. Her graduation was set to be with full honours and it was expected that she would join the Bangkok Orchestra of Excellence where she would become part of the guitar division. She even had an audition.

But then she botched it. And she had never gotten another callback again.

With not much to do with her musical skills, she had to start at the bottom of the totem pole again, which meant playing small part pieces in plays, as well as busking on the side. Even her band in highschool felt more accomplished than she did now. The all-time low bothered her immensely and drove her to extreme boredom. At least she would still be able to graduate that year and hopefully her prospects would improve. The college name on her resume would help quite a bit when she started applying for smaller orchestras.

On her way from practice to her dorms on one such a contemplative ventures, she passed the notice board as she always had. Normally the random colorful flyers about frat parties and library outreach programs didn't bother her, but when she spotted a new flyer she actually stopped to take a look.

"Are you musically gifted?
Established band looking for a new lead guitarist.
Audions to be held in the cafeteria tomorrow afternoon after lunch.
Come show us what you've got!"

Freen chewed on her bottom lip as her eyes scanned the notice, wondering if maybe this would satisfy her boredom. She had been a part of a teenage band called The Shots when she was in high school and they did pretty well. She missed those days when things were simpler and life wasn't all about studying and auditions and sweating about getting into the best music schools and orchestras. It had been a long time since she had simply played for fun, and this seemed like it could be fun.

Pulling the notice from the board, she folded it a couple of times and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans before moving on to her dorm room while her guitar case was firmly held in her right hand. It wasn't often that electric guitars came with cases, but the Fender was her baby and she would go the extra mile to protect it. At first when she joined the varsity band, she was forced to play the acoustic, which she didn't mind. However, electric guitars were her love and her forte and she was besides herself when she was allowed to return to using one. Besides, they were far more useful in playing for bands.

Finally at the dorms, she knocked briefly on the door of the twin room she shared with her best friend that she had had since high school. Upon entering she immediately cried out in embarrassment and covered her eyes, turning away from her roommate and shuffling to her side of the room. "Goddamn Nam, how many times must I tell you to hang a sock on the door!" She whined at her best friend and roomie who had been caught in a compromising position with her long-term boyfriend, Tor.

"Oh god I'm sorry Freen! We didn't mean to. One thing just lead to another..." Nam started to explain, but Freen cut her off.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you horndog. Is it safe to turn around now?" Freen asked with blushing cheeks.

"Hi Sarocha, you can turn around now." Tor answered as he pulled up his jeans. "Sorry about that. I'll just get out of here." He gave Nam a quick kiss and pulled his shirt over his head, grabbing his shoes before he shot out the door.

Nam shuffled into her clothes before leaving her bed and shimmied over to Freen to give her a welcome hug, though Freen batted her off. "Please don't get your sex scent all over me. Go shower."

"At least I know you still love me!" Nam chuckled as she sauntered off to the bathroom.

"Whatever." Freen mumbled. She herself had not had a boyfriend since high school and even that was a bit of a trainsmash. She found herself not as attracted to men as she was attracted to women, a realization that took her quite a while to come to grips with, never mind coming out to her friends. She was happy and lucky that no one cared, though they tried their best to set her up with some girls. All her blind dates had gone south, even when she tried her best. It was simply just impossible for her to find the right one.

"Maybe if I joined a band that could change..." Freen mumbled to herself as she pulled the audition poster from her back pocket and studied it again. She had no idea which band it could be or how good they were, but she figured a try wouldn't hurt. She took her guitar from its case and started strumming some chords. Luckily without the guitar being plugged into an amp, it was not loud enough to bother anyone. So she took the opportunity to practise for the audions the next day after making up her mind.