Playing Evelyn

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

They were drunk.

There were about thirty guys there for the bachelor party and every single one of them was totally intoxicated. They were singing our songs at the top of their lungs, practically drowning me out as they raised their drinks in the air, closed their eyes and swayed dramatically to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey.

When the song was over, they cheered and screamed and ordered us drinks. The bartender delivered us all rye and gingers without the rye. It was hilarious and fun and the atmosphere was goofy but we still played amazingly. Our sound had really started to come together and it was a perfect night for Alice’s friend to come in and film. Ben was standing at the back of the room with his video camera, every once in a while giving us a thumbs up.

Frank jumped around the stage all night. He even got down on his knees for his guitar solos. We were all killing it that night, feeding off of the energy from the intoxicated crowd.

During our last song of the set, one of the groomsmen grabbed onto my boot and slid his hand up my thigh. We were playing Another One Bites the Dust by Queen and it was just about over when I felt someone’s sweaty palm on my leg. Without pausing in the lyrics, I flung my guitar around so that it hung on my back, freeing my hands. I grabbed the microphone off the stand and with my other hand I gripped his wrist and twisted it painfully. I took a step back, pulling his upper body onto the stage before letting go. I turned and slid on my knees as I sang the last line of the song, twisting at the very last note and giving him the finger at the exact second that the song ended.

Everyone cheered and whistled as I stood up and gave a mocking bow before the band headed off the stage. As soon as we were out of sight, we collapsed laughing, thinking about the shocked look on the guy’s face as he grudgingly applauded our performance.

“That was awesome!” Ben exclaimed as he walked backstage. “I caught that all on camera, Evie! You were amazing!” He looked at me with admiration in his eyes and for the first time, I noticed that he was kind of cute. He was tall and lanky but it worked for him. His hair was a dirty blonde color that hung in a shag across his forehead covering his light blue eyes. He had somewhat boyish features and a really nice smile that spread easily over his face.

I glanced at Alice and noticed her frowning at him as he looked at me with stars in his eyes.

Uh oh.

“Um, let’s go to the practice room and have some pizza, okay?” I said, walking away before anyone answered. Everyone followed, talking about the amazing set and how much fun it had been to perform. We usually only did the acoustic sets at the college campus but we were trying to find more gigs like this one where we could plug in and really wail.

The awkward tension between Alice, Ben and I disappeared as we started munching on the pizza that John had bought us. Ben turned on his camera and we all made faces and fooled around. He got some pretty good footage of a pillow fight between the band members.

Eventually we wound down, the endorphins from the show, fading. It was almost two in the morning and we were starting to feel it. I grabbed an acoustic guitar as we all sat on the beds, lounging. For some reason, I loved ending the night with an acoustic song and the mood was just right at the moment. I strummed the first few chords of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac and started to sing softly, losing myself in the sound.

“The landslide will bring you down,” I finished, listening as the last chord faded into the silence. I had closed my eyes while I was playing and when I opened them, I was looking directly into the camera. I blinked and Ben quickly lowered it.