Joplin and Presley: a Fan-Fiction

1

"Hey, Elvis, I've got to show you something."

"Yeah?" Elvis Presley was seated in the living room, feet casually resting on the coffee table before him. He had just finished a sandwich or two, and was feeling rather relaxed and lazy. "What is it, Joe, my man?"

Joe smiled. "There's this woman on the television I thought you'd be interested in."

Elvis returned his friend's smile. "Alright! Turn on the television, and show me her." He chuckled, but felt an odd emotion all the same.

Joe did as he said, and the television soon displayed a woman indeed, except she was unlike any woman Elvis had seen before. She had odd, vibrant decorations in her hair, wore bright clothes, and had big glasses present on her face. From somewhere, an invisible audience was applauding. Elvis was a bit shocked. Then, the woman opened her mouth and simple noise came out of her mouth. She was singing some song, and she was into it, dancing, moving, waving her hands. Her hair moved with her, shifting and blowing as a side-effect to her crazy moves. She could sing and dance, but she was surely different than anything Elvis had seen before. She finished singing, and the announcer said, "And now it's time to say goodbye and goodnight to the one and only Janis Joplin!"

"She's not like a Southern lady," Elvis said, laughing, as Joe shut off the television.

Joe told him, "Actually, I read she's from somewhere in Texas."

"Well, she's like no Southern woman I've met." Elvis' laughter was strong still. He could not help but think it was not necessarily in a bad way, all the same. As strange as she appeared, this Janis Joplin woman was strangely captivating. He thought about her a bit more the next day, wondering if she had a record out. He laughed. She was quite a performer. By the following day, however, Janis had almost entirely left his mind, and had by that evening.

That evening, he had a show, and he was excited for it; as usual, his excitement was mixed with the nerves. He was regarded as great and wonderful and charming, but some things never changed. He fiddled with the guitar strings. His friends, the boys, went over and hyped him up, and soon enough he was smiling. The nerves had passed, and he walked on stage, where he was greeted with an outrage of cheering fans.

A few hours later, the show ended. Elvis had handed off his guitar to a roadie and he was finishing packing when a hand touched his shoulder. He almost did not turn around at first, but he did to be polite.

The woman with her hand on his shoulder looked a bit familiar, but he could not place her face to a name. She was smiling and seemed a bit overly ecstatic. Her dark hair was not neat, but it had style nonetheless. She wore a lightly colored dress with plainer shoes. It was her glasses which caused him to remember.

"Hello. Didn't I see you on the television a few nights ago?" Elvis asked her, still fumbling for whatever her name had been.

She shrugged but smiled. "Yeah, you may have. Janis Joplin. It's an absolute pleasure to meet you."

"You already know my name." Elvis laughed and shook her hand.

"What, of course," Janis told him. She seemed to be experiencing a buzz not brought on by the music.

"What brings you here to a show?"

"Well, it's a day off, and I had to see, because you were in town, man, and I just had to go for the music."

Elvis laughed. "I get that, I get it." Then, more so due to politeness than genuine interest, he asked, "Do you have a show in town soon?"

"Nah, I wished." She smiled again. "Just a quick stop then on the road again..." There was a slightly strange tone in her voice, and Elvis knew he himself got homesick on the road and thought it to be the same emotion Janis had experienced.

"It's not too bad - you'll get used to it quickly." He smiled back.

"No, no, I've done shows before...They're great, you know."

"Yes, I do know. Do you have an album out?"

Janis' face turned into sunlight with her smile. "Yeah, I do. Just had a new one some months ago."

"Oh, really? I'd have to hear it then."

Janis patted his shoulder, and he chuckled. "Good man, Elvis, good man."

The boys walked up to Elvis then, smiling and laughing and joking. Only Joe seemed to recognize Janis, and he gave Elvis a smile. However, they kept their distance, and walked off a bit to get more drinks.

"This may be a bit crazy, man, but is it alright if I give you my address so we can keep in touch?" Janis asked him suddenly.

"Yeah, of course." He smiled and wrote down his own address before handing it to her. Janis smiled like a child, and Elvis laughed. They said their goodbyes, promises to write, and Elvis truly did plan to write her a letter. He could already hear the words he would write down in his head.