Looking Bout Seventeen

Templeton leaned against the bar, flashing a smile at the bartender. The bartender didn't smile back, only narrowing his eyes at Templeton. Templeton only smiled sweeter as he turned to sweep over the crowd, looking for the reason he was there. Being as he was in a family bar and grill, he didn't have to pull out his fake ID unless he wanted alcohol. Any other night he would be buying, but tonight he was there on invite of a very beautiful girl.

Scanning the surprisingly large crowd- the size expected for such a famous family bar and grill- he scanned the crowd, looking past faces he sought out vibrant red hair. A sharp faced, wild haired boy that couldn't have been much older than himself,turned towards the back of the live music stage. Templeton could've sworn there was something familiar about him. Just past the boy was the girl he had been looking for; a cute little redhead from his AP physics class. Straightening his leather jacket, Templeton weaved his way through the throng of people.

Templeton flashed his pearly whites as he squeezed around people, switching between sweet, apologetic, and sultry depending on the person. Before he knew it, he had managed to get to the tables near the stage.

Nearly running into one of the bouncers — a big black guy with a Mohawk, layers of gold chains around his neck, and blue feather earrings. Templeton was more than certain he could crush his head like an overripe melon — Templeton smiled, almost sweetly, at the scowling face and hoped that his face would be intact after talking to the bouncer. "Hey! Hi. I'm here to see Cally." Her name was Cally, right? "She said she was going to perform tonight."

The bouncer's mature appearance said he was older than Templeton, but it couldn't have been by much. He couldn't have been older than eighteen, maybe even nineteen, but definitely not in his twenties.

The guy's eyes narrowed for a brief moment before he nodded and pointed to a table near the stage where Cally was with her guitar on the table in front of her. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a flash of movement crashing into him.

"BA!" The wild-haired boy that caught Templeton's eye all but screeched. "There you are!"

"Get off me, fool," the bouncer growled at the boy.

Templeton let himself look at them for a breath longer, taking in their gleaming brown eyes as he slipped past them. Missing whatever the boy's response was and he tried to shake off the sudden disappointment.

"Cally," Templeton purred, pushing the other boy to the back of his mind.

"Temp!" Cally gasped, leaping to her feet. Her hands grabbed onto his forearms and squeezed lightly as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "You made it!"

Templeton smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

A blush flared across her cheeks as she grinned and pulled him to sit. "Is that what you tell all the girls?"

And the rare guy. Templeton thought as he took his seat.

"Never in this situation. You're the first musician that has ever invited me to one of their concerts."

Cally rolled her eyes, still smiling. "And you're a sweet talker."

"So I have been told." Templeton grinned. "When are you going up?"

Cally gave a one shoulder shrug. "It depends on how long the person before me is up there." She groaned dramatically, slumping forward over her guitar case. "This is so stressful!"

"Then why are you doing it?" Templeton carefully leaned over the case. In his experience, musicians didn't like you laying on their instruments. Which made sense, in some way. Templeton only knew about popular music and what certain people liked, but he had never been personally invested in it otherwise.