The day that Olivia and Greg confessed their undying love for each other, Greg asked her to be his girlfriend and she didn’t hesitate to say yes. She had mentioned the day after that, “Faithfully” had been going through her head that night. He had asked why and she didn’t really know. Possibly because he had always had her heart and it wasn’t until then that she realized it.

In the two weeks between the other Greg’s news that he was leaving that band and the final round, the rest of the band got used to the newer songs without the keys very quickly. They hadn’t had any shows scheduled until about a month after the competition finished, so that gave them plenty of time to get used to the older songs without keys.

Now, they were the second to play, same rules as the last couple rounds and the whole band decided on making all of the songs acoustic so it would be much less equipment to carry around (they just brought their acoustic guitars and Tyler’s snare drum and a cymbal to be played with brushes). She had a song written especially for her new boyfriend that only took a few minutes to write. It was while she was in the park, just after he left for New York and she played, and she decided that that song was going to be the first one, since he had promised to be there. When she got on stage, she saw him in the audience next to Eric, near the front, and he blew a kiss to her. She smiled at him and that was when she started to speak.

“All right. Tonight, I would to make a little dedication before we start. The first song is called ‘True Love’ and I’m dedicating it to my boyfriend, Greg.” She said as she playfully winked at him.

The crowd cheered and Greg blushed. The song was a ballad that really spoke her mind about how she felt about him: no matter what, regardless of if either of them made it big in the music industry or they only played with the band on the side, they’d love each other and no other person would ever get in the way of that.

When the song ended, he smiled widely. She never broke eye contact with him during the song, though she could vaguely see one of the judges, and even some of the audience members, looking at her with a most curious expression. There was little doubt as to why they wore it; the band seemed to be one person short.

Before they went on, she couldn’t decide if she should mention why they were one person short until they were completely finished with the set or when they finished a song, but in the end, decided to wait until the set was over and they were being judged, just in case no one really noticed. The set went by very well with a lot of the audience members swaying to the music. The next band went on and then everyone was called back to the stage.

All of the judges were looking at her with raised eyebrows. The bands had done very well and one of the judges said that if it were up to him, all three of them would have record deals.

The prizes for the bands were $5,000 for the third place band, $10,000 for the second place band and $15,000 and a record deal for the first place band. All of the competing bands that got voted off got a shirt saying that they had survived to the round they were voted from and for the last round, the bands got a shirt saying what place they were voted, so no one could lie about it, and evidently, one of the bands that was voted off were selling shirts they made saying that they musically got their butts beat bad by a girl. It looked like they were selling like hot cakes.

She was being judged last and just before the first one started talking, the host interrupted.

“Young lady, you seem to be missing a person.”

“Indeed I am. Our key player felt that he wasn’t that important to us as a musician so he decided to quit.”

“Has it been hard for you?”

“Not really. I’ve got a very talented band backing me up.”

The meanest judge, so to speak, was the first to talk to her.

“Exactly how long ago did he choose to leave?”

“A couple weeks from today.”

“And learning the new material hasn’t been difficult?”

“No, sir. It’s the older tunes I’m a little worried about.”

“Well, I would like you to know that regardless of what happens here, I think you and your wonderful band are headed for success. If you don’t get a record deal right now, I’m sure it will happen very soon.”

A good portion of the crowd screamed in agreement and the other judges agreed. She made eye contact with Greg and smiled at him while the host said the names of the bands to re-introduce them. She really wasn’t paying much attention to the host, as she only had eyes and ears for her boyfriend.

“And now, the voting shall commence!”

He stood behind the lead singers with his hand above their heads. The choice of the audience was very close between the Lonewolves and the band called Sucker Punch. The other band, called Dumb Criminals, was clearly not chosen to stay. The lead singer smiled in a resigned sort of way, bowed slightly to the other two leads and left the stage.

“You’re going to have to be a lot louder than that!”

It was still very close, but after a while, it was decided that the Lonewolves should win. The other lead hugged her and, over the screaming of the crowd, she just barely heard him congratulate her on the win. He pulled away before she could respond and she did her own little geeky victory dance. The host took one of her hands and raised it in the air, then said,

“Olivia, your band just won the third annual battle of the bands. What are you going to do next?”.

“I’m going to Disneyland!”

“Goodness knows you can afford it now!”

She was very quickly tackled by all of her band mates, including Greg, wrapping each other up in a massive group hug, with her in the center of it all. There were a number of pats on the back from the other bands, when they released her and she vaguely heard some of them congratulate her, if a little begrudgingly.

After a while, everything calmed down a little bit and she saw her boyfriend walk to the stage. He helped her down and kissed her full on the lips, causing everyone that could see it to scream. When he released her lips, he, too, congratulated her, before kissing her again.

The band was led back to the green room and they sat down. There was a red headed woman there with a pad in her lap and a digital recorder. She smiled and put the pad she had been writing on off to the side. They sat around the woman, who introduced herself as Grace, while a man took their picture (he also set up a video camera), with Olivia next to her.

 (The interview is written with the speaker’s name in front, with movements in brackets.)

Grace: Congratulations on your win.

Olivia: Thank you.

 Grace: How do you guys feel right now?

Olivia: I don’t know about the guys, but I feel like I could fly.

[The other guys nod.]

Grace: First off, what’s your name and what do you do? [She makes a quick note of who’s who when they answer.]

Olivia: I’m Olivia, I play guitar and I sing.

 Jake: I’m Jake and I play bass.

Jim: I’m Jim and I play lead guitar and sing back up.

Tyler: I’m Tyler and I play the drums.

Greg: I’m Greg and I play keys and manage the band.

Grace: How did you guys get together and how long have you been together?

Olivia: We’ve been together for about three years. We met while I was playing in the park. When I’m done with work, I like to take my guitar out and play for tips. They already had a band formed, but they didn’t have a lead singer, and they heard me in the park, and asked me to join.

Grace: Did you agree immediately?

Olivia: Actually no, I didn’t. They approached me at different times that day and when I finished, Jake told me a little more about it and that was it. The rest is history.

Grace: Did either of you know any of the others before the band?

Olivia: I knew Jake, but not well.

Greg: All of us guys knew each other pretty well, we lived on the same block for some time and we jammed constantly. After a while, we decided to form a band and started looking for a lead. [Pats Olivia’s leg] It actually took several tries to find one, as none of the others we found had the talent with vocals or song writing or anything that she does. Jake was fairly aware of her playing in the park and thought she sounded good, and said that we should check her out.

Grace: I know that some of the other fans are curious. Olivia, have you ever considered dating one of your band mates?

Olivia: No. They’re all brothers to me.

Grace: How many siblings do you all have? Olivia?

Olivia: I have four brothers and one sister.

 Grace: Where are you in all of this?

Olivia: Youngest.

Grace: Jake?

Jake: Only child.

Grace: Greg?

Greg: Two younger sisters.

Grace: Jim?

Jim: One younger sister.

Grace: Tyler?

Tyler: One older sister, two younger sisters.

Grace: Guys, how would you describe Olivia in a word?

Greg: Weird.

Jim: Talented.

Jake: Tough.

Tyler: Lovely.

Grace: Is that mutual for the guys, Olivia?

Olivia: Oh, yeah.

Grace: Are any of you seeing anyone?

Olivia: Yeah, I have a boyfriend and Jim and Jake have girlfriends. Not sure about the other guys, though.

Tyler: Single.

Greg: Single.

Grace: How long have you played what you play and how did you learn?

Olivia: I’ve played guitar since I was ten and my cousin taught me.

Tyler: I’ve played drums since I was eight and I learned from a family friend.

Jim: I started off on the alto sax and learned the guitar at thirteen. Taught myself.

Jake: I’ve played bass since I was eleven and taught myself.

Greg: I started playing piano at six from my mother.

Grace: How long have you been with your boyfriend?

Olivia: A couple weeks.

Grace: How long have you boys been with your girlfriends?

Jim: A month.

Jake: Two years.

Grace: What are their names?

Olivia: Greg, but not this one. [gestures to the one sitting next to her]

Jim: Brianna.

Jake: Lauren.

Grace: Olivia, how long have you been singing?

Olivia: I started to sing right around the time I started playing the guitar. My cousin said that learning would help me control my voice, ‘cause at the time, I had a wonderful voice, but not very good control.

Grace: And now you control it well. When did you start writing songs?

Olivia: Not long after that. Right around the time I started learning the guitar, I started to write songs.

Grace: Have you played any of those songs during the battle?

Olivia: No, we had all new ones.

Grace: How do you know what songs are going to be good ones?

Olivia: I play it in the park. If I get a lot of applause at the end of a song, it’s a good one. If not, then it isn’t.

Grace: How often does that happen?

Olivia: Not very, which is surprising.

Grace: How is that?

Greg: Don’t worry. Olivia is just very modest.

[Everyone chuckles, while she just shrugs.]

Grace: What are you guys going to do now that you’ve won?

Olivia: Decide which songs to record and work on them, stuff like that. Maybe do some shows while we record.

Grace: Are you staying as manager?

Greg: Yeah, if they want me.

Olivia: Of course, we do.

Grace: Any ideas on album names?

Olivia: Nope. Although, my boyfriend, before he was my boyfriend, had the idea that I should name an album after one of my slightly older songs called “Life of a Rock Star.” I rather like the idea.

Jim: It will probably be something like that.

Grace: Have you even discussed album names?

Olivia: Nah, our discussions on album names are more jokes, and really bad ones, than anything.

Grace: Like what?

Olivia: You don’t want to know. Trust me.

Greg: You’ll just have to take our word for it.

Grace: All right. How long does it take you to fully arrange songs?

Jim: It varies. Generally, it doesn’t take long at all.

Grace: Is there a particular formula you guys have?

Jake: No, we just listen to what Olivia has come up with and work from there. It more often then not just comes to us.

Grace: How so?

Greg: We just hear the melody for our parts in our heads.

Grace: Have any of you worked with other musicians?

Olivia: Yeah, all of us have.

Jim: I don’t think any of us have worked with other musicians more than Olivia has. How many songs have you helped write?

Olivia: A lot. Not only have helped with the lyrics, I also help with the music for those songs, too, though that’s what I do primarily. I know a lot of people who are part of rock bands and I’ve helped all of them with their music, including my cousin, who I’ve also occasionally played with when his lead guitarist gets injured.

Grace: Your cousin leads a band, too? What’s it called?

Olivia: Uranium City. It’s in the Saskatchewan province in Canada.

Grace: How on earth did they come up with the name?

Olivia: Um, I really have no idea, and they don’t know either. I think they just picked a name and that sounded good. My cousin and his band mates are just really weird like that.

Grace: How often does your cousin’s lead guitarist get injured?

Olivia: Constantly. He’s a major klutz and gets hurt a lot somehow. They call me an honorary band member.

Grace: And what about you guys, how did you come up with your name?

Olivia: We’re all loners, you know, just more likely to blend in with the wall and watch everyone during lunch and all that than talk to people, just like a lone wolf. We talked a little about names when we formed and I suddenly came up with that one and that’s what we chose.

Grace: If you guys get to do a world tour, where do you guy want to go most and why?

Olivia: Italy or Ireland. My boyfriend is half Itallian and he still has family there and Ireland is just beautiful.

Greg: Japan. The culture has always fascinated me.

Jim: England. I want to see Stonehenge mainly.

Olivia: Don’t blame you, there.

Jake: Asia in general. Same reason as Greg, the whole continent fascinates me.

Tyler: Canada. They seem like such great people.

Grace: Thank you for talking to me and congratulations again.

Olivia: Thanks for talking to us and thanks again.

(End of interview)

The band shook hands with Grace when the video camera was off, and Olivia was suddenly struck with an idea.

“I think I know what we can call our first album.”

“What?”

“‘Big Wolfs on Campus.’”

“I like it.”

 

A/N: If you want me to write more about the Lonewolves and how life treats them after they win, just let me know.

The third round was about a month after the second round with the same rules; total of four and an encore if desired, one fast song, one slow. Olivia was putting a lot of her new songs into the competition from beginning to end, even in the preliminary round, which was what the organizers called the audition for it. She chuckled at the memory of when they played, unplugged, for the judges. They were one of the last ones called in and when she came into view, she saw the distinct look of surprise on the faces of every judge. There were a few other female lead signers going on after her band, so the surprise on the faces of the judges confused her. It was just too bad that the other girls didn’t get chosen to continue.

She was little surprised at that. She was able to learn the names of some of the other bands, all of whom had web-sites with the music on it, and thought that they had good tunes as well. The girls all talked to her a little after the preliminary round finished and said that if any of them made it into the battle, they’d be there in support. All the males in each band flirted with all of the other females, though Olivia half joked that she was too clueless to flirt back. When it was learned that her band was going to be the only one of them accepted into it, they didn’t seem particularly surprised. Not only that, each and every one of them was sure that the Lonewolves would win. After the first round, she talked to one of the other girls and assured them that there weren’t any other girls in the other bands.

This time, they were going on last. One girl told her that she’d be in the audience, though Olivia knew it was mainly because she had a crush on Jim and she didn’t really blame the girl. Her band mates weren’t exactly bad looking.

When it was time for them to go on, Tyler wrapped his arm around her while he carried some of his equipment and she, her guitar. Just before they got on stage, Tyler snuck a kiss. It was a little peck on the cheek and her skin suffused with a pretty blush. He leaned in close and said,

“I need to do that more often.” He walked to the back to set up while she just stood there, completely flummoxed not only by what he had done, but what he said. It took a few moments, but she regained composure and started to set herself up.

Olivia hoped that what just happened wouldn’t end up being the band’s downfall in the competition. She looked out at the crowd and noticed a few of the other girls that auditioned for the battle. It surprised her slightly, but she didn’t feel much different right then then she usually did. She looked back so Tyler could count them off, and he gave her a mischievous grin. She reddened again as the first song started.

It was a little difficult for her to get through their set because her mind kept going to what Tyler had done. She was aware that he might have had feelings for her, but that was the first time he had actually shown it. This was probably the only time that when the set was over, she was happy. As she took a bow, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad that she no longer had to worry about screwing up the lyrics or notes for a song. At least, that’s what she’d hoped, but the audience would confirm that for her.

The vote for the Lonewolves to stay was practically unanimous, and she sighed in relief again. She was glad that her preoccupation didn’t mess up their chances of staying. There were two other bands in the competition and the judging didn’t take very long. The other bands did very well and only needed a slight critique or two from them, and the two leads looked expectantly at Olivia. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves, as she was sure that the judges would have noticed.

“All right, young lady. Very nice job as usual. However, your mind seemed a little elsewhere. It didn’t really affect your performance, but you were constantly blushing. You might want to work on that.”

“It’s also rather warm in here to me.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

A quiet chuckle rolled trough the crowd and the next judge agreed.

“Do we want to know what caused you to blush so much?”

“You can, but I won’t say.”

The rest agreed and the last one smiled at her.

“I don’t know how this competition will end, if your band wins or not, but regardless, I think we can expect great things from you.”

The judges murmured their agreement. As everyone filed out, and as the bands went to load up, Tyler wrapped an arm around Olivia’s waist, kissing her cheek again.

“Hey, save it for the ride home, so we don’t have to see it.” Jake hurried away so Olivia couldn’t hit him, while Jim decided to go get the number from the girl that was in the prelim round with them, named Brianna.

 When everything was loaded, Jim climbed into the driver’s seat with a large smile on his face.

“We’re going on a date in two days.”

“Nice. If we don’t see you then, have fun.”

“I think I will.”

Tyler and Olivia were in the back, on their own, laughing at the tone of his voice, and he didn’t even try to set them straight, which made them laugh even more.

“So where do we want to celebrate making it to the final round?”

“It’s past lunch time. Want to give Romeo’s another try?”

“Sure.”

“I’m vaguely surprised you still like that place considering what happened with Bobby.” Tyler ran his hand along her opposite shoulder.

“I went there with my cousin right after it happened. Bobby does not, and will not, ever tarnish my views on that place. It’s too damn good.”

“Alrighty.” Jim turned on the radio and pulled out of the parking lot.

Olivia leaned into Tyler’s arms and he kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair. She soon felt his lips against her ear.

“Sorry I embarrassed you.”

“No problem. Just don’t do it right before we perform again.”

“Okay.” He placed his finger under her chin, having her face him, and gently kissed her. She was unprepared for it, but not as much as earlier. He pulled away before she could react, but only for a second. She started to get into the kiss a little bit, but she pulled away after a few seconds. It wasn’t that she didn’t find him attractive.  She just wasn’t attracted to him. He smiled and she rested her head on his chest. He clearly wasn’t hurt or put off at te rejection. In fact, he was understanding about it. His hands gently ran along her arms, just like they always had. “If I can’t have you, I’ll make sure you’re happy for the one who does.”

She chuckled and closed her eyes. He always took good care of her when her mood was down, but so did the rest of the band, just none more than he did. He always made sure to make her smile, and it was so easy for him to do. But then, he was one of the weirdest people to have ever walked that planet.

After a short while, Jim pulled into the parking lot of Romeo’s. Eric, was once again serving her table. He didn’t really seem that surprised when Tyler took his seat next to her. He smiled at them and took their drink order.

“You two know each other?”

“Yeah, he worked with me at Woody’s. Since Woody’s and Romero’s are owned by the same person, it’s not that unusual for the hard workers to switch between the two.”

“I see. Were you close?”

“Kinda. He was transferred here indefinitely not long after I arrived.”

“I’ve only spoken to him a couple times. Once in the park and then here, with Danny that same

day. He wasn’t very nice at first. What’s he really like?

“He’s a good guy, provided he’s in a good mood. When he’s not in that good a mood, he really doesn’t get that mean, like verbally abusive or anything, but his biting sarcasm gets a little more intense. It doesn’t really take much to turn it around though.”

“How much does it take to make his mood go down?”

“Quite a bit, actually. A lot of things just really have to be going wrong for him that day for his mood to go south.”

“Oh. How sarcastic is he?”

“From what I’ve seen, about as sarcastic as Greg.”

“Oh, cool.”

Eric brought them a couple baskets of bread sticks and they ordered a pizza and bread sticks to take home after a taste of them. They managed to have some left overs when they were finished and since it wasn’t very busy, he hung around behind Olivia for a little bit.

“The day you met me, was any of that true?”

“Yes and no. Evidently, Mark, the guy my cousin was talking about, does have a crush on me.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“Modest, huh?”

“Nah, just clueless.”

“So, does that mean you’d go for a guy like me?”

“Yeah, in fact, you look a lot like a close friend of mine.”

“Great to hear.” He handed them their check, with his number attached to it, and walked away.

When she was handed his number, she had to laugh.

“This has been happening a lot lately. A few times while I was in the park, I’d get a name and number wrapped around a bill.”

“Have you called any of them?”

“No. I don’t know what number goes to whom.”

“That’s a good point.”

Darkness fell quickly as they walked out of the restaurant. Full and happy, they headed for home. Tyler was holding Olivia’s hand the whole car ride and her house was up first. Psychologically, she felt the hand that Tyler had held tingle slightly. Was her subconscious trying to tell her something? She doubted it. Before then, Tyler had only wrapped his arm around her shoulders or her waist, which he did all the time. She flopped backwards on her bed and looked at her hand, rotating it in the air, slowly wriggling her fingers. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t some thick-skulled broad in the early 1800s; she was a modern independent woman. She didn’t need a man and she knew for a fact that she wasn’t attracted to Tyler. Greg and Nick gave her enough confusion about whom she had feelings for and Tyler did not need to be added to the mix.

Exasperated with herself, Olivia got out her guitar and started to play. She didn’t have a song to work on.  She just needed to clear her head. It took her a while, but she became aware that her cell phone had a voice message. It was from Greg, who had called when they were on stage. He wanted to know what had happened and how everything went. She gave him a call and told him everything, even what Tyler had done (but leaving out the part of her inner turmoil that dealt with him), mentioning that she was lucky it didn’t screw her up. He had some wonderful news. Stereopath was having a show down where they were and they would have to hang out. Nick was very excited to see Kelly again and Greg was excited to see her. Olivia had to let Kelly know that Nick was going to be coming to visit and she screamed in delight. Kelly was not alone in her delight.

 

Olivia’s work week was relatively slow following the second round. Sometimes, while she worked, she thought about the song she wrote the day of her date with Bobby, trying to understand its meaning. It was written in about five minutes from the second she put pen to paper and until it was done, she didn’t really know what she was writing.

That Friday, when it was fairly busy, Bobby came in with another girl. She approached the table where they were seated.

“Hello, what can I get you to start with?”

“Water for me.”

“And me as well.” The girl’s voice was semi-high with an air of I’m-better-than-you. Her eyes said the same thing. She gave Olivia a once over with a raised eyebrow.

“All right.” She handed them the menus and walked away. When she came back with their water, the girl was gone. She raised her eyebrow as she put the glasses down. “Where’s your friend?”

“Rachel went to the bathroom. Thank you.”

Rachel returned.

“Oh, good. You’re here. Why do you people not have someone to take coats and stuff?”

“Because we’re in middle class America, not the Hamptons. This place wasn’t built with a coat room. Are you ready to order?”

Rachel glanced at the menu and sighed. “I guess I’ll have whatever you’re having, darling.”

“Okay, two tuna melts, please.”

“Is your tuna dolphin safe?”

“As far as I know, yeah.”

“What do you mean as far as you know?”

“It was last time I checked.”

“Fine.” She sat down and crossed her arms.

“What kind of fries?”

“Can I get onion rings instead?”

“Sure.” Olivia wrote it down.                        

“I want regular fries.”

“Okay.”Olivia walked away and rolled her eyes. Just another day in the food service industry. She was starting to get a headache and she knew her blood sugar had nothing to do with it. She dropped the order off at the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of ketchup.

 Just after she checked on another table, her cell beeped. It was a text from her cousin saying to call him when she had a couple minutes. She texted “okay” back and grabbed Bobby and Rachel’s food.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“’Bout time.”

“You’re welcome.” She scoffed as she walked away and grabbed a couple of plates to deliver. Olivia wondered if Rachel had ever worked in retail. She clearly had never worked in the food service industry. Grabbing a few more plates, she wondered if Rachel even worked a day in her life.

Soon, they were gone, with many snarky comments from Rachel and Bobby seemed to be egging her on, laughing as Rachel critiqued her. Just after she left the table from dropping of the check, she overheard Rachel asking why she didn’t react when she said anything. Bobby responded that it probably had something to with her brothers, her job or her band, maybe a combination of them. What did he mean and how many brothers did she have? The rest of her band were men as well and she had four older brothers. That was interesting. They paid exact change and left.

“Asshole.” She muttered as she picked up the tray. It had slowed a bit after that and just after she put everything in the register, she headed to the back for a quick break to call her cousin.

“Hello?”

“What’s up?”

“Chris got hurt again.”

“Big surprise there.”

Chris was lead guitar in her cousin, Danny’s band. He was a bit more of a klutz then Olivia was, but not too much more, so he got hurt quite a bit. More than once, she’d had to sub for him. So, that phrase only meant one thing.

“Are you busy at all next week and the week after that?”

“Apart from work, no, I’m not. How many shows?”

“Three each week.”

“So, what happened this time?”

“He tripped, hit the wall, pulled something in his shoulder. After these two weeks, there aren’t anymore shows so he can heal properly.”

“How the hell did he manage that one?”

“The world may never know.”

That was pretty much the usual conversation when it came to Chris and his very weird injuries. She was very close to her cousin, and ever since she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, he, along with Mark, the drummer and Scott, the bassist, always made sure she ate every few hours (Danny actually joked that Mark made sure because he had a crush on her and she hit him each time he said that; he’d never allow anything to happen between them any if he had a say in it). She wrote down some of the concert info and told him she would call when she got off so she could get the rest. After she hung up, she put the info into her phone and continued her shift.

When Olivia’s shift ended, she went to the park like usual. She put her guitar on the grass and flopped down next to it. She pulled a blade from the field and rubbed it between her fingers. For some strange reason, the scent of it reminded her of Greg. That was probably because he played soccer in high school and still played on occasion. That day, the grass seemed softer and cooler than usual, and she relaxed, loving the way the grass felt on her skin. 

She thought about the day they met. She had been tuning her guitar, preparing for the benefit they were doing together. He walked over and introduced himself. She had already known who he was, as she had actually seen in him in concert a time or two. She was a big fan. He knew who she was for the same reason. He found it amusing how she was so calm around so many men. She had been used to it for a while and she had four older brothers. That explained a lot. They hadn’t had that much time to talk because her band would be going on soon. After she got off, he told her she had “a cute ass.” When he got off, she told him he did, too. Both bands exchanged numbers and they’d kept in contact ever since. No one talked more than Greg and Olivia.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

“Danny. Hi, I was just about to call you.”

“Yeah, right. You looked too comfortable to do anything.” He took the spot next to her not occupied by her guitar. Danny was a tall guy, 6' to her 5'. He had dark hair, light eyes and a very muscular build. Even though they were fairly closely related, she had say that Danny was pretty hot. Looking at them, you would never know that there was any relation between them at all. If you know them personally, then it would be very obvious.

He was a little over ten years older than she was. He was the one who not only inspired her to play the guitar, but taught her and bought her the acoustic on her other side, which is the one she learned on. It was around that time that she wrote her first song. It didn't take long for Danny to realize that she had a magnificent voice. He also told her that playing guitar will not only help her control her voice but it would also be easier for her to sing. She played every day since and still did, mostly in the park. He was far from surprised when she began leading the Lonewolves.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Men.”

“Dare I ask?”

“You remember Greg, the guy I met in New York a few years ago. And how I feel about him. Well, there’s another guy that was in the competition with me. Two actually. I like one of them a lot, about the same as I feel about Greg. The other, I wasn’t so sure about. Until the day after the second round last week, he showed his true colors.”

“What do you mean?”

“Brinn. And I overheard him and his band say some sexual things about me while I served them. And today, he brought a girl over to the café. Her name was Rachel apparently.”

“Was she pretty?”

“On the outside, yeah. She kind of looked a little like Kelly.”

“I take it you don’t like her much.”

“I don’t think she’s worked a day in her life. She actually asked why we didn’t take coats and stuff.”

“Heh. Neither do I. Bet you handled that one well.”

“I’m quick when I want to be.”

“So, that would be a yes.”

“Yes.”

“What about the guy you like?”

“What about him?”

“What’s up with him?”

“Well, he was actually voted off last round. But the day of the first round, he asked me for a date. I said yes and we had fun. After the last round, on the way home, I realized that I have feelings for him as well. But I still have feelings for Greg. I have no idea what the other guy, Nick, is doing for collage just yet. You know I rather want to go to school in New York, where Greg is.”

“Only for Greg?”

“No. Of course not. There are really good schools for music over there.”

“You know what you’re going to do about these two guys?”

“No. I suppose it depends on what Nick’s doing. And knowing my luck, he’s going to school in New York also. Then I’m royally screwed.”

They shared a chuckle and Danny raised himself on his elbow, looking at Olivia. She looked back and asked him what he thought.

“You’re screwed regardless.”

“Thanks for all the help, Danny.”

“Do I detect sarcasm?”

“I’m related to you.”

“Point taken. Have you played yet?”

“No.”

Olivia took out her guitar and did a quick warm up. Danny pushed her case in front of her. A crowd began to gather before she warmed up.

“Damn, you’re popular.”

Olivia chuckled as she picked a song. A few people tossed some change into her case. She aimed to give them what they paid for. There was a song that she had been working on for a while. Having just finished it a few days previous, she decided to play it to see how people liked it. The song was about Greg and Nick, and how she loved both of them, but had to decide who she wanted to be with, but was unable to. The title of it was “Choices” for the obvious reason.

The song was a ballad and the second she started playing, some people threw money into her case. When she got to the third verse, she thought she saw Greg. As the song finished, more money was put in her case and everyone applauded. She smiled as she started the next song.

After an hour, she stopped and looked in her case. The money, mainly change, of course, covered bottom. She put the change in the Crown Royal bag and wiped down her guitar strings.

“That one's a hit.”

“Which one?”

“The first song you played. What's it called?”

“‘Choices.' It's about Greg and Nick. Why do you say that?”

“Everyone seemed to like it. Except one guy didn't seem too impressed by you.”

“Can't win 'em all. What can you do?”

“Heh. True.”

“So you're the famous Olivia.” The guy who looked like Greg walked over to her

“I wouldn't say famous.” She placed her guitar back in its case and raised her eyebrow at him.

“Then what would you say?”

“Don't know. But it certainly isn't famous.”

“Look pretty famous to me.” he gestured toward her tip bag.

“Do you agree?”

“With who?”

She shook the bag and raised her eyebrow again.

“Eh. You're good but you aren't that good. Do you know about the battle of the bands going on?”

“Yeah.”

“Who are you voting for?”

“I can’t vote.”

“Why, not?”

“Because I'm in it.”

“Oh. So you've made it this far.”

“Yup. It appears there really aren't very many who agree with you. Have you been?”

“Not this one, but I've heard of some of them. What band are you in?”

“The Lonewolves.”

He scoffed at the name. Olivia turned back to Danny and asked him about the shows where she had to sub to Chris.

“They're all around here, so it shouldn't interfere with your work schedule.”

“Okay, and Greg's trying to book us a couple shows between rounds also after we did that show in New York.”

“Cool. You'll be spending plenty of time on stage, then.”

“Uh-huh. And there’s nothing like playing with my teacher.”

“Who happens to be your cousin.”

The guy’s jaw dropped when she said that and dropped even more when Danny finished it, which made Olivia fight to keep a straight face. Danny watched her bite her lip and knew that she had worded the phrase like that on purpose, to make him think that they were doing something that they shouldn’t be.

“Be sure you wear something loose, so Mark won’t check you out.”

“I doubt he will with you around. Especially after last time you caught him. And now that he knows I’m gay, I don’t think he’ll be trying again anytime soon.”

“That’s a good point. But you never know. He’s still hopeful.”

She chuckled and shook her head. That was what she liked to say around guys that were disrespectful toward her, was that she was gay or just use her rather twisted sense of humor to her advantage. “You know, you’d think that I might be a little more accepting of men with so many older brothers.”

“Or it would be more likely why you aren’t.”

“Even better. When’s the first?”

“Monday.”

“Cool.”

“And remember when you joked about that piercing? I found a place that actually does it, wherever you ask.”

“Really? Cool. I might have to do that.” The piercing they were talking about was the left corner of her lower lip. “Where is it?”

“Just outside of town. We can go now if you want.”

“Sure. One sec.” She took out her phone and dialed her boss’s number. “Hey, would you get mad if I walked into work tomorrow with a new piercing? Kinda, my lip. Oh, cool. And I might be needing a little time off for a couple weeks. Okay, sure. See you tomorrow. Thanks, bye.”

The guy looked a little relieved that it was her lip instead of something else. His mind was obviously in the gutter.

“He said okay and that he’d talk to me about the time off for the shows depending on the times. He’s always been really supportive of my band so it might not be a problem.”

“Cool.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

“My lead guitarist is a klutz and she sometimes has to sub for him. This is one of those times.”

“So you have a band, too. What’s the name?”

“Uranium City. It’s in the Saskatchewan province of Canada.”

“Neat.”

Olivia stood up and grabbed her guitar and Danny led the way to his car.

“He’s so hard to impress.” She said as she climbed into the dark blue sedan. He laughed at the lack of emotion in her voice and knew that she really could care less about impressing anyone.

The piercing parlor was in a very nice part of the neighborhood. It was made to look really rundown but it didn’t work. The vines that the owners had put on it made it look really cool instead of old.

 The inside was well kept and clean and the guy in charge that day wasn’t bad looking. He had been on a laptop when they walked in and she heard “Defeated,” a song from Danny’s band, beginning.

“What can I do you for?”

“A piercing for me.”

“Where?”

“Here.” She pointed to the side of her lip and he lifted her chin slightly.

“Okay. That’ll look good on you.”

She smiled and he had her sit on a stool. He asked how old she was.

“I just turned seventeen last month.”

“Okay. Pick out your ring.”

She chose a small stud with a skull in front after a few minutes. “Life of a Rockstar” started just as he was holding the ring to her lip for placement. She smiled. He smiled back, pulled out her lip and picked up a needle with the ring loaded into the end.

“This might be slightly painful, but I don’t know what your tolerance is.”

“Do you tell everyone that?”

“Just the pretty ones. Take a deep breath and one, two, three.” He pushed the needle into her lip and then pulled it out, leaving the ring in her lip. He fastened the skull to it and help up a mirror. “Very nice.”

“It’s very fitting for you, V.”

“What, the skull or the placement?”

“Both.”

The piercing was free and the ring wasn’t much, so Olivia decided to buy a small hoop as well. He placed the ring into a small bag and a bottle of cleaner in with it. She needed to put that on the outside of the ring twice a day and use mouthwash to clean the inside. Do that for at least six weeks and leave it in for that same amount of time. He asked if she knew how to latch the rings and demonstrated with a spare set when she said no. It was very simple to do and she paid for everything.

“By the way,” he said as he handed her the receipt, “when is your next show, for both of you?”

“For me, you know the competition going on? As of yet, that’s the only one that’s for sure. We’re trying to book a few more in between.”

“And our next one is in a couple of days. She’s subbing for my lead guitarist.”

“Again?”

“Again.”

“I’m definitely going to have to go to those. I’ve only seen you on stage with them in videos, never live.”

“Cool.”

“And, young lady, if you’re single on your eighteenth birthday. . . .”

“I can’t make any promises. What was your name again?”

“Trevor. Come back anytime we’re open.” He handed her a business card with the shop name and number, and his name and cell number written on the back.

“You got it. Danny told me that you do piercings anywhere. Does that include the more unconventional sites?”

“Yes it does.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

“He was totally flirting with you.” Danny said as they walked out the door.

“I kinda got that when he mentioned if I was single when I was eighteen. He even gave me his number.” She held up the card where the number was written.

“But did you notice before then?”

“Sort of.” She couldn’t help but think about Trevor. He had light brown hair and green eyes. She looked at his last name and grinned, realizing that he was Italian. “My favorite.”

Danny chuckled and suggested they get a late lunch. She suggested Romeo’s and Danny liked the idea. Apparently, he had been there before and loved it.

When they were seated, the waiter came to take their drink order. To her chagrin, it was the guy who looked like Greg, named Eric. As he walked away, she said,

“This’ll be interesting.”

“Yes it will.”

It didn’t take long before he brought the bread sticks and the drinks and took their lunch order.

“I see you got your piercing. I have to admit, nice choice of a ring.”

“Thanks.” She raised her eyebrow as he walked away. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Well, it does fit you perfectly.”

“How so?”

“You’re very punk rock.”

“I see. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you off to?”

“Bathroom.” She passed by the kitchen on the way and heard her name.

“It’s too bad you’ve had such bad experiences with pretty women.”

“Why?”

“Olivia’s pretty cool.”

“You know her?”

“Sort of. I served her last week and talked to her a little afterwards, while she was in the park all this week.”

“Oh. How often is she there anyway?”

“Every day unless she has a show that’s out of town.”

“Are you a groupie or something?”

“No. I like her but my sister has the hots for her drummer so she’s a bigger fan than I am. That’s how I know all that. You should give her a chance.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m serving her and her cousin so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Be nice.”

The two of them shared a chuckle. She would have loved to hear more but that’s where it ended and her bladder was full, so she rushed in to empty it.

She sat back down as Eric delivered their lunch, nearly slipping out of her chair.

“That was graceful.” He chuckled.

“I try.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“All the stinking time.”

“I figured. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“Me, too.”

“Okay.” He walked away and checked on the table next to them.

Danny took a bread stick out of the basket, tore it in half and crammed one half completely into his mouth.

“Don’t choke.”

He mocked choking and held out the remaining half to her. She took a whole one out and held it to him, prompting a little sword fight with them. She dipped the end of hers into the spaghetti sauce on her plate. She then picked up the spoon by her plate and used it to mix and twirl her spaghetti.

Roger, the waiter from the first time she was there, walked by as she did this.

“Are you sure you’re not Itallian?”

“Pretty sure.”

They started talking a little more about what she would be doing with Uranium City. It consisted of her doing a little traveling since they were supposedly around town, but their schedule was subject to change.

“It’s a good thing my boss is so flexible about the music and work.”

“I guess he knows that it probably won’t be long before you do the music thing for a living.”

“You really think that?”

“Yeah.”

They finished their lunch and Eric dropped off the check. They did the usual thing of guessing what the total was. Whoever was closest to it, paid while the other got the tip.

Olivia needed to stop by the store really quick so she could get a thing of mouthwash and they decided to go back to the park. Danny had his own guitar with him and they started to have a little jam session while there. After a while he said,

“You know, one of these days, we’re going to have to write a song or two together.”

“You know, you might be right.”

“In fact, I have one that I’ve been stuck on for a while.” He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. It didn’t have a title or chords, but had one verse and part of the chorus.

“Is it about anything?”

“Not really. It sort of chronicles what tends to happen when you sub for Chris.”

“Oh. Interesting. Mark does not hit on me!”

“Yes he does. You’re clueless, remember?”

“That’s true. Why would he do that with you around?”

“He doesn’t. Scott and Chris have told me he does.”

“I’m surprised he’s still alive.”

“I’m not that mean.”

“But you are that protective. So, do you have any idea about where you want this to go?”

“I was thinking that maybe we could see this kind of thing from the perspective of everyone in the band, including you. I’ve already talked to the other two about it and they like the idea.”

“Are they going to be writing their verses or are you?”

“I am. Our perspectives are very similar to each other so it’s not hard. We love you, think you’re talented and tough, and we’re all protective of you. I’m just stuck on how to do it.”

“What do you want to say?”

“I don’t know.”

She put the paper on the back of her guitar and leaned on it.

“What is the beat of it?”

“Kinda fast.” He snapped his fingers in a fast walk.

She moved her head to the beat and started to hum what she heard in her head. What she was constantly told as a musician by people who didn’t know her the way her friends and family knew her, was to finish the words and then do the music on her songs. That was what the conventional wisdom for musicians in those parts was. Well, as everyone who knew her well knew, she was never one to follow conventional wisdom.

“What do you have in mind?”

“This.” She pulled her guitar up and picked out a few random notes to find where she wanted to be, then strummed a few chords and notes and sang the little bit of the chorus. “Something like that.”

“Sounds nice.”

After quite a while of working on that, they put their guitars away and chatted for a bit. When they fell into silence, she started to think about her musician friends. The ones who led rock bands like she did, or at least were part of one, went to her for help on any song they had, whether it was for lyrics or music, but it was mostly music. She certainly had a magnificent ear for melodies. Once, she had even helped another friend of hers arrange a medley of songs. She looked at her guitar and sighed. That dang thing was impacting her life in a way she had never expected. Being a musician for a living, either behind the scenes or in front of it, was hardly what she thought she’d ever do for a living. Maybe Danny was right, maybe she was destined to be a professional musician.

The talent shows she had competed in were either first or second place. Certainly, that should tell her something about her skills, if everyone asking her for help with their music doesn’t, as well as the tips she earns in the park.

She jumped as her cell phone rang. It was Nick.

“Hello?”

“Hello. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, and yourself?”

“I’m all right. I was curious.”

“About what?”

“What are you doing later tonight?”

“Um, nothing I think, let me check.” She checked the calender of her phone and saw it was empty. “I’m good.”

“All right. I want to take you out.”

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Where are you?”

“The park.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll be picking you up pretty soon.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

She hung up and laughed.

“Nick is going to be picking me up in a little while.”

“Where is he taking you?”

“He wants to surprise me.”

“So that’s what the ‘uh-oh’ was for.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell him how you feel?”

“Probably not, but I might.”

“I think that I might leave you alone but, I also think that I should meet this guy you like so much.”

“Oy vey.”

He started to laugh and she looked around for him. After a few minutes, she spotted him.

“Here we go. Hey, Nick!” she beckoned him over to her and he kissed her soundly on the lips, at which point, Danny cleared his throat.

“Hi. I’m Nick.”

“I’m Danny, her cousin.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Bye, Danny.”

“You’re not getting away that easily.”

After what felt like hours, Danny finally let them go.

“And I thought my brothers were bad.”

“You’re totally worth it.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

“So where are we going?”

“Not telling.”

“Damn it.”

He chuckled and led her out of the park, to his car.

“Is it out of town?”

“A little bit. You’ll like it though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, yeah. Trust me. When did you get the skull?”

“Just before you got me.”

“It looks good on you.”

“Thanks.”

The place Nick was taking her to was like a jazz club with a restaurant built into it. There was a small dance floor with the tables built around it.

“This is right out of the forties.”

“The jukebox is all swing and ragtime.”

“Ooh. I like this place already.”

“I knew you would.”

They were seated near the dance floor and she got up to look at the jukebox. She chose a few songs and sat back down.

“So how do you know about this place?”

“It belongs to a very old family friend of ours and I actually work here sometimes.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why only sometimes?”

“It’s just when they’re short handed or something needs to be repaired. The husband passed away a couple years ago and he was the handy man. He’d been teaching me stuff like that for years and when he died, she came to me and I’ve been doing it ever since. He brought me along on some fix-it jobs all around town and everything just went from there.”

“That’s cool. What about when they’re short handed?”

“Anything and everything.”

“So is the repair work your day job?”

“Pretty much. I know it’s weird having that kind of job for a living at our age but it works.”

“Yes, it does.” She unconsciously twirled a small section of her hair between her fingers while she hummed.

“What are you humming?”

“Huh?”

“You’re humming something. What was it?”

She thought a little about what she had been humming. She was hesitant to tell him because she wasn’t sure how easily he embarrassed, and she didn’t know how he would react to it.

“Well, it’s about you.”

“Really? I’d like to hear it.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and started to sing the ballad she had memorized long ago. He smiled as she sang and took her hand. When she finished, he blushed and asked how long ago she had written the song.

“I started it the day before our date and finished it that night, before I left. It sounds better with a guitar. It’s not supposed to be a cappella.”

“Oh. It sounded good to me. Have you shown it to your band and audience in the park yet?”

“In the park I have, but not yet to my band mates.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should. If the people in the park liked it as much as I did, you should. Unless you’re planing on putting it on your first album or something.”

“Do you really think that’ll happen?”

“I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet.”

Eventually, food was delivered to them. Nick smiled at her.

“So what are you doing after school?”

“Going to school either here or New York for music. What about you?”

“Go to a community college and learn the repair business. I’m gonna stick with being a handy man and just do stuff with my band on the side. It’s been good for me.”

“Oh. Do you know where?”

“Wherever there’s a beach.”

“Cool. Send me some sea shells.”

“Okay.”

They shared a chuckle and a good swing song came on the jukebox. The singer had started singing when the whole thing totally stopped.

“Nick, need to fix the juke again.”

“Okay. I’ll be back.” He stood up and went out the door, returning a few minutes later with a small tool kit. He had it fixed in less then a minute and sat back down. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.”

“All right, how about dessert?”

“Sure. You want some?”

“All right.”

After a minute of deliberation, they agreed to share a large sundae.

“This is a personal favorite of mine.”

“Sounds mouth watering.”

“It is.”

A short time later, a large bowl filled with homemade ice cream topped with loads of Carmel, whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles was placed between them.

“Wow.”

“My thoughts exactly.” He raised his spoon. “Cheers.”

She laughed and tapped her spoon against his and they each took a bite.

“Whoa. Wow. Yum.”

“Uh-huh.”

It took a while, but they were able to finish it. Because he was practically an employee (and he fixed the jukebox again), he got half off. He held her hand as they walked back to his car and the entire time he drove.

When he got to her house, she didn’t get out.

“I had a lot of fun tonight.”

“Me too.”

They kissed for a good five minutes, maybe more. She walked to her room quickly to avoid her brothers and flopped onto her bed. There was a knock on her door. She sighed and told whoever it was to come in.

“Hey, Olivia.”

“Hey, Kelly.”

“Who were you with?”

“A dude who was in the competition with me, Nick.”

“Oh. Do you like him?”

“As much as I like Greg.”

“What are you going to do about him?”

“I don’t know. I found out that he’s going to be going to school to be a professional handyman.”

“Where?”

“By a beach. He has always loved the water.”

“What about his band?”

“Side thing.”

“Oh.”

“What about your Nick?”

“What about him?”

“How are things going with him?”

“Good. He said that next time Stereopath is in town, he’s going to come see me and Greg will come see you.”

 She smiled and sighed. “Would you mind telling our brothers not to bother me?”

“Sure. I think Brian will be the only one that listens.”

“He always is.” Kelly left and Olivia curled up on her side, facing the wall. The ice cream she had eaten was making her feel really tired and she just barely mustered the energy to get up and change. As she was about to climb into bed, there was another knock. That time, it was Brian.

“How was work?”

“Good. I’m subbing for Chris again. And I just learned that the local guy I like is going to school near the beach to be a handy man, so I’m not sure if I’m going to see him again.”

“Wow. Is that who you were with tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“When are you going to sub for Chris?”

“Uh, I don’t really know just yet. They’re for next week and the one after that. We’re going to talk a little more tomorrow some time.”

“Cool. What’s going on with Kelly?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think she’s seeing someone but I have no idea who.”

“She is. When she went to New York with us, she met Greg’s lead guitarist, Nick.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

“You, too.”

He walked out and turned off her light.

The next day, she was going to go to work slightly early so she could talk to her boss about what was happening with Danny’s band and her own. He had sent her the confirmed dates, times and venues of each show so she could more accurately decide her work week for the following weeks.

“So what do we have here?”

“This is a list of all the shows for the next couple weeks.”

“And this is with your cousin’s band?”

“Yeah. And Greg is trying to get us some more shows between rounds as well because of that show in New York two weeks ago.”

“Okay. How many are planned for yours?”

“None yet. He’s going around to a few places for us to play in as we speak.”

“All right then. So all of this is going to be right around here, no overnight trips?”

“As far as I know, but when it comes to Danny’s band, things can change, so we’ll have to play that by ear.”

“Right. The only shows that would conflict with your schedule, should nothing change, are Friday and Saturday, so you’ll be off those days. Hopefully there really won’t be any shows for your band interfering with your cousin’s. So the first is Monday, right?”

“Yeah.” She looked at her watch. “Are we done here?”

“Yeah.” He made a copy of the list of shows and handed her the original. “I want you to take the counter primarily for now.”

“Okay.” She went to clock in and start her shift.

Monday rolled around with a quick rehearsal so she could learn a couple of their new songs. She was sitting in the middle seat of the van, next to Mark. He was drumming his hands on his knees, as ususal, while they chatted. A little while after they left, Mark asked her when she last ate. Everyone was hungry, so they stopped to get some fast food.

When they got to the venue, everyone was a little surprised to see her, the lead singer of the Lonewolves, without her band and with another one.

“I’m subbing for the usual lead.”

“What happened?”

“He hurt his shoulder.”

“You don’t seemed too surprised by that.”

“If you knew him like we did, you wouldn’t be either.”

“Klutz?”

“Big time.”

“How do you know this one?”

“My cousin is the lead singer.”

“Oh.”

They got everything all set up and started to do sound check. After about an hour of telling the sound guy to make various adjustments for Olivia on one song, all four of them were beginning to suspect that he didn’t like taking orders from women. He didn’t really listen to the guys very well either, so she figured he was just an idiot. Scott walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder as they finished up.

“You know how Mark is always drumming on his legs when he’s next to you?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, he does it to keep from wrapping his arm around you.”

“Really? I just chalked it up to him being a drummer.”

“Well, that was it before he met you.”

He walked away as Mark tossed her a bottle of water and threw a charming smile. Even in the way off chance Danny would allow the two of them to get involved, she kind of thought of him, and the rest of the band, as family. He was like her cousin’s brother, she could never, in reality, be with someone she felt like she was almost related to. One good thing though, was that he was very intuitive about her blood sugar levels. It seemed that all he needed to do was look at her and he could tell if it was low, even before she did. She took a swig of the water and thought about him. Perhaps that intuition was sort of a safer way of showing his feelings for her, if what Danny said was true. Whenever he looked at her, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted to kiss her.

A few seconds later, she felt faint and someone wrapped their arms around her from the back and she was carefully sat down. Mark appeared in front of her with a piece of chocolate. The piece was just big enough to bring her blood sugar to where it was supposed to be, for at least an hour. It had been awhile since she was really able to eat but they were right by a small coffee shop so she could get something to tide her over until the end of the show. Mark even offered to make sure she got there safely and pay for it if needed.

“Come on.” Mark put his hand on her shoulder and led her away. Olivia looked at Danny and noticed him holding back a smile. Mark just wanted to spend some time with her alone. She night not have feelings for him, but she liked him enough to hang out with him without Danny butting in. It was so difficult to really talk to any of the guys with him interrupting all the time.

They sat down at the counter of the shop and they choose a sandwich and a coke. While they waited for their food, Mark wrapped his arm around her.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Know how my blood sugar is before I do.”

“I don’t really know. I like to watch you and I’ve figured out your body language when it gets too low. That sounds bad, doesn’t it?”

“Just a wee.” She took a sip of her coke. “So what do you do when you watch me? Apart from monitor my blood sugar.”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Now that you mention it, not really, but at the exact same time, I’m very curious.”

“It depends on if I’m around Danny.”

“Should my mind be in the gutter?”

“Maybe.” He smiled mischievously, indicating that her mind should, indeed, be in the gutter. They chuckled and he wrapped his arm around her. She was tempted to ask just what kind of fantasies he had about her, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Between bites, Mark would run his hand along her arm and just look at her with a sort of dreamy look in his eye. Occasionally, from a distance, he had a little bit of a lost puppy dog look and Danny teased her relentlessly that he was thinking about her.

When they finished, they slowly walked back to where the show was to take place. The show wasn’t supposed to start for another hour and the two decided to go hang out in the park for a bit.

“So what’s been going on with your love life?”

“Not the hell of a lot.”She sighed.

“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?”

“I’m just a little confused right now.”

“About what?”

She told him about Greg and Nick and what she had discovered about what he was going to do after he finished school.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you want to do for school? If you don’t get in the music industry that is.”

She scoffed slightly in amusement. “Well, I want to be involved with music in someway. If not in performing, then with like producing or something like that, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. I can see that easily. What about teaching music?”

“Side job. You already know that I occasionally teach younger children the guitar at no charge. Regardless of what I do for a living, I can still do that. I just hope that if I perform for a living, I’ll still have time to do it all.”

“Same here. Those kids, or anyone you teach, will find no better teacher than you.”

“Thank you, Mark.”

After a time, they went to where the show was supposed to be and got ready to play. This had been the first time for her or the band that they had so much time to kill between sound check and show time. Five minutes before they were due to start, the venue was completely full with screaming fans. All of them where aware that the regular guitarist was injured and that she was subbing for him. They were always very supportive of her and generally, if they liked one band, they liked the other. Chris’s clumsiness was actually a bit of an ongoing joke with many of them, as whenever he was injured, no matter what, she subbed for him (their show schedules rarely clashed somehow).

After the show ended, one of the fans approached her.

“What exactly happened?”

“As far as I know, he tripped and hit the wall, and in doing so, pulled the tendons or something in his shoulder. There are no shows after these two weeks so he’ll heal properly.”

“Good.”

The only bad thing about doing these shows with Danny, is that they seemed to pass far too quickly. The two weeks flew by and she talked to Chris on the day of the last show. They talked a little about the competition and he wished her luck in the battle. She was glad they had a lot of respect and support for her regardless of what she planned