11:28am and a college girl, at least for a few more days, rolls outta bed in little black underwear and her daddy's big white t-shirt. There's a mess of colors on top of her head and in her eyes. She likes the way her bare feet slap the cold tiled floor in this abandoned box in the sky. 4am was goodnight after another good night, and she wonders if people in other lifestyles smile as simply as she does when she wakes up.
Two of the best of the best are already IMing her, and her smile separates; they mean different loves to her. She sits, folding her legs and hunching over these keys, chuckling at the passionate little mess of life that is this particular band boy. She thinks, maybe she'll just talk to him all day and not do a thing, but something catches her attention.
A red book just beginning to fray at the bindings is staring at her. The book mark seems to be giving her the come hither finger and she scowls at it; that's a creepy way for a book to asked to be opened. Today she has 2 jobs: get her life ready to move on and post that book. She'll start with the latter.
Friday, May 15, a perfect day to party.
This mixtape is too loud and my hair color is too new. I'm just a scene girl behind the scenes and I smile knowing they have no idea of the things I do to get to them all the time.
I get to Ryan24's house and the first thing he says to me is, "I've checked your blog. You haven't written in a while. Why?" Haha this one goes out to you creep <3. Jaybird, Andrebaby, TomLoaded, Ryan24 and I are waiting for Paul24 to get his slow ass here. We're watching Rob24 throw things into the ceiling fan; balloon, pen, sneaker?? How smart. But seriously, how hilarious! They are the most annoying immature people I know, second only to The Bride Wore Black of course. lol. Whyy the fuck do they talk in that voice??!! I think I'm gonna choke Rob in 2 seconds but I choke on laughter myself first because it's hilarious to hear how funny Jay thinks they are. You know the Jay laugh I'm talking about. Jay laughs when nothing is even that funny, that's why him and Andre are this scene's cutest couple.
About an hour later they finally go downstairs to practice. It's 4pm and they think maybe they have to be in Islip at 5pm. Band boys do everything when they want. If dancers have rehearsal at 3, they gotta get there by at least 2:30 to warm up and get ready. If they have a show at 5, they gotta be in costume and makeup at 4. Band boys in the same situation, apparently, plug in at leisure, run through the new song once with Rob dweebing around on the vocals, then say okay, uhhhh, wanna load the van? They wear their costumes, otherwise known as show outfits, all day. What idiots. New category; bands boys at practice the day of a show trying not to get their show outfits sweaty. Summer in the scene brings up so many precautions and tactics. The vets known what to do; Andre carries his "purse" full of extra white tshirts and socks. Ryan has taken into careful consideration the length and style of his cutoff jeans, and he describes the process he took to arrive at this final look to me in detail. They are soo the perfect length, Ry. I can't figure out why Tom is still wearing a hoodie. "What are you thinking?", I demand to know. They are all whining about how hot it is and how frazzled they are beginning to look a they wheel out amps and lift heads in the van. "Why don't you all put on other shirts until we get there?" I suggest. They all stop. And ponder, taking in this apparently revolutionary concept. "That's not a bad idea" Rob decides. But instead of changing shirts they all just take off the ones they have on leaving me and the neighbors with a bunch of scrawny over exposed geniuses. It's all good though, and you know why? Cuz Score 24 likes to party.
During their 3 minute practice I wrote:
I love when singers shout out their greeting over the ringing cymbal crashes of a killer intro. Ahh I am in love again! Not with someone, but with this. Nobody can touch this; Frank can't slap a pair of pink tights on it and call it classical, Starbucks can't pull it's hair back and call it normal. This just is. And it's perfect. They play one song and are sweaty, and I think it's hush-hush funny that everyone's cases read the names of their past bands or owners. It makes it so that even though this is just Score here, the remains of Stereo Skyline, Caesari, and Set in Color are here too. Tom's phone rings out some super pop song ringtone and everyone goes quiet and stares at him. Then Rob screams, "K Tom's out!" and the carnival continues. I tweet, "Shut up @robscore24!" lol. They start throwing a softball at each other but they warn, "Hey! hey! Come one there's a girl over here!" I never thought I wouldn't mind hearing that, I always toughed up to boys as a kid. It would be these guys that I allow classify me.
We are ready to go and I run back to my car to grab a sweater. Suddenly this is a moment I hope I remember for the remainder of my days. Everything about it. The heat and the way I know my scene hair is reflecting the late afternoon light. I am walking down the middle of the pavement with an iced coffee in hand late, but not needing to go fast, towards a big white van full of boys I adore. I know they are talking about penises or pooping, but I don't think of that now. I just smile through this seasons' shades and acknowledge what a kickass life I lead. Score.
I ride with Jay, who follows the van to the show. He cutely knows to put on happier, more upbeat music when I'm in the car with him. Jay looks...great in his converted summer sceneness of light skinny jeans and an orange stripped V-neck. And of course, the ever necessary penis hat. It's the way his Manchester Orchestra ink peeks out of his short sleeves that makes me think to write, or breathe. I want to remember every detail of every day with these boys just so when I'm old I can come back and visit whenever I like. Or so someone else can read what it was like.
Venue: Higbie Center. Home of the awkward memories.
I have been here before. Tweet: At somewhere I've been before with people I like much better. Sweet Hollow Drive I don't mind so much, it's certain members that urk me. But as I've been noticing more and more, my past is much overshadowed by my present and before I have to face the ex band boy Rob24 sweeps me away in some ridiculous and victorious laughter and I am brought back to the safety of the Valet Parking-Score 24-Patent Pending-Anthony Pasini circle. Jerry dumps cheerios all over his head but it's the fact that he ate them and we don't know where Rob found them or how long they'd been there that worries me. The most interesting part about this venue is that there's no cursing allowed. It's a school? Idk. But the bands are always asked to mind their language. So obviously, Jerry uses "fuck" in all it's derivatives and Ryan and Rob favor the sexual frequency words like "whore" and "slutty mo' fo''"
Ryan gets me inside by sneaking me through the side door and mission impossible covering me as I slip out the stage door and into the assorted public of the auditorium. At the merch table Andre cuts up his Laffy Taffy wrapper and tapes it around my wrist so at first glance I seem to have the pink bracelet that everyone else paid for. Joey and Trey in Color show up with their new under-management haircuts and I honestly get bummed seeing the severed locks. I miss Joey's long cuteness when it was him making up his own style, but I hug him tight because it's been a week or so and that's too long in our scene. What will I do without these boys when they all go out on the road? Andre kisses his finger then smacks me in the forehead with it, Paul considers taking my hand for a slow dance, and Pasini literally picks me up and shakes me in a hug when I pout over Royal Assassin's breakup announcement. What will I do without them? Ha, I'll worry about that after I figure out what to do WITH them first!
Valet Parking- my first set.
I know only one song by lyric but it makes me happy. I like the way Jerry kills on the microphone like they're playing a sold out arena. I like the big dreams feel. I don't like the non-sceneness of some of the member's appearances, but I only write that because I've been conditioned to think something off about Valet Parking. I see Chris drop a stick and roll his eyes at himself. I mentally tell him that nobody saw. I like summer boys who jump around onstage because they love where they are. They make me love where I am. They make later not matter. I enjoy the excessive vox, it's sweeping and...here's my song! I'm not gonna lie- all I can really think of when I look at them is Taco Bell. But luckily it's not gordita crunches I want more of...it's Valet Parking.
Sweet Hollow Drive.
Nate says he never hears me talk bad about any band save for one certain Queens hailing sticker that I like to cover up or peel off of merch bins and telephone poles. Well you're about to hear of number 2. Not only are they becoming notorious for being dicks offstage, but news flash, you sound like a cluttered mess. Clean up your act. I wrote fiercely in the Book of how as soon as they got offstage their guitarist was going to hear from me. But thinking WWtcD, I decided it wouldn't be worth it and sat down behind Score's merch. Yet as I continued to observe my surroundings, I watched that guitarist ignore fans. Honestly, who makes a little girl asking for the third time if you could sign her poster wait? I watch him harshly say to her, "Can't you wait like 2 minutes?!" and then walk right past her 10 minutes later. I see everything. You guys know that. Don't be a prick in front of me and expect not to read about it. I guess the rule goes; Mess with me- fine. Mess with them- we've got things to talk about. The guitarist tried to come up and hug me but with one stiff arm and an attitude laden "no thank you" from me, we launched into a screaming fight. I apologize to Andre, who felt the awkwardness and excused himself from behind the table and to the Valet Parking merch table that got a full view of the show. I don't apologize to the Sweet Hollow Drive table that got together and decided to give me dirty looks for the rest of the night.
The rest of the night was fun, however, despite any amount of worked up attitude I had inside of me. I made notes about how Tom carries his hair brush around with him everywhere, how it sat on his amp during the set and everything. And about Rob's antics as a frontman. Rob 1, Ricky 0...he IS a dancer. I talked about how Joey sang and how the Foxes are as brothers after the storm. I rode home in the van next to Andre, who put his arm around me while we laughed at our own inside jokes. "Blow me....but not really." And we ended the adventure at Rob's house, because it was his birthday after all, with Andre eating too much cake and Score playing hot potato with the yellow vibrator Ryan and Paul got Rob as a Happy 20th. Did I mention how ridiculous they are?
...Ricky.
"What Happen In ___ Stays In ___ " by: The Years Gone By
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