Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Tobin was currently struggling to lug her amp down the stairs of the dorm. It wasn’t that the amp was incredibly heavy it was just awkward to maneuver it around the narrow staircases of the dorms. She finally made it to the ground floor and out the door to Ashlyn’s car. Kelley’s amp and guitar was already jammed inside. She played tetris with the gear already inside to make room for her amp and guitar.
She slammed the door shut and went back up to Ashlyn’s room.
“Hey our stuff is in your car.”
Ashlyn looked up from her computer and gave her a thumbs up. She shut her laptop and stood up. There was a pair of drumsticks sticking out of her back pocket.
“Cool lets go grab a drum set and get this show on the road!”
They grabbed Kelley and Christen and drove to the music building and grabbed Ashlyn’s favorite drum set that she had been using in practices. By the time they were finished they had Ashlyn’s car practically bursting with gear. Tobin and Kelley had to ride with Christen to the student center.
It didn’t take them all that long to unload their gear and set it up. Since they were the only “band” that was in the talent show the dean of student affairs had asked if they would just set up before the show. Their gear would be on stage while everyone else performed.
They were getting some strange looks from students that were coming and going, while they set up. Tobin was a little worried that their stuff was going to be there for the next four hours without them, but was assured by the dean that they would be closely monitored. This didn’t exactly reassure her, but she had reluctantly agreed to this plan. She was planning on sticking around the student center anyway for the rest of the day, except for her last class of the day.
“Holy crap did you have to buy the heaviest amp of all time?” Kelley whined.
“Maybe you should workout and not be such a weakling..”Christen responded.
Kelley glared at Christen who just smiled and continued helping Ashlyn set up the drum set. When they were finally done setting up Tobin went to class, while Ashlyn said something about seeing what Ali was up to.
“Guess we’re the only ones left.” Christen said as she looped her arm through Kelley’s. “Wanna get some coffee?”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
They walked downstairs to universities coffee shop. They went to their usual table in the back corner that had a great view of the campus green. The barista brought them their drinks a couple minutes later. Kelley slowly took sip from her coffee while she not so subtly stared at Christen.
“Hey Kelley..” Christen started.
Kelley immediately snapped to attention. Christen seemed to be trying to choose her words carefully, but it was like she wasn’t sure of what she wanted to say.
After a couple of seconds Kelley grabbed Christens hand, which seemed to calm her down.
“Kelley, I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few days, and well I wanted to ask you something.”
Kelley had an idea of what was coming next and almost couldn’t wait to answer Christen.
“Willyoubemygirlfriend?” Christen said in a rush.
“What was that?” Kelley asked.
Christen took a breath, “Will you be my girlfriend?”
Kelley leaned over the table and kissed Christen. “Does that answer your question?”
Christen smiled and sat back down. She quickly too a drink of her coffee while internally fist pumping and screaming with joy. She saw Kelley smile and she knew that she was doing the exact same thing in her mind.
“So do we tell people yet?” Kelley asked suddenly.
“That’s up to you. I don’t really care honestly.”
Kelley laughed. “I think we should get through the talent show tonight before we even think about letting Ashlyn and Tobin know.”
They finished their coffees and each pulled out textbooks and their computers to work on some work that they had been assigned in their classes. They still had a few hours before the talent show was set to start.
“Hey guys mind if I sit down?”
Kelley looked up and saw Tobin taking the chair next to Christen. She looked at the clock and was surprised to find out that they had been there for over an hour already. Tobin thanked the barista when she came buy with her drink.
“Are you guys getting excited to play tonight?” Tobin asked as she put down her coffee.
“Excited, yes. Also more nervous than I have ever been before in my life.” Kelley replied.
“I don’t think I’ve seen Kelley sit still for more than ten seconds the whole hour we have been here,” Christen laughed. “But I’m kind of nervous also.”
Tobin silently agreed with both of them, it was kind of nerve-wracking putting yourself out there in front of your peers like that.
********
Tobin looked out at the audience that had gathered for the talent show. She saw that the small auditorium that it was taking place in was packed with students and faculty members alike.
“There has to be like 400 people out there!” Kelley whispered.
“Is it packed?” Ashlyn asked.
“Yeah I don't think anymore people could possibly fit in there.”
“Well fire code says that max occupancy is 400 people so I’m guessing you're right about the amount of people out there.” Ashlyn laughed.
Tobin paced back and forth behind the curtain, trying to let the jitters escape. She was counting to ten, taking deep breaths trying anything to calm down. She was glad that she wasn’t the vocalist. Christen and Kelley shared those duties. She mentally went over their short setlist for the hundredth time in the last hour. The transitions they were going to use between a couple of the songs, and the “banter” that they had decided on before the show. Tobin thought it was a little weird to have a pre-made script for the show but whatever, she didn’t have to say much. The set was a little bit more on the pop side, which she was okay with. She would rather be playing rock music but in the end she just wanted to play.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity a stage hand tapped Tobin on the shoulder to let her know that their act was on next. Tobin thanked him and made her way to her other band members, who were all sitting on a bench back stage.
“Yo, you guys ready for this?”
They all looked at her and made it clear that they were ready and anxious to get on stage.
The stand up comedian that was before them sauntered off stage after his last joke. Tobin thought he kind of sucked, and knew that the audience wasn’t too wild about him either. He however had a swagger as he walked back stage. Tobin dismissed him and grabbed her guitar and walked on stage. She plugged in and waited for the other girls to get situated.
She scanned the crowd and saw the Meghan and Moe were basically right in front of her. They had done their sound check earlier in the day so everything should be good. She was off to the left of the stage, with Christen in the middle and Kelley to the right. Ashlyn’s drums were set up behind Christen. Meghan gave her a thumbs up and she smiled.
She could feel the energy that was running through the crowd. They were the last act and so far the talent show had gone surprisingly well. They started out with what they knew would be a crowd pleaser, Dirty Little Secret by the All-American Rejects. It was an older song but it was fun to play. After that they went right into their next song. Tobin felt herself loosening up on stage and started to move around. She danced with Christen and just tried to be entertaining on stage.
They were getting a great response from the crowd. People were singing along to the songs that they knew and were dancing around in the auditorium. Finally they were about to start their last song of the show.
“We want to thank everyone who stuck around to see us, and we want to thank you all for coming out to the show tonight! This is our last song and we hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving break!” Christen said as they started up their last song. They went through the song and the energy was palpable in the air. When the song ended Tobin couldn’t hide the enormous smile on her face. The audience clapped and cheered.
After they had spent some time chatting with people after the show, they all set about tearing their equipment down.
“Man we need some roadies…” Ashlyn complained.
“We’ve played one show, I think you're getting ahead of yourself there.” Christen laughed.
Tobin laughed to herself and continued breaking down her pedal board. Suddenly Tobin felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see one of the history professors standing next to her.
“Hi, I thought you guys were amazing tonight. I own a small coffee shop a few blocks from campus. We have bands play there on occasion, and I would love if after break you guys would do a show there. You would each get a free coffee and some free exposure,” she said.
“That sounds great. I’ll talk to girls and we’ll let you know when we have a date that works!” Tobin responded.
The professor gave Tobin her school email address and told her that was the best way to get a hold of her. Tobin knew that things were starting to look up for the band. She also knew that things could not have started any better than they did.