afflatus

ROD: SevenEightNine was a hit album. That's something everyone can admit. But, the band had no idea just how big it was until they heard their song on the radio for the first time.

Sarvia, even though her job was making music, often hung around the diner Daisy worked at. She would sit at the counter with a cup of spiked coffee, work on songs, and talk to Daisy when things weren't busy. The music that came from the jukebox was always in the background of Sarvia's mind. Well, it was until she heard a specific song.

"Is that...?" Sarvia trailed off, sharing a look with Daisy, who was carrying plates to a table.

Daisy hurriedly put down the plates and ran over to the jukebox. "Oh, my God."

Sarvia looked over her shoulder and saw that it was, indeed, the song Daisy had recorded with The Six. "Holy shit, Daisy! This is your song!"

Daisy immediately pulled Sarvia into an excited hug, reminding Sarvia of the first time she heard "Amber" on the radio.

SARVIA: "Amber" was about Daisy, that was pretty obvious. I guess it only made sense that the first time it got played on the radio, I was with her. We were seventeen and it was the middle of the summer. Daisy's parents were away and we were making use of the giant pool in her backyard. When I heard those lyrics, man, I froze up. I thought all that coke was finally taking me away.

* * *

GRAHAM: We got asked to join the bill at the Diamond Head Festival in Hawaii. It was our first show since, um... Well...

EDDIE: We were on at one in the afternoon. But, hey, at least we were invited.

SARVIA: I was on at midnight. I went to so many festivals I honestly couldn't tell you all of them. Or most of them. Remember, bad habits really do fuck you up.

Sarvia had invited Daisy, along with a couple of her other party friends, to join her at the Diamond Head Festival. Festivals meant drinking, drugs, dancing, and most of all, forgetting it ever happened. 

It just so happened that Daisy was also going to be performing. Not by herself, but with The Six. It was clear that Billy was very happy with this idea, as he ignored the two girls at first, focusing on the band.

"All right, huddle up, everybody," Billy got the band's attention. "All right, who are we playing for?"

"Roberto Clemente, baby."

"This one's for Mom."

"Free beer."

KAREN: Of course it wasn't just us That they wanted on the bill.

"Pittsburgh on three. Ready? One, two, three," Billy counted down.

"Pittsburgh!" the group chorused.

Finally, Billy walked over to them. "So how you feeling? You nervous?"

"No," Daisy denied.

"You played for this kind of crowd before?"

"No."

"All right, well, it's a lot of energy. Just don't worry about it. You just-just got to go out there, sing..."

"Is this a pep talk for me or for you?" Daisy interrupted. "'Cause I'm fine."

"We're playing it fourth. I'll introduce you when you come out, okay?" Billy walked away without hearing Daisy's reply.

"'Kay sounds good," Daisy muttered.

Sarvia nudged Daisy, lowering her voice. "Look, I knew he's kinda a dick, but with his whole sobriety thing, he doesn't have anything in his system to get rid of the stick up his ass."

Daisy laughed. "Are you singing 'Pink Tomorrow' tonight?"

"For sure. It's your favorite right now, isn't it?"

"I think all your songs are my favorite."

"All right!

"We all know and love this next band from their hit single 'Look at Us Now.' Let's give it up for The Six!" the announcer introduced the band.

After the band walked past, Daisy finally let her nerves show. "I think I'm gonna puke."

Sarvia rubbed her back. "I know you can do this, Daisy. Remember, I'll be right here. And, there's still some pills in your purse."

"Oh, my God, I totally forgot about those!" Daisy hurriedly opened her bag, dug around, and pulled out the loose pill. As a bottle of whiskey was the only liquid available, she used it to take the pill.

As Daisy calmed down, the band started.

♪ Come on, you can't be serious ♪

♪ You can't even take a joke ♪

♪ You can promise that the boat won't sink, but ♪

♪ Will you ever let it float? ♪

♪ The sun is shining down on you ♪

♪ While the moon is getting bigger ♪

♪ Come on and flip the switch now, baby ♪

♪ Come on and pull the trigger ♪

♪ It's too late to turn on ♪

♪ Too late to flip the switch ♪

♪ Too late to pull the trigger ♪

♪ It's too late to turn on ♪

♪ Too late to flip the switch ♪

♪ Too late to pull the trigger ♪

When the song finished, Daisy made her way onto the stage, forgetting that she was supposed to wait until the fourth song.

Sarvia shrugged, stepping next to Teddy. "She is very patient with assholes."

"Daisy. Daisy. Hey, I said fourth," Billy reminded her.

Ignoring Billy, Daisy stepped up to the mic. "Aloha."

BILLY: She obviously did it on purpose.

DAISY: I'm not exactly a patient person.

The crowd cheered as the music started, ready to hear the song that had been stuck in everyone's heads for weeks.

♪ I don't know who I am ♪

♪ Baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ Do you know who you are? ♪

♪ Is it out of our hands? ♪

♪ Tell me, tell me, tell me ♪

♪ How we made it this far ♪

♪ Did we unravel a long time ago ♪

♪ Is there too much we don't want to know ♪

♪ I wish it was easy ♪

♪ But it isn't so ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We can make a good thing bad ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We can make a good thing bad ♪

♪ Now, where do we stand? ♪

♪ Baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ No one knows who you are ♪

♪ And if this was your plan ♪

♪ Tell me, tell me why ♪

♪ You've been crying in the dark ♪

♪ We unraveled a long time ago ♪

♪ We lost, and we couldn't let it go ♪

♪ I wish it was easy, but it isn't so ♪

♪ So, baby ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We can make a good thing bad ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We can make a good thing bad ♪

♪ How did we get here? ♪

♪ How do we get out? We used to be something ♪

♪ To see ♪

♪ Well, baby, look at us now ♪

♪ Oh, baby, look at us now ♪

♪ Oh, baby, look at us now ♪

♪ How did we get here? ♪

♪ How do we get out? ♪

♪ This thing we've been doing ain't working out ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ How did we get here? ♪

♪ How do we get out? ♪

♪ We used to be something to see ♪

♪ Oh, baby, look at us now ♪

♪ Baby, look at us now ♪

♪ Oh, we can make a good thing ♪

♪ Bad ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We can make a good thing ♪

♪ Bad ♪

"Daisy Jones, everyone!" Billy exclaimed.

BILLY:  And that was the part she was supposed to get off the stage.

"Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" the crowd cheered.

"You guys want me to stay for one more?" Daisy asked the crowd.

DAISY: They wouldn't let me leave.

"Hey, can I go grab a friend?" Without waiting for any crowd response, Daisy ran to grab Sarvia from backstage. Used to being in front of a lot of people, Sarvia let herself be pulled by Daisy. "Sarvia Noor, everyone!"

The two girls danced around the stage, joining in. After Billy started playing, Daisy grabbed the mic, pulling it towards her and Sarvia.

♪ I put the man in the moon ♪

♪ I put the dial in the tone ♪

♪ I put the grease on the wheel ♪

♪ I put the sword in the stone ♪

♪ I lit the southern stars ♪

♪ I brought the heathens peace ♪

♪ Then I hid the bird in the bush ♪

♪ And someone called the police ♪

♪ And I know you don't mean it, I know you don't mean it ♪

♪ I know you don't mean it because you can't turn around ♪

♪ And look me in the eye ♪

♪ Turn around ♪

♪ Look me in the eye ♪

♪ Turn around, say it ♪

♪ To my face ♪

♪ Turn around ♪

♪ Say it to my face ♪

Somehow, Daisy and Sarvia had stolen the whole show.

SARVIA: I did feel kinda bad. But we sounded fucking incredible.

The rest of the band's set went the same way. When it was over, the band hurried down the stairs at the side of the stage.

"All right, was it just me, or was that, uh... ?" Graham wondered.

"Not just you, dude," Eddie agreed, going down the stairs after him. "Come on."

Karen turned around to look at Daisy and Sarvia. "You were incredible out there. I mean, every time you moved, they just lost it."

"A girl flashed me," Warren informed them. "Lifted her shirt, and there they were."

"That happens a lot," Sarvia told him. "It never gets old."

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Billy pulled Daisy away.

"Yeah," Daisy accepted.

"I, uh... I said we were playing it fourth. Did you, uh, not hear me, or just choose to ignore me?"

"Oh, no, I just thought you'd already played three 'cause they all sound the same."

The band and Daisy got pulled away for an interview while Sarvia caught up with some of the friends she had invited. Later, she learned that Billy had basically said that Daisy and the band were a one-time thing, even though the only reason his song did as well as it did was because of Daisy.

It was such bullshit. Billy knew that, while his band was good, they didn't have enough to keep making music like the song they made with Daisy.

DAISY: Billy would never admit that he needed anybody. So, yeah, we had that in common. The point is, I was pissed. And the thing about anger is it's an excellent motivator.

SARVIA: Strong emotions mean good songs. Anger, sadness, love. They all make a killer song.