this night is sparkling, don't you let it go
By the time Shauna was pulled back down to earth, the show was long over.
When she finally felt like her feet were back on the ground, she realized she had somehow made it to Lottie’s house. Or, rather, Lottie’s McMansion.
Lottie had rich ass parents that left all the time and didn’t care what Lottie did unless she recreated the plot of Breaking Bad or some shit. They just shoved money at Lottie and trusted her not to spend it all on stupid stuff (Lottie had paid for all of their instruments, despite the other 3 members protesting. She had told them if she has the money, she might as well spend it on them). Lottie’s house was overwhelmingly rich, but the basement was the most comfortable place in the house, so that was where the band hung out after shows or practiced or listened to music. They’d deemed it ‘The Hive’ and filled it with fairy lights and beanbag chairs and truly anything anyone could ever want. It was their home, in a sense. Their place to go back to and stay for however long they wanted with their favorite people.
Shauna’s house was quiet usually- just her and her mom who worked a lot. So, rather than being alone, she spent large amounts of time in The Hive. Nat and Van practically lived in The Hive because their parents were ‘on another level of suck’ (Nat’s words). Family was a sore subject for all of them really, which is in part why they meshed so well together, because no matter what, all any of them had ever wanted was someone- anyone- to stay.
Shauna was thrust out of her head by a tongue licking her pants. Lottie’s dog, Princess, was one of those white fluffy dogs that rich people spend thousands on for no discernable reason, but Princess was super chill and just happy most of the time. Shauna moved her hand down and Princess nudged into it, wagging her tail. Shauna smiled and moved to pick up Princess, but a voice stopped her.
“Shippy, you’re not gonna fucking believe this,” yelled Nat, who had appeared out of nowhere to yell directly into Shauna’s ear. Shauna hissed in pain.
“The fuck was that for, Nat?” Shauna glared at her.
“Somehow we let Jeff’s goofy ass over and he brought the girl,” Nat half spoke and half sang to Shauna, wiggling her eyebrows.
Ok, so what? Jeff came over sometimes even though he had a stable home life and family dinners at 6 pm sharp on the daily. “And your point in telling me this is what exactly?”
“The girl, Shauna. Did you already forget about her? Don’t think we didn’t see you making goo goo eyes at her,” Nat rolled her eyes like Shauna was the world’s biggest idiot.
Shit.
Holy shit.
God himself must really have fucking had it out for Shauna, because down the basement stairs came Lottie, followed by Van and Tai, and finally Jeff and the girl all padded down the steps.
Yeah, Shauna was still fucked.
Up close she was even more beautiful. She was laughing at a joke Jeff made (damn it, Jeff, thought Shauna) and her laugh was better than any love song Shauna had ever heard before. Her hair looked so soft, and looking into her eyes felt like staring into the universe and suddenly everything made sense.
“So this is the famous bassist Shauna?” lilted a rich voice and fuck it, her voice was not only better than any love song, but any sound in the goddamn world.
Shauna felt herself melting into the carpet.
“Jackie (Jackie, Jackie, Jackie), this is my self-proclaimed bestie Shauna motherfuckin’ Shipman,” Jeff said, smiling crookedly at Shauna.
“The motherfuckin’ is silent, but that is indeed me,” Shauna tried for a smile. God, she was so fucking awkward.
Jackie smiled at her (at Shauna!) and extended a hand. Shauna extended one of her own and felt cool metal rings on Jackie’s hand. Jackie looked down at their hands and something had changed inside her eyes. It was like she was somewhere else for a brief moment, but she shook her head and smiled at Shauna again.
“I really liked the show tonight. I don’t think I know much about music, but I liked that one song,” Jackie said to the band, humming The Rock Show.
“Didn’t think you knew that kind of music, pop princess,” Nat cocked her head at Jackie. Princess the dog cocked her head at Nat upon hearing her name.
Jackie’s smile left her face, but replaced itself in a flash. “Believe it or not, most people know Blink-182, punk princess,” Jackie replied to Nat.
Nat stared blankly at Jackie.
Jackie stared right back.
Van looked between the two of them like they were watching a boxing match, then looked at Lottie with a question in their eyes. Lottie shrugged, and both of them sank to the floor to pet Princess.
Shauna looked nervously at Jeff. Jeff was staring at his phone screen obliviously, probably playing Hay Day or some shit like that.
Tai cleared her throat.
Nat nodded once, spit on her hand, and thrust it at Jackie. Jackie promptly did the same and they shook hands like two businessmen.
The air finally left Shauna’s lungs. Nat was a wildcard when meeting people, but clearly she liked it that Jackie could take it and then throw it right back at her.
Jeff broke out of his complete unawareness and put an arm around Jackie. Out of the corner of Shauna’s eye, Van mimed gagging and Lottie had to hide her face in her hands to stop from laughing.
“Babe, now that you’ve met everyone, why don’t we head out,” Jeff suggested to Jackie. Shauna’s hair stood up. Please, she thought, don’t take her away just yet.
“Hey, I said I wanted to get to know them, not just meet them and leave, Jeff,” Jackie looked at everyone. Nat nodded in approval.
Tai, who had been mostly quiet, finally spoke. “Well, these guys like music more than most things, so how about we go around and say our favorite artist and/or band? Get to know each other.”
Despite them already being privy to this information (well, excluding Jackie), the room seemed to brighten up because hey, they did like music!
Van grinned at Tai. Nat rubbed their hands together menacingly. Jackie’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Shauna’s heart grew three sizes.
“I love Papa Roach!” Jeff grinned.
6 heads slowly swiveled towards Jeff.
“A little piece of me dies on the inside every time you say that, Jeff,” Nat sighed.
“Hey, everyone likes Papa Roach, right, Jackie?” Jeff turned to her.
“Oh yeah, totally!” Jackie replied, and when he looked away, she mouthed ‘Absolutely fucking not’ to everyone else. Nat once again nodded in approval.
Lottie bravely gave her opinion, because someone needed to bring it back after the Papa Roach incident. “I’m privy to Paramore myself. I love a good, strong, woman-led band.”
Van and Nat applauded. Paramore was a safe choice, but nonetheless a fantastic one.
“In my opinion, Kehlani is the music industry, and Orion Sun also fucking slaps,” Tai spoke next.
“Huh, I’ll have to give them a listen,” Jackie replied to her. Tai’s eyebrows shot up, because most people didn’t straight up say that and mean it. Tai definitely thought Jackie did mean it.
Shauna was starting to realize Jackie had a sort of commanding, yet trusting presence. All eyes were on her, but she spoke with genuine intention. It was something she had never seen before. Shauna mused that she’d be a great frontwoman for a band.
Van smiled and decided it was their turn to share. “Three words, Jackie. Divorced. Dad. Rock.”
Jackie blinked.
“Third Eye Blind, Incubus, Gin Blossoms, shit like that,” Tai corrected Van’s answer. Van glanced at Tai and smiled. Understanding bloomed on Jackie’s face.
“Yet you don’t like Papa Roach,” Jeff rolled his eyes. Van shot him the finger.
“Anyways, Neck Deep fucks. So does Hot Mulligan. And Stand Atlantic. And Movements. And…” Nat trailed off. They got lost in their head like that, thinking about all her favorite bands.
“Again, never really heard of any of that, but I’ll listen to them as well,” Jackie told Nat. Nat grinned wolfishly, because she thought Jackie would never survive listening to any of those. Shauna had a feeling Jackie was more than she presented herself to be.
Jackie then addressed Shauna, “So Shipman, how about you?”
“Oh- uh, yeah, music, uh…” Shauna stuttered. Fuck, her first impression to Jackie was not going well.
“Smooth, Shipman,” Nat teased. Shauna shot them daggers.
“I guess I like American Football, Modern Baseball (why so many sports names, Shauna would never understand), Moose Blood, shit like that that you probably have never heard of,” Shauna was able to say.
Jackie softly smiled, “Yeah, can’t say I know any of those, but maybe you could make me a playlist?”
“The rizz,” Van whispered to Tai. Tai slapped them playfully.
“I would love to!” Shauna rushed out before Nat or anyone else could say something stupid.
Besides, she loved making playlists. To her, it was a form of art- catering to certain feelings that she didn’t know how to put into words. Her spotify was at about 90 something playlist and probably would be larger after tonight. After Jackie.
“Alright, pop princess, who’s your favorite?” Nat asked Jackie. Jackie blinked, not realizing they’d all said theirs already.
“Promise not to laugh, but, it honestly might be Taylor Swift,” Jackie uttered nervously.
“The fuck you mean? We would never laugh about Taylor Swift,” Nat said quizzically. “She’s the artist of the millennium. Half her earlier stuff is a bassline away from being a pop punk love ballad.”
“They’re right,” Lottie voiced. Van, Tai and Shauna all nodded their assent. Taylor Swift was a favorite for the group.
“Wowza. Wouldn’t have expected that from you, punk princess,” Jackie teased to Nat. Shauna had a feeling the princess names weren’t going away anytime soon.
“Hey, Shauna knows how to play a lot of Taylor songs!” Jeff said excitedly.
He was definitely going on Shauna’s shit list after tonight. Fucking Jeff.
Jackie’s eyes lit up for the umpteenth time that night. “Shauna, I would be honored to hear you play Taylor.”
Everyone looked at her expectantly, and Shauna felt stage fright all over again. It felt more stressful somehow, performing for less people. Shauna didn’t want to let her people down.
“If she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t have to,” Tai piped up. Shauna shot her a grateful look.
But Lottie was arranging furniture so they could all sit in front of Shauna, and Jackie had such a hopeful look on her face, so Shauna sighed and relented.
Van had gone and gotten an acoustic guitar from the instrument corner of the basement, which had many random instruments strewn about. They handed it to Shauna and took a seat on the floor in front of Tai. Princess crawled into their lap, and that was one more pair of eyes watching Shauna.
Shauna didn’t even have to think of what song she was going to play. Her heart told her what to play whenever she looked at Jackie.
She plucked at the strings and suddenly the rest of the world faded away and it was just her and the guitar and Jackie looking at her.
“There I was again tonight, forcing laughter, faking smiles,” Shauna sang quietly. Enchanted wasn’t big enough to describe what looking at Jackie felt like, but it was enough.
Shauna lost herself in the melody. Even Jackie kind of faded away, but she stayed present in Shauna’s mind like a moth attached to a streetlight.
Nat was peaceful for once, head swaying to the sounds of the guitar. Lottie was doing the same and mouthing the lyrics. Jeff had turned his flashlight on and was waving it back and forth like he was at a concert. Van and Tai were pretending they weren’t holding hands and thinking about each other.
But, unbeknownst to Shauna, as she sang about a flawless and sparkling night, Jackie was captivated. Jackie’s mouth was open just a bit, and she looked awestruck.
Shauna may have thought she was the one enchanted to meet Jackie, but she wasn’t the only one feeling enchanted tonight.