by Fumise Love
Gabrielle?
What an ugly name, fitted her perfectly.
“Let’s just do this. Let’s listen to her first and see if she would somehow pass based on your standards,” Matthew suggested. “If you still don’t find her fitting enough to be a member of Crescent Moon, let’s just pretend that this day never happened. Deal?”
I agreed at Matthew’s suggestion because I knew that it was that easy to tell them that Gabrielle was not that good even if she knew how to sing. Crescent Moon already had the best vocalist and lead guitarist. Why would they settle for less, when Crescent Moon already had the best?
“Let her borrow your guitar, bro,” Paul commanded.
“What?” I responded. “She already scratched it earlier and you want me to borrow it to her?”
Gabrielle grabbed my guitar from my hold without even asking nicely for it. Did she want to add another scratch on it? “Just let me have it! You’re such a crybaby,”
What was up with her and why did she always have to yell?
She sat on the chair, plugged the guitar to the amplifier, and started playing.
“What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive,
I can’t keep up,
And I can’t back down,
I’ve been losing so much time.”
I was too stunned to move when I heard her voice. It was like my feet were nailed on the ground. I could not explain what I was feeling. It was like someone was tickling me in my stomach.
“Cause it’s you and me,
And all of the people,
With nothing to do,
Nothing to lose,
And it’s you and me,
And all of the people,
And I don’t know why,
I can’t keep my eyes off of you.”
When she finished her song, I did not know for myself why I quickly ran outside of the music room. Maybe I needed to go to the restroom.
Maybe it was just my stomach going crazy.
◆◆◆
Gabrielle
Johanne hurriedly went outside of the room after I finished my song. “What happened to that guy?” Samantha asked the two remaining guys.
Paul and Matthew suddenly grinned like they were a couple of weirdos, “Nothing,” they both said.
“What’s the result?” Samantha eagerly asked. “Is Gab a member of your band now or not?” the two lads nodded. “Good! And by the way, Gab, Jeff asked us if we wanted to go to the mall. Let’s go?”
“Sure,” I shrugged because we had nothing left to do for the rest of the day anyway.
“Come here tomorrow morning for the practice because we have a gig in the evening. Come earlier or strictly on time so we would be prepared,” I nodded at Matthew’s instructions.
Samantha and I went to the lounge to meet up with Jeffrey. Hanging out with Jeffrey was far better than being with Johanne.
We immediately saw Jeffrey in the lounge like we expected. “Oh,” he took notice of our existence. “Where did the two of you go?”
“We went to the music room,” Samantha answered his question. “Gab was able to get in and be a member of Crescent Moon,”
“Johanne’s band?” Jeffrey frowned. “How did that happen?”
Samantha started to tell him of how it all started and Jeffrey’s face turned sour. I knew that he disliked Johanne but I did not know of the reason why. I wanted to ask him of what the reason was but I knew that I had not known Jeffrey for that long to ask about his personal life.
We arrived at the mall a few minutes later. Samantha got separated from me and Jeffrey because each store inside the mall was her paradise.
“Do you like shopping?” I opened up the conversation.
“Nah,”
“Then why did you invite us to come here?”
“To see you,” he whispered. I was not sure if I heard him right because his voice was too low that it was a struggle to comprehend what he was saying.
“What…?”
“Nothing,” he shook his head. “Let’s go to the second floor. There are many stores there and I’m sure that you will like them.”
Chapter Six
Johanne
I went to the restroom and confirmed if mother nature was calling for me that was why I reacted like that earlier. But whatever I did...nothing came out...damn.
What was happening with me?
From the moment that I heard Gabrielle’s voice, my sides and stomach were tingling.
That girl extremely knew how to ruin someone’s day.
Paul and Matthew’s grinning faces greeted me once I stepped back inside the music room.
“Why are your faces like that?” I glared at the both of them.
“Where were you?” Paul asked with a smirk plastered on his tanned face. Did I not have the right to go to the restroom now?
“My stomache started rumbling earlier,” I explained.
Matthew was the next one who smirked, “Was that really the reason, Johanne?”
“Yes,” I frowned. “Why?”
“If you say so,” Matthew shrugged. “We decided to let Gab in the band because it’s obvious that her voice sounds so good. Are there any objections on your end?”
“None,” I shrugged back. “She should just make sure that she’ll be here early tomorrow for the practice,”
I went out of the music room again and headed straight back to my room. Flashbacks from two years ago suddenly made their way back inside my mind. Maybe it was Gabrielle’s fault why I suddenly remembered those memories. I could not be close to her because there was no way that I was going to let what happened before, happen again now.
◆◆◆
Gabrielle
It was a good thing that I woke up earlier than I expected because I forgot to set up my alarm clock right before I went to sleep last night due to the fact that I was tired from touring the mall with Jeffrey. I skipped my breakfast since Matthew told me to attend the practice of the Crescent Moon early.
“Why are you late?” the voice of the gorilla greeted me first thing in the morning. “You’re just a newbie here. Don’t you think that out of respect, you should be the first one to arrive? How hard is it to go to this room even though you’re already staying in the same building?”
“There’s no person who would want to see your face first thing in the morning,” I remarked.
I was not late! What did he expect? Did he expect that we were in the university with him as the professor and with me as the student?
“Save your argument for later,” Matthew tried to calm the two of us down. For me, Matthew was the most decent member of Crescent Moon when it came to talking about their personalities. “And Gab, about the songs that you are going to sing with Johanne…” he told me the list of the songs that we were going to play and luckily, I knew how to play all of them.
All the songs were for two people, which meant that I was going to do a duet with no one else but Johanne the Gorilla. I did not know if I should do my best or sabotage the performance because I hated Johanne’s guts.
Why did we have to play a couple of love songs? What kind of gig was it anyway? Would it be a wedding...at night?
We practiced for five hours straight without taking breaks, except for water breaks. What kind of band was this? The only break was sipping water for Pete’s sake!
“Let’s meet at 6 p.m. later at the lounge,” Paul reminded. “You can take whoever you want just don’t be late,”
“And wear something nice,” Johanne added. “The last thing that we want to do is embarrass the band because of you.”
◆◆◆
“How was the practice?” Samantha quickly asked me when I met up with her at the training camp’s cafeteria. I immediately ordered my food because I was so damn hungry.
“It was fine,” I sighed.
“Why do you look so tired?”
“Because it’s like this…” I breathed a huge
amount of air before I continued explaining, “We practiced for five hours straight without me eating my breakfast and we didn’t have a break even for just five minutes!
I started to devour the food that I ordered.
“It’s like you haven’t eaten for weeks, Gab!”
“Whose fault do you think it is?!” I did not know where Samantha got the guts to say that to me when she was the one who convinced me to join Crescent Moon without my permission. If I did not join the band, I would have had gotten enough sleep.
“Why do you seem so hungry?” Jeffrey joined us in our table with his own food.
I swallowed the food that I was munching because I suddenly remembered that I could take whoever I want later at our gig. “Jeff, please come to our gig later, alright?”
“I’ll think about it,” his response was short.
“Why do you need to think about it? Just come with us!” I tried to convince him. “It will be my first gig so I will need a lot of moral support!”
“Just text me the address later and I’ll go there when you least expect it,” Jeffrey smiled...but I could clearly see the hesitation in his eyes.
◆◆◆
Because I did not want Johanne to tease me about how I looked, I prepared well to make myself look decent enough. I put on least make-up so I would look presentable in front of our audience. I wore a black pair of shorts, white t-shirt with a huge skull printed on the front, and black combat boots.
When I went to the lounge, the complete members of Crescent Moon were already there with Samantha who was chit-chatting with Paul.
“You look...okay, witch,” Johanne commented with a smug look on his face. “I didn’t expect that a witch would be able to look like a human,”
“It’s not my fault that your face will not change whatever you do about it, gorilla,” I responded. “A gorilla will always be a gorilla in the first place,”
“Here we go again,” Matthew rolled his eyes. It was obvious that even though it was only the second day that I personally knew of Crescent Moon, it was tiring for Matthew and Paul to always watch me and Johanne argue. “Let’s proceed to the venue because we’re wasting time here, you know?”
All of us rode a cab on the way to the venue and I wondered if Jeffrey would really come later. I looked at Johanne and saw that he had a resemblance with Jeffrey. What did Johanne do to make Jeffrey hate him like that?
We arrived at the Ozone bar with me being silent for the whole ride because I got no one to talk to since Samantha was too busy talking to Paul.
The moment we stepped inside the bar, someone approached us and talked to Paul. After they talked, we set up our instruments on the stage to start performing. Samantha took her seat in the front after grabbing a bottle of beer.
“Don’t get nervous, witch. If you ever feet nervous, just look upwards,” Johanne whispered in my ear before the performance started.
Chapter Seven
Gabrielle
“I’ve been living with a shadow overhead,
I’ve been living with a cloud above my head,
I’ve been lonely for so long,
Trapped in the past, I just can’t seem to move on,”
I was the first one to sing. Performing with my best came in naturally even though I was having second thoughts in sabotaging Johanne. I needed to give it my all because I did not want to embarrass my new band. I noticed that everyone inside the bar became silent as they listened to our performance.
At the corner of my eye, I saw Jeffrey who walked inside the bar and he sat beside Samantha. Just like my bestfriend, he also grabbed a bottle of beer.
“I’ve been hiding all my hopes and dreams away,
Just in case I ever need them again someday,”
I’ve been setting aside time,
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind,”
Johanne looked at me dead straight into the eyes and I suddenly felt a mild jolt of electricity coursing through my veins.
What was happening?
What was Johanne doing to me?
Was he hypnotizing me by the use of his angelic voice?
“All I wanna do is find a way back into love,
I can’t make it through without a way back into love oh oh oh,”
And if I open my heart to you,
I’m hopingyou’ll show me what to do,
And if you help me to start again,
You know I will be there for you till the end,”
Johanne and I just stared at each other throughout the whole song. It felt like I was going to melt on the spot because of the way he stared at me.
Jeffrey on the other hand, stormed outside of the bar after gulping the rest of his beer.
What was Jeffrey’s problem?
The band continued performing and I came to the realization that it was fun to be in a band.
◆◆◆
“Look at that person!” I yelled while pointing at the individual that I was referring to. “It looks like he’s swimming in the air!”
“Gab...you’re drunk,” my bestfriend shook her head in dismay. “I honestly don’t know if I should laugh or get worried,”
“Let me be drunk!” I responded. “It’s been a while since I last drank alcohol!”
“You already drank so much, witch. Let’s go back to the training camp since they already paid us for our performance tonight,” the gorilla suggested. I stood up and placed my head in front of his until I could feel his breath on my face. “H-Hey, witch, what a-are you doing?”
“You know...you’re really handsome but you also have this awful personality,” I squeezed Johanne’s left cheek. “You look angelic but you’re actually a devil in disguise,”
After our performance, the host of the party made us drink. Matthew immediately joined the other table to hit on girls that was why there were only the four of us gathered around the table that Samantha reserved for us. I drank too much because I had no one to talk to since Samantha was too busy talking to Paul...again. The two of them seemed to be inseparable throughout the night.
“You also look beautiful except for the fact that you’re a wi—hey!” Johanne instantly stood up because I could not help myself when the alcohol suddenly turned into puke.
◆◆◆
My head was throbbing with pain the moment that I opened my eyes. What happened to me? My body felt sticky and I noticed that I had not taken a bath yet. I stinked of beer and I could still feel the bitter taste in my mouth.
I hurriedly took a bath without forgetting to brush my teeth. I went to the cafeteria to have my lunch. I knew for myself that I needed to drink a lot of coffee to make this headache go away.
I saw Samantha together with the members of Crescent Moon while Jeffrey was nowhere to be found. I remembered him storming out of the bar last night like he was mad. Was he mad at me? But I did not remember doing anything wrong.
“What happened?” I raised an eyebrow as I took my seat beside Samantha.
“Is that how people give ‘thanks’ nowadays?” Johanne asked. “You puked on my clothes and you’re still acting like the witch you are? Do you think that you’re light enough when I carried you all the way back to your room?”
“W-What?” I stuttered for the reason that I could not believe what I was hearing.
“You drank too much,” Paul reminded me. “I think that you consumed almost seven bottles of beers,”
“I was going to carry you but you know how small I am,” Samantha smiled apologetically.
“Just keep in mind what happened last night, witch,” Johanne glared at me. “I did you a favor so you now owe me one in return.”
◆◆◆
Johanne
“I need you to do something for me and you have no right to refuse,” I warned Gabrielle. “Unless you want to refuse even though I did something good for you last night?”
“I don’t like owing someone so, bring it on,” Gabrielle responded with a frown on her face. “What do you wan
t me to do?”
Matthew answered Gabrielle’s question for me since he was clearly enjoying this, “You’re going to pretend that you’re Johanne’s girlfriend because his family is back from Australia.”
*Flashback*
I was surprised when my mother suddenly called me. It meant that they were already back here from Australia. My brother and I stayed in Philadelphia because we wanted to become independent and it was easier to travel back and forth from our apartment to the university.
But the thing was, my brother and I were not that close to begin with. We used to live in the same apartment but not anymore.
“Johanne, we’re back here in America. Have you recovered already? Are you alright? Ever since what happened with Mary, your father and I can’t help but get worried…”
“I’m fine now, mom,” I lied because I hated worrying my parents. “I’m back to normal because I have a new girlfriend now,”
The first thing that came into my mind was Gabrielle. Maybe I could blackmail her into pretending to be my girlfriend because I carried her back to her room earlier. There was no way that she would be able to refuse once she knew that I did something for her.
“Really? I want to meet her! Your father and I need to thank her so please bring her to the party, okay?”
“Alright…” I needed to make sure that Gabrielle would not refuse.
“How about your brother? He’s not answering his phone. Do you think that he would be able to come to the party?”
“I’m not so sure about that. I’ve got to go, mom. I still need to do something.”
*End of Flashback*
“What?!” Gabrielle stood up. I expected that she would react like this. “Aren’t there many girls who flock around you all the time? Why don’t you ask one of them to pretend to be your girlfriend?”
“Because I’m sure for myself that you will not fall for me, ever,” I reasoned. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to do it even tho—”
“Fine! Fine! I’ll do it!” she sulked. “When is that party anyways?”