* * *
“Holy fuck do you look like shit.”
I put my hands together and bowed before Jay.
He grabbed my shoulder. “Seriously. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Whoa, whoa,” Dex said as he hurried from the practice stage. He reached for my sunglasses and I slapped his hand away. “Are you high right now, bro?”
“Define high,” I said.
“Shit,” Dex said.
“Got any for me?” Jay asked.
“Nash is going to lose his mind,” Dex said.
“It’s just a practice,” I said. “We’re just running through the new song. Getting shit together. That’s all.”
“Are you good to play the piano part?” Dex asked.
“I can play anything you want.”
“No, we have everyone coming in,” Jay said. “Piano. Strings.”
“We’re a fucking orchestra now,” I said with a laugh.
“Go drink coffee or water or something,” Dex said.
Jay patted my shoulder. “If you have anything with you, you better share.”
“I brought some company…”
I looked over my shoulder and the three Line Whores from my bed were wandering around near the doors.
Jay laughed. “This is going to be awesome.”
There was Butterfly Tattoo, Nipple Rings, and Miss Neon-Green Thong.
All beautiful in their own right. All there for a purpose.
Nash and Sab were finishing setting up on stage.
I joined them and when Nash looked at me, he shook his head.
“Don’t say it,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“You look like hell,” Sab said. “I said it.”
“You’re bringing in everyone today?” I asked Nash.
“Might as well,” he said. “Toby and that camera crew are coming too. He wants to capture the whole process.”
“Hey, this is good that Reed looks like death,” Sab said. “Keeps our image alive.”
“Our image is fine,” Nash said.
He looked at me.
I peeled my sunglasses up to my head.
The lights stabbed my eyes.
I didn’t flinch though.
“This song is going to change the world, Nash,” I said. “Everyone from happy couples getting married to horny teenagers touching each other are going to be listening to it. This is going to change everything.”
Nash punched my shoulder. “I know. Are you ready for it?”
“Look at me…”
“That’s why I asked,” he said with a grin.
I heard the echoing sound of the door slamming shut.
When I turned my head, I saw Abby.
Wearing sandals and jean shorts. A white sweater looking thing that had an extra big neck that slid down her right shoulder, showing off her tank top and bra strap.
Trying to look so fucking casual.
The other two singers we chose were in regular jeans, both wearing a FILTHY LINE shirt. Different logos and pictures on the shirts though.
It was Abby, Carla, and Dawn.
“Ready for this?” Sab asked me as he slapped my back.
“Oh, I’m ready,” I said.
I jumped off the stage and walked toward the front of the room.
Abby looked around, trying to act as though she couldn’t see me.
Stupid baby game bullshit for sure.
I closed in on her, just enough to get her attention, and then I made a quick move and slid my way to Miss Neon-Green Thong. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to me.
I looked down her top and watched her tits bounce inside her shirt.
She didn’t like wearing bras.
And she had enough of a chest that she should have been wearing one.
Oops.
“Are we ready to sing?” I asked. “Anyone need to warm up their mouths? I mean… vocal cords?”
Abby’s cheeks blushed for a second.
“This is just sooo exciting,” Dawn said.
She was perky as fuck.
Carla, on the other hand, stepped away and folded her hands together. She straightened her back and started taking deep breaths.
Getting herself ready.
Abby wandered toward the stage.
Miss Neon-Green Thong moved to her toes and bit my fucking ear.
I jumped away from her.
She smiled at me. “Is she the one?”
“There is no one,” I said. “You were one of three, remember?”
I walked away, rubbing my ear.
If someone wanted to bite me, I better have my hands on their tits and my dick in one of their holes. Without that, it was just assault.
I breezed by Abby and jumped up on the stage.
The rest of the band did the same and before I had a chance to say anything to Abby, the doors opened again and Toby came in with everyone else.
The room was getting full.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
There weren’t enough drugs.
Or booze.
And the women had way too many pieces of clothing on.
Abby climbed up on the stage and stood a foot away from me.
I pictured her that night.
Telling her to get the fuck off the bus.
Watching her actually get off the bus, thinking I was just pissed for a minute.
I picture myself shutting the door and telling Bill to fucking drive.
Only me and her knew the truth.
Or at least our own versions of the truth.
* * *
“I think we need to ditch the acoustic guitar,” Dex said. “It’s colliding with the piano.”
“You think so?” Sab asked.
“I agree,” I said.
“We have two guitarists,” Nash said.
“We need to keep the raw sound of the drums and electric,” I said. “Dex, trade your axe for another and keep it clean. I’m talking very clear. Add some reverb and work against my bass lines. Even if you just strum the chords, wait a second, and hit each note on a downstroke…”
“That’s the sound,” Jay said. “I can fill in with him too.”
“The piano has to dominate,” Nash said.
“It will,” I said. “But you’ll have these guitars in the background. Teasing throughout the entire song. Turn up my bass a little too. Let me really pop on the root notes.”
“Okay,” Nash said. “Let’s run it again.”
I looked back at Abby. “Try to sing this time, honey. Don’t just tongue fuck the mic.”
Abby curled her lip.
I smiled.
Sab hit his sticks together four times and we ran through the song again.
The sound came through much cleaner.
The backup singers were really good too.
But Abby’s voice was stronger than the other two. Way stronger.
It was just her natural ability to sing.
As we closed in on the end of the song, I couldn’t stand hearing her voice any more.
I took my bass off and balanced it against my amp.
Then I walked off the stage.
Slowly, the song fell apart.
“What are you doing, Reed?” Nash asked into the mic.
“It sounds good enough,” I said. “We’re done here.”
Next thing I knew, I had cameras on me.
I walked up to one guy with a camera flashing at me and I grabbed it.
“I’ll break the fucking thing,” I said.
“Please don’t.”
I shoved him away.
My only comfort, were the three women from my bed.
Miss Neon-Green Thong hurried to my aid, grabbing for my hand.
“That’s a wrap then,” Nash said. “We’ll take it to the studio next. That sounded really good.”
Dawn asked if that was it for the day.
It was more than enough for the day.
“Good call on t
he changes,” Jay said to me.
“Yeah, right,” I said.
“Who are your friends here?” Jay asked. “Which one can I steal?”
Jay settled between Butterfly Tattoo and Nipple Rings.
“Nobody is wearing a ring,” I said. “Except her.”
I nodded to Nipple Rings.
“Not on my fingers,” she said with a smile.
“And just like that, I’m in love,” Jay said.
From the corner of my eye I saw Dawn, Carla, and Abby walking with Toby toward the front of the practice area.
I turned a little and took Miss Neon-Green Thong with me.
Abby gave me a side eye glance and that was it.
I smirked and kept my arm around Miss Neon-Green Thong. My fingers played with the side of her left breast.
Toby opened the door and held it.
Dawn and Carla walked outside.
Abby didn’t.
She froze and turned to face me.
She walked up to me and Miss Neon-Green Thong.
“Not too bad today, honey,” I said. “I thought you were better though. Might have to make a change.”
“You do that, Reed,” she said. “Can I make one suggestion though?”
“Sure,” I said.
Abby moved her eyes to Miss Neon-Green Thong.
Without hesitation, she cupped her hands under her tits.
She lifted them and just held there.
“Before you swallow another one of his loads, make him get you a bra,” Abby said. “Because when you need to run from him, you’re going to knock yourself out with these things.”
Abby backed away and let Miss Neon-Green Thong’s chest go.
She left the room and I felt everyone staring at me.
That right there…
That was the Abby I once knew.
8
ABBY
I walked to the table in the busy restaurant and they all looked at me with a gleam in their eyes.
Sasha, Rae, and even Jess.
Normally Jess didn’t go crazy over things. I knew with her it was more about the history between Reed and I over what was happening right now.
I sat down and there was a drink waiting for me.
“Celebrate,” Jess said. “Keep celebrating too. Everything is on us tonight.”
“You want me to get drunk and share details,” I said.
“Of course we do!” Rae said.
“There’s nothing to share,” I said.
“Yes, there is,” Sasha said.
I looked at her and frowned.
I felt bad that she didn’t get a call.
She was a really good singer.
I knew nothing about the other two women… were they good? Yeah. They were good. Really good.
Were they better than Sasha?
To me, Sasha was better.
But she was my friend, so of course I was going to think that.
“Just tell us everything,” Rae said. “Was the entire band there?”
“Yeah,” I said. “The band. The manager. There were two people there with cameras. I guess this is a big deal for the band.”
“What kind of song is it?” Sasha asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not allowed to talk about anything. I had to sign a bunch of papers. I can’t even have my phone when we’re practicing. Nothing can get leaked. They’re taking this seriously.”
“So what can you tell us?” Jess asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. It wasn’t anything new to me.”
“Oh, you’re such a bitch,” Rae said. “I would kill to have a minute alone with them.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant… I’ve met them all before. I…” I swallowed hard. “Okay. They have this giant practice area. It’s almost like a storage unit or something. There’s equipment and instruments everywhere. It’s not really a rock star party thing. Uh, there’s a small stage. Obviously, that’s where we practiced. We played the song a few times. Then Dex and Reed wanted to change some stuff…”
Just saying his name - Reed - made my stomach turn.
Fuck him for bringing Line Whores. What was he thinking? That I was going to get jealous or something? Like I really gave a damn what he did. It was his life. It was his dick.
“What did they change?” Sasha asked.
I smiled. “I can’t tell you. They just adjusted parts of the song. That’s it.”
“Then what happened?”
The song sounded much better. Toward the end, Reed walked off the stage to go be with one of his Line Whores. He was trying to get me jealous. I was going to leave but then I noticed this bitch wasn’t wearing a bra. So I walked up to her and pushed up her boobs and told her to wear a bra.
“Then it was over,” I said.
“Over?” Rae asked.
“Yeah. The band called it a day after that. We all went our own ways. Toby - the manager - walked us outside. He said he would be in touch about studio time. I’m thinking that’s maybe tomorrow. The day after. I don’t know. I just have to wait and see.”
“That’s so amazing,” Sasha said. “You really did it, Abby. You auditioned and got the gig. This is huge.”
“It’s one song,” I said.
“But it’s FILTHY LINE,” Rae said.
“Yeah, Abby, it’s FILTHY LINE,” Jess said.
“Here, let’s toast to Abby,” Sasha said. She lifted her glass. “I don’t care if it’s one song. This is awesome. Congrats.”
They lifted their glasses.
I lifted mine.
“Um… seriously though… thank you for being supportive. I wish all four of us were there right now. I hate that it’s just me. I don’t feel-”
“Give it up,” Jess said. “You’re the best singer in our group. You deserve it. Just don’t sleep with any of the band members.”
My face burned red hot.
“Screw that,” Rae said. “Sleep with them all!”
We touched our glasses and I felt Jess grinning at me.
I hurried to down my drink and nodded to Sasha for another one.
I might as well celebrate, right?
I survived my first day being near Reed.
* * *
Text me ur address. I wanna punch you in the face again.
“What did you just do?” Jess asked me.
I had reached the point of drunk where I was sloppy.
We had intentions of feeling good and finding some men to hang out with. Which Rae and Sasha went off to do.
They were at the bar, scoring free drinks and glances down their shirts.
I was fucking up Jess’s night though.
I knew that because she only ever smoked one cigarette at a time. She had a thing about her timing with them. It was her way of telling herself she could quit if she wanted to. But when Jess smoked one cigarette after another, she was upset.
Now she was finishing her third cigarette.
That meant she was pissed at me.
I had gone too far with the drinks.
I was now the annoying friend who was going to say or do something stupid and ruin the night.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said.
I hurried to get a ride.
A few clicks on my phone and someone named Josh was now picking me up.
“There,” I said. “I’m leaving.”
“You’re not leaving, Abby,” Jess said.
“I drank too much.”
“Yeah, you kind of did. Today didn’t go so well, did it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never told me who it was,” Jess said. “You always said you were involved with a rock star. Were you two in love? What was it?”
“Love?” I asked. I laughed. “Never. Not a chance in hell, Jess. He was a piece of shit. Always a piece of shit.”
“Okay, Abby,” she said. “Why don’t I take you home?”
“You’re drunk too.”
“I’m not drunk. I can drive you home.
”
“There’s men in there. And you’re sexy.”
“You can call me sexy when we get home,” Jess said.
“I got a ride home,” I said.
I showed her my phone.
“Shit,” Jess said. “He’ll be here in a minute.”
“See? Boom. Right home.”
“I’m waiting with you.”
Which Jess did.
A black car pulled up.
Jess confirmed that the driver’s name was Josh.
I hugged her and told her in a way too loud drunk voice to go get laid.
I climbed into the backseat of the car.
Josh introduced himself and started to drive.
I stared at my phone.
Never mind that text. Wrong person.
That was probably worse than the first text.
So I sent another one.
Forget that one too. Forget me.
I cringed after I sent it.
There was a small part of my mind that was sane and sober, begging the rest of my mind to just stop.
Then came a reply.
I gasped when I saw the message pop up.
Are you drunk, honey?
I didn’t reply.
I put the phone next to me.
My phone vibrated again.
Then again.
I glanced down at it.
I gasped again.
It was an address.
I was drunk… and I was going to punch Reed in the face again.
* * *
He lived outside of the main part of the city.
That surprised me.
He also didn’t live in some fancy, gated community either.
That also surprised me.
There was a fence and trees and stuff blocking the view of his house.
A metal gate was partially swung open.
It didn’t fit the vibe that I got out of the city, but whatever.
Josh stopped the car and whistled.
“Nice place,” he said.
“It’s not mine,” I said. “You might be coming back here later to get me.”
“Oh. It’s one of those?”
“I’m not a whore, douchebag,” I said.
I got out of the car and slammed the door.
Josh took off.
Another man running from me, huh?
I stumbled forward and saw the glow of a cigarette at the gates.
As I closed in, I realized it wasn’t a cigarette at all.
A FILTHY Enemy: a filthy line novel Page 7