22Summary: The band 'Phoenix Song' plays in local pubs and night-clubs until one night a manager named Abraham Morado offers them a contract. For five years they'll play for him and his label 'Crimson Stars' only. They're paid well and everything seems just fine … until singer Abel Hallow finds out about Mr. Morado's secret.
Claimer: All mine. But if you like 'em, you may borrow 'em.
Rating: I'm aiming for T right now, but I might have to raise it to M at some point.
Warning: There'll be murder and slash later on … not in the first few chapters, though.
Reviews: …would be great, but try to be constructive about what's bad. I'll ignore flames on principle.
Chapter One – Garage Band
Abel Hallow put his guitar down and ran a hand through his shaggy auburn hair. "Okay, guys, give it a break," he told his friends with a sigh.
"We're going to be better this evening," Jeff Parker, the band's drummer, told him. "You know what they say about the last rehearsal. We've been so abysmal, we just have to be great at the premiere."
"I hope you're right." Andrew Parr picked the notes off the keyboard and looked at them again. "The songs Abel wrote are great, but we don't have a professional equipment."
"I've heard that there are talent scouts at Denny's sometimes."
"Let's face it, Jeff, we can just hope there are none of them in the audience tonight. Otherwise we're so screwed."
"Wish I were…" the dark-skinned drummer muttered, making his friends laugh.
"If Hazel hears about that you'll be on your own again, Jeff," Abel pointed out. "Let's face it, you're better off than Andrew and me. At least you have a girlfriend."
"Well, some guys are just lucky."
"Because you've got a girl," the blond-haired keyboarder asked, grinning broadly, "or because we haven't?"
"That's up to you."
Abel turned away from his best friends. He picked up the songs again and sheaved through them. Of course they did a lot of covering, just singing other bands' songs. But he liked writing music and the few times they'd played his songs, people had liked them a lot. Maybe it was time to do more original stuff.
Despite the fact that he was a good show on stage, Abel really was a bit shy. It was one thing, standing on stage, performing his music and not looking down at the audience. Talking to people normally was a good deal harder for him. This was why Jeff usually did the booking for them. He was good at getting as much money out of a gig as possible and knew the owners of most night-clubs and pubs in the city. It didn't pay off too well, they had to rent most of their equipment and that was expensive, but at least it was enough for a little extra. Andrew was working on a demo-tape in his spare time, maybe they could get a contract in a few months.
"Hey, Abel, you still with us?" Andrew pulled him out of his thoughts.
"S-sure. What were you just saying?"
"I said my dad's trying to get me a full-time job at his company. I wouldn't really mind working there, but I'd have less time for rehearsals."
"No way!" Jeff growled. "If we want to go professional, we have to rehearse even more often, not less!"
"I'm afraid, Jeff is right. Andrew, I know it's difficult for you. My family's not happy about it either, but they accept my part-time job down at the store."
"I know. But my dad's really getting nervous. He has five kids and isn't making that much money. He wants me out of the house as fast as possible."
"Give it two more gigs before you accept, okay?" Abel pleaded. "I've got a feeling that we'll be lucky soon. Just till the end of the month."
"Okay, Abel, two more gigs."
"Well, let's call it a day," Abel sighed. "We'll meet here at eight."
His friends nodded and left, leaving their instruments behind. Abel pulled a cover over the old keyboard and sat down behind the drums. He'd always dreamt of having a band, of being successful. But it was hard, they didn't live in a big city and chances of getting noticed by someone important were slim.
At eight o'clock Abel had prepared everything. The instruments were packed, he was just waiting for Jeff and his van. Andrew who just lived across the street sauntered over and sat down on the porch beside him.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"A bit nervous, as always. Listen, I thought we could play more of our own songs tonight."
"Sounds like a good idea."
"You really think so?" Abel asked. He was quite surprised, he'd always thought that his friends prefered playing well known songs.
"Hey, Jeff and I both think you're a very good song-writer. We've waited for you to be ready for quite some time. Why not give it a try at Denny's tonight? People there like us, they'll be a good audience."
Since they played at Denny's Pub once a month, they'd were well known to the customers. They had played a lot of Abel's own songs there already and almost always gotten a lot of applause for them.
While Abel was still thinking, the old, worn van Jeff had bought years ago stopped in front of the garage / workroom where they did their rehearsals. Together they packed everything in and then drove off towards Denny's
"Good news, Jeff," Andrew told the drummer after they'd gotten in, "Abel has finally decided to just play more of our own songs tonight."
"Great."
About an hour later they were ready to play. Unlike most other band they knew, 'Phoenix Song' did not wear costumes on stage. They just wore their average clothes. As they stepped on stage, Jeff sitting down behind his drums and Andrew walking over to his keyboard, Abel felt all nervousness drain from his body. His hands grabbed the slim neck of his guitar as he lifted it off the ground and pulled the belt over his head. Softly his fingers ran over the strings, making it sing out. He stepped up to the microphone.
"Hey people!" he called into the crowd. "Great to be here at Denny's again. Tonight's going to be a special night for us. For the first time ever we're going to play our own songs only." Some people cheered and there seemed no one who wanted to leave the pub immediately. That was a good omen. "The first song is dedicated to my little sister Joseline, usually better know as 'Jo'. It's called 'Tomboy' and that's just what she is."
He played the first chords and felt the music break free. As he sung the first line, everything seemed to blurr…