Chapter 5 #2
“Thank you, thank you all!” Ray says into the mic. The blue light transforms into a white one, highlighting the entire band. “Thank you all for coming. We love you!”
The crowd keeps cheering, and Ray’s gorgeous smile shines on all of them.
Gene can’t stop smiling either, looking over to Santiago, then to Pat, and then to Stefan.
He lands on Ray again, and normally, this would be the part where Ray takes his hand, lifts it up, and they bend over gracefully in a bow.
But the craze of the crowd is more chaotic than normal. Gene knows the Brooms are getting more popular than before, but this show is surely showing it. He notices Ray falter a bit, taking a step away from the mic. The screams and cheering continues.
A group of girls start pushing and shoving each other, grabbing onto the edge of the stage.
The platform the Brooms are on isn’t very high, easy enough to climb onto—and that’s exactly what one of the girls does.
She looks about their age, make-up done up, brunette hair long and in pigtail braids.
She makes no hesitation. She runs up to Ray, grabs him by the shoulders, and—
She plants her lips on his.
The crowd screams even louder.
Gene feels his heart stop.
He can’t breathe.
Ray doesn’t push her away.
Someone from the club staff jumps onto the stage and walks toward Ray and the girl.
They yell something unintelligible over the craze of the crowd, perhaps telling the girl to leave, and Gene notices Ray smile.
Ray laughs as he and the girl part their lips, and he throws an arm around her shoulders.
He actually threw his arm around her shoulders?
What the hell?
“Everyone, everyone, it’s all good!” Ray says into the mic, looking at the crowd, then to the girl in his arms. “What’s your name, miss? You’ve got a lot of guts to just come up here like that and kiss me!”
The girl giggles, nuzzling more into Ray’s embrace. What the fucking hell. “My name’s Harriet,” she says into the mic. “I… oh my god, I can’t believe this is really happening. I couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s all good, babe, it’s all good.” ‘Babe’? No, it’s not all good. Gene can’t believe what’s happening either, that Ray isn’t bothered by this. Ray’s enjoying this. Gene’s grip tightens around his guitar neck.
“I’ve been coming to your shows for a while now,” Harriet says. “I like you so much, Ray. I was so excited to get close to the stage, I thought, ‘now’s my chance,’ and I—and I—”
Gene looks over to the club staff member, who’s giving Ray a hand signal: Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
Ray chuckles and loosens his grip around Harriet, resting his hand on her shoulder, giving the guy a thumbs up with his other one. “Well, you did it!” Ray exclaims, and he directs his attention to the crowd. “I’ll take good care of this one, don’t you all worry. It was all part of the act.”
What the fuck? No it wasn’t.
“Thank you Grand Rapids, and good night!”
Gene turns to his left, but Stefan’s no help.
His face almost never changes, so Gene can’t tell if Stefan’s annoyed or enjoying himself at this moment.
So much for that. He looks to Santiago. Santi has a huge grin plastered on his face; you can tell he’s extremely amused at the situation.
He slaps Ray’s back, as if to congratulate him. Traitor.
Gene realizes that Ray likely said ‘it was all part of the act’ to not encourage other people to try the same stunt Harriet pulled.
To cover it up, to ease out of the situation without a hassle, and to not get Harriet in trouble.
Ray turns his back to the crowd and pulls Harriet backstage, walking toward the door with Santiago at his side.
Gene looks to Pat, unable to say anything over the still-constant loud cheering.
Pat doesn’t seem to have anything to say anyway, simply pouting and lifting her shoulders in a shrug.
As soon as Gene makes it backstage into the greenroom where their instrument cases are kept, he spots Ray again.
He still hasn’t let go of Harriet. It makes Gene’s blood boil, his breathing coming out heavy.
He whips the strap of his guitar off his neck and sets it into the case, then attempts to close it—slamming the lid down on his knuckles.
“Ow, fuck!”
He lifts the lid and pulls his hand away, waving it back and forth to try and dull the pain.
“Gene, are you okay?!”
Ray runs to his side, leaving Harriet next to Santiago. He tries to hold Gene’s hand to get a look at it, but Gene pulls it away.
“No, fuck, I’m not okay!” he huffs. “Well, ugh, I think my hand will be fine if I give it some rest. But what the fuck just happened out there?”
Ray blinks. “What, with Harriet? I don’t know, man, it was all pretty sudden. I thought it was pretty neat how she just jumped up there and did that, right?” He chuckles, but it does nothing to calm Gene’s temper.
“What? No, that wasn’t neat at all.” His hand stings, and he holds it in a tight grip with his other. “People shouldn’t just be able to get on stage like that and get away with it—what if—what if something bad happened?”
“My god, Gene, all she did was kiss me!” Ray laughs. “Makes me feel like a real rockstar now, with adoring fans who want to grab me all over, y’know? I felt like I was on the top of the world, and you’re trying to bring me down.”
“What? Me? I’m just trying to look out for you, man.”
“You know what? No, I think you’re just jealous.”
“What the fuck? No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.” Ray points a finger at Gene’s chest. “You’re jealous she kissed me instead of you.”
“Ray, seriously, what the fuck! No, that’s not it!” His breath hitches. His head feels hot. His heart beats rapidly.
“Then what is it, Gene?”
“Guys! Seriously, what are you two fuckers doing?” Santiago comes in and slices the pair apart, pulling them away from each other with one hand on each of their shoulders. “Calm the fuck down!”
“Yeah, Gene. Calm down!” Ray says as well.
His hand stings again. He holds it steady, he closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.
In and out.
In and out.
He looks over past Santiago and notices Harriet, standing next to Pat. There’s a tinge of fear in Harriet’s eyes, and it appears Pat is trying to console her.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make matters worse.” Gene sneers, looking down.
“It’s alright, man,” Santiago says, pulling his hands away. “Lots of crazy stuff is gonna happen the bigger the Brooms get, y’know? You should enjoy the ride, man. And be happy for Ray!”
Gene looks up, and makes eye contact with Ray.
With them both the same height, he can see him perfectly.
Those gorgeous blue eyes are telling him something, something he can’t quite decipher, and it makes his gut twist strangely.
He can’t stay mad at his best friend, can he?
Not over something like this. “Sorry, Ray.”
“Say sorry to Harriet too, while you’re at it,” Ray says sternly.
Gene steps around Ray, holding his own hand still, and he swallows. He takes another deep breath. “Sorry to you too, Harriet.”
She gives him a small smile. “It’s alright. Thank you.” She comes closer to Ray, putting her hand on his bicep. Ray takes that as an invitation to put his arm around her waist, hugging her side.
“I promise Gene’s not all that bad, babe. He’s my best friend and a real swell guy. You just surprised him,” Ray laughs and pulls her away, walking her to the back of the room.
“You good, man?” Santiago asks Gene.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks.” He nods.
Santi goes back over to grab his guitar case, and Gene returns to his.
Was he just acting out of jealousy? Could Ray have been right about that?
Well, no, that doesn’t really make sense.
He wasn’t thinking about how he would’ve rather been the one kissed by Harriet, no, not by any means. But then—a thought pops into his head.
He wasn’t angry at Harriet for choosing Ray instead of him—he was angry at Ray himself.
But why? Ray didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe he acted a bit reckless, taking her backstage with the lot of them when he doesn’t even know who she is, but that’s nothing Gene should get angry over.
If Ray wants some action, to have girls fawning over him, shouldn’t he be allowed that?
Isn’t that something Gene should expect, growing as a rising musician, sleeping with groupies, having girlfriends?
It gives him an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Yes, of course he’d want a girlfriend for himself sometime soon. Oftentimes he feels like he’s lagging behind in that regard, how he’s still a virgin at twenty years old—hell, he hasn’t even kissed anyone yet. And then it hits him.
He was angry because it felt like Ray was moving on in life without him.
But how is that anywhere close to a rational thought?
Why should it matter if Ray feels like he’s ready to get with a girl?
It’s not like their friendship will change because of that.
No, that’s such a childish thing to think.
They’re still best friends, they’re still as close as ever, and they’re soaring to new heights as the popularity of the Dusty Brooms grows.
Then perhaps Gene should move on with his life, too, and find a girl of his own.
Finally.