Battle of the Bands (MaryGold x lxngdon)

lxngdon

space is a void and it's all in my head
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Speed of Light
  2. Multiple posts per day
  3. 1-3 posts per day
  4. One post per day
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
  4. Douche
  5. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Male
  4. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Romance, Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, High School, Historical Fiction
j a c e
"Of. Course. Of fucking course."

Jace felt uncomfortable in this suit. He would have felt better wearing nothing than this goddamn suit, but he would be arrested if he went to the Tilbury Music Awards naked, and that would not be good for his career. He sat in the limo with the rest of Beautiful Pain. Jasper, Evan and Cass were also wearing suits; Ashley, the only girl and the new drummer, wore a pretty gold dress that showed off her hot tattoos.

"What're you bitching about?" Jace sighed, turning to face Jasper, who had been the one complaining. Jasper was always complaining, but he was really funny, which made up for his many flaws.

"We're seated next to Insanity Not Sound, that's what," said Jasper, thrusting his phone beneath Jace's nose. Jace looked at it to see that one of the band members had tweeted a picture of them with their tickets to the event. It turns out, the other band's seats did indeed seem to be right beside Beautiful Pain's.

Things had not been good between the two bands since Orion had left to join them. Jasper hated them all with a festering hatred because he had lost his best friend to the other band, and had replaced Orion with the best, hottest female drummer he could find. Poor Ashley, stuck in the middle of this feud. Jace couldn't care less about the feud. He thought it was stupid. Orion had made his decision and Jasper needed to get over it.

To top it off, they were going for the same award tonight -- Best Punk band. Jace felt their song Emperor's New Clothes would wipe the floor with Insanity Not Sound, but if, by some miracle, they lost, Jasper would not be happy.

"Just ignore them," Jace instructed Jasper. Their limousine arrived at the event and the band stepped out and into their masses of adoring fans.
 
E M B R Y
Embry wiped her sweaty hands on her beautiful, light blue colored, laced, short skirted, Marchesa gown. Tonight was going to a be a long one without a doubt. Why? They would be competing against Beautiful Pain, mind you the very same Beautiful Pain where Orion had originated from, for the Best Punk Band award. As if they already didn't have enough problems with one another. She was sure no matter who won the award things would get worse between them.​
Looking away from the window of the limousine, Embry fixed her eyes on Eadlyn who was taking a selfie, while holding up their seat tickets. It was classic of him, always taking selfies and snap chats, he was almost always on his cell phone. He had to share everything with everyone.​
"I know you did not just fucking tweet that." Orion practically growled, frowning at their lead guitarist."Jasper is definitely going to be watching our twitter, and then he's going to bitch about it." Naturally, he would know best, he wasn't only just a drummer for Beautiful Pain, but an old close friend of the lead guitarist for the band, the very man they were talking about.​
Embry opened her mouth to reply, to comfort him, calm him down. Orion got way too upset when his old band was brought up. Unfortunately, she was too slow to the cut. Isaac spoke up before she could.​
"Then let him," Isaac snorted."He'll be bitching anyway after we win. Monster can't lose." As he said this, they pulled up to their destination.
"Oh, and there they are," Embry smirked, watching the band walk the carpet and being greeted by their many fans. It was almost blinding to watch with all the flashing of the cameras and she could hear the noise crystal clear from inside the limousine.
She turned around and straightened Isaac's suit collar as she demanded playfully."Chins up, backs straight, stand proud." Nonetheless, they knew to follow her orders. Embry flicked her hair over her shoulder and stepped out first. The screaming of the fans was almost deafening.
 
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j a c e
Half an hour on the red carpet was not long enough, in Jace's humble opinion. He was what most people would call an attention whore; he drew his energy from the adoring fans and loved to sign autographs and take selfies with them. Cass, on the other hand, was an introvert and would not allow Jace to stay on the carpet any longer than they needed to. He ushered them inside and they took their seats, right next to Insanity Not Sound.

Jasper had swapped his ticket with Jace, making it so Jasper was seated next to the stairs and Jace was next to the lead singer of the other band, the beautiful blonde who had one of the best female voices in the industry. Jace was actually quite a big fan of their song Monster, though if he mentioned this fact in front of Jasper he'd probably get shot.

But Jasper was leaning over the aisle, chatting up Perrie Edwards from Little Mix, so Jace had his chance.

"I really like your song," Jace said to Embry, leaning in ever so slightly so she could hear him over the loud music that was pumping into the Tilbury Music Awards. "There's no doubt in my mind that you'll win."
 
E M B R Y
Embry was watching the stage when Jace whispered over to her. At first, she didn't completely register who was speaking to her over the loud music. But when she turned her head and saw Jace leaning over to her slightly. It surprised her just a little. Weren't they supposed to hate each other? Personally, she didn't really care, not having a reason to hate them.
"Psh, yeah right." She disregarded his comment."I know all about your song too. It'll be a tough decision, to say the least." Embry would be lying if she said that she wasn't a fan of their music and of Jace. His high notes were all too amazing and from what she saw he seemed like a fun guy. It was no wonder why he had so many fangirls.
Of course, she hadn't said this to any of the guys. They had it their minds that she thought he was an idiot with the way she poked fun at him when they watched Beautiful Pain on the television or when they performed. It wasn't the case at all.
Pushing back a strand of hair from her face, she half smiled."But it's nice that you recognize good music." She said, jokingly.
 
j a c e
Jace grinned. "Well, as much as Jasper and Cass will argue with this, our styles are kind of similar." Beautiful Pain veered slightly closer to pop-punk than just punk, but there was no debate that there were definitely similarities. "May the best band win," he said, patting her forearm just before the show officially started.

Not counting the introductory speech by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, which was, of course, hilarious, they sat through a solid hour before their award was up. During that hour, Taylor Swift won Best Female Artist of 2016, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj won Best Single for Side to Side and twenty one pilots won Best Rock single for Heathens, which Jace one hundred percent agreed on. He loved twenty one pilots.

Eventually, it was time for their award. Kim Kardashian walked on stage to raucous applause and announced the nominees. "The winner of Best Punk band is..."
 
E M B R Y
"Em," Eadlyn whispered over to her, his voice was barely above a whisper, she herself hardly heard him."This is us. Get ready." He grinned, radiating confidence. He winked at her, and leaned back into his seat, very relaxed.
Embry rolled her eyes at Eadlyn. Who was he to tell her to get ready when he did the exact opposite? He was a goofball, but she loved him nonetheless. Though, she wasn't too ready to feel victorious just yet. Like Embry had said earlier, it wasn't a sure thing. She wasn't going to even prepare to stand unless they were called first.
She looked from the corner of her eyes at Isaac and Orion, they were anticipating this moment the most. If they went home without that award she'd have to hear all about it for the rest of her life. But at least the show was good, she'd go home knowing that.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked back to the stage and waited.
 
j a c e
"... Beautiful Pain, with their hit single, Emperor's New Clothes."

The rest of Kim's words were drowned out by the screams of glee from Jace and his band members. They hugged and cried with happiness, cameras trailing on them as they hurried down the stairs to receive their award. Jace took the glossy trophy and kissed Kim on the cheek. He knew that would be in the press later.

"Thank you, thank you," said Jasper, positively beaming. He smiled for the cameras. "We'd like to thank Kim for being hot, the fans for always supporting us through thick and thin, our families for putting up with Jace's stripteases..."

He paused for laughter, which he received. Jace punched him on the shoulder.

"But most of all, we'd like to thank Insanity Not Sound's drummer Orion, for leaving and giving us the incentive to find a much better drummer, Ashley."

Their fans continued to applaud them but Jace and Cass looked at Jasper, shocked. Ashley looked very awkward but tried to smile through it. They made their way back to their seats, the entire band looking a little uncomfortable to be sitting next to Insanity Not Sound.

"I had no idea he was going to say that," Jace muttered to Embry as he sat.
 
E M B R Y
It was like rubbing salt in the wounds. That so-called speech of his. She knew that Orion was boiling with anger without having to look. The other two must have felt the same because even she was upset at Jasper's words. How could he go up there and say that about Orion, and even insult their band? Sure, he left them, and that must have sucked, but he was still once a part of their group, right?​
She so wanted to give him a good punch, but that would just lead to bad publicity and make them look like sore losers. And she would not give them that satisfaction. And they looked so nice up until then.​
"I don't really care," Embry replied bitterly, and she didn't. It didn't matter if they knew, her anger was targeted at their lead guitarist in particular. It was clear to see by the awkwardness of the others they were not in on it.
"Oh, and congratulations." She added after a pause.​
 
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j a c e
"Thanks," mumbled Jace. The little trophy felt like a weight in his hand now.

Jace was so hung up over what Jasper had said that he couldn't even enjoy the rest of the show. He knew it wasn't his fault, that Jasper was the one to blame, but he still felt incredibly guilty for the speech. He had been trying to keep in contact with Orion since he had left, and now that would be severed, because of Jasper. As Jace was the front man, he would probably cop some of the shit from Insanity Not Sound's fans. And poor Ashley, sitting on his other side, looked so distraught, like she was going to burst into tears.

Once the event was over and Beautiful Pain piled back into their limo, Jace said to his guitarist, "That was fucked up, man."

"What? All I said was the truth -- Orion backstabbed us and now we have a better drummer." Jasper shrugged like it was no big deal.


"You didn't need to say it like that," said Cass crossly. "You're going to have to apologise publicly or we might get bad publicity."

"Whatever." Twenty minutes later the band was walking into the ballroom of their hotel, where the afterparty was being hosted by Tilbury. Changed out of his monkey suit and into more comfortable attire -- skinny jeans and a black T-shirt with a leather vest -- Jace hunted around for Embry. He needed to apologise again.

"Hey," he said once he found her. "Again, I'm really sorry for that. It's not much coming from me, but ... well, can you pass it on to Orion? I don't think he wants to talk to me."
 
E M B R Y
"I can pass it on." Embry nodded. She was surprised he even bothered to apologize again. Especially when he didn't have to and could be enjoying the after party. He did just win an award, worrying about what happened earlier should the last thing on his mind. Well, that was what she thought it should be like. But it surprisingly wasn't. "But I doubt he'll actually care." There was no hostility in her voice, she was simply keeping it real.​
At the moment the three were probably getting wasted for all she knew. They were so upset on the way to the party. They eventually mellowed and tried cheering up Orion. They had started talking about getting drunk and finding a pretty girl to spend the night with. Nothing she was interested in, so she left them to it when they arrived.​
She made a fist with her hand and brought it up to her mouth as she cleared her throat. "And anyway." She began, shifting her weight onto one foot. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I was upset and I took it out on you even though you weren't the one to blame. I'm sorry. I felt like I ruined your night, you deserved that award, I mean it."
After what Embry said to him at the show, she slowly began to calm down. And she couldn't help but notice everyone else moods now that she had become sensible again. It made her feel terrible for her attitude with Jace.​
 
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j a c e
"You don't need to apologise. You didn't do anything wrong, either." He meant it. It was only natural for her to act the way she did when Jasper had openly attacked her entire band. He felt bad for them and angry at Jasper for what he had done. He would have to make the guitarist publicly apologise later.

"Tell you what," said Jace, sitting down beside her and grinning. "We both feel like shit and I can tell you don't want to be at this party any more than I do. How about we go out for ice cream?" he suggested. "I know this really good place in the hipstery area of LA ... and there's never any paparazzi there, so we'll be on our own. What do you think?"
 
E M B R Y

"You had me at ice cream." Embry grinned. She was known for having a sweet tooth. It was almost necessary for to have sweets considering her hypoglycemia. And she just loved them, especially chocolate, everyone knew that."Great ice cream and no paparazzi. It's impossible to turn down an offer as fine as that."
She was more than ready to leave."Let's blow this taco stand." Embry stood from her seat. She was sure no one would be looking for her anyway. And there definitely wasn't anything better for her to do at the party.​
 
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j a c e
They escaped the party via the back door and ran to the nearest cab. Jace told the driver the address and soon they were inside the tiny little ice cream shop. The only customers were an elderly couple, so they had no chance of being recognised.

"I'll have the blueberry cheesecake sorbet, two scoops," said Jace, handing a couple of notes over to the cashier. "And she'll hve the Chocolate Supreme." He dropped a wink at Embry. Everyone knew she loved chocolate.

Once they had their ice creams, Jace lead the blonde to the nearby pier. "So, when you're not being a massively successful rock star, what do you like do do with yourself?" he inquired.
 
E M B R Y
"Oh, you know." Embry tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke."What any woman in their twenties would be doing. Watching horror movies, weird movies, which automatically means Tim Burton movies and lots of Johnny Depp." She smiled and scooped up a spoon of ice cream. She loved Johnny Depp, watched practically everyone one of his movies.​
"I do a lot of artsy crafts as well." She swallowed a spoon of the cold delicious sweetness known as ice cream. He wasn't joking around when he said the ice cream here was great. It was fantastic, and she would know. "What about you? What do you do when you're not stripping in front of a huge crowd?"​
 
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j a c e
"I strip in front of slightly smaller crowds." Jace waggled his eyebrows and licked his sorbet. "I'm kidding. Kinda. No, I like to skateboard and play piano. I also love horror movies. You ever seen The Human Centipede?"

One of Jace's joys in life was taking innocent people and making them watch the Human Centipede trilogy. This was because he was a sadistic bastard with many issues. Both his sisters had ignored him for a solid month after he had shown them.

Jace climbed onto the railing of the pier and looked out at the bay. He had always found quiet, empty beaches to be one of the most relaxing things in the world.
 
E M B R Y
"But of course." Embry groaned and hung her head. That was the one horror movie that made it difficult for her to sleep at night. And that in itself was a difficult task to pull off when it came to Embry. She wasn't easily scared. She usually watched horror movies for amusement and some for the thrill. But that one.​
She shivered,"It scared me by being so horrifically disturbing. Somehow I made it through it, but I didn't watch the other sequences." After she had finished the first movie, she tried her very best to lock that memory away. Even Embry had her limits, and she was sure she couldn't stomach the rest of that.​
"Thank you, Jace. I'll be sleeping very well tonight." Her nose wrinkled in distaste.​
 
j a c e
"Theoretically, the sequels should have been worse but they were just so mind-numbingly stupid that you can't even take them seriously," Jace informed her. It was true. The second one had creeped him out a little but the third one was just so idiotic he had laughed. "You should come over and watch them with me. I'll hug you if you get scared."

He was only half-joking; Jace truly did want Embry to come over and get to know him better. Jasper would kill him if he found out, but Embry was so fascinating that Jace was willing to take the risk.
 
E M B R Y
Embry laughed,"I might just let you. When I get scared I tend to reach out for body contact." She told him, truthfully. If Embry was scared, she didn't like being scared with no one else around. "If the other two aren't as bad as the first. Then maybe I won't need you at all."
"But, if you have the movies, I'll watch them with you." Embry said, and wondered if she should have. But she didn't bother to let her mind list the reasons why this might be a bad idea because she wanted to."None of the guys like watching movies with me. So..." She shrugged a shoulder.
They didn't, Eadlyn was too easily frightened, Isaac wasn't interested and Orion had better things to do. There was really no one else to watch them with. And watching movies alone could sometimes be on the depressing side.
 
j a c e
Jace clapped his hands together with delight. "Wonderful! When will you be coming over? I am available at any time because I'm legit my own boss and it's fucking great. Except for tomorrow night. I have to go to my sister Bianca's premiere."

The three eldest Lesecki siblings were all in the entertainment industry; Jace was a singer, Bianca was an Oscar-winning actress and Hillary was a supermodel who worked with the likes of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. Their younger brother Riley was a law student, a fact that the three eldest found bemusing. How could he be so different?

"Actually, I need a date for that," he remembered. He couldn't go alone, that would be shameful. An idea struck him. "How about you come with me? Fuck with the press a little? Knock Jasper down a notch?"
 
E M B R Y
"I wish I could say the same. Isaac is practically our manager and boss. We only let him because he's so bossy anyway, and he's good at it." Embry admitted with a pout."I'll have to get back to you on that."
Though it was annoying to say aloud, it was very true. If it wasn't for him they probably wouldn't have made it as far as they got. He took care of everyone, made the arrangments, signed contracts that were best for them and most importantly kept them on schedule, especially on schedule. Even if it meant interrupting them on important manners.​
"Jasper wouldn't be the only one knocked over." Embry laughed, imagining what his immediate reaction might be. She almost agreed to go right then and there, without any more thought, but stopped herself."Sounds fun, but don't you any other lady friends to go with?"She was certain he did, being Jace of Beautiful Pain and all.​
 
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