A tall, sandy-haired guy walked into Flashpan Music Source.
He looked around, then went over and stood in line. While he was waiting, he couldn’t help noticing another customer.
She was dancing around a cardboard cut-out of Nick Carter—his Now or Never cd was on display. She was loudly and dramatically singing some song, and it was obviously directed at the piece of cardboard:
“What do I gotta be? Tell me what you wanna do! I can’t live my life, the way you want me to!”
The guy shook his head and stepped up to the register,
“Are customers really allowed to do that?”
The cashier shrugged, “Whatever moves ‘em. How can I help you?”
“I’m supposed to start work here today and I was told to ask for the assistant manager.”
The cashier smiled, “Oh yeah, Coral. She’s cool. I’ll call her up.” He got on the loudspeaker, “Hey Cor, new guy’s here.” He set the microphone down and smiled, “She’ll be here in a minute.”
“Great, thanks. I’m Trent, by the way.”
They shook hands. “Spencer. Nice to meet you.”
They watched as the girl continued to dance and sing around the cut-out. Finally, she sank to the floor in a dramatic finish.
“Thank you,” Trent muttered.
She stood back up, wiped her forehead, and strolled over to them.
“How was that?” she asked Spencer.
“Better,” he replied, “But you are a girl singing a guy’s part, so there’s the compensation factor.”
“Yeah, but I think I finally got that last note.”
“Yeah you did, kiddo. Nick would be proud,” Spencer smiled.
She turned to Trent, “And you must be Trent, right?”
“Yeah…” he answered suspiciously. “I’m just waiting for the assistant manager.”
“Well, you’re looking at her,” she grinned, “I’m Coral.”
***
Trent leaned back in a chair in the office as Coral leafed through a stack of posters.
“Who’s your favorite group?” she asked him.
“Linkin Park…why?”
She found a Meteora poster among the stack and held it up,
“Every employee gets to put up a poster of their favorite band in the store—reflects all our different tastes.”
“So they gave you a cut-out instead of a poster since you’re a manager?”
Coral giggled,
“Oh no. That came with the Now or Never promotional kit. Haven’t had the heart to get rid of it yet. Backstreet’s my group.”
“Should’ve known.”
She handed him a work shirt and his nametag, “Here ya go. You’re a large right?”
“Yeah,” he took them.
“Great. Bathroom’s out the door and to your right. I’ll see you up front in a few.”
***
“How long have you had this little stage here?” Trent asked.
“A couple years. We have local bands play here on the weekends. I’m trying to talk my uncle into getting a dance floor put in—he owns Flashpan. But since we’re getting a recording booth put in, we’ll have to stick to folding chairs for now.”
“You’re getting a recording booth?”
“Yeah, but it’ll be pretty small. There won’t be a professional soundboard or anything. We can’t have anything too expensive—this is Minneapolis.”
Trent laughed, “So it’ll be like one of those karaoke booths at the mall?”
“Pretty much. But it’ll be cheaper to do here because it’s not our sole revenue.”
“Cool.”
“Yep! So for now, I’m gonna have you play Spencer’s shadow, he can show you how the register works. I have to go back and get some paperwork done, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
“Will do,” he smiled.
As soon as Coral left, Trent turned to Spencer,
“So is she the princess around here or something?”
Spencer shook his head,
“She kinda gives that off, but no. She’s actually about the nicest manager you could hope to work for. Just don’t insult the Backstreet Boys.”
“Like that thing with the Nick Carter cut-out? That was scary.”
Spencer shrugged and began scanning a customer’s cds,
“Coral heavily believes in the healing power of music. One time, she rang for me while I stood on top of the counter and sang Barbra Streisand songs til I was blue in the face. Says the wellbeing of the employees is just, if not more, important as those of the customers. Plus, all our regulars are used to it.”
He picked up the microphone and turned it on,
“Hey guys, listen up. This is our new guy Trent. Anything you wanna know about Linkin Park, he’s your man.”
“I don’t know everything about them,” Trent muttered to Spencer.
“Don’t worry. You will once Flashpan is through with you,” he turned to the next customer,
“Ah, the lovely Serenity. How may we be of service to you today?”
Serenity smiled, “Hi Spence. Do you think your Linkin Park boy could come out here and recommend something that’s not rap metal?”
“Ouch,” Spencer put his fist over his chest, “Think you can handle that, Trent?”
“For a pretty lady, always,” Trent hopped over the counter.
“Already a natural,” Spencer shook his head and went back to ringing.
“What’re you looking for?” Trent asked her.
“Something with a 3-part female harmony, preferably heavy in percussion.”
Trent raised his eyebrows.
“I’m writing a song for my group and I need a little inspiration.”
He smiled, “Cool. All I can think of for a 3-part harmony is either TLC or Destiny’s Child. I don’t think either has a lot of drums in it.”
Serenity shrugged, “The harmony part is more important than the percussion. We do both instrumental and a capella.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Me and my roommates. Nikoru, and you probably know Coral. We call ourselves ‘Artemis Cloud’.”
“Sweet. Y’all ever play here?”
“Sometimes. I actually came here to talk to Coral, but thanks for your help.”
“Sure.”
***
“Hey, busy doing ‘paperwork’?” Serenity teased, as she walked into the office.
“But of course,” Coral clicked away at the computer, “I found another site.”
“Cool, did you send it to Nikoru?”
“Yep. So what’s up?”
“Just wondering if you have time for a little jam session tonight.”
“Yeah! I have to put the finishing touches on a paper, but that shouldn’t take long. Ooh, that reminds me! Check it out.”
Coral got her electric guitar out and ran out to the stage, where the amps were. She plugged her’s in.
“Oh no, what’s she up to now?” Spencer laughed.
“No no, just listen, see if you recognize this!”
She positioned her fingers and started playing.
Serenity listened carefully, a smile slowly spreading on her face. She hopped up on the stage and turned on the mic. She listened again, to make sure she sang the right part,
“I said hellllo, I’m a rock star. Sheee said, I don’t care who you are. Just take me with you…” she paused, “And I will BLOW YOUR MIND!!! This girl was crazy, completely out of line…”she kept singing.
Trent stared up at the girls’ impromptu rock concert.
Coral went over to Serenity’s mic and sang along with her, still playing,
“So typically me! Always falling for the easy! And when you can’t see, she’s gonna blow your mind!”
After they were done, a few of the customers clapped
Spencer grabbed the intercom mic,
“Let’s hear it for the two-thirds of Artemis Cloud on Nick Carter’s ‘Blow Your Mind’!” he put the mic down and cheered.
Serenity grinned, “You finally got that one figured out! You just need Nick in army fatigues hunting little kids, and you’ll be all set!”
Coral giggled, “Once I got the main chords figured out, the song pretty much played itself. And if Nick were here in army fatigues, he wouldn’t be wearing them for long. But yeah. What did you feel like playing tonight?”
“I was thinking we should get you brushed up on BSB songs.”
“Ser, I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not entering that. It’d be pointless. MTV hates Backstreet Boys, I’d never get in.”
“Get into what?” Trent asked.
Coral rolled her eyes,
“MTV’s doing this thing called ‘Battle of the Fans.’ It’s like Battle of the Bands, except it’s fans playing their group’s music.”
Serenity turned to Trent,
“Did you know that she knows how to play every Backstreet song there is on both keys AND guitar?”
“Shit…” Trent looked shocked, “Every song?”
“Yep,” Serenity answered, “And she didn’t just get all their sheet music and memorize it. She sounded it all out.”
Trent’s eyes nearly popped out, “Are you serious?”
“That’s how I learn songs,” Coral mumbled.
“But all of them? If you can play all their songs, you should enter.”
“See?!” Serenity exclaimed.
“It doesn’t matter if I know all their songs. MTV hated the BSB even when they were still popular. Entering this contest is a waste of time.”
“Yeah, but think of it this way: the requirements are that you have to be at least 18 and have one album memorized. You’re 22, and if you send in a tape proving that you know 5 albums’ worth of Backstreet songs, they’ll shit in their pants. That’s over FIFTY songs. If you get on there, it’s positive exposure for the Boys!”
“Do you know how long it’ll take to play all that? They’re not gonna watch 200-something minutes of one person.”
“I could organize it on a dvd for you,” Trent piped up.
Coral and Serenity looked at him, “You know how to do that?”
“Yeah, it’s part of my major. Film production. We could chapter off each song, it’d be easier for them to navigate through.”
Coral shook her head,
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather put pins through my eyes than to cater to an MTV publicity stunt. I should actually get back to work now. See you at home.”
Serenity looked annoyed,
“See ya.”
Later that night…
“C’mon, you really hate MTV that much?” Serenity whined.
“Yes.”
“Hate them as much as you hate nsync?” Nikoru walked in.
“Hey Niko,” Coral said.
“Hey. What’s this about MTV?”
“I told her she should enter their Battle of the Fans thing, but she won’t.” Serenity told her.
“Is it gonna be televised?” Nikoru asked.
“Yeah, so?” Serenity was perplexed.
Nikoru smiled, “There ya go. Former child prodigies hate getting video taped.”
“Quiet you,” Coral started printing her paper out.
Nikoru shrugged, “It’s true.” She got a diet pop out of the fridge and cracked it open.
“For real, you were a child prodigy?” Serenity asked, “How come I didn’t know about that?”
“It’s a part of my life I’d rather not be reminded of.” Coral stapled her paper together.
Serenity stared expectantly at her,
“You’re not gonna tell me anymore than that?”
Nikoru pulled out the keyboard, “How ‘bout we save that story for another night?”
“Good idea,” Coral handed Serenity her drumsticks, “Let’s jam.”
***
3:30 am
Coral groaned at the loud music being played next door. She rolled out of bed and went down the hall to the kitchen.
Serenity was already in there, eating some leftover sweet & sour pork.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” she asked.
“Yeah, no thanks to those fucks,” Coral glared at the wall between the two apartments.
“I was gonna go over and ask them to be quiet, but I don’t think they’d even hear me knock,” she stabbed a piece of pork with her fork, “Want some?”
“No thanks. Man, I cannot keep putting up with this shit. This is my last semester in college, I can’t afford to fuck up,” she opened her guitar case.
“Uh-oh, what are you doing?” Serenity asked.
“The music war returns,” she got out their amps and aimed them at the wall, “If they can’t respect our need for sleep, then they’re gonna get a big fat load of the Backstreet Boys.”
“Woo-hoo!” Serenity put her sweet & sour pork away and got her drums set up, “What are we gonna play?”
“I was thinking ‘Larger Than Life.’ That guitar solo after the breakdown’ll kill ‘em.”
“Sweet,” Serenity thumped the snare a couple times, “Wait, what about Nikoru? She’s still sleeping.”
“She could sleep through a tornado siren put up to her ear. Besides, she’d do a lot worse to these guys if she were up.”
“True.”
“Now, we’re not gonna sound as full since it’s just the guitar and drums, but it’ll definitely be loud enough. Who’s parts do you wanna sing?”
“Um…Brian & back-up. You be AJ & Nick.”
“Ok. On my count-off. 1…2…1, 2, 3, 4!”
Serenity pounded on the drums.
“Yeea..AH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” Coral cackled, “WOO!”
When they got to the breakdown, they noticed that their neighbors’ music had gotten a lot softer.
“Heh heh…that’s right…” Coral sang, grinning slyly at Serenity. She grinned back, knowing what was coming.
“All of your time spent,” Serenity and Coral sang together, “Keeps us ali-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-YOW!”
Coral slammed down on her knees and played the guitar solo as hard as she could.
“WOOO!!!” Serenity cheered, as she hit the drums.
The neighbors’ music went off and they pounded on the wall,
“What the fuck?!” they yelled.
Coral ran over to the wall and yelled back, “As long as you keep WAKING us up every night, we’re gonna play Backstreet Boys music ALL night long!” she started strumming the chords to Everybody,
“Backstreet’s back, ALL RIGHT!”
“Aww, shut up!” they heard one of the neighbors complain.
Serenity started playing the drums to We’ve Got It Goin’ On, “Everybody groove to the music! Everybody jam!”
They could hear the neighbors arguing amongst themselves. Finally, one of them yelled, “FINE! Shit!”
Coral & Serenity listened. The neighbors stayed quiet.
“Thank you,” Coral rolled her eyes.
“Now you’ve gotta admit playing those songs again were fun,” Serenity smiled.
“I never said they weren’t.”
“Well, how ‘bout this: we have Trent do the dvd/tape thingy for you and if you don’t like it, we won’t send it in.”
Coral sighed.
“Come on! When else are you gonna be able to show off all you know about the Boys? This might be a once in a lifetime thing.”
“I dunno, Ser…”
“You know, you’re always saying that you wouldn’t wanna meet the BSB unless you knew you could impact their lives the way they’ve impacted your’s. If you get into this, you’ll stand out from every other Backstreet fan out there.”
Coral hadn’t thought about it that way.
“Who knows, they might even see it. They’ve encountered a lot of crazy-ass fans, but do you think they’ve ever met a fan who knows all their songs, both lyrically & musically on both the guitar and keys?”
Coral was beginning to look anxious.
“Someone who knows ALL their dance routines, including the one to “If you stay”…a fan who’s written 5-part harmony songs specifically for their voices…I mean, for pete’s sake, you planned out an entire comeback tour for them that even your prof said he would see! If that wouldn’t blow them away, nothing could.”
“That tour was an assignment for one of my marketing classes.”
“So? That doesn’t mean it’s not good. You got an A on it! You’re telling me after all these years of being a dedicated Backstreet fan, you’re gonna let everything you know go to waste because of what MTV thinks of them? That’s never stopped you before.”
“I don’t like how your reasons keep getting more and more convincing.”
Serenity grinned triumphantly, “So you’ll do it?”
Coral sighed,
“…….ok. Yeah, I’ll do it. But if this flops, I’m making you sing ‘If you want it to be good girl’ solo the next time we play at Flashpan.”
Serenity giggled, “Fine.”
“Now go get some sleep. We don’t need any cranky Canadians when we start taping.”
