Double posts suck, so I've added the update to the bottom of the replies. And I’m posting Saturday instead of Sunday because I’ll be visiting Kim this weekend up in Chicago for the Army of Freshmen show. I know I told some people I was going to do it Friday, but I kind of came home from work and fell asleep. Sorry kids.
Replies:Willster – Nope not too much more waiting. Get pumped for it… or some equally stupid catch phrase like that. And I’ve been totally neglecting emailing you. Sorry about that. Please don’t hate me. I’ll do it soon. Promise.
willowsgirl - I'm glad you love this fic. You won't have to wait too much longer to see Tara's band play.
When You Were Mine – I’ve made an official favorites list? I’m so honored. I’m glad you liked the Rainbow Brite bit. It’s a good coloring book. You should look into it. Honestly.
Ginner WTluv – I would say, “Hey, I made someone laugh so hard they couldn’t breathe! Go me!” but not breathing can be detrimental to your health. Just let the moment pass and take slow easy breaths. The next update shouldn’t have that effect on you, but it should contain moments of slight giggling. Hopefully your lungs can handle that.
foreverpiper – Yes, Kim does rock. You shouldn’t say it out loud though. It really goes to her head.
WiccansIllusion – Glad you liked the Willow tree comment. It’s such a Kim thing to do to make fun of people even if she doesn’t know them, and it just happened to pop out at seemingly the perfect time.
TemperedCynic – I think Kim and Anya, if put in close quarters for too long, would probably end up killing each other. I’ll have to think about that one a little bit. Expect quite a few cameos. It’s funny you mention High Fidelity… though the Maureen’s Books comparison actually came as a surprise to me (and I see what you’re talking about) keep that movie in mind. It’ll come up later on the quiz. And didn’t the 80’s and early 90’s just rock? Obviously I thought so with all the references.
the vamp nurd – Umm… I think you’re in the wrong story. There was no yellow crayon.
xita – I’m glad Kim is working out for the story. At first I was told it felt like she was taking over, so I hope she’s there enough to help but not too much to steal the focus.
willntlover – I’m glad you like Kim. But like I said to someone earlier, you can’t voice those thoughts. It really inflates her ego.
littlecrazy80 – Willow’s totally a breast girl.
Willow Rocks – More on the way soon.
Insanity – I’m glad you like the story. It’s supposed to have a light feel to it. I’m sick of being uptight and too serious all the time.
JustSkipIt – Yeah, it’s easy to just say “Hey, instant relationship,” but in my world life isn’t like that. I like to be as realistic as possible when I’m writing, so I’m trying to show the whole process.
Stroke of Luck – Hi there yourself. Oh man, I miss the days of New Kids. We should go back there and use Aqua Net hairspray and tight roll our jeans. It would be totally cool. We could all color as well. Now I’m getting all nostalgic.
missspangles – I think you’re a new face… or name. Hi. How are you? Thanks for reading, and I’m glad you like it.
Incitatua 8 – You mean people don’t normally color and we’d have to start that fad? That’s incredibly depressing. I actually was coloring when I got the idea for that scene. I guess not everyone is stuck in their childhood and still acts like a five year old. They say I’ll grow out of it one day. We’ll see how that works out for me.
Kim – Oh my god! Kimber Bear! I was just scrolling through and saw a screen name that looked oh so familiar and it turned out to be you! Haha, now I have to make fun of you. Told you I’d convert you eventually. You can’t live that close to me for too long without falling into my ways. So I’m totally stoked now that I know you’re reading it and not just listening to me tell you about it. Glad to hear I’ve captured you correctly, or as you’d say, you’ve captured me. You’re such an egomaniac, and I know I’m just fueling that. But… who cares. You’re too funny not to write about. And when I visit this weekend, I have to do “character research.” At least that’s what I told my work. Too funny on that one considering I acted all serious about it. Oh, and the smoking thing… I’ll believe you’ve cut back when I see it. See you this weekend for AOF and a show without they’re groupies.
Bookcat – Yes, Kim in the story is based on Kim in my sig. I don’t have to tell her she’s cool though. Apparently, if you look above your post, it appears she’s picked up reading as well, so she’ll read your comment.
Kasey – Doesn’t the sarcasm just roll off you in waves? It’s one of your finer qualities really. I’m glad you’re still talking to me after the last reply I gave you. And Real Kim posting isn’t rad, you’re rad. And yes, I’ll give you some points, but only if you keep up with all that radness.
Title: Songs For A Mix Tape
Author: Sarah (unionjill30)
Email: unionjill_30@yahoo.comRating: PG - PG13ish?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from ME, and really I don’t own the other characters so much either. Though Kim would like to think she owns me. I’ve been informed that I don’t have to be Kim’s bitch, I just choose to be. Go figure.
Feedback: Yes please.
Track 5: Punk Rock Princess by Something CorporateWhen Buffy finished work on Friday afternoon, she went upstairs to Willow’s bedroom to see what the redhead was doing. She found her best friend sitting on the floor in front of the closet surrounded by piles of clothing. Peaking out from one of the piles was Metzger’s head. It took all the self-control she could muster to keep from laughing.
Hearing someone behind her, Willow turned to see Buffy standing in the doorway. “Help me,” she whimpered.
“It looks like you and Metz have it all under control in here,” Buffy joked.
“Your dog is no help whatsoever. You should have seen the stuff he was picking out. Brown and black then red and pink; it was horrible.”
“You’re first mistake was having a dog help you. Aren’t they colorblind or something?”
Willow nodded. “I think so.”
“Second, in case you haven’t noticed, he’s... well... a he. Missing a few of the ‘he’ parts thanks to Dr. Culver, but still basically a he. That equals no sense of fashion.” Buffy laughed at her own joke.
Willow wasn’t in a laughing mood. “Then you help me. I don’t have anything to wear tonight and it’s already five. The show starts at eight. Plus I want to take a shower.”
Buffy got into her ‘best friend to the rescue’ mode and took charge. She started picking through the various piles of clothing while she told Willow, “Go get in the shower. I’ll have something picked out for you when you get done. Are we going casual or classy?”
“Umm... casual. But not too casual. I don’t want to look like I don’t care. Maybe a combination of the two?”
“I’ll work something out,” Buffy affirmed.
“You’re a lifesaver.” The redhead pulled her friend into a hug before leaving for the bathroom.
“We’re going to have to have a little talk about your sense of style, buddy,” Buffy told the dog who only snorted in response before closing his eyes for a nap.
When Willow returned from the shower wearing a robe, Buffy was pulling out the finishing touches to her clothing selections. On the bed was a shirt accompanied by a denim skirt, a pair of jeans, a belt, and a pair of boots. When the blonde emerged from the closet, she placed another pair of boots on the bed.
“I think I have it all figured out. I just needed your opinion on something,” Buffy said.
“What’s that?” Willow asked as she ran a towel through her damp hair.
“Skirt or pants? It all depends on what you’re in the mood for.”
“I could go either way. What’s your opinion?” Willow dropped the towel on a chair and walked over to inspect the possibilities.
“Well, the shirt can go with either, so that’s a definite. I figured I’d go with the three-quarter length sleeves so you won’t be too hot or too cold. Plus it’s all earth tone-y, and that’s fun.”
“But what about the skirt or pants?”
“Well, the skirt can go with these tall, chunky brown boots if you’re cool with that. There are these nice, slightly provocative slits up the sides that add a bit to the sexy factor. But if you’re not in the mood to be all breezy, you can go with the jeans and the smaller brown boots and the brown belt will top that off,” Buffy explained.
“I’m kind of thinking the skirt, cause hey, I’m all about the sexy, but you’re still not answering my question. Which would you go with?” Willow insisted.
“I don’t want to make the final decision for you. You’ll be the one wearing it,” Buffy said.
“How long have you known me? And have you seen how well I dress myself? You taught me how to match colors. That’s it. I want to look good tonight. Hello, trying to impress a blonde with blue eyes, about this tall,” Willow said, holding her hand near her head indicating Tara’s height.
“I get that. Really. But, Will, you shouldn’t be trying to impress anybody. Just be you. You don’t need me telling you what to wear.” Buffy said, then added, “But if you want my opinion, I like the skirt.”
“That’s all I was asking. Thank you. The skirt it is.” Willow picked up the skirt and shirt and walked back toward the bathroom to change.
By 7:30 Willow, Buffy, and Liam were ready to leave. After a brief fiasco involving a lack of directions as to where the club was, Willow located the flyer from Kim that included a small map of the location of The Rev, and the three were on their way.
When Liam pulled up in front of the building with the address the flyer indicated, they all just looked at each other. Outside the two story white building, people ranging in age anywhere from about fifteen to twenty-five were milling around.
“Did anybody else notice that it kind of looks like...” Buffy started.
“A church,” Willow finished as she looked up at an extremely old bell tower.
“But it doesn’t have any crosses,” Liam noted.
“Weird,” Buffy and Willow said in unison.
They all slowly got out of the vehicle and started walking through the crowd to the doors of the building.
“I can’t wear leather pants into a church. That’s blasphemous or something,” Buffy said under her breath.
“Well you could always take them off,” Liam said with a large grin on his face, earning a slap to the side of his head from Buffy. “It was just a suggestion,” he added sheepishly.
“Keep your suggestions to yourself,” the blonde warned.
As they walked up the front steps, Willow said, “I feel like I should have a Bible or a rosary or something churchy.”
“You’re Jewish,” Buffy reminded. “And I think the rosary’s a no-go. It just doesn’t look pretty enough to be a Catholic church.”
“But still. Definitely feeling the church vibe here,” Willow said.
Inside the doors Kim was waiting with another woman Willow didn’t know. Kim introduced the woman as Sachiko, Ro’s girlfriend, and led them all inside. She explained to the man collecting money that the three were with her, and he used a black marker to write a “B” on each one’s hand indicating they were with one of the bands.
Looking around inside, the space didn’t really resemble a church as the outside had. In the front where the preacher would normally give a sermon was a stage elevated about three feet off the floor. Where there would normally be pews, there was only an empty space where small groups of people had gathered to wait for everything to kick off. Lining the walls were various chairs and a couple of couches.
“We’re all sitting at the tables in the balcony if you guys want to come up there. It’ll probably get kind of crazy down here with everybody dancing and whatnot,” Kim explained.
“That sounds like a safe decision,” Buffy said as they all followed Kim up the stairs.
In the balcony there were about five long rectangular tables with a small number of people around each of them. At one of the emptier ones, Kim introduced the three newcomers to Mandy, the girlfriend of a guitar player named Ross; Eric and Michael, who were with the keyboard player named Anya; and Rebecca, the girlfriend of the bass player named Zach from The Secret Identity. “We like to call this the girlfriends table,” she said.
“And boyfriends,” Eric and Michael argued at the same time.
I’m not even going to try to figure out what’s going on with those two and whoever Anya is, Willow thought. “So where can we sit?” she asked.
The group pulled three empty chairs from a row along one wall up to the table.
“You can sit here,” Mandy said, pointing to the chairs.
Willow, Buffy, and Liam thanked everyone and took a seat. The group sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment.
“Tara and everybody are in the basement,” Kim explained, breaking the silence. “They have some stuff to sort out then they should be up here for the first two bands.”
“Oh. Okay,” Willow said.
“So, Jeremy’s playing tonight?” Rebecca asked, trying to find a topic to discuss.
“Yeah,” Kim confirmed, nodding her head.
“Is he going to set his cymbals on fire like he usually does?” Sachiko asked.
“Not tonight. It would set the fire alarms off here,” Kim said.
While the conversation about Jeremy’s drums played out, Willow, Buffy, and Liam sat quietly listening and looking around, taking in the scenery. Eventually, Buffy couldn’t take it anymore.
“Why are we in a church?” she blurted out.
The conversation ceased, and everyone, sans the three newcomers, laughed.
“It’s not a church anymore,” Mandy said, still giggling.
“It hasn’t been for about five years,” Rebecca continued. “Greg, the guy who was collecting money at the door, bought the empty building and turned it into The Rev.”
“I think ‘Rev’ is short for something religious like ‘revelation’ or whatever though,” Kim cut in. “And Greg does a lot of youth projects and stuff out of here too, so I think there’s still some sort of affiliation with the church.”
“All I know is the best local bands play here,” Michael said.
“Well that makes a lot more sense,” Liam said.
“It still has a major creepy vibe,” Willow added.
Just then, a tall man with chin length curly blonde hair and an impossibly deep tan walked up the stairs and to the table. A few people greeted him as Ross. He pulled a chair over beside Mandy and sat down.
“Where’s everybody else?” Eric asked.
“Ro managed to break the only capo he had with him, so Tara’s outside looking through all the stuff in her car for one while he tries to put the broken one back together,” he said.
“How’d he break it?” Sachiko asked.
“He wouldn’t stop playing with it while we were all talking and a piece fell off,” Ross explained. “You know, for someone who’s supposed to be some sort of genius, Ro really has no common sense.”
“Tell me about it,” Sachiko said, rolling her eyes.
“Anya’s on her way up I think,” Ross continued.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a blonde woman bounded up the stairs. Eric and Michael quickly placed an empty chair between them and allowed the woman to sit. She gave them each a kiss on the lips, and Willow and Buffy couldn’t help but stare while Liam casually looked the other way. No one else seemed to act like it was anything out of the ordinary though, as they all continued talking.
The floor below had become completely filled in the short time they’d been upstairs, and The Livingstone Project began setting up on stage. As they began running a sound check, Tara was walking up the stairs followed by Ro, who was saying something about cheap American made products.
“Then you should stop buying them,” Tara was saying as she came off the last step. She saw the large crowd of her friends at one table then caught sight of bright red hair among the mix. She also noticed two others, the blonde woman named Buffy who was with Willow in the coffee shop and a muscular man with light brown hair. “You came,” she said to the redhead with a large grin on her face.
Willow couldn’t help but look Tara up and down. The blonde was wearing a pair of medium wash jeans partially covered by a knee-length red trench coat as well as black Chuck Taylor’s. The white t-shirt underneath the jacket was unable to be read because of the jacket, but Willow could make out a large black “H” across the chest. Wow, she wears simple clothes extremely well, she thought while admiring the curves in front of her.
“I told you I’d be here,” she said matching Tara’s grin. “And look, I talked these guys into coming. Tara, this is Buffy and her husband Liam. Buffy, Liam, this is Tara.”
Liam stood and shook Tara’s hand and Buffy gave her a small wave.
“Nice to m-meet you,” Tara greeted them with a small blush of embarrassment on her face from her original thought that Buffy and Willow were together.
“Look, a chair,” Kim said to Tara as she placed an empty seat next to Willow.
Tara thanked her, but gave her a look that said ‘Obvious much?’ before sitting next to the redhead.
“Did you get everything worked out?” Ross asked Tara and Ro.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Ro answered, then introduced himself to those he didn’t know. “I’m Hiroya. Or you can call me Ro. Whatever’s easiest for you.”
“Did you find the place okay?” Tara asked Willow after the three had been introduced to Ro. “It’s kind of out of the way of most places, and some people have trouble finding it.”
“It wasn’t too hard with the map,” Willow reassured, earning a smile from the blonde.
“I hope you like scream-core,” Kim said. “The Livingstone Project does a lot of screaming.”
“And it’s really annoying,” Tara added.
“I like it,” Kim said.
True to Kim’s word, the lead singer from The Livingstone Project did more screaming than singing. He was also very animated while performing.
“Okay, the music’s good. It’s the singer I could do without,” Willow said as one song finished.
“I don’t know. I kind of like it,” Liam said.
“You would,” Buffy told him, rolling her eyes.
The band finished their set and The Secret Identity started setting up.
“I’m going down to get something to drink. Anybody else want something?” Tara asked. The group started shouting out orders for various kinds of soda and water. “Do you guys want anything?” she asked Willow and her friends.
Buffy and Liam declined, but Willow accepted and went along to help carry the drinks.
When Tara and Willow disappeared down the stairs, Anya looked at Buffy and Liam and said, “So our little Tara finally found someone to give her org...”
Kim, who happened to be standing behind Anya, reached over and firmly clamped her hand over the blonde’s mouth. “You’ll have to forgive Anya. She didn’t take her medication today,” she explained, noticing the wide-eyed looks on Liam and Buffy’s faces.
“I don’t take any medication,” Anya protested after she freed herself from Kim’s grasp.
“Hey, I was just going to go to the bathroom. Anya, want to come with?” Mandy said. “You know us girls. Can’t go to the bathroom by ourselves.” Without waiting for Anya’s response, she grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the stairs.
“What’d I say?” Anya’s voice trailed up from the staircase.
Eric and Michael started laughing, but Kim silenced them with a look.
Downstairs, Willow and Tara waited in line for the drinks.
“Thanks for coming out to see us tonight,” Tara said.
“It’s no big. I could really use a night out of the house,” Willow replied before adding silently, But I really wanted to see you too.
Tara smiled then took a deep breath. “There’s, um, this party afterwards. I’m, uh, not really sure what the scene is, but if you wanted to...”
“Sure,” the redhead interrupted. “I mean, yeah. Sounds like it could be fun.”
“Okay,” Tara said quietly with a shy smile before stepping up to give the drink order.
Willow and Tara came back up the stairs carrying various plastic bottles. “Where’d Anya and Mandy go?” Tara asked as she started handing out drinks to everyone.
“Bathroom,” Sachiko said.
Anya and Mandy came up the stairs at that moment having what appeared to be a quiet heated discussion. When they reached the table, the conversation ceased. As soon as they sat down the band on stage finished their sound check and started playing.
Rebecca sat watching Zach intently through the first song and when it was over said, “I could watch his hands play all day.”
“I heard bass players have really nice hands,” Willow said.
Tara nearly choked on the water she was drinking.
“You’ll have to test the theory and let us know sometime,” Anya said, raising her eyebrows. She then started laughing when Tara threw her a dirty look.
“Ignore her,” Mandy told the redhead.
“Umm... okay?” Willow said, obviously confused.
Midway through the set, Ross stood up. “You guys ready to go?” he asked.
“Let’s do it,” Ro said, standing up. He was followed by Tara, Jeremy, and a reluctant Anya.
“Miss me while I’m gone,” Anya told Eric and Michael and they nodded affirming they would miss her.
“See you when we’re done,” Tara told everyone.
“Have fun up there,” Kim told her before wishing Jeremy luck and giving him a kiss.
“We will. You guys have fun too,” Tara said specifically to Willow, Buffy, and Liam.
“Thanks,” Willow told her with a small smile.
When The Secret Identity finished playing and tearing down the stage the members from Alison Ashmore began setting up their equipment. When everything was hooked up, they started sound checks with Ross’s guitar and microphone. Tara was the last to run her check, and it was Willow’s turn to choke on her water when she saw the blonde pick up a bass guitar.
“You alright, Will?” Buffy asked patting her friend on the back to stop her choking.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Willow spluttered.
After an issue with Jeremy’s monitor not working, everything was sorted out, and Tara stepped in front of the middle of three microphones that were lined up near the front of the stage. Willow could finally make out more of what was on the t-shirt she had been wearing as she had taken off the coat. In bold black lettering was the word “THE” with small red lettering below it that couldn’t be read from upstairs.
“Hey everybody,” Ross addressed the crowd from his microphone to Tara’s left. “You can probably see that we’re not Brendan Benson and The Well-Fed Boys, but they are playing tonight. There was a switch in the line-up, mainly due to problems with our band. You’re probably also wondering what the guy behind the drums is doing because he’s obviously not who normally plays with us. This is Jeremy. Most of you probably have seen him with Maybe Forever.”
“And I’m cuter than the old guy,” Jeremy interrupted, earning a laugh from the crowd and a “That’s for sure,” from Kim.
“Anyway, here’s the deal,” Ross continued. “With the short amount of time we had to get this together, we’re doing things a bit differently. We’re going to play a few of our original songs, then interspersed will be a few covers of our favorite songs. This is really out of the ordinary for us, but we wanted to give you all a show and still have fun with it. Does anybody object to that?”
No one in the crowd appeared to object, though Kim raised her hand from upstairs.
“You’re opinion doesn’t count, Kim,” Ro said from the stage, barely able to make out the owner of the hand due to the lights in his eyes.
“Well, if it’s okay with everyone we’ll get started,” Ross said.
The crowd began yelling in appreciation, and the band started playing their first song. The music was fast paced and the floor below looked like an ocean of bodies moving in rhythm with it.
When the music slowed slightly, Tara stepped up to her microphone to take on the lead vocals, and Willow became enraptured. Wow, she’s good. Really good. She wasn’t actually paying attention to the lyrics, just Tara’s voice. Her eyes then looked down to watch the blonde’s hands moving across the instrument she played, causing the redhead to uncontrollably swallow. Tara’s right hand was moving rapidly from across the neck while the fingers of her left were hitting various strings. And she’s left-handed, Willow realized. Mark that down in the ‘Things That Are Interesting About Tara’ column.
“They’re really good,” Buffy commented.
“Yeah, she...uh, they are,” Willow stumbled earning a grin from her friend.
On stage, Tara couldn’t help but be slightly nervous. She was worried that Willow may not like the music or her voice or any number of other things. Attempting to push everything out of her mind, she tried to focus on playing and singing, and decided not to worry about the redhead in the crowd until after their set for fear of messing up.
During the second song the crowd began to move in a less rhythmic fashion. Bodies were lifted up and carried along by other people until they fell back to the floor, only to be replaced by more bodies. Most though seemed content to jump up and down to the music with their hands in the air.
After the song ended, the band stopped so Ross could re-tune his guitar.
“It’s g-good to see you guys are having a fun time,” Tara addressed the crowd as she took a drink of water. “J-just don’t get too out of c-control and let somebody get hurt okay?” She had been watching the crowd-surfers while she played and was worried that one of them would fall and hurt themselves or worse, hurt someone else.
Aww, she’s all worried, Willow thought from her seat upstairs. But how can she sing just fine but still stutter when she talks up there? she wondered.
“This is the first of the covers we’re going to do,” Ro explained. “It’s a Nerf Herder song, and you’re all going to be graced with the wonderful voices of me and Ross for a change,” he said.
“And I get to sit back and relax,” Anya threw in from her place behind the keyboard to one side of the stage.
“This is for all of you who are still in high school,” Ross said once he finished tuning. When everyone started playing he was the first to start off with the lyrics. “Don’t bother going to class ‘cause nobody cares if you cut...” When he reached the chorus, Tara and Ro joined in.
Tara took over with the second verse singing, “Don’t call the head jock a fag. Even if it’s true. And don’t hold out for that one special girl cause she’ll never have sex with you.” She shrugged her shoulders in a look of defeat and everyone started laughing as they continued the song.
Upstairs, Willow’s brain was switched on. So is that a confirmation that she’s gay? Or is it a joke? Or maybe it’s just a song and it doesn’t mean anything. She’s never outright said she was. I just kind of assumed...
Buffy looked at her friend and could see what was going on in Willow’s head. She gave a small smile and shrug letting the redhead know she didn’t have a clue either.
After the Nerf Herder song, they played a few more of their own songs, which included one slower number. Listening to the lyrics, Willow figured it was about someone who had died and was very missed. Watching the emotion in Tara’s face and hearing the emotion in her voice made the redhead want to cry.
After the song, Ro began talking to the crowd while Tara turned away to compose herself . That particular song was about her mother and always elicited deep emotions from her, so she usually had to stop afterwards to gather herself up.
“This is a song by Alkaline Trio,” Ro was saying. “They’re from the Chicago area, so we thought we’d do this for Kim who’s been missing home here lately. Since we figured ‘Fuck You Aurora’ might be a little inappropriate, we’re going to play ‘Crawl.’ I’m sure you’ll all recognize it.”
Tara turned back to face the crowd with a renewed vigor when Ross was finished talking and the band began to play. The low sound of the bass dominated the other instruments, and Ross stepped up to sing lead.
Willow was enjoying the song from her seat upstairs. She had always been an Alkaline Trio fan and was amazed out how well Alison Ashmore was covering it. Her eyes were glued to Tara, who seemed to be having a good time playing. When the song reached the bass solo, the crowd erupted in cheers and Willow could see a small smile play across the blonde’s face even as her brow was furrowed with the work she was doing. The redhead couldn’t help but smile herself.
At the end of the song, the band went straight into another original piece followed by two more of their own songs. The last cover they performed was a Letters To Cleo version of Cheap Trick’s ‘I Want You To Want Me’.
“But I do want you!” a young man in the crowd yelled as the song ended, causing a blush to creep up on Tara’s face.
You and me both, buddy. You and me both, Willow thought at the remark.
Ross announced they would be playing their final song, much to the crowd’s displeasure. It was another fast number, and soon the crowd forgot it was the last song and started moving again.
The crowd erupted in cheers when the song finished, and the band began taking down the stage. They went to the basement to store all the equipment until the end of the show.
“They’re really talented,” Buffy said after the noise died down.
“Wow,” was all Willow could manage. She was still in awe of just how good Tara, as well as the rest of the band, had been.
The group came up the stairs together to greet their awaiting friends. Mandy had gotten them each a bottle of water and began handing them out.
“That was great,” Zach said from behind Rebecca who was sitting on his lap.
“Yeah, it rocked,” Mandy said offering her seat to Ross.
“So what did you think?” Tara asked Willow and her friends as she sat next to the redhead and took a large gulp of water.
Willow could feel the heat radiating off the once again jacket-clad blonde who sat down beside her and noticed how tired she looked.
“You all were good,” Buffy said and Liam nodded in agreement.
“I really liked it,” Willow said smiling, earning a shy smile in return from Tara.
“Thanks,” she said as everyone else in the band gave thanks as well.
The next band was ready to go on stage, and before they began playing Tara leaned in towards Willow and told her, “These guys are really good.”
As they started to play, Willow couldn’t take her eyes away from the drummer. He was extremely animated, and his mouth was open and continually contorted in various odd ways. It looked as if he was having a strange conversation with himself as he played. She couldn’t help herself and leaned over to ask Tara, “Is it just me, or is the drummer really creepy.”
Tara laughed and told her, “He always does that. I think it helps him keep time or something. It’s not just you though. He’s a weird guy.”
“Oh, okay,” Willow said and sat back to enjoy the rest of the show.
After the last song, everyone stood up and began throwing away bottles and gathering up their things.
“So are you going out to Kye’s tonight?” Mandy asked Tara.
“Yeah, I thought I’d check it out with Willow,” the blonde answered. “Would you t-two be interested in going to a party tonight?” she asked Buffy and Liam.
“We’d better not,” Buffy declined. “We’re that old married couple that has to go to bed early, but don’t let us spoil your fun. Go enjoy yourselves.”
“So I’ll see you at home,” Willow told her friend.
“Sure, but don’t be out all hours of the night, young lady,” Buffy joked.
“Okay,” the redhead answered in her best whiney teenager voice before giving Buffy a hug goodnight.
As Buffy and Liam disappeared down the stairs, Tara turned to Willow. “We just have to load up our equipment outside and then we can go,” she said.
“I can wait with you,” Mandy told the redhead.
“Okay,” Willow agreed.
As soon as the crowd downstairs began to dwindle, they all made their way downstairs. Mandy and Willow found two seats along one of the walls while the band members went to the basement to gather their equipment.
“Have you known Tara long?” Mandy asked.
“I just met her a little over a week ago actually.”
“Oh. Well, she’s a really cool person.”
“That’s what I’ve been noticing.” Willow smiled.
They sat for a few more minutes talking about the show until Tara came up to them.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“Yep,” Willow answered, noticing how the blonde didn’t look as tired as she had after their set.
“See you there,” Mandy told them.
Both women waved goodbye and walked outside.
Kim (looking at her car encased in snow): I bet it's warm in there. Me: Probably. You know, like when you build a snow fort and it's warm inside even though it's cold outside. Kim: Yeah, like igloos. It's like the igloo effect. Us (realization dawning): Igloo Effect. Dude, that is so the name of our band!
Edited by: unionjill30 at: 6/21/03 10:45 am
by willntlover » Mon Jun 16, 2003 12:51 pm 
Omg how cool is Kim! 
Kim is such a great friend who knows what happend if she wasnt there...i dont want to think about that
And they were so cool in my time 
but the music was good
WOW, that whole bookstore scene was far out ! That was so creative, unique, fresh, and definitely from "left field"!
You may just have created a new fad! It is rare that a story catches me by surprise like this one...thanks, it's a real thrill! I can't wait to read about the dance...sorry you didn't have Willow do a few steps with Kim. My clever rating is 10+. 
with my eccentricities. visit soon, i miss your mug. ps i cut back on smoking.kinda 
