Emma leant her head against the classroom door.
"Come on man" she said quietly watching the teacher finish up his lesson.
"Hey Debbie Harry" came a voice from nearby.
Emma turned to see Regina Mills walking up to her, cheer uniform and all. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Oh great, are you all taking this assignment too?" she asked
"All?" Regina asked, stopping in front of her.
She held her books on her hip.
"You know, the whole gang? Go team" Emma said
Regina narrowed her eyes.
"You're not as bad as you think you are" Regina accused
"You don't know anything about me" Emma dismissed
"Or you me" Regina replied
"I know you're a bully, and I don't like bullies" Emma said and turned back to look into the classroom.
You're running way over man, come on! She thought
Regina scoffed knowing exactly what Emma was talking about. Her boyfriend made fun of some kid in the cafeteria at lunch time.
"I didn't do anything" Regina said
"Exactly, you stood by and watched which makes you complicit" Emma replied
"Whatever" Regina rolled her eyes.
Emma glanced into the classroom and at the clock on the wall to check she wasn't going mad, he was now almost 10 minutes over and the class was still seated.
"Got somewhere else to be?" Regina asked, moving the conversation swiftly on
"Yeah I'm playing a show tonight" Emma said without thinking
"Oh, at the Alley?" Regina winced as she asked
"Yeah, don't tell me the cheer squad are coming?" Emma's eyes widened
"We don't do everything as a unit. My boyfriend wants me to go with him" She said
Emma laughed
"I don't think it's your scene" she replied
"Oh no, the mindless thrashing of people who can't play their instruments is fascinating. It speaks to me" she sneered
"Ha! I guess you don't have much time for politics with more important questions to answer like, Britney or Christina?" Emma asked
"Politics? The complexities of Reel Big Idiots escape me I'm afraid. My tiny mind is inescapably occupied with all those three word chants we have to memorise" Regina said, seeming to enjoy verbal tennis with her.
Emma laughed but her retort was cut off by the classroom door opening.
"Dude" Emma said to the teacher "you're 12 minutes over, I can't believe there hasn't been a riot"
The young professor smiled at her and handed the paper over.
"Have a good time at your show" he said.
She turned and headed down the hall.
"Oh yeah, I have an audience to impress tonight" she winked at Regina.
Regina watched her walk away. The bag over her shoulder was slung so low she wondered how Emma didn't trip over it with those Docs and the shirt tied loosely around her waist like it might slip off any minute and she'd have to pick it up and go running after her…
"Regina?"
She jumped and turned to the teacher
"Thank you" she said as she took the paper
"I wouldn't have guessed you liked that kind of music" he said
"I like the politics" she said with a smile she didn't mean and followed Emma's route to the exit.
"We're not fucking doing it, Ruby!" Emma stood with her arms wide out in challenge
"We fucking are, it's our best song!" Ruby stepped up to her
"She's in the fucking crowd, the girl it's about, I'm not doing it!" Emma shouted
They were almost nose to nose, anyone else would have run for cover but Belle appeared between them.
"Hey, is her name in it?" she asked with a sweet smile at Emma.
"No" she scowled, not taking her eyes off Ruby who walked away, leaving Belle to deal with her.
"Then she's not going to know, is she?" she said calmly with a dorky side-smile
Emma stared at her for a moment.
"Fuck's sake!" she sighed and wiped her face.
"Great" Belle smiled "unless she figures it out and she's into it, then you'd owe us one mate"
"Yes!" Red smiled at her from the edge of the stage
"Asshole" Emma replied
"I am an asshole that loves you" she said and pulled Emma into a one armed hug. They both looked through the curtain at the large crowd gathered in the bar.
"We're opening with 'Balloons', finishing with 'Dirtbag'" Emma said
"Fine" the other two replied in unison.
Emma tied her hair up loosely, jumped on the spot and rolled her head on her shoulders. She wished she'd had time to change.
"Ready when you are" Belle smiled at her.
The crowd cheered as they walked out on stage and a one sided smile crept onto Emma's face.
"Hey, those people we paid to cheer for us turned up" she said quietly into the microphone
The crowd laughed. The group who had cheered for them grew even louder.
"How are you all doing?" She asked and they cheered again.
"That's awesome, thanks for coming out" she said
Red coughed significantly and Emma ignored her.
"This is a song you might know, it's called 99 Red Balloons"
Emma strummed and echoey chords reverberated around the room. It felt like the place lit up and she filled the whole space. Expectant faces looked up at her and she knew her place in the world was exactly there at that moment.
"You and I in a little toy shop…"
She closed her eyes and sang as her fingers moved easily across the fret board. Her pick hand strummed steadily.
"…buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, "Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by"
Ruby's dominating bass kicked in, Belle slammed the drums and Emma rocked her shoulders back as she played. She jumped in unison with Ruby who thrashed the bass and sounded awesome. The crowd screamed as Ruby stepped forward to enjoy the spotlight for a moment. She could play a whole show on her own and everyone would still love it.
Emma's singing changed from soft and sweet to loud and energetic. The crowd cheered for her and she smiled at them.
Her fingers moved around the neck of her guitar like they didn't even need her to tell them where to go. She sang with her eyes open now, drinking in the energy of the crowd.
"99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine, it springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As 99 red balloons go by"
She rolled into a short solo and used the reprieve to scan the crowd for faces she knew, one in particular.
"99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry"
Ruby appeared at her mic to sing the next line with her
"Call out the troops now in a hurry!" she smiled and went back to her position on Emma's right
"This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by"
Ruby rocked and the crowd loved her. She played up to it jumping along. She threw her shoulders into it. She smiled as she played and Emma stepped back from the mic to watch her.
There's always something about the bass player, she thought.
She strummed the build up to the best part of the song. She caught a glimpse of Regina's boyfriend in the crowd and by his side, there she was. She had an odd look on her face, one Emma hadn't seen before, it didn't fit with what she expected. She didn't seem to be hating it.
Emma's favourite part of the song, which was also her favourite was coming up. She got a rush of adrenaline and she loved it.
"Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister"
Emma smiled as Regina's mouth fell open.
"Hielten sich für schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Emma shouted her favourite line
"Mann, wer haette das gedacht?!
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons"
Solo solo solo is all her mind said and she fucking shredded it. Elated by the cheer from the crowd, whatever that look from Regina meant and her excellent German articulation.
"Neunundneunzig Luftballons" she shouted and her fingers moved like lightening.
The crowd loved it. She bit her lip and smiled as they played the crashing end of the song.
"Thanks guys" Emma said shyly into the mic
Someone screamed 'I love you' and she laughed
"We love you too, man" she said
They played two more songs back to back before she spoke to them again.
"Such a good crowd tonight, thank you all so much" she said unscrewing a bottle of water.
She was sweating and needed to cool down. Her heart was banging as they were about to play the song she was worried about.
"This one is about being a fucking dork and how much it sucks when you like straight girls" she said
There was another cheer from some guys she knew and she laughed at them.
"This is our last song" Emma said
The crowd booed.
"I know, I know, you'll just have to come see us at our next show. Find out where on our myspace page. Also come buy a cd and say hi"
Belle kicked a beat out and Emma strummed.
Fucking just do it. She sang.
"Her name is Noelle
I had a dream about her
She rings my bell
I've got gym class in heaven
Oh man she's like a queen
But not on my team" She cocked an eyebrow
"She doesn't know who I am
And she doesn't give a damn about me"
This was their most popular song and the crowd sang the chorus back at her. Ruby sang it into her mic too.
"'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby
Yeah I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby
Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me"
She watched the words she had written being sung back to her and heart seemed to take flight. She looked everywhere except where she knew Regina was.
"Her boyfriend's a dick
He brings a gun to school
He'd simply kick
My ass if he knew the truth
He lives on my block
And he drives an Iroc" She rolled her eyes
"But he doesn't know who I am
And he doesn't give a damn about me"
"Man I feel like mold
It's prom night and I am lonely
Low and behold
She's walking over to me
This must be fake
My lips start to shake
How does she know who I am?
And why does she give a damn about me?"
Ruby stepped up and sang
"I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden baby"
It seemed like the whole place screamed and she smiled
"Come with me Friday, don't say maybe
I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby
Like you ooh"
Emma joined in and they sang it together.
"Oh yeah dirtbag
She doesn't know what she's missing
Oh yeah dirtbag
She doesn't know what she's missing"
Emma strummed lazily to finish and Belle slammed the cymbals, smiling at the reaction from the crowd.
Thank god it's over, I hope she doesn't know, Emma thought
She looked up and couldn't see Regina. Maybe she had missed it. She hoped so.
She appeared at the merch stand after spending a few minutes out the back of the bar to catch her breath and calm down. She cooled off in the blue evening pretty quickly.
"The fuck have you been? We just got mobbed, it was awesome" Ruby said
"Sweet, we make any money?" Emma asked
"Yeah" Ruby said "and I'm buying a drink. Hells Belles, you want anything?"
Belle smiled and followed Ruby away.
"Ok good, I'll be here, thanks for asking" Emma said.
Ruby waved back at her without looking.
"Hey" Emma turned around to see Regina.
"Hey" she replied, suddenly very hot again. "So what did you think?" She asked, taking a drink of water.
"I liked it" she said "you're not thrashy"
Emma laughed "thanks, I guess"
The next band started up. It was loud. Emma gestured for Regina step into their little protected area that lead backstage.
They stood a lot closer in the small space. Emma hoped she didn't stink.
"Who's Noelle?" Regina blurted out and dropped her eyes immediately.
"Uhhh"
Fuckity fuck fuck
"Sorry, you don't have to answer that. I just don't know anyone at school called that" Regina said, looking up again
"She's just a girl I...um"
Fuuuuuuuuck
"Have gym class in heaven with" Regina asked and raised an eyebrow
"Ugh, I know that sounds super pervy and gross but I wrote it like two years ago" Emma said
"Uh huh" Regina said "so was she in the gym class we used to have together?"
MOTHER. FUCKER. STOP TALKING.
"I, she, erm" Emma's brain short circuited
"Do you live in Rosedale?" Regina asked
Oh my god she knows, she knows and she's teasing me, what the fuck is happening?
"Yeah" she said "and I don't know about the car, I made that up cause it seems like a only jerks drive them"
Regina laughed. Did she step closer to Emma? Was she imagining it?
"So are you going to ask her out? I mean you did write a song about her" Regina asked
"I don't…um…she still has a boyfriend" Emma said
Regina shrugged like that was no obstacle.
"I don't think so" Emma said
"Well, she doesn't know what she's missing" Regina quoted the song to her.
Emma's eyes widened as Regina smiled at her.
"I'd better go" she said
"Oh, ok" Emma said "You going somewhere else?"
"Yeah, my boyfriend wants to see Dude Where's My Car" she said
"Oh man, if you're not high as fuck it's not funny" Emma warned
"Yeah I can't say I'm expecting much" Regina rolled her eyes and kind of smiled.
She gave Emma a quick glance up and down and turned to leave.
"Enjoy your movie" Emma said, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.
The choker she wore was one of those stretchy ones but she was sure it was tightening around her throat.
"Thanks" Regina said, turning to face her again.
"Actually can I get a cd?" She asked, pulling a note from her pocket.
"Uh yeah, yeah of course. There's a few, which one do you want?"
"The one with that song on it" Regina said with a barely detectable smile
Emma picked one up
"Can you sign it? You know, for when you get big" Regina said
"When?" Emma laughed "who should I make it out to?" She said in a dumb probably-what-skeezy-old-rockers-sound-like voice.
"How about Noelle?" Regina asked
Emma's stomach seemed to drop out of her body. She felt her cheeks burn and only dragged her eyes up from her hands because she saw Regina take a step towards her.
Regina stretched up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Emma's lips.
She was so surprised she couldn't react at all. She froze completely. Her eyes were wide open and she watched Regina's pretty face approach hers. She watched her eyes close, felt the soft pressure on her lips and couldn't react at all.
Regina drew back and smiled, though self-consciously.
Emma stared.
"Ok" Regina said looking unresponsive Emma up and down as her own cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm gonna go now" Regina wiped her hands on her jeans and reached out to take the cd from Emma who remained painfully silent and still.
Emma wouldn't release it, she just watched.
"Uh, Emma?" Regina asked as she tugged the case that remained in Emma's hands.
Is this even real? Is it possible? Maybe I fell and hit my head. Maybe I'm asleep, she thought.
But she knew she wasn't. She looked down into Regina's dark and now slightly troubled eyes.
She felt a tug at her hands that seemed to jolt her back to reality. She pulled the cd towards her and Regina and with it.
She leant down and kissed her. A squeak of surprise came Regina before Emma felt it returned.