Spike Michaels is your average sort of teenager. 18 years old this April, high school senior, cocky, intelligent, perverted, and sexy as hell. He’s in the “popular” group, through no fault of his own, and has big dreams for his future. He lives in southern California, having moved there from London at the age of twelve. He managed to keep his accent and his pale complexion, both of which help out his overall sex appeal. High cheekbones, the bluest eyes ever seen, and bleached hair, all topped off with his trademark smirk. So not exactly average, although his dream is something that doesn’t come as much of a surprise to most people. He wants to be a famous rock star.
Every kid has that time in his life where he wants to be famous, but most lack the necessary things. Looks, skills, partners, and extreme determination. Spike is a lot more likely to earn stardom than your average teenage dreamer. He has all of the above.
Most importantly, he has Liam Angelus, Daniel Osborn, and Lindsey MacDonald. His cousin Liam, more commonly known as Angel, could possibly be the best drummer to hit southern California. Oz, who most people don’t know was actually born under the name Daniel, is stoic, philosophical, and a damn good bassist. Lindsey’s father is a lawyer, and a strict man who didn’t want to have a rebel, out-of-control son. He tried forcing good manners and piano lessons on the boy at a young age, but only the latter was actually kept up. After a while, Beethoven was replaced with Beck, and his father gave up on bringing up a good and respectful son. Nobody knew a single person who could play or mix as well as Lindsey.
Spike himself put his fingers to a different use: guitars. He was rumored to being able to play any song better than the original band could, and he had the voice to go along with it. Put these four in a high school English class together, in the same row, and give them an oral report on what they plan on doing after high school, and you get Welcome to Kaos, the biggest band to hit Sunnydale High.
~~~~~*~~~~~
“William Travis Micheals, you get your ass back here right now!”
Spike peeked his head around the doorframe. “Three things.” He showed three ring-laden fingers with black-painted nails. “I don’t much feel like having this conversation right now. I told you that my name is Spike; it’s been Spike for the past five years. And only Mum’s allowed to call me by my middle name, and you know it, Darlene Sarah Micheals.” He ducked back behind the door and grinned as his sister threw a drumstick at him.
“Three things, brother,” she said calmly, putting a stress on “brother”. She slowly walked towards the door. “We are having this conversation, like it or not. I told you that my name is Darla; it’s been Darla for the past 16 years. And if I can’t use your middle name, you can’t use mine.” She walked through the door into the kitchen, and turned to stare at her grinning older brother, who had pressed himself flat against the wall. “How the hell am I supposed to park my car in the garage when you’ve got all of your band crap laying around?”
“Darla, Darla,” he said stepping close to her. She glared suspiciously at him. “You’re my sister, Dar. I love you, even though I don’t show it. You should know that. Don’t tell me you don’t know that.” He locked his cerulean eyes with hers and moved a little closer so their bodies were almost touching. “You see, I admire your fierceness, your creativity, and when I bug you, it’s only to get your attention.” He slipped his arms easily around her shoulders. “All I want is for you to love me.”
He pulled her in for a hug, his voice soft and his features telling tales of vulnerability. The little blonde slowly and warily relaxed into his arms, half of her knowing that something was up, and the other half wanting love and comfort from her older brother, her idol. She tentatively wrapped her thin arms around his waist. “You’re just saying that so I won’t kill you.”
“Nonsense,” he said, sounding as if it hurt him that she would accuse him of lying. “Hey, since you’re car’s already out in the driveway, how about we go for ice cream? When was the last time we did that? And if it’ll help prove I love you, I’ll buy.” He pulled back a little ways from her to look her in the eye, his hands settling on her sides.
Darla looked up into her brother’s smooth, innocent face and let a small smile grace her features. They really hadn’t spent much quality time together recently, not since he started the band with Angel and his friends. It took only a moment’s consideration before she said, “Sounds good to me.”
Spike let a bright, loving smile cross his own face. He leaned close, his face by her ear, and he whispered one word, so softly that Darla might not have caught it. “Psych.”
In the split-second that followed, three things happened. Darla pulled back and her face turned an angry red, Spike’s loving smile turned to an extremely amused grin, and his perfectly positioned fingers began to tickle the sides of his little sister. She immediately fell to the ground, laughing hysterically and screaming curses in between giggles. As soon as she was incapacitated from lack of breath, Spike leaped up and ran toward the stairs with inhuman speed. Darla jumped up and chased after him. “William! Get back here so I can kill you!”
“That’s what you get for telling Mum I was gay!” He threw open the door to his room and ran inside, slamming it behind him. He leaned up against the door with his full weight and called through the wood a final message: “And my name is Spike!”
Darla pounded on the other side, yelling all sorts of insults and curses and threats at him. But he was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. As he was currently curled in a hysterical ball on the floor, struggling for breath, he really wasn’t in any condition to reply.
~~~~~*~~~~~
“You guys, we have a performance tonight. We really need to get started!” Angel leaned forward on his drumset, impatient with the fact that nobody was picking up his instrument.
Spike crossed his arms and a thoughtful look appeared on his face. “Me and the others have been talking…”
“Oh no…”
Lindsey leaned up again the wall of the garage. “We’ve been thinking about getting a new sound, you know, changing the band just a little? And we’ve decided that we need a new singer.”
“Female,” said Oz, from where he was tuning his guitar.
Angel looked speechless for a moment. Unfortunately, his mouth had other ideas. “No no no, we’ve put so much work into this band. Perfecting all the songs, and hey, everyone already knows us as “those four guys who play at the Bronze”. Not the part where we’re guys. Not guys and a girl. And when did we decide to stop having Spike on vocals? Spike is the vocals guy. When did…” he stopped before he had a panic attack. He gave the others a look of desperation and confusion.
Spike smirked a little bit. “We’re not cutting any of the songs, so don’t lose your poncey head. We’re just going to add songs written for a female vocalist, mix things up a bit. Honestly, it’ll be far better for the band. We’ve already worked out all the pro’s and con’s, and there are far more benefits than drawbacks to getting another vocalist.”
“And hey, a pretty little girl to head up our band, really good for publicity,” Lindsey added. Oz just nodded and gave a tiny smile.
Angel still hadn’t lost the dumbstruck look. “How long have you guys been planning this?”
“Three weeks,” Oz said.
“Got the ads already printed out. No use fighting it, that’s how it’s gonna go.”
Angel rested his forehead on his drums for moment, trying to wrap his brain around the new concept. a female singer? I thought we were happy with just us… Finally he looked back up at his bandmates. “Sure, you guys know best. But please, let us get back to practice. Unless you’re already planning out songs for the new girl to sing.”
Spike smirked. “Nope. Let’s get started then, shall we, mates?”
~~~~~*~~~~~
As the DJ announced their name, the members of Welcome to Kaos walked out onto the stage and took their rightful positions. Lindsey and his keyboard to the right, Oz to the left, Angel in back and Spike at the front. The crowd at the Bronze that night was bigger than usual; this was the night they played a couple new songs and made an important announcement. The place was packed full of junior high and high school students, and there were even quite a few college students gazing up excitedly from the foot of the stage. Spike looked over his shoulder and grinned. Oz took this as his cue to get started. The crowd rapidly hushed as a few chords were strummed, and then the drums picked up with a slow, deliberate beat.
The beat soon picked up into the rhythm of the song, and it was soon joined by a blast of sound by the guitars and keyboard. Then Spike started to sing.
“Where’s your man at tonight?
Haven’t seen him ‘round in a while.
Why you here alone tonight?
Looking for someone particular?
Think I’ve got a chance tonight?
You been standing here quite a while.
Think I’ll talk to you tonight.
If I don’t get too scared, that is.
Things aren’t right in your life.
If only you could see that, then,
Maybe you’d give me the chance to
Make things right.
You’re dancing by yourself tonight.
He still coming up with excuses?
You’ve been talking to yourself tonight.
Wonder if you’d let me in.
Things aren’t right in your life.
If only you could see that, the,
Maybe you’d give me the chance to
Make things right.
Won’t let you be alone tonight.
Gonna ask to come dance with me.
You’ll finally notice me tonight.
And let me make things right.”
The audience all cheered and hollered and clapped, making Spike and the others grin. This was definitely one of the better reasons to perform on stage. You got the thrill of hearing your fans’ pleasure, even when you’d played the same stuff a week or two earlier.
Spike leaned close to the mike. “Now, before we continue tonight, we have a little announcement. We’re looking for a female vocalist to join us. So, if you’re interested, there’ll be signs posted around with the time and place. And now, we’re not taking on any tenors. Sorry.” He chuckled at a couple groans that could be heard. “So now that we’ve got that big important announcement out, let’s get back to the music.”
The crowd cheered, and Oz struck up another song, slower than the first. Couples began to sway to the music as the song started.
“Sunday afternoon
Sun shines behind closed blinds
Now I’m sitting here
And she’s waiting there
And I go down
I can’t seem to find the way back up
And I go down falling
And I go down
I can’t seem to find the way back up
And I go down falling
Gold hair falling softly
Blue eyes watching me
I sit here playing softly
And words all seem to fail
And I go down
I can’t seem to find the way back up
And I go down falling
And I do down
I can’t seem to find the way back up
And I go down falling”
Oz broke into a solo, and the crowd danced, drinking in every note. The members of Welcome to Kaos stood proudly, knowing that it took them weeks to perfect this song and reveling in the fact that everyone seemed to love it. see? who needs a female vocalist? we have it made right here. Angel thought to himself.
“Sunday afternoon
I sit here all alone
Trying to figure it out
And writing a little song”
A short blonde girl stood on the edge of the crowd, watching Spike as he finished the song with one more round of the chorus. Her attention was solely focused on him, watching him. Well, almost solely. A small part of her was determined to go check the nearest notice for the time and date of the audition for the new opening in the band.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Going along with carol's challenge from the Idea Factory. The songs are both written by me, and I'm totally aware that the first one sucks, and that the second probably sucks as well, and I can almost swear that I won't be writing any lyrics again for a long time.