I would like to warmly thank my first new patreons for boosting my writing journey and enjoying my content: ??Kodoro, Courtney, LiveHigh, and Lyanna ??

  And happily welcome my new readers. Please enjoy~

  ....I can tell that she's green with envy

  Everytime you talk or think of me,

  Why you even left, no one knows

  but hell, that's the path that you chose~

  "But hell...that's the path you chose!"

  The audience sang the st of the lyrics with us in harmony before erupting into cheers and appuse.

  "That's right bitches! We are Bck Ink! Who out here wants an encore!?" Lily, our lead singer shouted into the microphone.

  The crowd screamed and cried back for more and I couldn't help but to be irritated at Lily for asking. I stepped back towards the barstool that had my used cigarette and took a quick hit from it. There goes Princess again, always trying to milk it at every concert we perform at. I thought dryly and rolled my eyes while blowing the smoke up into the crisp night air.

  I aligned my hands back along the strings of my bass, my fingers idly plucking the notes to start up our next hit song, "Unzip Me."

  Before we started, I felt my phone vibrate in my jean pocket. "Shit that's right, I completely forgot that I was supposed to pick up my stupid brother from the library today."

  My fingers danced on their own to the memorized beat and the sound of the drums behind me was quickly picking up towards my part. I closed my eyes and zoned out to the music as it grew louder around us and smirked to myself.

  "Punk's gonna have to wait."

  ****************************

  "Thank you Memphis! You were such a great audience!"

  A woman let out an unnecessary louder scream than the rest of the crowd and I ughed. Lily has been known for having not only male fans but women would also chase after and fall head over heels for her. I guess I couldn't bme them.

  I pulled the guitar strap up over my head and I gnced over to Lily standing in the spotlight, where she was waving at everyone in the small auditorium. Even though she was sporting a bck lolita dress, upside crosses for earrings, and lips stained in a dark bck lipstick, she was grinning wide in an enchanting smile. Despite her gothic appearance, she acted anything but goth. Her personality was always eccentric and welcoming, like a Kpop fan fell into a goth's closet and couldn't find her way out.

  Things finally started to cool down and as security was letting everyone out through the exits, I walked backstage behind the curtains. At first I was eager to grab my things and go, but decided against it and felt like I could rex for a little while. After pcing my guitar in its case, I pced it up against the concrete wall and went over to the staff table to sit down in one of the white pstic chairs.

  Kicking my feet up on the table, I reclined back and drained the rest of my cigarette before stabbing it underneath the table and flicking it away on the floor.

  Shaun, our drummer came in a few minutes ter and took the chair in front of me but flipped it around so he could slouch over the back of it. I smiled when I noticed that his entire face except for his bck shades was covered in sweat.

  "You know Shaun, seeing you out there with those lights on you, I could have easily mistaken you for one of those bright bulbs on stage." I stood up and rubbed his bald head. I regretted it instantly when my hand came back covered in sweat.

  "Ha ha very funny." He replied sarcastically. "How 'bout you try pying that hard under that kind of heat." He removed the sungsses from his eyes. "That's what you get by the way."

  I wiped my hand on my jeans while grinning at him. "Whatever. So hey, don't tell Princess, but I'm running out of here in a few minutes to pick up Raymond. Lily always gets pissed when I don't stay behind to help you guys pack up." I teased.

  "Need to get who? Oh your brother." Shaun trailed off distractedly while checking the area around him. He stood up once he noticed the cooler behind us and grabbed a bottle of water. He took a swig of it and then shrugged at me. "Why don't you just bail like you always do. I don't know why you even bothered telling me this."

  I was ready to say something back but he tossed me a bag of chips and a water bottle as well.

  "Here, try one of these chips. Some vendor outside was passing them out for free and he had all kinds of fvors. I had a few earlier but the dude was still there after the performance. I went ahead and grabbed another handful of them for us."

  I looked over the small pstic green bag in my hand. The weird bck and white text read, "Krispy Krackers." It looked like it was an off brand but when I saw the fvor I practically drooled. "Barbecue Buffalo Chicken? Woah score dude!" I gushed and tore it open. "You know what would go great with these?" I leaned backwards in my chair to grab my dusty brown backpack from next to my guitar. I started digging inside for what I knew could enhance these babies even more.

  When I pulled out my small container of jape?o cheese dipping sauce, I heard Shaun groan. "Sick, I can't believe you still carry that around with you everywhere. They're good without them, you know."

  "Hey, cheese is good in all forms, hot and cold. Don't even get me started on those cheese spray cans. But, there is one that tops them all. Japeno. Cheddar. Cheese." I expined and poured the gooey goodness into the bag.

  I started to tell him all about my love of cheese and how I started making my own dip but was interrupted by Lily stomping into the room. "Oh. Well, I'm surprised you're still here, Sarah Michael Jones."

  I felt my face flush with embarrassment and Shaun, who did a spit take, started ughing hysterically. "Your middle name is Michael? What the hell? Why do you have a boy's middle name?"

  "You!" I shouted, standing from my chair out of rage and pointed at Shaun. "Shut up and mind your business! And you!" I turned my attention to Lily. "What the hell did I say about using my real name? You're supposed to stick to my stage name like we all agreed on!"

  Lily simply looked down at her painted bck nails right in front of me like I was boring her. "Why? It's not like you ever stick to my stage name either and you keep calling me "Princess."

  "That's because you act like a spoiled princess." I rolled my eyes, challenging her. I never meant it but I do enjoy pushing her buttons and seeing how she reacts.

  "What?!" She scoffed and actually stomped one of her ridiculously huge purple wedges on the ground. I held back my ughter and waited for her to continue.

  "You know what? No." She took a breath and then fluffed down the skirt of her bck dress. "I will be the bigger woman here, there is no need for me to stoop down to your level, Sapphire." She said using air quotation marks for my name and one of my giggles managed to escape.

  "What are you guys doing in here anyway?" She asked dryly while shooting me a dirty look. "We need to hurry up and go help my mom start packing the equipment."

  "We were just about to chow down on some of these bad boys." I responded while shaking my cheese sauce inside the bag.

  She made a heaving sound in disgust. "You and that damn cheese."

  "I got a bag of chips for you too if you wanted one Lily." Shaun offered.

  "Ugh, no thanks. Don't tell me you got it from that creepy guy outside did you?"

  "Uh yeah, why?" He asked, raising a brow.

  "It's just...I don't know, that guy seemed so sketchy. My mom said he's been there all day giving out hundreds of those chips. Did anyone even check to see if the guy has a permit to sell? Or if the food is even safe?"

  "There's nothing wrong with them Lily, they're delicious. I already had four of them." Shaun ughed as he opened up his fifth. "You're just exaggerating."

  Lily made a face. "Whatever, you guys just hurry up so you can help me finish putting everything away and then we can go home."

  "About that..." I chimed in.

  She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "What do you want now Sarah?"

  "So, hear me out. I forgot my little brother stayed behind after school today for tutoring, and if it wasn't for your little "encore" that you made us do, we all could have been packed up and going home by now. But now I'm running te to get him. Thanks to you." I finished and smirked at her.

  "Wha-?!" She excimed, her eyes going wide but then she waved me off. "Oh whatever. What else is new? Go then."

  Trying hard to suppress myself from ughing, I pretended to curtsey. "Oh thank you my Princess. You're too kind."

  Shaun appreciated my joke by letting out another chuckle but I received a hard kick in the ass from Lily.