DISCLAIMER: This is story is a work of fiction and in no way is meant to apply anything about the sexuality of Lance Bass or any other celebrities in the story. I don't know them and don't know any one that does. Also, if you are not of legal age in your area to read stories of this theme, or do not enjoy/are offended by stories that contain gay relationships/ sex, then please find something else to read. The author takes no responsibility for any one who reads this.
When It's Over - Part 1
It was another award show, none of them could remember which one anymore. In the past year they had played or attended all of them, and now they all ran together, a blurred memory. Tonight they were supposed to play their latest single, some hard punk tune with a catchy chorus about being an awkward teenager that the drummer wrote. They had only put it on the album when they realized it was the only song he had written that was even being considered by the rest of the band.
In the past year they had been yanked out of the fun punk scene in Kentucky that had pushed them. Some choices had been made, some calls place, and they were on the road. They went right into a small tour to get some offers. Nobody in the band had ever expected them to get an offer, let alone make an album. But they did, and it started to sell. A small stint on Ozzfest had won them a small group of fans, a couple even managed to follow them around, though the group never knew why. They had always just seen themselves as weekend musicians, playing when the real lives got hard.
Now they were about to go out on stage a play for hundreds of the real musicians and industry insiders, and on network television for the whole world, and things could be going better. Jody wasn't having a good month. Being the lead singer he got all the attention, good and bad. He was the one the fans recognized and the one the critics belittled at every turn. And to be honest he was feeling a little lonely.
The rest of the band had all gotten to be good friends over the years and were now thoroughly enjoying the time on the road, being young and unpredictable. But Jody had gone through that. He had partied in high school and parts of college, and what he had been looking for had been a normal life with some music in it, and he had gotten a year either in the studio or on the road. He could hear the announcer letting the audience know they were coming back from commercial. The guest host, some kid from a bad teen summer comedy, was introducing them when he stopped the rest of the band.
"You guys up for an impromptu performance?" He questioned not really looking at them.
"Oh Jesus, what did you have planned, Jode?" Brad the drummer with the bad taste in music asked. Jody immediately cringed hearing the nickname a boss at work had placed on him sometime earlier.
"I'm not exactly in the mood for something so..." Jody started looking for the right word.
"Poppy?" Jeremy asked while playing with the string on his bass guitar.
"Yeah. How about 'Vacant'*, that one feels good." Jody said, being somewhat vacant himself.
"You know, I doubt they want us to play a cover at an awards show..." Brad chimed in, obviously proud that his song was their big hit and wanting to perform it. But then thinking better of pissing off Jody before going on stage, and he simply shook his head with the rest of the band.
So they went out. The lights were horrible and a film of sweat covered Jody's tired body before he managed to get to the mic. He seemed a little bored with the whole thing to the rest of the band, but no one in the audience seemed to mind.
"I know we should probably play the hit the radio's have been playing, what's it called? Oh yeah, "Oh Well" or something like that." He started, trying his best at humor, but the crowd seemed a little disheartened that the band wouldn't play the hit. "But, we like to break the rules, so we are going to play a song very near and dear to my heart, it's a cover of a cover." And with that the familiar bass line started and Jody knew he could at least vent some tension with this song, even if the original singer was out in the crowd, making him just that much more nervous.
"Dead as Dead can be."
Jody started to sing the words. Jeremy noticed for the first time that the beginning of this song was like the person in shock after finding out how horrible a person they were in love with, like when you find out your girl has been sleeping around, that initial shock. But at the same time, it was almost like Jody was lashing out at the industry, the same on that had made them money, made them famous, as he sang he looked out over them, his eyes full of what could best be described as an apathetic hate, a hate he didn't feel was important enough for this.
"From what the doctor tells me But I just can't believe him Prefer the optimistic one I'm sure of your ability to become my perfect enemy
Wake up to face me rise up and show me someday I'll say you're vacant and maybe you're better off this way
Leaning over you here cold and catatonic I catch a brief reflection of what you could and might have been It's your right and your ability ... My perfect enemy"
The band could feel the tension coming from the front of the satge wear Jody was pacing nervously, they knew right then and there that this performance was either going to make or break their entire career. The entire crowd was being to get nervous, too. They could tell Jody was about let loose of something he was holding in, but none of them knew whether it would be good or bad. Suddenly the tempo picked back up and Jody was singing much louder, if you didn't know better you would think this was the end of the song, but Jody had other plans.
"Wake up again to face me rise up and show me Someday I'll say you're vacant and maybe you're better off this way"
The temp slowed a bit as Jody began to lightly chant the phrase over and over again, the band waited for their cue to back into the heavier riffs, but i never seem to come, instead Jody was almost whispering into the mic at this point.
"Maybe you're better off this way People better off this way You're better off this way You're better off this You're better off this"
The crowd was leaned forward in the chairs waiting for something, anything, an end, an explosion, pretty much anything. Then suddenly, as if he just remembered Jody started to bounce to the slow beat of the music. The band had barely picked up on the cue when Jody slightly turned and made a small gesture with his hand, telling the band to pick up the pace some.
The crowd seemed to tense, and then it just exploded out of the band.
"Maybe you're better off Wake up again to face me, come on and Rise up, why can't you show me show me Some day I'll say you're vacant and maybe you're better off this way"
The tone in Jody's voice almost seemed to accuse the entire crowd of being the worst person he had ever met, and was convincing enough that they almost believed him. He held nothing back from them, he threw out every bit of tension and pain he had ever felt, put everything he had out there to them, and dared them to do anything at all.
"Go ahead and face it I know that you can hear this Go ahead and face it I know that you can hear me Why can't you turn and face me Why can't you turn and face me Why can't you turn and face me"
By the ending lines, he was literally screaming at them. The everyone knew, that something has just happened, but no one was sure what. But, Jody did. He had made his decision, he wasn't going to hold back anymore, everything was coming out now. Everything he had ever seen, felt, heard, or touched. Every memory, emotion, every prick of pain, he was gonna share with them, anyone who would listen. But he wondered if anyone else would follow, would understand, and whether the band would stand behind him, or find some one else.
"You fucking disappoint me"
With those words it felt like the entire world stopped. No one could believe hat had come out of his mouth, except him. Even the band had never realized he would scream those words, while staring directly into the eyes of the man who gave them their start, the manager that had pulled them out of that horrid punk scene that created them. But Jody could, he felt the winds of change sweep across him. Then the applause started, and he was surprised to see Madonna, of all people, was the only standing and clapping, she seemed quite proud of this little band that had just blown away the entire crowd, and seemed to ruin all the fun for the execs and pop groups that were there to have fun.
When they walked off stage the crowd was clapping and yelling, but the look of shock on their faces told the truth. Nobody expected a band to just go out there and take out everything on the crowd. The smile on Maynard James Keenan's face was enough to make Jody happy. Walking backstage he saw NSYNC preparing for their performance, which would be in the next segment of the show. They all looked shocked at what just happened on the stage but were doing their best to seem nice and congratulatory. The rest of the band walked on by them just lightly smiling but when Jody tried to walk by he was stopped by the young cute one all the girls wanted.
"Dude, where did you learn to sing like that?" He asked, Justin, yeah that was his name.
"A nervous breakdown." Jody stated simply and walked past him towards the dressing room so he could change and go back to the hotel.
The next morning Jody was trying his best to sleep off the last year when his phone rang. He was dead to the world but that irritating sound wouldn't leave him alone.
"Some one better be dead." Jody said flatly into the phone.
"Excuse me?" A confused and almost meek voice came through the headset. It was deep and sounded almost soothing to Jody's still throbbing head.
"Either you calling because someone I care about died, or I am not really in the mood to talk to you." Jody replied, still somewhat off because of that voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a bad time, should I call back?" The voice asked, still somewhat uncertain.
"Uhmm... Do I know you?" Jody asked, still trying to figure out who the hell interrupted his sleep.
"We kinda met last night, well you met Justin...." The man on the other end replied, sounding, again, uncertain.
"Well, a name might help, let's try again, my name is Jody, and you are...."
"Lance, Lance Bass. I, uhmm, saw your performance last night and was very impressed. I don't think I have ever seen some one be so emotionally honest on stage before, and I was just wondering if I could talk to you, I mean, I dunno, I just wanted to meet the guy who managed to insult the entire industry and make them fall in love with you at the same time..." Lance stopped when he heard Jody laughing on the other end and realized he was rambling on about nothing. "I'm sorry, I do that when I'm nervous."
"That's ok, that was actually the best thing to happen to me in like the last month. Your funny." Jody replied as he calmed down. "And don't be nervous, I am normally a somewhat nice guy."
"Thanks, I just kinda feel stupid...." Lance said.
"Nah, I figured you were some weird ass fan, that's all. So you wanna meet me huh? I must be moving up in the world, one of THE princes of pop, wants to meet ME." Jody said, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"Uhmm... yeah... I mean.... uh... damn." Lance stuttered out, not knowing what to say to Jody.
"Well, I tell you what, I will leave a message with one of my bodyguards that you are to be let on the floor, 15th of the Marriott, and if your not Lance Bass, you just won't be let up, how about that?" Jody said, still thinking this would be a fan.
"Thanks." Lance said a little eagerly. "I mean, uhmm, thanks. When should I come over? About half an hour?"
"Sure. See ya' then." Jody said and hung up. He heard him saying something but really didn't care, he needed to get up anyway, he had to do something today, if he slept all day, then on the bus he would be awake while everyone else dozed.
Exactly half and hour later, as Jody was getting dressed after a very hot shower, there was knock at the door. Jody promptly walked over and opened it, expecting it to be a member of the band, having completely forgotten about the "fan". There, standing in the hall, was Lance Bass from NSYNC. And he looked nervous.
"I take it the phone call wasn't a joke." Jody said dryly, still somewhat shocked that a boy band member was at the door of his hotel room.
"Uhmm.. No. Mind if I come in?" Lance asked, turning slightly red when he noticed Jody's gaze had never left him.
"Sure come on in..."
Jody let Lance in and showed him to one of the couches in his somewhat nice hotel room. He was almost embarrassed as he was sure NSYNC was staying somewhere much more elegant. There was some awkward conversation at first, but the quickly fell into a relaxed dialogue once music became the topic. They argued over the impending downfall of pop, discussed The Beatles, whom they both adored, and Lance was amazed by the fact that Jody was a huge Janet Jackson fan.
"Yeah, I love rock and relate to all the themes of self loathing and anger that run through it, but sometimes, you just gotta forget it and have some fun." Jody said to a still shocked Lance.
"You do realize there are a lot of fans that would be rather upset if they knew that. I mean, you just broke all the stereotypes of the head banger that hates everything not metal. Aren't you supposed to be suicidal, too?" Lance laughed.
"Well, I never really fit any of those stereotypes. I mean I did the drug and alcohol thing, but found that I preferred life through my own eyes.... I like all kinds of music, though I do love rock... There isn't that much I hate anymore. I tend to believe I am little more mature than that." Jody said while mindlessly playing the with frayed legs of his jeans. For some reason he realized he had never put on a shirt after Lance interrupted his dressing and suddenly felt very self conscience. He hopped up and pulled on a t-shirt that looked like it had lived through WW II, though barely.
"Yeah, well, those stereotypes and preconceptions are what keep the fans happy." Lance said, not really even noticing that Jody had suddenly decided he needed a shirt, though was rather disappointed.
"True." Jody stated simply as he moved about the room, little straightening up and looking for his wallet.
"But, I guess all the women you meet at all those concerts must be a plus, most of the ones at ours are either 12 or the mother of a 12 year old." Lance laughed, poking fun at his own career.
"The guys seem to enjoy it, I don't normally care that much, not that interested." Jody said finding his wallet and jumping back onto the chair opposite Lance.
"With someone?"
"No. Just not interested in them." Jody, wondering if Lance was going to push this any farther.
"Gay?" Lance said, not even batting an eye. This, oddly enough, was when Jody noticed how cute he really was. The spikey blonde hair was a little to trendy, but the green eyes and handsome face were right in line with Jody's taste.
"Well, yeah." Jody said, trying to seem as casual about it as possible, and why the hell did Lance care?
"Thought so."
There it is. The first chapter of the first story I ever wrote for anything other than school. The song 'Vacant' is part of the Tapeworm Project. For more information see www.9inchnails.net and look for tapeworm. A Perfect Circle covered it on their North America Headliner tour. The lead singer of APC and Tool is Maynard James Keenan, hell of a singer, and he did the vocals for the song with Tapeworm. I did not write that song nor I am trying to infringe any copyright Laws. It belongs to whoever owns it.
Feedback would be nice. Without it I dunno if I will continue :) downlikeastone@msn.com.