August 16, 2011
"Whoo! We made it to the next round! Only 1024 bands left in the competition. Who are we against?" Gisella asked, looking over Ivanna's shoulder.
"It looks like some kind of country band known as Truck Yeah," Ivanna stated, spinning around in the swivel chair at Larissa's desk, "Thankfully, we don't need to write another song." Ivanna shook the packet of paper that held their next song. Gisella sighed and sat down on Larissa's bed.
"I guess we got quite a bit of time before Larissa gets off work. I think if we record and upload the song very early this round, we could increase our fan base even more and pull ahead in the tournament even more."
Ivanna nodded in agreement and picked up her guitar. She took her guitar pick from the desk and strummed across the strings, letting the E chord resonance throughout the house. "So, got any ideas for next round's song?"
Gisella tilted her head and pondered. She shook her head a few seconds later, "No, nothing."
Ivanna sighed while Gisella rubbed her leg brace. "Hmm, I wonder if Larissa has anything." Ivanna strummed some more chords, but it just sounded like discord. She shook her head and set her guitar down on the floor.
"Well, what do you want to do? We can't record without Larissa here anyways," Gisella said, setting her bass guitar on the floor. She laid back on Larissa's bed, starting at the plain white ceiling. Larissa's room wasn't particularly too small, nor was it too large. All four walls were a very light violet shade with very little on the walls. In fact, the only removable item on the walls was Larissa's certificate from a small cooking competition she competed in three years ago. Larissa had it hanging above her bed, which was situated right next to a window. To the left of a person sitting in or on the bed was the desk that housed Larissa's computer. It wasn't anything fancy, but it worked well enough.
"Not sure. I was thinking about going out for a nice walk. It's a lovely day today," Ivanna said, stretching while the sunlight shone through the window. She picked up her guitar and set it in a rest. Ivanna grabbed her jacket from the swivel chair, shook it, and put it on. "You going to come along?"
Gisella nodded and put her bass guitar on Larissa's bed. She grabbed her own jacket and followed Ivanna out the front door, waiting patiently as Ivanna locked it. Ivanna put the key in her jacket pocket and took point, Gisella following shortly behind her. The ground was damp from a rain storm that had recently blow through the area less than an hour ago, yet the sun was shining now with only a few clouds in the sky. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, softly rustling the two girls' jackets. Their sneakers squished as puddles sat on the sidewalk, some off to the side, others directly in their path. There weren't any cars along the road, but there were rarely any on their road besides Larissa's. Gisella didn't own a car and Ivanna's had been broken for the past five years. Ivanna never bothered to get it fixed, since everything was in walking distance. Their small little community wasn't entirely isolated from the rest of Utah, but there wasn't anything besides the Five Point Dine to be of any interest during the summers. There were a few kids who visited and did work at Globellum U, but other than that, there wasn't much in the small town. That fact didn't bother anyone who lived in their small town, except for one person.
"Hey losers!" shouted a voice from an approaching car. The vehicle skidded into a puddle, splashing Ivanna and Gisella. Ivanna shielded her torso from the wave with her jacket while Gisella protected her leg brace. The window of the car rolled down to reveal light cherry blonde hair. "What are a couple of suckers like you two doing walking?"
"Umm, walking," Ivanna replied, not letting any sign of a temper let itself be known.
"Ha! What? You two heading to the Five Point Dine?" Rosa asked, lifting her gold-rimmed sunglasses from her face.
"So what if we are?" Gisella asked.
"Need a lift? I think we have room back here with all this cash to fit an extra two cents."
"We'd rather walk," Ivanna sternly said.
Rosa smirked and put her window back up. "Suit yourselves!"
August 23, 2011
"Ivanna should be finished uploading our song soon," Gisella said, sipping a glass of Caribbean Splash. She rested her bad leg on another bar stool and rubbed her brace.
"I can't wait to see the number of votes on this one, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife around and slightly dancing. She hummed the song they were going to submit for this round, "Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine." It was a very peppy song, with a soft reggae feel to it in the drums. Larissa softly beat a bit of the song on her grill as she cooked some shrimp for a customer. Gisella couldn't help but hum along, softly patting the counter with her part of the song.
"Hey, that's a pretty catchy song you got there," said the woman who had ordered the shrimp, "You two in a band?"
"Yeah," Gisella said, turning to the woman, "we're in the Battle of the Bands."
"Really? What band?" the woman asked, sipping her own glass of Caribbean Splash.
"The Bad Good Girls, mon," Larissa answered, squirting some lemon onto the shrimp and twirling her knife in the air, "You heard of us?" Larissa twirled her knife near her face and kissed the spine of the it.
"No way! You two are the Bad Good Girls!?" the woman asked in shock and surprise, but in a joyous fashion.
Gisella nodded and sipped a bit of Caribbean Splash. "Well, kind of. There's one more person to our group. Her name is Ivanna Gouss. She's the guitarist of the group." Gisella could see Larissa smiling wide out of the corner of her eyes.
"That's incredible! I love your song, 'Bring on the Band!' It's such an amazing song!" the woman complimented as Larissa handed her her order. She thanked Larissa and turned back to Gisella, "You have such a wonderful singing voice." Gisella blushed a little and Larissa let out a chuckle.
"Oh, it's not that wonderful," Gisella stammered.
"Yes it is. Oh! My apologizes! I never introduced myself! My name is Naomi." The woman extended her arm to shake Gisella's hand, her brown bangles jangling as they made contact with each other.
Gisella smiled and shook Naomi's hand, "Allow me to formally introduce us. I am Gisella Rumanti, the vocals, and this is Larissa Aldenta, the drummer for the Bad Good Girls."
"It's a pleasure to meet a fan, mon," Larissa said, preparing some vegetables for another customer who had just ordered.
Naomi smiled and continued to eat her shrimp. "Wow! This is incredible, Larissa! You're quite the chef."
"Thanks, mon. Been cooking nearly all my life," Larissa said, juggling three potatoes with one hand and peeling them with her knife held with her other hand. The other customer and Naomi gave her a round of applause as the peeled potatoes landed on the grill where Larissa wanted them to.
"So, and I hope you don't mind me being a little nosy, what do you two call that song you were playing a few minutes ago?" Naomi asked, drinking more Caribbean Splash.
"Well, Ivanna should be uploading the song soon, so no real harm. We call it 'Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine.' What do you think of the title?" Gisella asked, resting her head on her hand and her elbow on the counter.
"I like it. I can't wait to hear it," Naomi said, finishing her meal. She swished her Caribbean Splash around in the glass before drinking some more. "I would love to know what is in this."
"A lot of people would, mon. It's my own signature creation," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She brought it up to her face again and kissed the spine of the blade. "But, I'll never tell."
Naomi laughed, "Well, everyone has to have their secrets. Thank you for the lovely meal, Larissa. I look forward to seeing your song online."
August 24, 2011
"Ugh, look at this schedule!" Gisella exclaimed, holding a piece of paper in her hand. She flopped onto her couch and sighed. "How am I going to make time for the Bad Good Girls with this!? Not only this, but we have to go amp vs amp against Truck Yeah!"
Ivanna sat on the carpet in Gisella's living room and held her own schedule. "This is definitely going to put a kink in our work. I don't know how Larissa managed to juggle both work and school in the first place. I guess she's going to be a lot less active now."
"At least Larissa can work on her final college year while at work," Gisella stated, a bit of complain filling her voice, "Why does coaching have to have such a demanding schedule?" Ivanna shrugged and leaned back on her arms. She stared at her paper for a few minutes, but then started folding the paper into a paper airplane. Ivanna tossed it in the air, watching as it twirled, only to be caught a few moments after by the ceiling fan. "Lucky you and that photographic memory of yours," Gisella complained.
"I can't help that's the way I was born," Ivanna replied, smiling. She stretched and watched as her paper airplane loosened itself from the ceiling fan and gently floated downward. "It really helps when I have to keep track of all the political terms and rules."
"Yeah, I can see that how that comes in handy," Gisella said, tossing her paper on the ground.
Ivanna stood up and stretch. She walked off to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She got herself a glass of apple juice and returned to the living room. "Your grandfather left you a very nice house."
Gisella sighed and turned to a framed picture of her grandfather that hung on the wall to Gisella's left. The picture was taken when Gisella was only five. The gray hair gently flowed down his face onto Gisella's shoulder, contrasting Gisella's burnt umber hair. The picture was taken around the spring time, so the meadow and flowers were in full bloom. "Yeah, he was a great man."
Ivanna looked down at her drink, then to Gisella. "I know the loss was hard on you, Gisella. If you want to talk about it, I c-."
"Ivanna, it's alright," Gisella said, "It's been two years since he's died. I'm pretty sure I'm over my mourning period." Gisella assured her friend, but Ivanna could see a tear beginning to form.
"You know you can talk about that stuff, Gisella. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you," Ivanna said, letting a tear roll down her cheek. She brushed it aside and continued smiling. Gisella knew that Ivanna always put on a brave face, but she could see cracks in Ivanna's mask. Ivanna had lost both of her parents in a recent car accident.
Her parents and she were driving on a vacation to the Grand Canyon in a blue British car five years ago. The sky was blue and school had just let out for the summer. Ivanna had already said her goodbyes to Larissa and Gisella and was relaxing in the back seat, headphones in and listening to some smooth rock. Her mother was in the passenger front seat on the left trying to read a map while her father sat on the right, driving and listening to Ivanna's mother talk. Ivanna had brought her blue jacket along, but had shed it an hour earlier due to the heat. She could feel sleep slowly tugging at her eyes, so she crumbled up her jacket into a make-shift pillow and tried to fall asleep. It was a bit hard because of the poor condition of the road, but eventually, she managed to fall asleep. Time became lost to Ivanna as she dreamed of pursuing her political ambitions to make the world a better place. She would be her own ambassador, be the greatest diplomat ever, solve the problems from around the world! Nothing and no one could get in her-.
Her peaceful dream was interrupted as she was jarred awake by the piercing sound of squealing brakes and the sickening sound of ripping metal. Ivanna was only awake for a brief second, the image before her burned into her mind forever. The car was tilted to the left and both of her parents were both experiencing the effect of the crash, being tossed in the air like a rag doll. Ivanna felt an intense pain in her right side, but didn't know the cause at the time. The opposing car, driven by some drunk driver, had rammed into the right side of the vehicle. Ivanna saw the windshield shatter into pieces and glass begin to fly everywhere. The pain in her side overtook her and she lost consciousness.
Ivanna's mask broke and she held her head in anguish. She screamed into the floor and felt her face get flustered. She took deep breaths as Gisella rushed over to her.
"Ivanna! Relax, I'm here. You're in my house. Come back to reality."
September 5, 2011
"Ugh, today just sucked," Gisella complained, sipping down a glass of Caribbean Splash, "First, I lose my way to class, then Rosa decides it would be so fun to hit me with a mashed potato in the back of the head, and to top it all off, my leg's been hurting even worse today." Gisella rubbed her leg and sighed.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, mon. Today was pretty brutal on me too. Apparently there's a proper way to slice a carrot," Larissa said, being more cautious this time while she cooked, "This new professor of mine really knows how to grind my gears."
"I can only imagine how hard it is for you two," Ivanna said, sipping her glass of Caribbean Splash, "Well, I for one think your cooking is flawless the way it is, Larissa."
Larissa smiled and twirled her knife, kissing the spine of it. "I only got one more year of this, then it's just cooking and cooking from here on out, mon."
Gisella sighed and drank some more Caribbean Splash. "I haven't even had any time to practice my part in the song."
"Yeah, I've never performed live on stage before, mon," Larissa said, trying to play her part on the her grill with her knife. She hummed her beat while Gisella softly hummed the words. Ivanna patted on the counter with her part and hummed along.
"Well, it's certainly going to be interesting. We have nine days to practice anyways," Ivanna pointed out, still humming along, "We have the song already written and we know are parts, for the most part anyways. We should be fine."
"Oh great," Gisella sighed, "the princess is here." Walking towards the three of them was that easily recognizable light cherry blonde hair.
"You three should be happy I bother to grace you with my presence." Rosa said, her designer purse swaying at her side.
Ivanna rolled her eyes and drank some more Caribbean Splash. "What do you want this time, Rosa?"
"Why do you three always assume that I want something?" Rosa asked, crossing her arms.
"True girls. What could we possibly have to offer to the girl who gets anything?" Gisella snarked. Ivanna and Larissa chuckled as Rosa's face got a tiny bit red.
"Hey! I deserve to be treated with respect!" Rosa nearly shouted.
"Oh? The same way that you DON'T treat us with respect?" Gisella said, glaring at Rosa.
"Well..." Rosa stammered, unable to form a coherent phrase.
"We're not about to treat you with any sort of respect until you earn it, you got it?" This time, it was Ivanna that spoke. She spoke with such determination and unwavering courage that Rosa's face turned beet red.
"Hmph!" Rosa grunted and took a seat at the other grill on the island.
Larissa couldn't contain her laughter anymore and hit her knife on the grill as she laughed. "Ah, that little princess should know by now not to mess with us, mon."
September 14, 2011 6:58 PM
"Ugh, I still never understood how it can go from blazing hot to freezing in a manner of seconds, mon," Larissa complained, huddling herself in a crimson jacket. The wind blew gently, carrying a fierce fall chill with it. She may have lived in America for seventeen years, but she still had the body and cold tolerance of a Jamaican. Larissa shivered and held her lucky drumsticks close to her body.
"Don't worry Larissa. We're soon at the concert building. Just a few more minutes," Ivanna said, completely tolerant to the wind and letting her open jacket flutter as she walked. She did tighten her grip on her guitar's carrying case as they walked.
"How does this chill not bother you, Ivanna?" Gisella asked, clutching her bass guitar's case, "I've lived here all my life and I still have yet to get used to this."
Ivanna shrugged and kept walking. "I guess it kind of helps that my parents and their ancestors lived in Alaska for most of their life. I guess I just inherited weather tolerant genes." Ivanna's parents had, in fact, lived in Alaska for most of their life. Her grandparents and her relatives before them all lived in Alaska. Ivanna herself, however, was born in Utah. Her parents had moved to Utah because her father had a job transfer. Before long, Ivanna was born and the family decided to stay in Utah.
"Finally, we're here, mon!" Larissa exclaimed between her chattering teeth. The building was a large and black with white columns at the entrances. The roof was topped with a jade green dome. Musical notes and scores painted in white were spread all around, some on the building itself and others on the ground in the lawn. Many different types of concerts were held at this place, such as orchestra performances or, as in today's case, amp vs amp battles. It was only 7 o' clock and the sun had already set, stars dotting the brilliant night sky. Cars filled the parking lot to the brim, which is why the girls decided to walk instead of drive.
"Wait up!" Gisella exclaimed as Larissa dashed into the building, Ivanna following behind at her own pace and chuckling. The inside of the building was white marble floors and columns. Banners span from the ceiling to the floor and posters were posted all over the walls. People were all over the inside, admiring the architecture and trying to find their group mates to get good seats. Ivanna finally caught up to Larissa and Gisella, who were standing near the entrance.
"Wow, this place certainly has changed since I was last here, mon," Larissa stated, twirling around, trying to get a good look at everything.
"How long has it been since you were last here?" Gisella asked.
"About when I was seven when I snuck in here through the air vents, mon," Larissa said, pointing to an air duct that ran through the entire building, "Security eventually caught me." Ivanna chuckled and led the girls to back stage.
"Sorry, this area is off-limits to visitors," said a security guard when the three girls approached him.
"We aren't visitors, we are performing today. We're the Bad Good Girls," Gisella stated, placing on hand on her hip.
"Do you have your Band Pass?" the security guard asked.
Gisella and Larissa both blinked in surprise. "What's a Band Pass, mon?"
"A Band Pass is a a special pass given to the bands who are scheduled to perform here. If you don't have it, I can't let you through," the security guard explained.
Gisella and Lariss both frantically searched their pockets, but came up empty handed. "Argh! I wasn't told of this!" Gisella exclaimed.
Ivanna smirked and reached into her own jacket pocket. She pulled out a laminated card and showed it to the security guard, "I believe this is what you are looking for." The security guard nodded and let the three of them pass.
"Oh Ivanna, what would we do without you?" Gisella said, setting her bass guitar case down once they got into their assigned green room.
"Where'd you get that card, mon?" Larissa asked, twirling her drum sticks.
"I got it in the mail. I guess I should have told you two that I kind of registered myself as the band leader," Ivanna said, handing the card to Gisella, "Here, you hold onto it."
"What?" Gisella asked, holding onto the card, "Why me?"
"Well, you are the lead vocalist AND this was all your idea. If anyone deserves the title of Band Leader, it should be you," Ivanna explained, taking her guitar out of the case. She tuned the strings and strummed a few notes to make sure everything was tuned right.
"I wonder how the drums sound here, mon," Larissa asked to neither girl in particular.
"So, when do we go on stage?" Gisella asked.
Ivanna walked over to a piece of paper hanging up on the wall. "It looks like we're on after this current amp vs amp."
"Who's on now?"
"It looks like Tiger Soul and Sandstream."
"There certainly are some strange band names in this competition, mon."
September 14, 2011 7:20 PM
"Alright! Our winner everybody, Sandstream with their song, 'Rude Dog'!" shouted the announcer, extending his arm out to the left towards Sandstream, "It's been great to have you here, Tiger Soul, but we're sorry to say that you won't be moving on."
"It's alright. We had fun and Sanstream definitely deserves to move on. Good luck you guys!" said the leader of Tiger Soul and both bands picked up their equipment and left the stage.
"Stay tuned folks! Next up, we have the all girl band, the Bad Good Girls, going against the rising country stars, Truck Yeah!" the announcer announced into his microphone, "But first, we'll take a brief ten minute intermission." With that, the lights on the stage dimmed and the crowd exited to the concessions and to use the restroom.
"Man, that was some brutal amp vs amp battle," Ivanna said from the green room, watching the battle on the TV.
"Yeah, even I didn't know who would have won in the end, mon," said Larissa, standing next to Ivanna, "Think we're even ready to go on stage at all?"
Ivanna sighed and turned to Larissa. "I don't know. I wasn't nervous before, but now..." Larissa nodded and turned back to the TV, nervously twirling her drum sticks.
"Hey!" shouted Gisella from behind the two of them, laying on the couch with her bad leg propped up on a coffee table, "What kind of attitude is that? We're the Bad Good Girls!"
"I don't know, Gisella," Ivanna said, turning to face her, "We haven't really had too much practice an-"
"Come on now! That's no winning attitude! Eyes on the prize girls! Let's go all the way to victory!" Gisella exuberantly nearly shouted.
"Gisella's right, mon! I know I ain't going down without a fight!" Larissa said, making a fist with her free hand.
Ivanna chuckled and made a fist with Larissa. "Yeah! Let's do our best girls!"
"Ahem," cleared the throat of a security guard who had just entered the green room, "Bad Good Girls, onto the stage please to make sure everything is to your liking." The three girls nodded and followed the security guard after grabbing their equipment. The security guard brought them to a large wooden circle on the ground with a drum set and three microphones, one of which was attached to the drum set. Behind the circle was a large semicircle shaped wall. "Please make sure everything is to your liking."
Larissa took her position at the drums and adjusted the seat and microphone to fit her amazonian height. She twirled her drumsticks in her hands and started to drum a beat. Ivanna strummed on her guitar while Gisella took out her bass guitar. Gisella joined and the three of them started to get into their song until Ivanna cut them off. "It's perfect," she told the guard. The guard saluted and left.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted the voice of the announcer. The girls could hear him from the other side of the semi-circle wall. "Welcome back to the September round of Amp vs Amp battles!" A crowd cheered until the announcer calmed them down. "This is the third battle of the night. To my left will be the Bad Good Girls and to my right will be Truck Yeah!" As if cued, the wooden circle the girls were standing on and the wall turned around, revealing them to the crowd. The bright lights forced them to squint their eyes, but they eventually adjusted.
Across from them was a young woman and three other men. One of them was on the drums while another was at the microphone with no instrument. The woman held an acoustic bass guitar in her hands while the last man had what looked like a custom made banjo. All four of them were wearing plaid clothes, boots, and western hats. The lady and the man at the microphone both had a vest that a cowboy would wear while the other two men had handkerchiefs wrapped around their necks.
"Let the Amp vs Amp Battle begin!"
September 14, 2011 7:45 PM
"The votes have been tallied. The winner of this Amp vs Amp is..." the announcer said, letting the tension rise as the crowd grew silent. Both bands have given an outstanding performance, so both bands were nervous about who would win. Larissa, Ivanna, and Gisella waited in silence, as did the members of Truck Yeah. "...The Bad Good Girls with their song, 'Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine'!" The round of applause came from the crowd as both bands bowed their heads to each other.
"We put up a good fight, but we'll admit when we've been beaten. Bad Good Girls, keep on performing!" said the vocalist of Truck Yeah.
"Thanks! You were great to play against as well," Gisella replied.
"Good luck in the tournament." With that, Truck Yeah picked up their things and left the stage.
"Up next, we have the Penguin Knights vs Keystorm in our next amp vs amp battle!" the announcer shouted as the girls left the stage as well. They passed by Keystorm approaching their side of the stage.
"Hey, good luck," Ivanna said to them.
"Thanks. You girls were pretty good too, but don't think that's going to deter us if we go head to head in the tournament in the future," said one of the members carrying a large synthesizer.
"We expect it, mon," Larissa said and the two bands waved good bye to each other.
"So, I guess we better be heading home, unless either of you two wants to stay," Gisella said while she put her bass guitar back in its case back in the green room.
Larissa's eyes widened and she clutched her jacket tight. "What? Out there?" she stammered, "With how cold it is?"
Ivanna chuckled and shut the latches on her guitar case. "I'll loan you my jacket, Larissa."
"Oh, I couldn't, mon," Larissa politely decline. Ivanna shrugged and picked up her case.
"Well, I'm going to head home. Catch you two tomorrow," Gisella said, ready to leave when Larissa quickly ran up to her.
"Umm...Mind shielding me from the wind, mon?" Larissa asked timidly.
Ivanna chuckled and joined them. "Alright, we'll all leave together then." With that, the three of them walked out in a group, Larissa in the middle trying to avoid as much wind as possible. "It shouldn't really be too long, and the wind has died down anyways."
As they exited the building, a brilliant flash of light filled their view. They shielded their eyes, but heard the clamor of a crowd. They slowly opened their eyes and blinked repeatedly to look through the wall of flashing lights before them. Soon, figures started to form and the voices became clearer. It was a crowd of reporters and photographers that were lined up to take pictures, get interviews and statements, and recieve autographs. Ivanna chuckled, Gisella smiled, and Larissa grinned at the sight. They were on their way to becoming famous. The three of them walked down the path set by barriers to keep the news people from the band members. They signed some pictures that people from the crowd had taken of the Bad Good Girls performing.
"Umm," stammered a young woman near the middle of the path, "Are you part of the Good Bad Girls?"
"The Bad Good Girls," Ivanna said, correcting the woman, "and yes, I am."
"Then... Die!" The woman pulled out a gun and a shot rang through the air. A scream echoed through the air as everyone started to run. A security guard tackled the assailant and quickly disarmed her. Ivanna gasped and slowly fell to her knees as Larissa and Gisella both rushed to her side.
"IVANNA!"
"Whoo! We made it to the next round! Only 1024 bands left in the competition. Who are we against?" Gisella asked, looking over Ivanna's shoulder.
"It looks like some kind of country band known as Truck Yeah," Ivanna stated, spinning around in the swivel chair at Larissa's desk, "Thankfully, we don't need to write another song." Ivanna shook the packet of paper that held their next song. Gisella sighed and sat down on Larissa's bed.
"I guess we got quite a bit of time before Larissa gets off work. I think if we record and upload the song very early this round, we could increase our fan base even more and pull ahead in the tournament even more."
Ivanna nodded in agreement and picked up her guitar. She took her guitar pick from the desk and strummed across the strings, letting the E chord resonance throughout the house. "So, got any ideas for next round's song?"
Gisella tilted her head and pondered. She shook her head a few seconds later, "No, nothing."
Ivanna sighed while Gisella rubbed her leg brace. "Hmm, I wonder if Larissa has anything." Ivanna strummed some more chords, but it just sounded like discord. She shook her head and set her guitar down on the floor.
"Well, what do you want to do? We can't record without Larissa here anyways," Gisella said, setting her bass guitar on the floor. She laid back on Larissa's bed, starting at the plain white ceiling. Larissa's room wasn't particularly too small, nor was it too large. All four walls were a very light violet shade with very little on the walls. In fact, the only removable item on the walls was Larissa's certificate from a small cooking competition she competed in three years ago. Larissa had it hanging above her bed, which was situated right next to a window. To the left of a person sitting in or on the bed was the desk that housed Larissa's computer. It wasn't anything fancy, but it worked well enough.
"Not sure. I was thinking about going out for a nice walk. It's a lovely day today," Ivanna said, stretching while the sunlight shone through the window. She picked up her guitar and set it in a rest. Ivanna grabbed her jacket from the swivel chair, shook it, and put it on. "You going to come along?"
Gisella nodded and put her bass guitar on Larissa's bed. She grabbed her own jacket and followed Ivanna out the front door, waiting patiently as Ivanna locked it. Ivanna put the key in her jacket pocket and took point, Gisella following shortly behind her. The ground was damp from a rain storm that had recently blow through the area less than an hour ago, yet the sun was shining now with only a few clouds in the sky. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, softly rustling the two girls' jackets. Their sneakers squished as puddles sat on the sidewalk, some off to the side, others directly in their path. There weren't any cars along the road, but there were rarely any on their road besides Larissa's. Gisella didn't own a car and Ivanna's had been broken for the past five years. Ivanna never bothered to get it fixed, since everything was in walking distance. Their small little community wasn't entirely isolated from the rest of Utah, but there wasn't anything besides the Five Point Dine to be of any interest during the summers. There were a few kids who visited and did work at Globellum U, but other than that, there wasn't much in the small town. That fact didn't bother anyone who lived in their small town, except for one person.
"Hey losers!" shouted a voice from an approaching car. The vehicle skidded into a puddle, splashing Ivanna and Gisella. Ivanna shielded her torso from the wave with her jacket while Gisella protected her leg brace. The window of the car rolled down to reveal light cherry blonde hair. "What are a couple of suckers like you two doing walking?"
"Umm, walking," Ivanna replied, not letting any sign of a temper let itself be known.
"Ha! What? You two heading to the Five Point Dine?" Rosa asked, lifting her gold-rimmed sunglasses from her face.
"So what if we are?" Gisella asked.
"Need a lift? I think we have room back here with all this cash to fit an extra two cents."
"We'd rather walk," Ivanna sternly said.
Rosa smirked and put her window back up. "Suit yourselves!"
August 23, 2011
"Ivanna should be finished uploading our song soon," Gisella said, sipping a glass of Caribbean Splash. She rested her bad leg on another bar stool and rubbed her brace.
"I can't wait to see the number of votes on this one, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife around and slightly dancing. She hummed the song they were going to submit for this round, "Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine." It was a very peppy song, with a soft reggae feel to it in the drums. Larissa softly beat a bit of the song on her grill as she cooked some shrimp for a customer. Gisella couldn't help but hum along, softly patting the counter with her part of the song.
"Hey, that's a pretty catchy song you got there," said the woman who had ordered the shrimp, "You two in a band?"
"Yeah," Gisella said, turning to the woman, "we're in the Battle of the Bands."
"Really? What band?" the woman asked, sipping her own glass of Caribbean Splash.
"The Bad Good Girls, mon," Larissa answered, squirting some lemon onto the shrimp and twirling her knife in the air, "You heard of us?" Larissa twirled her knife near her face and kissed the spine of the it.
"No way! You two are the Bad Good Girls!?" the woman asked in shock and surprise, but in a joyous fashion.
Gisella nodded and sipped a bit of Caribbean Splash. "Well, kind of. There's one more person to our group. Her name is Ivanna Gouss. She's the guitarist of the group." Gisella could see Larissa smiling wide out of the corner of her eyes.
"That's incredible! I love your song, 'Bring on the Band!' It's such an amazing song!" the woman complimented as Larissa handed her her order. She thanked Larissa and turned back to Gisella, "You have such a wonderful singing voice." Gisella blushed a little and Larissa let out a chuckle.
"Oh, it's not that wonderful," Gisella stammered.
"Yes it is. Oh! My apologizes! I never introduced myself! My name is Naomi." The woman extended her arm to shake Gisella's hand, her brown bangles jangling as they made contact with each other.
Gisella smiled and shook Naomi's hand, "Allow me to formally introduce us. I am Gisella Rumanti, the vocals, and this is Larissa Aldenta, the drummer for the Bad Good Girls."
"It's a pleasure to meet a fan, mon," Larissa said, preparing some vegetables for another customer who had just ordered.
Naomi smiled and continued to eat her shrimp. "Wow! This is incredible, Larissa! You're quite the chef."
"Thanks, mon. Been cooking nearly all my life," Larissa said, juggling three potatoes with one hand and peeling them with her knife held with her other hand. The other customer and Naomi gave her a round of applause as the peeled potatoes landed on the grill where Larissa wanted them to.
"So, and I hope you don't mind me being a little nosy, what do you two call that song you were playing a few minutes ago?" Naomi asked, drinking more Caribbean Splash.
"Well, Ivanna should be uploading the song soon, so no real harm. We call it 'Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine.' What do you think of the title?" Gisella asked, resting her head on her hand and her elbow on the counter.
"I like it. I can't wait to hear it," Naomi said, finishing her meal. She swished her Caribbean Splash around in the glass before drinking some more. "I would love to know what is in this."
"A lot of people would, mon. It's my own signature creation," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She brought it up to her face again and kissed the spine of the blade. "But, I'll never tell."
Naomi laughed, "Well, everyone has to have their secrets. Thank you for the lovely meal, Larissa. I look forward to seeing your song online."
August 24, 2011
"Ugh, look at this schedule!" Gisella exclaimed, holding a piece of paper in her hand. She flopped onto her couch and sighed. "How am I going to make time for the Bad Good Girls with this!? Not only this, but we have to go amp vs amp against Truck Yeah!"
Ivanna sat on the carpet in Gisella's living room and held her own schedule. "This is definitely going to put a kink in our work. I don't know how Larissa managed to juggle both work and school in the first place. I guess she's going to be a lot less active now."
"At least Larissa can work on her final college year while at work," Gisella stated, a bit of complain filling her voice, "Why does coaching have to have such a demanding schedule?" Ivanna shrugged and leaned back on her arms. She stared at her paper for a few minutes, but then started folding the paper into a paper airplane. Ivanna tossed it in the air, watching as it twirled, only to be caught a few moments after by the ceiling fan. "Lucky you and that photographic memory of yours," Gisella complained.
"I can't help that's the way I was born," Ivanna replied, smiling. She stretched and watched as her paper airplane loosened itself from the ceiling fan and gently floated downward. "It really helps when I have to keep track of all the political terms and rules."
"Yeah, I can see that how that comes in handy," Gisella said, tossing her paper on the ground.
Ivanna stood up and stretch. She walked off to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She got herself a glass of apple juice and returned to the living room. "Your grandfather left you a very nice house."
Gisella sighed and turned to a framed picture of her grandfather that hung on the wall to Gisella's left. The picture was taken when Gisella was only five. The gray hair gently flowed down his face onto Gisella's shoulder, contrasting Gisella's burnt umber hair. The picture was taken around the spring time, so the meadow and flowers were in full bloom. "Yeah, he was a great man."
Ivanna looked down at her drink, then to Gisella. "I know the loss was hard on you, Gisella. If you want to talk about it, I c-."
"Ivanna, it's alright," Gisella said, "It's been two years since he's died. I'm pretty sure I'm over my mourning period." Gisella assured her friend, but Ivanna could see a tear beginning to form.
"You know you can talk about that stuff, Gisella. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you," Ivanna said, letting a tear roll down her cheek. She brushed it aside and continued smiling. Gisella knew that Ivanna always put on a brave face, but she could see cracks in Ivanna's mask. Ivanna had lost both of her parents in a recent car accident.
Her parents and she were driving on a vacation to the Grand Canyon in a blue British car five years ago. The sky was blue and school had just let out for the summer. Ivanna had already said her goodbyes to Larissa and Gisella and was relaxing in the back seat, headphones in and listening to some smooth rock. Her mother was in the passenger front seat on the left trying to read a map while her father sat on the right, driving and listening to Ivanna's mother talk. Ivanna had brought her blue jacket along, but had shed it an hour earlier due to the heat. She could feel sleep slowly tugging at her eyes, so she crumbled up her jacket into a make-shift pillow and tried to fall asleep. It was a bit hard because of the poor condition of the road, but eventually, she managed to fall asleep. Time became lost to Ivanna as she dreamed of pursuing her political ambitions to make the world a better place. She would be her own ambassador, be the greatest diplomat ever, solve the problems from around the world! Nothing and no one could get in her-.
Her peaceful dream was interrupted as she was jarred awake by the piercing sound of squealing brakes and the sickening sound of ripping metal. Ivanna was only awake for a brief second, the image before her burned into her mind forever. The car was tilted to the left and both of her parents were both experiencing the effect of the crash, being tossed in the air like a rag doll. Ivanna felt an intense pain in her right side, but didn't know the cause at the time. The opposing car, driven by some drunk driver, had rammed into the right side of the vehicle. Ivanna saw the windshield shatter into pieces and glass begin to fly everywhere. The pain in her side overtook her and she lost consciousness.
Ivanna's mask broke and she held her head in anguish. She screamed into the floor and felt her face get flustered. She took deep breaths as Gisella rushed over to her.
"Ivanna! Relax, I'm here. You're in my house. Come back to reality."
September 5, 2011
"Ugh, today just sucked," Gisella complained, sipping down a glass of Caribbean Splash, "First, I lose my way to class, then Rosa decides it would be so fun to hit me with a mashed potato in the back of the head, and to top it all off, my leg's been hurting even worse today." Gisella rubbed her leg and sighed.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, mon. Today was pretty brutal on me too. Apparently there's a proper way to slice a carrot," Larissa said, being more cautious this time while she cooked, "This new professor of mine really knows how to grind my gears."
"I can only imagine how hard it is for you two," Ivanna said, sipping her glass of Caribbean Splash, "Well, I for one think your cooking is flawless the way it is, Larissa."
Larissa smiled and twirled her knife, kissing the spine of it. "I only got one more year of this, then it's just cooking and cooking from here on out, mon."
Gisella sighed and drank some more Caribbean Splash. "I haven't even had any time to practice my part in the song."
"Yeah, I've never performed live on stage before, mon," Larissa said, trying to play her part on the her grill with her knife. She hummed her beat while Gisella softly hummed the words. Ivanna patted on the counter with her part and hummed along.
"Well, it's certainly going to be interesting. We have nine days to practice anyways," Ivanna pointed out, still humming along, "We have the song already written and we know are parts, for the most part anyways. We should be fine."
"Oh great," Gisella sighed, "the princess is here." Walking towards the three of them was that easily recognizable light cherry blonde hair.
"You three should be happy I bother to grace you with my presence." Rosa said, her designer purse swaying at her side.
Ivanna rolled her eyes and drank some more Caribbean Splash. "What do you want this time, Rosa?"
"Why do you three always assume that I want something?" Rosa asked, crossing her arms.
"True girls. What could we possibly have to offer to the girl who gets anything?" Gisella snarked. Ivanna and Larissa chuckled as Rosa's face got a tiny bit red.
"Hey! I deserve to be treated with respect!" Rosa nearly shouted.
"Oh? The same way that you DON'T treat us with respect?" Gisella said, glaring at Rosa.
"Well..." Rosa stammered, unable to form a coherent phrase.
"We're not about to treat you with any sort of respect until you earn it, you got it?" This time, it was Ivanna that spoke. She spoke with such determination and unwavering courage that Rosa's face turned beet red.
"Hmph!" Rosa grunted and took a seat at the other grill on the island.
Larissa couldn't contain her laughter anymore and hit her knife on the grill as she laughed. "Ah, that little princess should know by now not to mess with us, mon."
September 14, 2011 6:58 PM
"Ugh, I still never understood how it can go from blazing hot to freezing in a manner of seconds, mon," Larissa complained, huddling herself in a crimson jacket. The wind blew gently, carrying a fierce fall chill with it. She may have lived in America for seventeen years, but she still had the body and cold tolerance of a Jamaican. Larissa shivered and held her lucky drumsticks close to her body.
"Don't worry Larissa. We're soon at the concert building. Just a few more minutes," Ivanna said, completely tolerant to the wind and letting her open jacket flutter as she walked. She did tighten her grip on her guitar's carrying case as they walked.
"How does this chill not bother you, Ivanna?" Gisella asked, clutching her bass guitar's case, "I've lived here all my life and I still have yet to get used to this."
Ivanna shrugged and kept walking. "I guess it kind of helps that my parents and their ancestors lived in Alaska for most of their life. I guess I just inherited weather tolerant genes." Ivanna's parents had, in fact, lived in Alaska for most of their life. Her grandparents and her relatives before them all lived in Alaska. Ivanna herself, however, was born in Utah. Her parents had moved to Utah because her father had a job transfer. Before long, Ivanna was born and the family decided to stay in Utah.
"Finally, we're here, mon!" Larissa exclaimed between her chattering teeth. The building was a large and black with white columns at the entrances. The roof was topped with a jade green dome. Musical notes and scores painted in white were spread all around, some on the building itself and others on the ground in the lawn. Many different types of concerts were held at this place, such as orchestra performances or, as in today's case, amp vs amp battles. It was only 7 o' clock and the sun had already set, stars dotting the brilliant night sky. Cars filled the parking lot to the brim, which is why the girls decided to walk instead of drive.
"Wait up!" Gisella exclaimed as Larissa dashed into the building, Ivanna following behind at her own pace and chuckling. The inside of the building was white marble floors and columns. Banners span from the ceiling to the floor and posters were posted all over the walls. People were all over the inside, admiring the architecture and trying to find their group mates to get good seats. Ivanna finally caught up to Larissa and Gisella, who were standing near the entrance.
"Wow, this place certainly has changed since I was last here, mon," Larissa stated, twirling around, trying to get a good look at everything.
"How long has it been since you were last here?" Gisella asked.
"About when I was seven when I snuck in here through the air vents, mon," Larissa said, pointing to an air duct that ran through the entire building, "Security eventually caught me." Ivanna chuckled and led the girls to back stage.
"Sorry, this area is off-limits to visitors," said a security guard when the three girls approached him.
"We aren't visitors, we are performing today. We're the Bad Good Girls," Gisella stated, placing on hand on her hip.
"Do you have your Band Pass?" the security guard asked.
Gisella and Larissa both blinked in surprise. "What's a Band Pass, mon?"
"A Band Pass is a a special pass given to the bands who are scheduled to perform here. If you don't have it, I can't let you through," the security guard explained.
Gisella and Lariss both frantically searched their pockets, but came up empty handed. "Argh! I wasn't told of this!" Gisella exclaimed.
Ivanna smirked and reached into her own jacket pocket. She pulled out a laminated card and showed it to the security guard, "I believe this is what you are looking for." The security guard nodded and let the three of them pass.
"Oh Ivanna, what would we do without you?" Gisella said, setting her bass guitar case down once they got into their assigned green room.
"Where'd you get that card, mon?" Larissa asked, twirling her drum sticks.
"I got it in the mail. I guess I should have told you two that I kind of registered myself as the band leader," Ivanna said, handing the card to Gisella, "Here, you hold onto it."
"What?" Gisella asked, holding onto the card, "Why me?"
"Well, you are the lead vocalist AND this was all your idea. If anyone deserves the title of Band Leader, it should be you," Ivanna explained, taking her guitar out of the case. She tuned the strings and strummed a few notes to make sure everything was tuned right.
"I wonder how the drums sound here, mon," Larissa asked to neither girl in particular.
"So, when do we go on stage?" Gisella asked.
Ivanna walked over to a piece of paper hanging up on the wall. "It looks like we're on after this current amp vs amp."
"Who's on now?"
"It looks like Tiger Soul and Sandstream."
"There certainly are some strange band names in this competition, mon."
September 14, 2011 7:20 PM
"Alright! Our winner everybody, Sandstream with their song, 'Rude Dog'!" shouted the announcer, extending his arm out to the left towards Sandstream, "It's been great to have you here, Tiger Soul, but we're sorry to say that you won't be moving on."
"It's alright. We had fun and Sanstream definitely deserves to move on. Good luck you guys!" said the leader of Tiger Soul and both bands picked up their equipment and left the stage.
"Stay tuned folks! Next up, we have the all girl band, the Bad Good Girls, going against the rising country stars, Truck Yeah!" the announcer announced into his microphone, "But first, we'll take a brief ten minute intermission." With that, the lights on the stage dimmed and the crowd exited to the concessions and to use the restroom.
"Man, that was some brutal amp vs amp battle," Ivanna said from the green room, watching the battle on the TV.
"Yeah, even I didn't know who would have won in the end, mon," said Larissa, standing next to Ivanna, "Think we're even ready to go on stage at all?"
Ivanna sighed and turned to Larissa. "I don't know. I wasn't nervous before, but now..." Larissa nodded and turned back to the TV, nervously twirling her drum sticks.
"Hey!" shouted Gisella from behind the two of them, laying on the couch with her bad leg propped up on a coffee table, "What kind of attitude is that? We're the Bad Good Girls!"
"I don't know, Gisella," Ivanna said, turning to face her, "We haven't really had too much practice an-"
"Come on now! That's no winning attitude! Eyes on the prize girls! Let's go all the way to victory!" Gisella exuberantly nearly shouted.
"Gisella's right, mon! I know I ain't going down without a fight!" Larissa said, making a fist with her free hand.
Ivanna chuckled and made a fist with Larissa. "Yeah! Let's do our best girls!"
"Ahem," cleared the throat of a security guard who had just entered the green room, "Bad Good Girls, onto the stage please to make sure everything is to your liking." The three girls nodded and followed the security guard after grabbing their equipment. The security guard brought them to a large wooden circle on the ground with a drum set and three microphones, one of which was attached to the drum set. Behind the circle was a large semicircle shaped wall. "Please make sure everything is to your liking."
Larissa took her position at the drums and adjusted the seat and microphone to fit her amazonian height. She twirled her drumsticks in her hands and started to drum a beat. Ivanna strummed on her guitar while Gisella took out her bass guitar. Gisella joined and the three of them started to get into their song until Ivanna cut them off. "It's perfect," she told the guard. The guard saluted and left.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted the voice of the announcer. The girls could hear him from the other side of the semi-circle wall. "Welcome back to the September round of Amp vs Amp battles!" A crowd cheered until the announcer calmed them down. "This is the third battle of the night. To my left will be the Bad Good Girls and to my right will be Truck Yeah!" As if cued, the wooden circle the girls were standing on and the wall turned around, revealing them to the crowd. The bright lights forced them to squint their eyes, but they eventually adjusted.
Across from them was a young woman and three other men. One of them was on the drums while another was at the microphone with no instrument. The woman held an acoustic bass guitar in her hands while the last man had what looked like a custom made banjo. All four of them were wearing plaid clothes, boots, and western hats. The lady and the man at the microphone both had a vest that a cowboy would wear while the other two men had handkerchiefs wrapped around their necks.
"Let the Amp vs Amp Battle begin!"
September 14, 2011 7:45 PM
"The votes have been tallied. The winner of this Amp vs Amp is..." the announcer said, letting the tension rise as the crowd grew silent. Both bands have given an outstanding performance, so both bands were nervous about who would win. Larissa, Ivanna, and Gisella waited in silence, as did the members of Truck Yeah. "...The Bad Good Girls with their song, 'Dancing on a Handful of Sunshine'!" The round of applause came from the crowd as both bands bowed their heads to each other.
"We put up a good fight, but we'll admit when we've been beaten. Bad Good Girls, keep on performing!" said the vocalist of Truck Yeah.
"Thanks! You were great to play against as well," Gisella replied.
"Good luck in the tournament." With that, Truck Yeah picked up their things and left the stage.
"Up next, we have the Penguin Knights vs Keystorm in our next amp vs amp battle!" the announcer shouted as the girls left the stage as well. They passed by Keystorm approaching their side of the stage.
"Hey, good luck," Ivanna said to them.
"Thanks. You girls were pretty good too, but don't think that's going to deter us if we go head to head in the tournament in the future," said one of the members carrying a large synthesizer.
"We expect it, mon," Larissa said and the two bands waved good bye to each other.
"So, I guess we better be heading home, unless either of you two wants to stay," Gisella said while she put her bass guitar back in its case back in the green room.
Larissa's eyes widened and she clutched her jacket tight. "What? Out there?" she stammered, "With how cold it is?"
Ivanna chuckled and shut the latches on her guitar case. "I'll loan you my jacket, Larissa."
"Oh, I couldn't, mon," Larissa politely decline. Ivanna shrugged and picked up her case.
"Well, I'm going to head home. Catch you two tomorrow," Gisella said, ready to leave when Larissa quickly ran up to her.
"Umm...Mind shielding me from the wind, mon?" Larissa asked timidly.
Ivanna chuckled and joined them. "Alright, we'll all leave together then." With that, the three of them walked out in a group, Larissa in the middle trying to avoid as much wind as possible. "It shouldn't really be too long, and the wind has died down anyways."
As they exited the building, a brilliant flash of light filled their view. They shielded their eyes, but heard the clamor of a crowd. They slowly opened their eyes and blinked repeatedly to look through the wall of flashing lights before them. Soon, figures started to form and the voices became clearer. It was a crowd of reporters and photographers that were lined up to take pictures, get interviews and statements, and recieve autographs. Ivanna chuckled, Gisella smiled, and Larissa grinned at the sight. They were on their way to becoming famous. The three of them walked down the path set by barriers to keep the news people from the band members. They signed some pictures that people from the crowd had taken of the Bad Good Girls performing.
"Umm," stammered a young woman near the middle of the path, "Are you part of the Good Bad Girls?"
"The Bad Good Girls," Ivanna said, correcting the woman, "and yes, I am."
"Then... Die!" The woman pulled out a gun and a shot rang through the air. A scream echoed through the air as everyone started to run. A security guard tackled the assailant and quickly disarmed her. Ivanna gasped and slowly fell to her knees as Larissa and Gisella both rushed to her side.
"IVANNA!"