starve to death than admit I wanted to eat her food. She'd probably snatch the container out of my hand before I got a chance to even sample anything.
I don’t know how she did it but I stopped functioning like me when she was around. To be honest, she scared me quite a lot. All the fizziness inside me went flat.
She shuffled over to hug Hannah. Hannah was her ideal person – thin, blonde, unpierced. At least she'd have to give up on the whole Eric-Hannah matchmaking now but that didn't put me any higher up the list of females she wanted to see Eric with.
What was she doing hanging? I mean, she was Eric's mother so I guess she had a right to be there but I couldn't imagine her being a big fan of the rock.
"Jack, put some clothes on," she said. "Don't go flaunting your man bumps around these girls!"
I tried not to crack up at that. I had to admit she could be funny when that mouth wasn’t turned on me.
"I think they've seen it before," he said, but he reached for a t-shirt. Of all the women in the world, Eric-Mama was the only one he obeyed. And that included Hannah.
There was someone missing from the entourage though. Well, I wasn't missing him but he was needed for the performance.
"Where's Spud?" I asked.
Eric shrugged.
"I think he's hanging around Monkey Bride's dressing room, hoping to get some cast off groupies."
"Yes, there will be no groupies here." Eric-Mama folded her arms.
From the look on Eric's face, I could tell there was more to the story. I guess she did have some positive points if she'd been hassling Spud and chasing off groupies.
As if he knew we were talking about him, Spud came crashing back into the room with a big grin on his face. A grin like he was dying for someone to ask him what he'd been doing. No one asked.
"Okay, let's get a photo before you go on stage," said Eric-Mama.
She bustled everyone together. I moved to join them.
"Not you, Metal Face," she said. She thrust her camera at me. "You can take the photo."
Ouch.
-o-
We stood just off to the side of the stage, waiting for the guys to go on. From there, we could peer out into the crowd. Well, by crowd I mean the four or five rows of faces clustered around the stage. The back of the venue was pretty much still empty. Storm could pull a good crowd at the venues they normally played but this place was on a whole other scale. The screams of a normal Storm crowd wouldn't even echo in this place. The guys couldn't just rely on their fans, they'd have to win over the punters there for the main event too.
I almost felt as though I could vomit. I wanted it to go right for the guys. I wanted it so much. They'd worked so hard and they deserved to get the rewards for that hard work. If I thought this was the night of my life, how much more intense would it be for them?
Hannah stood beside me, clutching my arm with Eric-Mama on the other side of her. There were industry knobs standing behind us and I noticed a few of the Monkey Bride crew had even come out to watch.
The lights went down and people yelled.
As the guys launched into their first song, my stomach settled. How could anyone not love them? People left the bars and the back of the venue to move to the stage to check them out. The buzz went through the room.
While I enjoyed the exalted position at the side of the stage, I realised it wasn't where I wanted to be. I needed to be in the middle of it all, being part of that buzz. I was no VIP, just regular, every day Angie.
I let Hannah know what I was doing and ran off to join the regular folk in front of the stage, singing and waving my arms in the air and joining the sweaty, screaming masses. This was how to enjoy yourself, by immersing yourself in the love, not by standing with your arms folded, looking cool.
After Storm's set, I squirmed my way back to join Hannah, flashing my VIP tag at the bouncer, and we went to the band room to wait for the guys. Eric-Mama bustled around, packing up. I figured I should help
I don’t know how she did it but I stopped functioning like me when she was around. To be honest, she scared me quite a lot. All the fizziness inside me went flat.
She shuffled over to hug Hannah. Hannah was her ideal person – thin, blonde, unpierced. At least she'd have to give up on the whole Eric-Hannah matchmaking now but that didn't put me any higher up the list of females she wanted to see Eric with.
What was she doing hanging? I mean, she was Eric's mother so I guess she had a right to be there but I couldn't imagine her being a big fan of the rock.
"Jack, put some clothes on," she said. "Don't go flaunting your man bumps around these girls!"
I tried not to crack up at that. I had to admit she could be funny when that mouth wasn’t turned on me.
"I think they've seen it before," he said, but he reached for a t-shirt. Of all the women in the world, Eric-Mama was the only one he obeyed. And that included Hannah.
There was someone missing from the entourage though. Well, I wasn't missing him but he was needed for the performance.
"Where's Spud?" I asked.
Eric shrugged.
"I think he's hanging around Monkey Bride's dressing room, hoping to get some cast off groupies."
"Yes, there will be no groupies here." Eric-Mama folded her arms.
From the look on Eric's face, I could tell there was more to the story. I guess she did have some positive points if she'd been hassling Spud and chasing off groupies.
As if he knew we were talking about him, Spud came crashing back into the room with a big grin on his face. A grin like he was dying for someone to ask him what he'd been doing. No one asked.
"Okay, let's get a photo before you go on stage," said Eric-Mama.
She bustled everyone together. I moved to join them.
"Not you, Metal Face," she said. She thrust her camera at me. "You can take the photo."
Ouch.
-o-
We stood just off to the side of the stage, waiting for the guys to go on. From there, we could peer out into the crowd. Well, by crowd I mean the four or five rows of faces clustered around the stage. The back of the venue was pretty much still empty. Storm could pull a good crowd at the venues they normally played but this place was on a whole other scale. The screams of a normal Storm crowd wouldn't even echo in this place. The guys couldn't just rely on their fans, they'd have to win over the punters there for the main event too.
I almost felt as though I could vomit. I wanted it to go right for the guys. I wanted it so much. They'd worked so hard and they deserved to get the rewards for that hard work. If I thought this was the night of my life, how much more intense would it be for them?
Hannah stood beside me, clutching my arm with Eric-Mama on the other side of her. There were industry knobs standing behind us and I noticed a few of the Monkey Bride crew had even come out to watch.
The lights went down and people yelled.
As the guys launched into their first song, my stomach settled. How could anyone not love them? People left the bars and the back of the venue to move to the stage to check them out. The buzz went through the room.
While I enjoyed the exalted position at the side of the stage, I realised it wasn't where I wanted to be. I needed to be in the middle of it all, being part of that buzz. I was no VIP, just regular, every day Angie.
I let Hannah know what I was doing and ran off to join the regular folk in front of the stage, singing and waving my arms in the air and joining the sweaty, screaming masses. This was how to enjoy yourself, by immersing yourself in the love, not by standing with your arms folded, looking cool.
After Storm's set, I squirmed my way back to join Hannah, flashing my VIP tag at the bouncer, and we went to the band room to wait for the guys. Eric-Mama bustled around, packing up. I figured I should help
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