Title: I Am The Promise

Summary: I made a few vows in my life. To my family, to my friends, and to my rising band but none will ever be quite as important as the one I've made to this girl. This is my story. This is my drama.

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Possible Shounen-ai and Shoujo-ai.

Chapter Four

We Are The Day Date

The next day for me was rather… awkward.

I’m not a hundred percent sure why it was so weird. I started off with me waking up late, around two-ish in the afternoon and I nearly forgot the plans I had for the day.

At about four I was supposed to meet Kara and we were to go on a date all before the ‘big’ battle of the bands that evening.

Whoa, today I had a packed schedule.

Okay, let’s just get through the boring stuff. I got dressed, grabbed a small bite to eat, and started the drive towards Kara around three. Yes, I was dressed a little spiffier than I normally would and yeah, I broke out the fancy cologne for the occasion.

The drive was boring and went by quickly, I pulled into the place I remembered dropping her off at the other night and stepped out, checking myself out in the side mirror before trudging up the steps.

After the initial knock on her door, I could feel the butterflies beginning their chaotic dance in my stomach after hearing someone step towards the entrance.

The steps grew louder, I clenched my jaw and threw on a smile as the door opened and…

Her brother answered.

Or half-brother, whatever he was. Jorge, yeah the guy she kissed on the lips. Gross.

The bearded man smiled as he looked at me, “Hey. Jazz, right?”

“Yeah.” I said as I followed him inside, “Kara here?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s just getting ready to go. Wanna have a seat?”

I obliged and took a seat on the couch, it wasn’t long til I realized Jorge wasn’t the only other person in the house.

“Jazz!”

I heard the shout and turned my eyes just in time to see a girl with short, black hair jump into my lap and hug my neck.

“Oh, hey, Aya.” I said. She certainly was affectionate for a girl I’ve only met twice. A girl who was dating another girl, to add to that.

“You got here early. Kara is upstairs making herself beautiful.” She winked at me, “She’s not the only beautiful one around here though. You sure look good.”

“God, tell me that’s not Kara sitting in that guy’s lap.” I heard a voice say. I tilted my head to see her girlfriend Kim standing in the doorway with her head in her hands.

Aya sighed and got up, walking over and crossing her arms in a huff, “Blah, blah. You’re so overprotective, Kimmy.”

The shorter girl gave her raven-haired significant other a firm smack on the bottom, “For good reason and I told you not to call me Kimmy, you brat.”

Aya pouted as Jorge sat down sat down in a recliner, rolling his eyes, “Okay, so that’s it for today episode of ‘World’s Most Dysfunctional Lesbians.’ Let’s change the subject.”

“How about to where you’re taking my Kara tonight.” Stated another person, I looked up to see Kara’s sister, Koren enter and sit on the armrest of Jorge’s recliner.

I scratched my head strangely, was there always this many people here? “Um, we’re just gonna go to a movie and maybe grab a bite to eat. I gotta show tonight so we can’t stay out late.”

Things grew quiet and… awkward so I had to speak up again. I can’t stand strange period of silence, it’s a curse.

“So, how long have you guys known Chad?”

Jorge chuckled, “As long as I can remember.”

“Chad’s always been a part of our little circle.” Stated Kim, who now cradled her girlfriend on her lap as she sat, “We’ve been friends since 1st Grade, I believe.”

“Wow.” I said, leaning back. “I don’t think I met him till about two years ago, maybe less. That’s when we were looking for a singer.”

“Yeah, Chad wouldn’t shut up about the band.” Koren said, running a hand through her devilish raven locks, “He just kept going on and on about how big you guys would get.”

“Hey, be nice to Chad!” Shouted Aya, “It’s not too often he can talk about getting big.”

And the strange group’s weird sexual humor makes another appearance.

It wasn’t long before Kara came down the steps and joined us. Not to be cliché or anything but wow, did she look beautiful.

She wasn’t overly dressed or anything. Just wore a pair of tight black jeans and a blue and pink blouse. She had about a million wristbands on her right wrist and her finger nails were painted a combination of black and pink.

We left quickly, I was happy to escape the strangeness of the others.

“So, what movie?”

“Eh, doesn’t really matter.” Stated the girl as she slid into the passenger’s seat of my automobile, “Something old.”

So, the dollar theater it was.

There was a theater in town that only cost a buck to go to and all they played was old, classic movies. It was great, needless to say I was glad she made the decision.

“So, you have fun talking to everyone?” She asked with a light grin.

“A blast.” I said with a matching smile, “We talked about you, lesbian relationships, sports, the weather, Chad’s size, and current events.”

“Wow, great topics for the day.”

We got to the movies and quickly decided on a movie. We watched ‘Metropolis,’ an old black-and-white film made by one of my all-time idols, Fritz Lang.

After the film, it was nearing seven so we decided just to go to a fast-food join for nourishments.

“You gonna come to the show tonight?” I asked as we sat down in a booth with our food.

“I don’t think I can.” Kara stated as she took one of my fries, “My dad says I gotta stay home tonight. I’ve been out all week.”

“Oh, was your dad home? I didn’t see him.”

Kara shook her head, her blonde hair flowing as she did so. “Nah, he’s at work now but he’ll be home around eight.”

“What’s he do for a living?”

“He’s a mechanic.” Kara said simply and quickly changed the subject, “This burger is a disappointment.”

I stared at her oddly, “Why’s that?”

“The cheese to bacon ratio is way too uneven and the grease… don’t even get me started on the grease.”

… Picky eaters. I’ll never understand them.

We talked for about a half hour. No, not the strange, awkward talking about usually goes on with Chad’s friends but normal people talk. We even got into a bit of a religious debate but let’s not go into that right now.

So, we drove back to her house and I dropped her off about a quarter till eight. I wanted to stay and hang out but she kinda dismissed me, saying that her dad would be home soon and they were going to have a ‘family night.’

Weird.

The drive home was just as boring as before, the sun was beginning to set so all I did was grab my stuff from home and speed over to Mamoru’s house to get ready to go to the battle of the bands.

The van was already loaded so we just loaded in and began the quiet, somber drive to the battle.

Ikumi drove with Chad sitting next to him in the driver’s seat. Since I was the last one to arrive, I got the displeasure of sitting in the uncomfortable seat.

Chad asked me about my date and I explained it, he said I was boring.

“So, Jazz.” Started Ikumi as he drove, “Tell us about your old band.”

“Well, there’s not much to be told that already hasn’t been.” I said, crossing my arms. “The drummer and I were pretty good friends and we talked about getting a band together for awhile. He knew some guys and we recruited for awhile before getting most the group together. Originally, I was just gonna play bass but later decided to switch to lead vocals and that’s where we kept it. We started touring and were actually on the verge of getting signed when I decided to go to college and left. I stayed in contact with the drummer for awhile but we kinda drifted off. I hadn’t heard from them until last night.”

“Well, they’re gonna get their asses kicked tonight.” Chad said, slamming his fist into his hand.

“Musically, right, Chad?” Asked Ikumi, probably the biggest pacifist of the group.

Ryu, the most aggressive by far, laughed. “Not if I have anything to do about it! Any bastards that are gonna call us out on stage are just asking for it.”

Mamoru sighed and crossed his arms, chewing on his lip rings. “Let’s just concentrate on winning tonight. Ryu and Chad, you guys can kick their asses after the show. Just don’t injure your hands or feet, Ryu and Chad, don’t hurt your… voice box?”

“Why not? Maybe it’ll make his voice a little manlier.” Stated Satoshi, his long hair was tied in a braid today.

“Hey, shut up!” Shouted Chad.

Satoshi really didn’t think Chad was girly, even though he actually was, we just always made fun of him for it because a long time ago, some website had wrote a review about us and had said that our singer’s ‘hand gestures and prancing couples with his high pitch voice led me to believe he was a girl and after I found out his true gender, led me to try asking him out later on that night.’

Yeah, the columnist was gay and he really did try asking Chad out. To which he loudly declined.

The drive to The Lighthouse, the venue for the evening, wasn’t too long and we quickly hopped out. I, along with Ikumi and Mamoru, immediately headed into the venue to hear the competition.

There was no sign of The Great Comeback anywhere and they were scheduled to go on two bands later. Maybe they no-showed.

Only time would tell but for now, all I wanted to concentrate on was playing good and giving everyone a show. What better way to go out on tour was off a clean win at the local battle of the bands?

However, I didn’t know just how tough that would be…

I Am The Promise

To Be Continued…

Author’s Notes

Alright, that chapter was short and not too great but I kinda just wanted to update. The next one will be better and hopefully make up for this chapter’s craptasticness.

Keep reading and reviewing please and sorry for the delay.

.ilze