AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello! and welcome to Moviephone!
haha, just kidding. Welcome to "Free Fallin'", my story! I usually comment at the end of a chapter, but since this is the first chapter, here we go!
SUMMARY: Devan McCoy could get any girl he wanted, and any that didn't want him. But his friend Troy's sister, Jayden, was the one girl who seemed unaffected by his ways, not that he wanted her. Right? When Devan's life starts to fall apart, he has only one person he can truly turn to, but is she willing to help? Can her view of him really change?
OTHER STUFF: Yes, the title came from the Tom Petty song "Free Fallin'". It's one of my Top 15 favorite songs for sure, and if you haven't heard it then go download it! It's the song Tom Cruise sings in his car in Jerry Maguire. nods
Also, each chapter title is a song title that goes with what's happening in the chapter. The beginning of each chapter has a portion of lyrics from the said song, with the exception of one, because I couldn't find the lyrics and the song is all freaky-like and jumbled (Chapter Three, you'll see). I did this mostly because the stars of the story are in a band, and I wanted to show that somebody can like country music, bluegrass, and rock and hiphop. :-D I have all of the songs that are mentioned (which range from Paul Simon to The Pimps) and if you don't have them, I highly suggest you go buy the CDs or download them! And btw, most of the songs are Matchbox Twenty...Not sure why that's important...Anywho!
DISCLAIMER: I own the characters, Chrome Mountain, and plot line and story in a whole. I do not own the song lyrics, they are owned by whoever wrote or paid for them. The songs are sung by:
Matchbox 20, Meatloaf, The Pimps, Paul Simon, Nelly Furtado, Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, The Subdudes, Three Dog Night, Rascal Flatts, Queen, and The Doobie Brothers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I'd like to thank the academy, the little people…Okay, okay. I couldn't have done it without Discover card, which allowed me to get my first laptop, which enabled me to break it four times and get this one. Also, a shout out to Krista R., for always being the first to jump up and scream out about wanting to read the latest thing I've written or hear the latest song I've learned. And to all my other friends, thank you for your insane craziness, because without it I would have nothing to write about! I like to put all of your personalities into my stories, so thank you so much for the material! (I feel like I'm accepting an award...Wowie.)
Chapter One. Last Beautiful Girl
It won't be the first heart that you break
It won't be the last beautiful girl
The one that you left won't take you back
If you were the last beautiful girl
She was the last of her kind.
At least within community limits, as far as she knew. She was the last girl within a five mile radius over the age of eighteen who had not slept with him. Yet, he told her. She'd slapped him. Now, as she sat in her apartment and thought over the day's events, she laughed. Slapping him made her feel better.
Meet Jayden Walker. Nineteen, long dark brown, almost black hair, small nose, pretty face. She was a smart girl, with good grades and a large community of friends. Of course, a lot of those friends were practically handed to her. Literally, brought right up to her at almost any sports bar in town. Some of them weren't true friends, but rather people who used her to get to the power that she held. What was that power?
Chrome Mountain.
The band, that is. Her older brother, Troy, started it about four years ago with his best friend Tanner Miller. Three years ago, Troy decided he didn't want to be lead singer anymore, and since Tanner had a crappy voice—he just played drums and "made the band look pretty"—they added a lead singer and second guitarist, Devan McCoy. Two years after Devan came Marcus Johnson, and Chrome Mountain was a hit. They'd grown more popular over the past year than they had in four years. That meant fans. Mostly women, women who thought they could get to the band members through Jayden. She knew by now how to sort out the true hearts from the girls who just wanted to be able to say, "I slept with someone from Chrome Mountain!" They wanted Devan the most. It was typical; he was the lead singer, had a great voice, great body, could probably be nominated for Sexiest Man Alive if the writers of People Magazine got a chance to see him. He was tall, about 6'1", with short black hair and dark blue eyes, and a perfect body, which baffled Jayden because she knew for a fact that Devan ate everything under the sun.
But his eating habits weren't what was on her mind. It was his...sexual habits.
Devan had seemed to make it a personal mission to sleep with every legal, willing girl close enough to come into contact with one of his five senses. He had a way about him that made all the girls drool and beg him to take them to the back room at a club or back to his house after a gig. And he usually did. The thought made Jayden's skin boil. Not a happy thought, that was for sure. He liked to make it loud and clear that he could make any girl fall for him, even ones that didn't want to.
Except Jayden.
Which brought her back to her point of being the last of her kind. It was down to her and her best friend Danae Waters, plus a handful of other girls who seemingly had no interest in Devan's ways or were either too young or, in Devan's words, "too ugly". Jayden and Danae fell into the "no interest" category. But Devan had other plans for them, plans that he had voiced on more than one occasion. But Danae seemed as down to earth as Jayden was, and that helped her stay sane. Jayden spent a lot of time with the band, which meant spending a lot of time with Devan, which then meant a lot of time with half-naked girls. She got used to it after a while. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not...
It was only earlier today that she'd been at Tanner's house—he had a recording studio in his basement, and the band was doing some warm-up practices for a gig—and Devan had explained how he was going to find a way to get Jayden into his bed. He'd never pulled a real move on her, everything had always been teasing. She knew she would never really end up with him, because he was such good friends with Troy that there would have been a bit of a betrayal factor if the twenty-three-year-old hooked up with his friend's nineteen-year-old sister. Also, Jayden had no interest in him.
She knew everything about Devan, Marcus, Tanner, and Troy. She knew their moods and personalities. Troy never drank during a gig, only at the after-parties. He was fun loving and for the most part, carefree, but he had a serious side that was brought out when his family and friends were in trouble. Tanner loved to play the drums, plain and simple. His mother died of cancer before he even had memories of her, and his father died when he was fifteen, also of cancer. The ordeals led Tanner to be very serious about being tested for any cancers or fatal diseases, especially since his chances were greater because both of his parents died that way. Marcus was a bassist and backup singer, but he had a bit of an attitude, especially recently. He hadn't been getting along well with Devan and Troy, and Tanner had been trying to keep the peace. Devan was an amazing singer and guitarist. He was outgoing but also had a quiet, closed-in part of him that Jayden saw when he was alone. He was more laid back with women around him. He was very moody, very unpredictable, like a volatile ticking time bomb. He held his liquor well, though, which was good because Jayden noticed that when he got angry, he drank, and he was a stupid drunk, in every sense of the word. When he was really out of it, he lost a lot of his motor skills and was sluggish. Jayden found the boys a hassle to take care of when they were all drunk, but Devan the most. But he liked to drink. They all did—they were all twenty-three and living life to its fullest.
Especially Devan, it seemed. He owned a fair-sized house just as Tanner did, but unlike Tanner, he didn't inherit his house, but he bought it with some sort of money pool that he liked to keep semi-secret from everyone. But the band members knew he was rich, though they didn't know why. He never told. If it was brought up, he changed the conversation.
But it didn't worry Jayden.
So she went to sleep.
A week later was Saturday, and Saturdays meant gigs. The majority of Chrome Mountain was already at Marley's, a sports bar in town that the band played at often. Troy, however, was at his house, grabbing the guitar that he had somehow forgotten. Jayden was with him.
"Slow down, we've got half an hour, and the band is already set up, you know," she assured him.
He nodded as he rushed past her to the kitchen, grabbed a cup from the drainer in the sink, and filled it with water before emptying it in one gulp.
"Troy."
He didn't respond. He grabbed his guitar in its case and walked past her out the front door. She grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. He looked nervous. He rarely looked nervous.
"What's wrong?"
He sighed, closed his eyes briefly, and stared at his younger sister. He liked having her around the band, he never minded her. They used to fight like dogs and cats with a vengeance, but after they both finally grew up, they got along much better. They always needed each other, with parents who traveled a lot for business and pleasure, more often the latter. They helped each other grow up.
Jayden looked up at her brother. He was at least six feet tall, and she was only about 5'6". He, like her, had black hair, only his was cut short. He looked just like her, but with more muscle and a stronger build. He wasn't a gym freak, but he did go at least three days a week. When Devan was taken, the girls flocked after him. He was worth it, too. He wasn't as much of a player as Devan was, but he'd had a few "bang 'em and leave 'em's" in his life.
"Why are you so nervous?" Jayden asked, reaching up to touch her brother's forehead. He was warm, but had no fever, she could tell.
"I'm not nervous," came his short answer.
She smiled. "Yes you are, I know you. Now what's wrong?"
Troy stepped past her. "Nothing."
"Troy, we're not leaving until you tell me what's going on. We took my car here, and I have the keys."
He stopped in the driveway, sighed again, and turned to look at her. She was standing on the front patio at his house, the door closed behind her. God, could he get nothing past her? "...I think we may have to boot Marcus."
Jayden nodded. She could have seen that one coming. "Then do it."
Troy shook his head. "It's not that easy, Jae. We would need a new bassist."
"Well then go audition and get one. You and I both know that he's been causing more problems than he can fix. Something needs to be done about it."
He nodded. "We'll see how things go." He started for his sister's car. Her next words stopped him in his tracks.
"You know he made a pass at me, right?"
Troy turned around. "Lots of guys do, Jayden. You're beautiful."
She smiled. He complimented her a lot. "Well I know that...But I mean, when he was drunk. And he was a little, um...forceful." She stopped her brother before he could interrupt her. "He didn't try to rape me or anything. He just tried to kiss me. I made things clear."
"When was this?"
"Last Friday."
Troy nodded. "I don't want to get rid of him," he said. "But if he continues to be a problem..."
They both climbed into Jayden's car and she pulled out of the driveway. "He's just been so moody lately...God, he's getting worse than Devan..."
Troy smiled over at his sister. He had a strong friendship with Devan, and Jayden had the exact opposite. They teased each other, fought with each other, and tormented each other. Poor Jayden was usually on the wrong end of the rope, and was constantly being instigated by Devan. "Yeah, but Devan's always been a little closed off from the real world. He lives in his own world."
"The world of no clothes and skinny women."
He laughed this time. "Sort of."
"I just don't get him. He's all happy and playful one second then he turns around and he's like Angry-at-the-World-Devan...Ugh, I don't get him..."
"You don't have to."
"I know, and that's the beauty of it all!"
He smiled as they pulled into the back parking lot of the downtown Marley's. Troy grabbed his guitar case and went in the back door. Jayden followed quietly. She wasn't part of the band, but she was found everywhere with them. Sometimes she helped set up, but it seemed like Tanner and Devan had everything taken care of already. Marcus wasn't in sight. The band was on in ten minutes.
Jayden found her way through the dance floor and up to the bar. Too young to legally drink, she ordered a soda. The bartender knew her and had it ready. She thanked him and settled back in the stool to watch the people. They were all awaiting Chrome Mountain, that was the main reason why they were there. It was a fairly bar, with enough space to hold two hundred fifty people for a small concert. It was a favorite place for the boys to play. And by play, they meant music, drinks, and girls. Plenty of girls. Then the after-party, usually hosted at either Tanner or Devan's houses.
The band took the stage, and the crowd went wild. They each took their places: Tanner at the drum set, Marcus with his bass and a microphone in front of him for backup singing, and Troy the same with his guitar. Devan didn't have his guitar, not yet. He took center stage, pulling the microphone off of its stand. "So how ya'll doin' tonight!" he yelled at the crowd. More cheers and screams and whistles filled the bar. "So I think ya'll know who we are, so we'll start ya off with one of our personal favorites..." He backed away and counted off the beat. Troy started off the song with the guitar part, then Devan took the microphone again.
"I see you on the street
Every other night or so.
You're the one who went and left me
But I can see in your eyes that you're empty.
And I'm just a'livin' my life.
"Your heart keeps pounding
But you don't feel a thing.
Do you know what you did to me?
Did you make any enemies?
"I came home on the twenty-third
You were already gone.
Won't make me cry
No matter how much it hurts
'Cause baby, you were wrong.
"'Cause I'm seein' you
And you're not seein' me.
I should still be here
But baby, you set me free.
"'Cause you're hangin' on to me
With every breath you take.
Tell me, what do you think?
Did you go and make a mistake?
And I know that it hurts.
And I know I was right.
'Cause you're still stuck on the twenty-third
And I'm just livin' my life.
"You call and call
And you know I won't call you back.
'Cause you ripped my heart out of my chest
And now I'm not cuttin' slack.
"Too many nights wasted
The days I'm still wastin'.
And I'm seein' you
And you're not seein' me.
You should still be here
And now I'll set you free."
At this point Troy took the honors of the guitar solo, usually something Devan did himself. It was a little different when Troy did it, not because it sounded different, because they were both great, but just because Troy threw in his own extras. He obviously loved it when Devan had no guitar. He liked to fill in the parts. When Devan came back in the band dropped out behind him except the light drumming.
"'Cause you're hangin' on to me
With every breath you take."
The guitars came back in, with good effect. Jayden made a note to tell the boys that it sounded great the way they set it up.
"Tell me, what do you think?
Did you go and make a mistake?
And I know that it hurts.
And I know I was right.
'Cause you're still stuck on the twenty-third
And I'm just livin' my life.
"I know it hurts.
I know I was right.
You're still stuck on the twenty-third.
Yeah you're stuck on the twenty-third.
And I'm...I'm just livin' my life..."
The sound faded and was replaced by cheers and whistles. Devan had written Livin' My Life not long after he joined the band. What surprised Jayden the most was that it was almost an autobiography. Once, according to Troy, long ago, Devan dated only one woman for a long time, months he said. Then one day he came home and she was gone. She'd been staying with him for a few weeks and as far as he knew, things were good. Then she was gone, and a month later, he saw her again and she was doing horrible, but he had turned cold and would not let her back into his life. Jayden wondered at first if that was the reason why Devan was so angry half of his waking hours, but Troy told her it wasn't, he didn't know why.
Suddenly Devan rose his arms from the stage and dropped them, signaling silence in the crowd. Obediently, everyone quieted within seconds. Troy stepped up and played the first few licks of the next song, a song that Jayden knew immediately was a shout out to her. It was her all-time favorite song: Aerosmith's Cryin'. The bar erupted with cheers, and it was evident that other people loved the song, too. Chrome Mountain had almost dubbed it as theirs, they sounded so great on it. Especially Devan, Jayden admitted to herself. He sounded absolutely amazing on the song. He was the one who had made her love it so much, actually.
"There was a time
When I was so brokenhearted
Love wasn't much of a friend of mine
The tables have turned—yeah
'Cause me and them ways have parted
That kinda love was the killin' kind
So listen—
"All I want is someone I can't resist
I know—all I—need to know
By the way that I got kissed."
Jayden felt a chill run through her. Like it or not, that boy sure was sexy, especially his voice. Even if he was harsh and rude, he could still sing.
"I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm tryin' to forget you
Your love is sweet misery
I was cryin' just to get you
Now I'm dyin' 'cause I let you
Do what you do down on me, yeah
"Now there's not even breathing room
Between pleasure and pain
Yeah you cry when we're makin' love
Must be one and the same."
Another chill ran through her body. Damn him.
"It's down on me
Yeah, I got to tell you one thing
It's been on my mind, girl I gotta say
We're partners in crime
You got that certain somethin'
What you do to me takes my breath away
"Now the word out on the street
Is the devil's in your kiss
If our—love goes—up in flames
It's a fire I can't resist
"I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm tryin' to forget you
Your love is sweet misery, yeah
I was cryin' just to get you
Now I'm dyin' 'cause I let you
Do what you do to me, yeah."
Devan jumped aside and Troy took a guitar solo. Jayden smiled.
"'Cause what you got inside
Ain't where your love should stay
Yeah—our love—sweet love—ain't love
'Til you give your heart away
And I'm free
"I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm tryin' to forget you
Your love is sweet misery, yeah
I was cryin' just to get you
Now I'm dyin' to let you
Do what you do, what you do, down to, down on
Baby, baby, baby..."
The other instruments backed out and Marcus let his guitar rest for a harmonica solo, earning another smile from Jayden. She wasn't sure where he learned how to play harmonica, but he was good. They were all awesome at that song.
"I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm tryin' to forget you
Your love is sweet misery
I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm dyin' 'cause I let you
Do what you do down to, down to, down to
"I was cryin' when I met you
Now I'm dyin' to forget you
Your love is sweet misery..."
The sounds of the guitars and Devan's voice and Troy's backup voice faded away into the crowd's cheers again. Jayden joined, quite proud to call herself the band's biggest fan. It was definitely her favorite song of theirs, even though it wasn't technically theirs. They all did great. As she thought about this, she considered the possibilities of letting Marcus go from the band. It certainly would not be the same, because he was a big part of the band. He was a quarter of a four-man band, what would they do without him? Then a thought struck her: If they did get rid of Marcus, the replacement would have to know how to play harmonica, otherwise Cryin' would never be the same.
Jayden smiled.
At the end of the show, the band cleaned up to let the next band in. They were great, and the crowd loved them, but Jayden paid little attention. Instead she ran backstage and found her brother and the rest of the band. "You guys did awesome!" she congratulated them. Each was awarded with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, except Devan. When Jayden got to him, she looked up nervously. "You sounded great," she said, and he nodded. She patted him on the shoulder and moved on. "Well..."
Tanner laughed. "There's an awkward moment, if I've ever seen one."
The band made their way into the bar, where they were each swarmed by people, wanting anything from a dance to an autograph to buying them a drink. Devan was the first to disappear from view with a girl, followed shortly by Tanner. Troy found one girl that he'd met up with at many of their latest concerts, an athletic-looking blonde girl who could hold an intelligent conversation—a quality that Jayden found quite admirable in the girl, considering the women the band usually met up with—and brought her out onto the dance floor. Marcus was last to disappear from Jayden's sight, with two half-dressed women and plenty of drinks. Jayden found herself a dance partner and made her way into the crowd.
It was at least one-thirty in the morning before Jayden found her brother and let him know she was leaving. He was a little drunk, but still sensible, and insisted that he would drive himself home or wait on the curb outside until he had sobered up enough to do so. Jayden believed him, so she set out to see if Marcus, Devan, or Tanner would need rides home. She was like the mother of the group. She took care of them. They desperately needed her for that, she knew that.
Tanner assured her that he would be fine, and because she trusted him, she left him alone to fend for himself. She found Marcus in a storage room, passed out. There was no way she was going to haul him home, he was too drunk. So she found his car keys in his pocket and was sure to put them way up high on a storage shelf. That way, when he came to and tried to drive home, he would have to search a little bit, and that would give him some time to let the alcohol settle out. As an added bonus, it felt like a good prank that she could pull again and again in the future. She grinned.
Now...To find Devan.
Even as she walked around by the bar to see if he was there, she knew it was a mistake to look for him. He would be angry that she would think he would need her help getting home. But, she thought, it's better to have him mad than have his car wrapped around a tree...She hadn't seen him since he disappeared with that girl, and was fearful and at the same time, curious of his whereabouts. She opened the door to another of the storage rooms and stopped dead in her tracks, words of apology already on her lips.
There inside the storage room stood a very angry Devan, with no shirt on and loosely hanging, unzipped jeans, low on his hips. There was a woman with him, her back suddenly to Jayden as she tied her red halter top back up. When she finished and turned back around, Jayden found the woman to look surprisingly like her. Well that was strange, they really did look alike...
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Devan's voice snapped Jayden out of her thoughts.
"I—I, um, was just going to see if you needed a ride home, I—"
"Does it fucking look like I'm about to go home?"
"I, uh—I—" she stammered, not able to get a sentence out. It was the first time, actually, that she had walked in on Devan with someone, especially someone who looked a lot like she did...
"Fuck, Jae, get out!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I'll—I'll go now." She immediately closed the door and turned to lean against it. She ran off to find Troy. "I'm going now," she said when she found him at the bar, still with the blonde woman. Wow, he must like her, she thought to herself.
"Yeah, okay." Troy nodded her off. "Bye."
Jayden said goodbye to Troy and his date, who smiled and waved as he had, and headed for her car. The fresh air of the outdoors hit her hard, and she welcomed it. The air was chilly, but not too cold, and she made her way to her car. It was two in the morning by the time she got to her apartment and curled up in her bed. Her hair and clothes smelled of smoke, so she changed, but decided to take a shower in the morning. It was just too late...early.
The next day, the band met up in Tanner's basement for practice. Marcus was an hour and a half late. Even Jayden was there before him. The band went downstairs to see what they could get done, but it wasn't the same. Tanner was getting frustrated, as well as Troy. They called Marcus but he didn't answer. Even Jayden was upset. But it was Devan's mood that seemed the strangest. He didn't act angry, actually he showed no emotion at all.
"Dude, I know you're pissed, but he'll be here."
Devan shook his head, glanced up at a clock, then back down. His eyes roamed the small home recording studio they were all in, including Jayden. Those dark blue eyes landed on her, just briefly, then he looked back up at Troy. "Nah, it's—It's not that..." Silence for a second. "I gotta go."
"Devan—"
"I gotta go."
With that, he left the room, and everyone was silent as they listened to Devan's footsteps up the stairs to the house. The front door opened, then slammed shut. A silent moment later, Marcus came downstairs.
Tanner was the first to speak, but he wasn't friendly about it. He was visibly angry, hard features and green eyes set. He ran a hand though his dark blonde hair. He was taller than Marcus, could take him in a fight any day. He wanted to fight him now. "'Bout time."
"I was busy. Can we get to work?" Marcus replied. He sized up Tanner the moment he felt the coldness in the air. They used to be great friends. Marcus joined the band because he loved music. He came from Brooklyn, but was quite obviously a Puerto Rican man, born and raised, with his short black hair and tanned complexion. He spoke fluent Spanish, but his New York accent was more prominent than his Spanish one.
"No, Devan just left. We sat and waited here for two hours, we could have worked then. Now we have no lead singer and we're down a guitar."
Marcus' jaw set, and from her place sitting in her chair across the small room, Jayden saw it. "I said I was busy."
"Better have been damn busy." Tanner pushed past Marcus and attempted to leave.
"What, I can't have a life outside this goddamn band?" Marcus snapped, angry already.
"Sure, but you made a commitment a year ago, and that means you have to make practices!" Tanner retorted, equally angry.
"So I missed one practice! Big fuckin' deal!"
"No, Marcus, you've missed five!"
"And I'll miss five more if I have to! I had other things to do!"
"What other things?"
"Better things!" Having said that, Marcus turned on his heel and left. He didn't have his bass anyway.
Troy looked down and sighed. Tanner said nothing. Jayden looked up at both of them. "Now what?"
Tanner glanced at her and attempted a smile, but he didn't respond.
It was Troy who said, "Auditions."
So...That was "Free Fallin'"...At least so far. I have the first 14.5 chapters written already, so it is a work in progress, but it's my "baby", so it's a pretty fast work. I'm proud of "Free Fallin'" and I love it...I started it last year, and wrote much of it during school...
:-P
So drop a review, it's much appreciated. The story will develop more over the next couple of chapters, with lots and lots of music.
Oh yeah, before I forget...Music credits:
Matchbox Twenty - Last Beautiful Girl
Aerosmith - Cryin'
Livin' My Life was a song I wrote, it's got a harmony and melody and all that good stuff so yeah, 'tis mine. :-D