When You Were Mine – Rainbow Brite children’s books? That’s awesome. I wore a Rainbow Brite shirt to work the other day and it was this whole conversation piece for a good part of the day. She totally rocks.
TemperedCynic – Ah, to be 12 again. That would be better than being 20 in my opinion. But my opinion never really matters except in my own head I suppose. As far as Tara seeming less tired post-equipment load, I’ve always noticed with myself as well as other people that right after any kind of performance on a stage under hot lights there’s that whole “Can I just die now?” feeling. If you give it a little while though that feeling fades. It fades a lot quicker with the prospect of an after-show party. In this particular instance with Tara, it faded a lot more quickly at the double score with after-show party plus Willow. And the feel of a novel? Well, I was kind of shooting for that slow build and everything. I’m not really one to rush right into stuff.
peebrain – The secret to finding out what happens at the party lies within the confines of the next update. Thanks for reading.
littlecrazy80 – Curiosity will be satisfied soon.
visual fallacy – Ah, the female bass player. Just so hot. I have no idea why. I think it may have something to do with the utilization of the fingers of both hands. Of course that’s only when a pick isn’t being used. I’ll let out a secret. The inspiration for Tara as a bass player in this fic came at a Ben Kweller show back in January or February when I saw one of the opening bands, The Pieces, play. Their bass player, Heidi, is absolutely amazing. It was a good night for eye candy with her on stage.
Ginner WTluv – Glad to give you a laugh. The next part is on its way.
Bookcat – More bits to come! (I feel really stupid for saying that.) You’re an Alkaline Trio fan? That’s awesome. They’re such a great band. If you haven’t checked out the new album you totally should. It’s amazing. It’s definitely in the top five of best albums so far this year for me.
xita – I’m glad you still liked that part even without knowing much about the references. You like bass players best as well? Stellar. Most people kind of look past them and straight to the guitarists. It’s sad. Though I suppose out of everyone it’s the drummer who gets the least notice. Poor drummers, all hiding behind that huge equipment. I’ll have to make a mental note to give all my friends who are drummers a hug and tell them how kick ass they are.
JustSkipIt – LOL. Pretty sure ‘pressury’ isn’t a word. But that’s a good one nonetheless. Yeah, Tara’s friends are really nice people. I love it when a group is cool like that and meets new people and just welcomes them right in. Everyone should be like that.
mocha fiend 22 – More coming as we speak.
nika – I’m happy you’re liking this all so much. I’ll try to keep it up on that good level as I write more.
missspangles – Thanks for reading. The next bit is up soon.
the vamp nurd – No need to go into hiding. It’s cool. I understand a little brain malfunction. Mine breaks down about 95% of the time.
Stroke of Luck – Ah, the infamous “bass player hands” line again. People really have seemed to pick up on that one. It’s always fun when someone is totally oblivious to something (like Willow not knowing Tara’s a bass player) and then finally catching on. Classic “I feel like an idiot” moments are great.
noho – My favorite part of relationships is the new stage. It’s always so fun and exciting. I’m glad you like it too. Thanks for reading.
tiredsoul – Thanks for the comments and reading. I really appreciate it.
Willster – Glad to know the show was realistic. As a veteran of the local band scene, I hoped I could portray that feeling for everyone. Knowing that at least one person felt it, I’m happy.
Drumbly – The update is coming up next on Channel 7, WXYZ, your home for all Sarah’s insane ramblings.
Title: Songs For A Mix Tape
Author: Sarah (unionjill30)
Email: unionjill_30@yahoo.com
Rating: PG - PG13ish?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from ME, and really I don’t own the other characters so much either. Though Kim would like to think she owns me. I’ve been informed that I don’t have to be Kim’s bitch, I just choose to be. Go figure.
Feedback: Yes please.
Track 6: Don’t Know How To Party by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
In the parking lot, Tara led Willow down a row of vehicles. As they neared the end, she pressed the unlock button on a keyless entry remote, and a dark blue Suburban’s lights flashed.
“That’s your car?” Willow said with wide eyes.
“Yep,” Tara confirmed.
“It’s so… big.”
Tara just laughed as she led the redhead to the passenger’s side and opened the door for her. After closing the door, she walked around the front and slid in behind the steering wheel.
In the passenger’s seat, Willow was admiring the leather interior and various buttons adorning the dashboard and steering wheel. “You have really good taste,” she said, looking at the blonde.
“Not my taste. It was a gift,” Tara said.
“Nice gift.”
“I guess,” Tara sighed, thinking about the source of the vehicle.
“You don’t like it?” Willow said almost in shock.
“Oh! I like it, don’t get me wrong. It’s nice. It’s just... a bit much, ya know?”
“Maybe?” Willow wasn’t sure exactly what the blonde meant. Depends on who it’s from.
“Okay,” Tara said, turning in her seat to completely face the redhead. “It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll give you the gist.” She didn’t really want to get into all the intricacies of the story and ruin the good mood she was in being with Willow.
“Alright,” Willow nodded.
“When I moved here, I sold the car I’d had since high school. I basically walked everywhere I needed to go, or Kim or my sister drove me or let me use their cars or whatever.”
Aww, she has a sister. Willow nodded for her to continue.
“Anyway, I was talking to my grandfather around the time Elle, that’s my sister, was moving to LA. I think I mentioned something about not having a car with her leaving, and two weeks later I got a package. Inside was a set of keys, some paper work, and a birthday card from my grandparents and my father. There was a note telling me to go outside, and sitting in front of my garage was this.” She spread her arms slightly signifying the car.
“Wow, that’s really cool.”
“I didn’t want to keep it,” Tara continued.
“Why not?” Willow couldn’t understand what was wrong with it. Is there something wrong with gifts from her family?
“If it had just been from my grandparents it would have been fine. I know they’re just trying to help out, and that’s okay. But when I saw it was also from my father...” she trailed off then picked up after a moment trying very hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice, “My father’s always trying to do this kind of thing. Buying things in place of love. It was okay when I was five, but it gets old really fast.”
Willow didn’t know what to say.
After a moment of silence, Tara turned the key in the ignition. “And that’s probably a bit more than you would have liked to know,” she said, putting the vehicle in gear.
“No, it’s okay,” Willow said letting Tara know she didn’t mind hearing about her family. “So where are we headed?” she asked, switching subjects to a more comfortable topic for the blonde.
“Rebecca has this friend Kye who lives on the other side of town,” she explained, grateful for the shift in conversation. “I’ve never met him before, so I don’t really know what to expect.”
“That’s okay,” Willow said as Tara drove them across town.
They pulled up in front of a small house and parked amongst a number of other cars. The party inside appeared to be in full swing, and there were a few people milling around on the front porch. Rebecca was in the mix and stepped out to greet them.
“You made it!” she said, wrapping Tara in a hug. “And you brought your friend,” she smiled towards Willow.
“Hi.” Willow gave a small wave.
“Do you guys want something to drink?” Rebecca asked, pointing to the bottle of beer in her hand.
“No thanks. I’m good,” Tara said.
Willow nodded her head ‘no’. She wasn’t a big fan of beer.
“Well, come inside. I’ll introduce you to Kye and show you around,” Rebecca said, ushering them through the front door.
Inside the house there were groups of people standing around or sitting down talking and drinking. There was loud music coming from another room down the hallway. Rebecca led them into the kitchen where a young man was poised on the counter top behind a keg on the floor.
“Tara, Willow, this is Kye,” Rebecca introduced them to the man. “Kye, this is Tara and Willow.” They all greeted each other and Rebecca told Kye, “I’m just going to show them around. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s cool,” he said.
“Okay,” she said leading the two out of the kitchen. “Obviously that was the kitchen,” she said. “If you want anything to drink, the refrigerator is full of anything imaginable and there’s the keg as well. Just help yourselves.”
Willow and Tara nodded as Rebecca led them into the first room they had been in. Raising her voice over the noise, she told them, “This is the living room. There are all the chairs and the couch if you want some place to sit. Down that hallway is the dining room. Everything’s cleared out and it’s being used as a dance floor. The door to your left is a bathroom, and that’s pretty much it,” she explained. “Oh yeah, any kind of smoking can be done out back or on the front porch.”
“Great,” Tara said with a small smile. What does any kind of smoking mean? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be near a type of smoking that wasn’t cigarettes. She didn’t even really want to be around the cigarettes, but she could deal with that.
“Thanks,” Willow said. She was also trying to figure out the ‘any kind of smoking’ comment.
“If you’re both okay then, I’m going to go look for Zach. He owes me some dancing,” Rebecca said.
“That’s fine. You should go be with your boy,” Tara said.
“Okay, see you guys later,” Rebecca said, leaving them alone amongst the people in the living room.
“So... did you want something to drink, or do you want to sit down or anything?” Tara asked, unsure of what to do.
“We can go sit down if you want,” Willow said, a little unsure herself.
“Okay,” the blonde said, leading them through a mass of people and over to two empty seats in one corner of the room.
“So is there anybody else coming that I’ve met?” Willow asked once they’d sat down. She had to lean in and raise her voice slightly so Tara could hear her over the people talking and the music from the other room.
“Well, you know Mandy and Ross are coming,” she said, leaning in as well. “I think Kim and Jeremy are going back to Kim’s apartment, and Anya, Michael, and Eric are probably off doing who knows what.”
Willow laughed. “I wasn’t even going to ask about what was going on there.”
Tara laughed as well. “Anya’s a little different. She’s getting over some stuff and chose an unusual way to do it,” she explained.
“Gotcha,” the redhead said smiling.
“I don’t know if Ro and Sachiko are coming or not,” Tara continued. “So Mandy and Ross might be the only other people you know besides Rebecca and Zach.”
“That’s fine,” Willow said. That just means more time with just you and me.
They sat and talked for a while before Mandy and Ross came through the front door.
“Hey!” Mandy shouted, pulling Ross with her over to Willow and Tara.
“Glad to see you made it,” Tara said standing up to hug Mandy.
“So what’s the verdict: good party or bad party?” Ross asked.
“Not too bad. Kind of loud and a lot of people. So not great, but not bad,” Tara told him. “What do you think?” she asked Willow.
As Tara was asking her opinion, Willow noticed someone walk into the room from the hallway with something wrapped around his hand and part of his arm. Her eyes got wide when it moved and she realized what it was. “Oh my god,” she gasped.
The other three people with her turned to see what she was looking at and Mandy asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I need to go outside,” she said, and got up to leave with Tara following close behind.
When they made it down the steps of the porch, Willow stopped. Tara could see she was shaking slightly and breathing a little heavily.
“What happened?” she asked.
“That guy had a... a...” Her head was swirling and she was trying to calm down.
“A what?” Tara pushed.
“Snake,” she managed to get out.
“A what?!” Tara asked again, this time slightly more loudly and shocked.
“Some guy had one wrapped up his arm,” Willow tried to explain.
Tara visibly shook with a cold chill. “Ugh.”
“I can’t go back in there. I’m afraid of... those things. God, I don’t even like saying the word,” Willow said as a cold chill hit her as well.
“Well, I don’t want to go back in there with that either. They creep me out too,” Tara said.
“So what do you want to do?” Willow asked, knowing there was no way she was going back inside and thinking they couldn’t just stand outside all night.
Mandy came outside then and rushed over. “What’s wrong?”
“I think we’re going to head out,” Tara said.
“What happened?” Mandy asked.
“There was some guy in there with a snake, so we’re gonna go,” Tara explained.
“Oh, okay,” Mandy said understanding that one or both of them really didn’t like snakes. She’d heard Kye had one as a pet and figured someone had it out of its cage. “I’ll let everyone know you’re gone.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later,” Tara said, turning toward the car.
“It was nice meeting you,” Willow said to Mandy.
“You too,” Mandy said.
By the time they made it to the car Willow had finally stopped shaking. Tara opened the door for her again, which didn’t go unnoticed by the redhead. She did it again. Is she just polite as hell or is this like a date or something? I’m hoping date, but either way it’s incredibly nice.
“Sorry that didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped,” Tara said once she had gotten into the car.
“It’s not your fault,” Willow said. “You couldn’t have known that was going to happen.”
No, but it pretty much ruined the evening. “So would you like me to take you home or...?” She wasn’t sure if the redhead would still want to do something since the party hadn’t panned out.
“We don’t have to call it a night yet,” Willow said. I’d still like to do something with you. Get to know you better. “There’s always other places we could go. I hear The Bronze is pretty fun on a Friday night.”
“I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s fun too. We can check it out if you want,” Tara said. “And I’m sure they don’t allow creepy animals in,” she added with a grin.
“Let’s hope not,” Willow smiled back.
Oh great. She’s all cute and I’m probably all nasty from sweating and look disgusting, Tara realized. “Um... would it be possible if we could run by my place so I can change out of these clothes if we’re going out?” she asked.
“That’s fine,” Willow answered, secretly excited that she was going to get to see where the blonde lived.
“Great, I feel all icky,” Tara said as she started the vehicle and began driving towards her home.
“Sorry about freaking out back there,” Willow said as they drove. “I’m just extremely scared of all things creepy and crawly.”
“It’s okay. It’s understandable. Most normal people don’t like that kind of stuff,” Tara said.
“It gets kind of annoying though. I’m scared of pretty much anything,” she said, looking out the window.
Tara’s curiosity got the best of her. “Like what?” she asked.
“You name it, I’m probably afraid of it,” Willow said and began listing things. “Snakes, obviously. Spiders, lizards and all things reptile-ish, frogs, really dark places, natural bodies of water cause you can’t see the bottom, horses...”
“Your afraid of horses?” Tara interrupted in shock.
“Bad experience as a kid,” Willow explained.
“I grew up around horses. My grandfather has a farm back home, and we’d go riding all the time.” She smiled at the memory.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead on one,” Willow said with a frown. “They’re all big and scary with those teeth that could take an arm off.”
“Last I checked, horses didn’t really eat arm,” Tara joked.
“Well they could if they wanted to, and I don’t trust them enough to not get an idea one day that they want to start eating arm. They always look like they’re plotting something, and I’m not taking any chances,” Willow said, earning a laugh from Tara.
“Sorry,” the blond apologized, trying to cover up her laughter.
“So now you’re making fun of me?” Willow teased.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Tara teased back.
“Fine, be that way,” the redhead joked, crossing her arms in mock anger.
They both laughed, and Tara continued driving.
As she turned onto the street to her house, Tara glanced over at Willow. “Can you do me a huge favor?” she asked.
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Can you get in the bag behind my seat and pull out a metal case with a Kung Fu Records sticker on the front? It should be in the bigger front pocket when you lift up the front flap.”
“Okay.” Willow reached behind the driver’s seat and pulled up a black messenger bag with red flames across the front. “Is this the bag?” she asked.
“Yeah. When you unsnap the front part, the pockets are under there,” Tara explained.
Willow opened the snaps and flipped open the front, locating the pockets Tara had indicated. She opened the bigger of the two pockets and pulled out a metal cigarette case. Oh god, she smokes. I so can’t deal with that. “Is this it?” she asked.
“Yep. If you open that up there’s a plain white card inside.”
Willow opened the case only to find the card Tara described on top of a few folded dollar bills to one side of the case and a stack of what appeared to be a driver’s license and possible credit cards on the other side. She pulled out the card and handed it to Tara.
As they approached the end of the street, there were three gates. Two of the gates appeared to lead into a housing complex while the other seemed to lead out. When they came up to one of the gates, Tara rolled down her window and flashed the white card in front of a box causing the gate in front of them to open.
“You know you’re the first person who hasn’t asked me if I smoke after seeing that,” Tara told the redhead with a grin as she pulled through the gate.
Willow couldn’t lie and said with a sheepish grin, “I might have been thinking it though.”
“That’s okay. You still didn’t say it out loud,” Tara said. “I actually bought it for my sister Elle because she smokes like a chimney. She didn’t like it though so I kept it and put a sticker on it. I don’t smoke by the way.”
“Neither do I,” Willow said, relieved at the information. “Question: what’s with the gate?”
“It’s kind of a security thing I guess,” Tara said. “Everything behind the gate is part of Hidden Lake Condominiums. One way in and one way out. From eight in the morning until nine at night there’s a guard at the gate that lets people in. Any other time you have to have a card to get in, or you can call a resident to buzz you in.”
“Is this a bad neighborhood where you’d need the security?” Willow asked.
“No, not really,” Tara laughed. “I’m not sure what the big desire is to be secluded. I didn’t pick the place out.” She continued when Willow gave her a confused look. “Elle picked it out. She moved here about a month before I did after her first divorce. She asked me to come live with her to help pay for the place.”
“First divorce?” Willow asked, wondering just how many divorces Tara’s sister had been through.
“I say first because I think she’s working on her second right now with the guy she moved to LA to be with,” Tara explained. “She’s not exactly the marrying type of girl.”
“Oh,” Willow said, not sure of what really to say.
“Well, here we are,” Tara said, saving the redhead from having to think of anything to say. She pressed a button to open one of two garage doors and pulled the vehicle inside.
When they both got out, Tara grabbed her bass guitar case and a bag from the back seat and led them through a door into what appeared to be a living room. Against one wall was a light yellow couch with red plaid throw pillows against each arm. On either side of the couch were end tables with small lamps on top, and in front of the couch was a matching coffee table. Across the room was a large wooden media cabinet stained to match the tables and shelves to each side housing more CDs than Willow had ever seen in one place other than a record store. Also in the room was an armchair and ottoman to match the couch with a floor lamp beside the chair. To top things off, an area rug matching the red of the throw pillows covered most of the wood flooring. Willow felt like she’d just stepped into a Pottery Barn catalog.
“I’m just going to run upstairs for about fifteen minutes,” Tara said. “Is there anything I can get you before I go, like something to drink?”
“I’m good,” Willow said.
“Just make yourself at home. The remote to the television is on the coffee table and the television is inside the cabinet,” Tara said as she turned to go up the stairs, carrying the bag and case with her.
Willow walked over to sit down on the couch. She sat for a few moments just looking around before her curiosity took over and she walked over to look through the shelves. There were CDs ranging anywhere from Elton John to Nirvana to Mustard Plug to Beth Orton. She figured there must be at least a thousand or more CDs on the shelves. Then she became interested in how they were organized. Alphabetical order wasn’t exactly the key, but it appeared to be used somehow. After studying the spines of the cases she took a stab and decided that they must be organized alphabetically by genre. Pleased with her deduction, she continued looking over the collection.
Upstairs, Tara placed the bag and case in the room with all her other music equipment and rushed to find something to wear. She quickly located a pair of maroon plaid pants and a three quarter length black shirt to go with them. Deciding to take a quick shower, she grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom. After a five-minute shower and an incident with shampoo in the eye, Tara quickly dressed and ran a blow dryer over her hair to take some of the moisture out of it. Leaving it just slightly damp, she pulled it up, pushing two black sticks through it to keep it in place. She then put on some eye shadow and lip-gloss before lacing up her black Dr. Marten boots and heading downstairs. When Tara made it to the bottom of the steps she spotted Willow by the shelves looking over her CD collection.
“This is quite the collection you have here,” Willow said, indicating the CDs.
“Yeah, it’s gotten kind of big over the years. Music’s one of my big obsessions.”
“How’d you get all of them? That’s a lot of CDs to buy.”
Tara walked over beside the redhead. “I used to work in a record store in high school. It was a small, independent store, and I was really good friends with the guy who owned the place. He’d let me have a lot of promos when the store was done with them, and I also got a really great discount on stuff. Hence the ton of CDs I own.”
“Do you know how many you have?” Willow asked, needing to put some sort of numerical value to it all.
“I don’t know exactly, but last time I checked I think there were a little over seventeen hundred CDs and something like ninety or so records,” Tara said.
“And people tell me I have a lot of CDs,” Willow said, wide-eyed.
“How many do you have?”
“Three hundred twenty six.”
“Not bad,” Tara smiled, laughing to herself at Willow’s knowledge of the exact number of CDs she owned. She’s probably the really organized type. Cute. “Are you ready to go?”
“If you are,” Willow said.
“Alright, let’s head out then,” Tara said as they went to the garage to get in the SUV and go to The Bronze.
This is the starting of a brand new revolution. Bite the hand that feeds. Stand up and fight against the messages that they're sending… stop their frequency. You're always talking. It's never ending. It's about time that we turn off the radio. Call the request lines and tell them that it's over. You're always playing all of the same songs over and over again. It's about time we all turned off the radio. Look outside your FM dial. They're preaching lies in 4/4 time. A generation without a voice and stripped of pride.
hope lots of dancing and talking
more...so UPDATE SOON AGAIN?
Thanks, much love sammi xxx
But my evil computer won't let me
Must try harder.....
I really like this story! Update please?? 
