It was a school day, but Addy's parents would be getting a phone call or a note or whatever that school did when a student was present for third period but was absent for fourth without being signed out. She'd stuffed her bookbag in her locker, and everything she needed was in a black leather purse she kept on her shoulder. She pulled up the zipper of her leather jacket, covering her black band shirt, her outfit topped off by a pair of black jeans and a pair of black high-tops with pink laces. 

As she walked down the sidewalk, nearing her destination, she passed a streetlight, and she reached out her hand to touch it, a blue spark flashing from her hand, causing the light to turn on for a brief moment then go back out. Couldn't afford to have any accidents where she was going. 

The little bell above the door chimed as she walked into the music store, her green eyes scanning the room full of guitars, basses, and amps. This, was her heaven. 

She found a black guitar hanging on the wall, and was drawn to it, so she grabbed it and brought it to the center of the room and found an amp to plug it into. After strapping the axe on and getting used to the feel of it, she cranked up the amp and detached the guitar pick she wore on a chain around her neck. Then, she played through a few scales before swapping to riffs, letting the fingers of her left hand dance expertly over the fretboard as she let out the frustrations of the week and let them fill the store in a gritty medley of songs and some of her own work thrown in there for fun.  One good thing about skipping school to be here was that there wasn't much of a crowd before lunch time because everyone was at work or school. 

One could say a downside of this was that she looked[/] like she belonged in school. But as it stood, she didn't care as she kept playing, swapping songs once again, this time her voice laced with teen angst mixed in with the guitar. 

"Schooool's out. For. Ever. Schoooooool's out. For Summer..." She got lost in what she was doing, Every now and then one would see a flicker of blue arc around the back of her hand. Harmless, but a sign that the amp and guitar weren't the only things getting power from the cord in the wall. 

Effing thieves had stolen her goddamn guitar, and she wasn't happy about it. She was a thief! Wasn't there a code or some shit?

Grumpy at having her old beaten up guitar ripped out from under her nose, she was heading out to get a new one. Unfortunately given the time of day, she would probably end up having to pay for it. The very thought only added to her grouchiness more.

The very petite blonde pulled the door to the music store open, ignoring the chime the went off as she entered. Her hair was pulled back in a tight french braid, baggy black sweatshirt, dark leggings, and boring while sneakers. She looked pretty basic, pretty much.

Juniper marched right up to the counter to explain to the guy running it what she wanted. She spared half a glance at best to the other girl in the store who was belting out a song moodily. She was pretty good.

The guy led her over to a wall, where he helped her pick though the various styles of body and shape. Her old one had been a plain brown guitar with hundreds of stickers slapped all over it. These new ones were fancy. She hoped they played the same.

"-Like... as easy as possible. I don't really tend to bother with the fancy stuff. Yeah, acoustic."

He pulled one down for her and told her to test it out. She agreed, if only to look it over before buying it. She headed on over to an open seat and sat herself down. This one was roughly the same shape as the last she had, but darker in color and newer.

She plucked a few strings experimentally, before tuning in on what the girl was playing again. Hmm.

She started plucking away the same chords, hopping in with an oddly complimentary version on her acoustic guitar. She watched the other blonde to see how she would handle it.

Addy was in her element, and this particular guitar was perfect. It looked amazing, it felt great, and it sounded just the way she liked. She closed her eyes, letting her fingers work their magic over the fretboard expertly.

The bell on the door dinged, and her green eyes opened just to see who was coming in. What of course she wasn't paranoid. Even still she didn't miss a beat, staying right on rhythm as she played. She changed songs, but still couldn't get out of the habit of singing harmony.

As she swapped to a more haunting introduction, the girl sat next to her with an acoustic guitar, and Addy didn't do a very good job at hiding the little huff that came out of her nose. Whatever floats your boat, she reckoned. But she was impressed that the girl was following along with her quite well. And to be fair....it sounded really good.

She shot her new partner a smile as she kept playing, letting her normally background vocals pair with the two guitars.

"You make me sick
But I love what we're doing here
You make me sick
And I can't be the only one..."

She was used to playing guitar along with her sister, but that wasn't as common since Veronica preferred lead vocals, but in this case Addy had trouble sharing the spotlight. It wasn't for lack of trying, but she was a shredder at heart, and the acoustic was no match in that regard. When she ended the song, she looked over at the girl.

"You're pretty good," she admitted, idly strumming out a gentle melody on the not so gentle guitar. "Ever think about playing something with a little more balls under it?" she asked. She was actually being nice, but music was one of Addy's soft spots. Besides, though she looked to be a fair bit older than her, Addy had to admit she was pretty, and that also counted for something. A little.

The girl had a voice and paired nicely with the song she had chosen.

Juniper was fiddling away with her strings and half listening as she got familiar with the new instrument. "Nah, I'm a basic #@%$& at heart when it comes to instruments." She offered a lopsided grin in response.

She plucked through the opening tune of 'Tribute' experimentally. "I tend to go for different kinda balls anyway."

Humming the intro as she plucked away, she glanced at the girl again

"Besides, the greatest band in the world uses exclusively acoustic guitar. You know any Tenatious D?"

"Whatever suits you, I guess," she said with a shrug. And then, she started playing Tenacious ****ing D. She gave a small smirk as she stood up, unhooking her guitar and putting it back on the wall. This girl had found her weakness, and the one thing she would pick up an acoustic for.

At home she picked it out on her electric, but...they were in public and she was going to do this right. She found a black acoustic she liked, and sat back down, this time swallowing her pride and letting her fellow guitarist take the lead.

"I do, actually. The one band I'd touch an acoustic for," she replied. She picked out the same rhythm as the other girl, taking a minute to get used to the feel of the not as badass guitar. "Let's see if I can keep up, shall we?" she said with a smirk, a small glimmer in her eye as she matched the other girl chord for chord.

Oh, it was so on.

Juniper could't help but grin roguishly as the girl got up and switched guitars. As the other blond sat, Juniper hopped to her feet and dropped her very best impression of the lead singer.

"A long time ago be and my brother Kyle here-" She gestured with her guitar at the girl, "we was hitchhiking down a long and lonesome road. All of the sudden there shined a shiny demon in the middle of the road." She paused for dramatics, "AND HE SAID~!"

She had a decent voice, nothing to call home over, but it was a little hard trying to match the kind of voice a grown man made when imitating a demon. She gave it her all though. "Plllaaaaay the best soooong in the world, or I'll eat your souls!"

She continued on with the lyrics for a moment, jumping around in a similar way that the singer would have, until they got to the first big riff. She dropped the singing after that to concentrate on getting the tune right that came after.

"Look into my eyes and it's easy to seee, one and one make two, two and one make threeee~ It was destiny!"

All they were missing was a sick drum beat in the back, really.

"The things I do for the love of music," she muttered under her breath, but she was in a good mood today, and playing with someone that wasn't her sister was interesting, even if she was giving up her lead guitar position for a little while. But for Tenacious D, she'd do it. This chick really wasn't that bad; her guitar skills were almost on par with her own, and while not outstanding the vocals were pretty decent too. When she dropped the lyrics to focus on the riff, Addy instinctively took over the lead vocals, still riffing away on her guitar.

"Needless to say, the beast was stunned.
Whip-crack went his whoopy tail,
And the beast was done.
He asked us: "(snort) Be you angels?"
And we said, "Nay. We are but men."
Rock!
Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh-ah-ah,
Ohhh, whoah, ah-whoah-oh!"

In the middle, Addy set down the acoustic, letting the other girl take over while she still provided backup, and she had the electric guitar back just in time for the big solo. This was where Addy really shined and showed what she was made of.

"This is just a tribute! You gotta believe it!
And I wish you were there! Just a matter of opinion.
Ah, ****! Good God, God lovin',
So surprised to find you can't stop it."

When the song ended, Addy was wearing this huge grin as she looked over at her impromptu accompaniment. "Hey, that was pretty damn awesome," she commented, giving her a nod as she just sat for a moment, fingers lightly moving over the strings of the guitar, but not really playing anything; she was more or less just fidgeting.

Oh Jeez, apparently she had chosen a good partner to sit down and harass. The girl was absolutely shredding it, and doing the song a lot of justice. The tables were flipped suddenly and Juniper was the one struggling to keep up. Still, she kept on with it. These songs were what had gotten her through many a rest stop retreat as she puttered about from state to state over the years. She preferred them to any sappy, normal acoustic song any day.

As they hit the end of the song Juniper found herself in a rare fit of giggles and a little winded from hopping around like a maniac. She plopped back down into the seat and glanced at the shopkeep, who was clapping slowly and laughing at the both of them. She held her guitar up and grinned at the man. "I'll take it!"

He flashed her a thumbs up and she dropped the instrument back into her lap. She turned her tried grin on the blonde girl. "I'd say. I haven't rocked like that in a long time." Well, with instruments maybe.

"You're @#$%in' awesome. You in a band or something? I just do this as a way to deal with boredom and anxiety."

Jesuschrist, she needed to start running again. She shouldn't be this winded. Maybe lay off the smokes, too.

Addy wasn't winded; she was only now warmed up in fact. Then again, she was accustomed to playing and singing more than just a couple of songs, and her theatrics didn't consist of jumping around. But her playing partner's antics made her smile. She seemed like a fun person, and that was saying something. When the girl bought the guitar she was playing,Addy put hers back.

" I'll save up?" she promised with a small smile and a shrug. Hey, the dude liked the show, so Addy was definitely coming back here. Maybe bring Veronica next time. Though she liked the prospect of meeting people this way.

"Really? You took to it pretty good," she complimented. "Hey you're legit, too. Yeah, my twin sister and I have a band. Sonarstatic Rebellion. Formerly the Marilyns until about a year or so ago. We do a lot of punk rock. And I'm pretty sure I cut my teeth on a guitar," she said with a laugh before offering her hand--quite awkwardly because she didn't do that much--to shake. If the girl accepted, she'd feel a slight tingling sensation. Addy wasn't trying to shock her, but she'd absorbed a good bit of electricity. At the worst she'd feel the little hairs on her right arm standing up.

"I'm Addy."

Juniper took the compliment without it going to her head. She played for herself, so she played the way she felt most comfortable. "Thanks, I think I sound like a thousand times better in my bathroom though." She giggled while plucking through the Banjo duel tune from deliverance.

Her list of songs she knew by heart was small, and other than a few country and folk songs, was mostly comprised of silly songs that most people did't like hearing played in public. She really got a kick out of it.

"Woah, really?" That was cool. She hadn't actually expected her to be in a band! "I'll have to check you guys out later. I'm pretty new to the city so a lot of my tastes haven't shifted away from the country."

She shifted to plucking away at a slow country song for a moment before reaching out and shaking newly named Addy's hand. A static feeling shot up her arm, like Addy had shuffled her feet on a thick carpet a few moments ago to shock her. The hairs lifted a little, but she mostly ignored it. She did try to discreetly shake the feeling from her hand after withdrawing it, though.

"I'm Juniper."

Addy sat in the chair, now without an instrument, though the guy behind the counter didn't seem to mind Addy playing but not having any money. Then again, maybe her being good helped that out. "Oh that's just a confidence thing," she said with a smile. "Bit of advice, if you don't mind. When doing a cover, especially something with as distinct a sound as Tenacious D, don't worry about trying to sound like the original singer. Lean into it, yeah, but make it your own. Incorporate what makes you, you. You'll sound better, and you'll feel better because you're playing to your own strengths," she said sincerely before cracking a smirk. "I did enjoy watching you dance around like a nut, though," she teased lightly. Though maybe she enjoyed that a little too much.

"Yeah, we're not very big, but we play small events sometimes. I'll forgive you for the whole 'country,' thing because you're a fun person to play with," Addy said, continuing to poke fun, though that comment sounded a little more serious. The gleam in her eyes though, said it was all in jest.

The expression dropped; she'd noticed the discrete shaking but that was because she was used to it by now, and she withdrew a little bit. "Yeah I uh...I do that sometimes..." she said, biting her lip a little. "It only hurts when I want it to though, usually," she covered up her internal turmoil with a sharp voice and a playful wink as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. This was why she normally put up that tough front, it was so much easier when people thought you were cool. But this girl had already seen her open up because of the music, so it was too late to put that wall up. [/font]

Juniper chuckled a tad bit nervously at the advice and rubbed the back of her neck. The advice was nice, but she wasn't sure what to do with it. It felt silly going all out when she sang by herself all the time. It was easier just making a fool out of herself to avoid... eh.. embarrassment? Crap. That didn't make any sense. Maybe it was just easier doing it on purpose rather than trying to be serious and having someone laugh at you. Maybe she'd take the girl up on her advice once she was back home. "Thanks."

She laughed about the country thing. She'd heard it before and it honestly didn't bother her. Music tastes varied greatly state by state. "I am ever grateful for your gracious, merciful forgiveness for my transgression, oh professional one~" She dipped in a sweeping low bow, holding her guitar off to one side.

"Oh? That was you then?" Juniper hardly looked phased. Not worried, or angry or anything. Features perhaps a little surprised but otherwise nonplussed. "That's pretty cool. I though it was like, static or something." She smiled again. "Pretty useful, probably, in this city, eh?"

"You're welcome. Even if you're not in a band like me, you've got potential. I mean, you're pretty damn good," She complimented matter-of-factly and threw in a solid nod for good measure.

"Careful now," she teased, "a girl could really get used to that, ya know~" Addy quipped with a playful wink. Her humor was a lot less dark and cynical today for some reason. Then again, that jam session really chipped away at her edgy outer shell.

"Yeah, that was me. That part I can't really turn off, but at the same time it's better for me if I have more electricity stored..." she said quietly. "Besides, I don't need as much sleep as most people so I guess it's not a terrible trade off, right?" she shrugged, eyes looking a bit uneasily around the room.

Damnit, now she was blushing. Juniper shifted awkwardly. Compliments were weird. She deflected by laughing at the tease Addy threw her way. "Hey, I will grovel as I see fit!" She chuckled.

Juniper caught on pretty quick when people were uncomfortable, though sometimes it was a little hard to figure out why. This time wasn't one of those. It was pretty damn easy to connect the power and the handshake, and the sudden uneasiness.

"Hey now, it's okay. Really! Here, look!"

She lifted her guitar back up and phased it, plopping down right over her head. Her head and neck popped right through the middle of the body of the instrument. "Ta-da~!"

She pulled it off quickly, shooting a discreet glance toward the shop keep. He didn't seem to be reacting at all, too busy flipping through a magazine to pay attention to two teenagers rattle one about supposed teenager stuff.

She tossed a beaming smile back at the girl. "See? No need to be shy around me." She paused for a moment, "Sure wish I didn't need as much sleep as I do. More time to party!"

"Well if it goes to my head, you did it," she said with a smirk, folding her arms across her chest and giving a coy smirk. She took an odd enjoyment in making people blush and squirm but that was only because it didn't happen often. Besides, if Addy was teasing, it meant she didn't want to kill--or zap-- the object of said teasing.

But after the handshake, it was Addy's turn to be all awkward and blushing. Crap.

And then, her green eyes widened as Juniper's guitar passed through her head and neck. "Ho. Lee. ****..." she murmured, giving an impressed grin. "Heh, yeah. That's one way to look at it. Not a lot of people appreciate the whole static thing though," she said with a shrug. "But **** em. I guess those who are worth being around won't mind it," she added; this was said mostly to herself, and Juniper just happened to be listening. She stood there for a moment, hands in her jacket pocket, soaking in the situation.

"You know, I wouldn't mind jamming with you again sometime. Good way to stretch my wings and play something a little different, right?" She gave another shrug as a blush tinted her cheeks and she realized that her usual punky goth persona had melted away a long damn time ago, giving the girl underneath nothing to hide behind.