Misconceptions

She walked through a throng of bodies, people were everywhere, pushing and shoving, dancing and gyrating. She tried to push through; she didn’t know where she was going but, something told her to get to the other side of the room as soon as possible. For a split second the crowd split and she could see the far door. Just as she was about to turn the knob and walk through, a ringing filled the air. She looked everywhere, covering her ears; it reverberated through her head and her body. Where the hell was it coming from?? 

Jordan sat up straight in bed and slammed her hand down on the alarm clock. God, what an awful thing for someone to have invented she thought to herself as she kicked her legs off the side of the bed. 

She padded to the bathroom and flicked the switch. Standing in front of the mirror, Jordan took inventory of herself. Blonde hair stuck out in every direction and was cut close to her head. Her body was nothing to look twice at, just the average American woman, but, as she looked into her eyes, she saw what other people saw. The eyes that looked back at her were the most piercing blue, like a pure sapphire. People were constantly commenting on her eyes, and Jordan had to admit they were pretty unique. 

After a shower, Jordan headed to work. Well, she hated to call it work, it was such a love of hers that it hardly seemed like work at all. Her band was performing tonight at one of the gay-friendly bars downtown and she was psyched. While Jordan was far from a star, she was definitely known, and had a good following. Of course, she thought, the world just loved a lesbian musician. She shrugged and headed for the door, thinking of the play list that Lexiss would use tonight in their show.

“I don’t want to go watch some butchy, lesbian, lame-ass band perform tonight” Stacey spoke slowly as if her friend Jana was a 1st grader. 
On the other end of the phone, Stacey could almost imagine the look of frustration on her friends face. “Come on Stacey, we absolutely have to go! It’s Lexiss, and you know how much I love them!!!”
“Jana, I have to go, I just had a customer walk in and I’m the only one here. Bye”
“Okay, great, I’ll come by at 7:00 and we’ll head down there!” Before Stacey could say another word Jana had disconnected.
“Well shit,” she muttered.

To the customer, she smiled brightly and offered assistance. While she helped the customer, Stacey tried to figure out how she could get out of this. She hated the band Lexiss, hated what the rumor mills had to say about them, and hated the reputation that they had. But, Jana was her best friend and had done her plenty of favors, so; maybe just this once would be okay. Maybe she could suffer through it. 

The door opened and a red-headed fireball flew into the store in a frenzy of smiles and laughs. 
“Hey girl! You ready to party down??”

Jana was the quintessential party girl and Stacey would never figure out what had drawn them together and how they remained such good friends. They were so the opposite of each other. Jana was short with flaming red hair. Her body seemed so out of proportion with her enormous chest and tiny waist. And Jana knew no strangers, everyone she met immediately became a friend and if they happened to know of a party, they were an even better friend. Stacey on the other hand, was tall, with long hair, the color of burnished gold. She was beautiful in the supermodel kind of way, but, hating the spotlight had never wanted to go into that line of work. She was perfectly happy running her little shop and living alone and not having to have any interaction with people unless they were buying from her or selling to her.

Barely being able to pull her jacket over her shoulders, Jana pulled Stacey out of the shop. “Come on, I want to be right in front!! I want to get a good look at Jordan. I wonder if she is into short red-heads. “Stacey just shook her head as she locked the door and listened to her friend prattle a thousand words per minute all the way to the bar. It was only a couple of blocks away and when they arrived they were early enough to walk right in. Jana got her wish and they got a table right by the stage, a little to the left. The band would take the stage in 20 minutes and Stacey wondered how she was ever going to endure a full 2 hours of listening to this crap.

“You’re loving hordes await you.” Jordan turned and gave Tyler a dirty look. 
“Just remember they are all gay Ty, you don’t stand a chance”. Jordan made sure her mic was attached securely and tried to calm her jitters.
“Hey, you don’t have to be like that. Just trying to chill you out a little girl. You know you are awesome. I don’t know why you get so nervous before a show; you’ve done this a thousand times.” Tyler gave her a reassuring pat on her back.

“Thanks Ty. I guess I will just feel better when I get out there and can get started, it’s this waiting thing that gets to me.”
The introduction came and the band hit the stage. Amid a green fog, Jordan materialized as she started the first song. It was an up-beat number and her jitters were instantly gone as she disappeared into the music. It was just her and the melodies, her and the mic, her and the sounds of her voice, the guitar, and the drums. It all vibrated through her body and the crowd seemed to fade before her eyes.

Hundreds of bodies crowded the stage and danced with the music as it rocked out to them. They screamed in adulation and sang the songs with Lexiss. It was definitely a hit, and Stacey hated it. How could all these people be so in love with this band? They were so conceited, they’re lyrics screamed ‘everyone loves us’. Stacey sat at the table, occasionally giving dirty looks as a body slammed into her chair, or her table, or her. God she hoped Jana understood what she was going through. It seemed her prayers were answered when the band called a break and the crowds milled slowly back to tables or barstools. Jana plopped down in the chair opposite her, flushed and sweating.

“Aren’t they the greatest!!? Oh my God, Jordan is so hot! Did you see the way she looked at me!? It was like she was singing just for me!” Jana almost choked as she tried to take a breath and continue talking at the same time. “Holy shit! She’s going to the bar! I gotta go talk to her!” Within 2 minutes, Jana had sat down, spoke six sentences and was gone.

Jordan listened with one ear as the red-headed girl went on and on about this and that. She looked around the room and her eyes stopped on a stunning woman sitting at a table alone. Her hair was golden, and the look on her face was of such boredom that Jordan thought surely her eyes were fooling her. She looked harder, and the girl stared back at her with a look of such disdain that Jordan felt color rise to her cheeks and looked away. 
“So, I think you should definitely talk to her, I think ya’ll would be really good together.” Jordan snapped back to reality and looked down at the girl, Jana, she thought. 

“What? I’m sorry; I didn’t catch that last part.”
“I think ya’ll would be really cute together. She says she hates you, but I know it’s just because she doesn’t know you, because she listens to all the rumors and such. But, you both have some of the same things in common, you know as far as your interests go and everything.” Jana took a breath and opened her mouth to continue.

Jordan stopped her, “Who are you talking about?”
Jana looked exasperated, “My friend Stacey! Sitting over there!” Jana pointed at the golden goddess who had shot daggers at Jordan only moments before.
Stacey, Jordan thought. That’s as good as an introduction. She walked slowly away from Jana, her voice trailing off as Jordan weaved through the crowd to the table at the far side of the bar.

Oh my God, Stacey couldn’t believe this. Jordan Taylor was headed this way and was looking right at her. I’m going to get kicked out of here, she thought. When she hits on me, and I tell her no, she’s going to get pissed and kick me out. Stacey looked down at her glass and tried to blend into the chair.
“Hi, care if I sit for a second?” Jordan stood only a foot away from her.
Stacey had to admit that the woman had a presence about her. She found her eyes lifting up to Jordan’s and locking. “Actually, a friend of mine is going to be back soon.” That voice wasn’t hers, Stacey thought, who was that. 
“That’s okay,” Jordan sat down gracefully and leaned on the table. “I’ll only be here a minute. So, why do you hate me so much?”
Stacey felt like she had fallen down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. Why is this happening? I just wanted to do Jana a favor, and now I am going to embarrass myself and get kicked out of the bar, Stacey stared at Jordan with incredulity.