Emo sits on the city bus. Content with his lack of companionship he is listening to Eldon and staring out the window. A cutesy girl wearing bright pink headphones plops down beside him. Emo straightens up. She pulls out her MP3 player, and Emo peaks over to see what she's listening to. It's Ethereal.

"You into Ethereal?" He asks her.

"I like their music, but I don't really follow bands. I think those people who can list off every band member's birthday, favourite colour and mother's maiden name are
freaks."

Emo squirms suddenly in his seat.

"Heh, did I just refer to you as a freak?"

"Can't say I mind if you did. I don't know all of their mothers' maiden names, but I think I know one." He tells her with a bashful smile.

"I don't think I even know the band members names... let's see, there's Animal, and Veronica - she plays beautifully."

"Yes, he does. So I guess you wouldn't even recognize them if you were to see them on the street eh?"

"I dunno, maybe. Wouldn't they have a kind of 'look'?".

"A look?" Emo can't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, an 'I'm like totally famous and you better know it' kind of look."

"Umm, I sort of doubt it," he says with a bit of a snicker.  

"How about concerts, are you terribly against them as well?"

"Only if the music's crap without all of that editing they do, no, not terribly against concerts."

"Ethereal's playing at the concert hall tonight." He reaches into his bag pulling out two tickets in a way that does not reveal that he was carrying ten and continues, "A couple of my friends couldn't make it, you can take your boyfriend."

"Or I don't have a boyfriend. And could just go with you?"

"Well...that's not exactly possible."

"Oh, well..."

"You should bring a friend, maybe I'll see you there."

Emo, not quite sure whether or not this is his stop, and realizing that he doesn't have a stop per se, decides it is certainly time to get off the bus.

                                    ---

Emo sits peaking out from the stage, Ducky on his lap. He wonders to himself if she'd find a balcony seat awkward for a rock concert, for she is not in her seat.

"Looking for your pink headphoned lady, Emo?" Veronica asks sitting down beside him.

"Mhmm."

"Think she'll show?"

"Maybe."

"What if she doesn't like us?"

"Well, she thinks you play beautifully, ma'am," he replies with an added shove.

Veronica returns the shove, causing Emo to fall over, pushing the curtain and revealing their hiding place. One solitary cheer is heard as they scurry back behind the curtain.

"I saw her, she's headed towards the refreshment stand, or the washroom, hard to tell." Emo proclaims preparing his ninja stance.

Veronica follows suit falling into his own stance; "We must be swift and cautious as not to disturb the hall with our presence."

"I have a plan, let us go!" Emo runs forwards jumping off the stage, ignoring the pain shooting up his legs as he lands he continues towards his goal.

"Real smooth man," Veronica whispers running up behind.

Emo catches sight of the girl standing at the tail end of the refreshments line. "Where's your friend?" he asks as he approaches her.

"I brought my little brother, he's waiting at his seat. Where's your girl?"

"M-m-my girl?" Emo glances behind him noting Veronica's absense by a lack of laughter in his ear.

"Well, yeah, is that not the reason you couldn't come with me?"

"It was n-not...not the reason at all. I'm just busy."

"I see." She replies cooly, turning back to the line.

"Hey, why are you waiting in line here anyways, there's machines over here, follow me." As he walks away he isn't sure that she will follow. He walks past security and stops at the place he had spoken of.

"Why doesn't anyone use these?" she asks him popping coins into the Pepsi machine.

"Oh they just don't know they're here."

"Hey! You two! This place is off limits, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."  Turning around they see a rather ruffled looking man holding a yellow clipboard.

"Clippy, it's just me." Emo tells him with a laugh at the look on the stage manager's face.

"Oh, Emo. I didn't recognize you with your ninja toque on. I'm glad I found you, you have five minutes. I need to find Roni." he begins to run off before even finishing his sentence.

"What was that all about?" she looks up at him quizzically.

"Nothing really. Random question for you: if you listen to Ethereal so much how do you not know what they look like? I mean, their picture's on two of their album covers."

"Oh, I haven't seen the album covers, I generally download my music."

"I see." Emo nearly jumps at the coldness in his own voice, "My busyness is about to begin, you best be getting to your seat." He begins to walk away, once again
without looking behind him.

"Wait, where are you sitting?"

He continues walking but yells back to her that she's sure to see him. He walks until he reaches his place on stage. His friends turn and smile at him questioningly. He responds with a grim shake of his head as he bends over to pick up his guitar. Mic shrugs at him apologetically. He was grateful now, although they'd often argued the issue, that she would be singing the first song rather than himself.

Emo watches as the curtain rises, he likes to think it's rising for him. Not so that the audience can see him, but so he can see many faces looking up from below. He thinks to himself that she'd probably view that as another one of those selfish celebrity things. "Gosh Emo, you don't even know her name, since when do you pout over cootie infested girls?" He quickly snaps out of his thoughts as the show begins. His eyes avoid the western balcony until the end of the show when he looks up and smiles, figuring he owes this girl that at least.

As the curtain finally falls Emo sits down on his amp. He finds that fighting back emotions while expressing emotions through song to be quite interesting, but
exhausting.

"You gonna be ok Emo?" Catti stands looking at him trying not to let her worry show.

"I'm fine. I really am. Not one of those fake fines. Real one."

"I'm glad Emo, I hate to see you hurting."

"I'll be over it soon enough, who's turn for autographing?"

"Aminal and Mic, I'm heading to the bus to grab a nap, what are you doing?"

"I think I'll sit here for awhile, or sit over there. You know, sit. Think. The works."

"Alright Emo, you have fun with that." She laughs, walking away.

Emo decides against staying where he is, not wanting to get in Clippy's way. Instead he grabs Mr. Rubber Ducky and walks back over to plunk himself down in
front of the Pepsi machine.

"Well boys," he says pulling Eldon out of his pocket, "I suppose I should have listened when you told me about how terrible and disgusting girls are. But well, you know, they sure smell good. I suppose that's part of their trickiness eh? Horrible creatures it seems."

Emo hears someone approaching and looks up expecting to see Catti returning to check on him, instead he sees her once again. That horrid girl.

"Hello." he says staring into his lap.

"Shouldn't you be signing autographs or something Mr. Big Shot?" she asks sitting herself beside him.

"We take turns. It's not mine."

"Ah, I see. An evil ploy to make your fans return to more concerts to get each autograph I suppose?"

"Either that or I see no reason people need my name signed on a napkin and I hate doing it... although the whole napkin thing is kind of funny."

"I was kidding. Oh, I wanted to show you something," She pulls out her MP3 player and hands it to him. The Ethereal folder is highlighted, he clicks it. It's empty.

"I suppose you weren't so fond of us in person then."

"Well actually..." she trails off as she reaches into her purse and pulls out a CD handing it to him as well. He looks at the picture of him and his bandmates on the
cover, Anthro class, their first album.

"Are we ok?" she looks at him sheepishly, biting her lip.

"Hey, you ought to meet Veronica...I wonder where he's hiding now." he says jumping up, grabbing her hand and dragging her along. "Oh... another random question for you if that's ok." He stops and turns to look at her.

"Perfectly fine Emo, go for it."

"Do you happen to have a... name?" he flushes red suddenly, looking down at his feet.

"Petunia." she tells him with a coy smile.