In the Car

[Marissa Thompson]

Marissa followed the van to the club, chuckling to herself at Beau using his arm and hand as turn signals. Or a wave. She couldn't quite tell. She drove past crowds of people, all enjoying the nightlife of the small town. It was a nice reminder of normal life, going out in town and forgetting all about her ability. Marissa smiled at the thought, shutting her engine off.

She got to the back of the line, and after a few minutes, Marissa got to the front of the line. "Hello!" she said cheerfully to the guy watching the door. "My friend, Beau LaRoux is playing tonight, and he mentioned something about me being allowed in..." Marissa awkwardly phrased. How was she suppose to word it? Tell the guy she gets in for free? "As a guest. For free." That seemed a bit rude. She added a sweet smile, half tempted to start batting her eyelashes.

Instead, the doorman raised an eyebrow at Marissa, giving her a suggestive look. She blushed in return, opening her mouth to argue that it wasn't anything like that... just two friends who enjoyed music. "No no, I'm not with him." She said with an awkward laugh, running a hand through her hair. "Well, I'm with him... as a friend. Nothing more." She corrected as he began to look skeptical. He had reason, a lot of girls probably tried to pull that card. Marissa frowned, pointing to Beau. "You can ask him... he's expecting me..." She trailed off, tempted to just pull out cash and get into the club already. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to.

Marissa sighed in relief as the ticket man replied with a gruff "Alright, alright, sorry ma'am. Enjoy the show." Took long enough. She smiled and waved back at Beau, watching him prepare for the show. Marissa made her way to the back of the crowd, standing where there was a good view. Perfect spot to enjoy the show.

[Beau LaRoux]

It wouldn't have surprised Beau to find out that the bouncer thought that Marissa was, in fact, one of Beau's girlfriends. He'd done it before, though he usually preferred leggy blondes. Still, she wouldn't be the first brunette who claimed to know Beau in an intimate fashion (though true intimacy had not been achieved as of yet; give it time). Still, Marissa got through, and that was what mattered for the moment.

Beau then started to wave at the crowd, moving to take the microphone. He opened with a "howdy folks," which was greeted with cries and screams from the crowd. The vast majority of them were locals, and quite a few knew Beau all too well. Several of those called his name, including a handful of girls (at least one of which was probably an ex; Beau had done some dating, after all; and others that wanted to be). Beau smiled at them all, waving and letting them get it out. This was a bar gig, after all, which meant working a rowdy, half drunk crowd.

"Feelin' a little country right now," he drawled, getting laughs from some and moans from others. The general consensus would probably be somewhere along the lines of "when did you not?" but Beau signaled to the crowd, directing them to start up a rather raucous country tune. Soon, the tune of Darius Rucker's "Radio" sounded. It was a stomping one, and Beau's voice gave it a decent spin. He definitely looked cheerier as he started, definitely better than when he'd started, or when he'd been fighting the van.

"Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ?
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find somethin' on the radio

Like a feel real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio" and of course Beau was playing and moving while he sang, working the small stage, winking at girls, getting the crowd into it. Feet would end up stomping, and eventually Beau would move his hands from his  guitar to lead them in clapping. The guy obviously knew how to work a crowd as well as his instrument and voice.

[Marissa Thompson]

Marissa leaned back against the bar, taking in the scene in front of her. Sometimes, she would end into the crowd herself, but country music wasn't her scene. It was hard to jump around and go crazy to music she wasn't a huge fan of. Still, the brunette would enjoy Beau's show since he was extremely talented and knew how to work the stage; all of the screaming girls were proof. She rolled her eyes at the incessant cries and declarations of love, but they were all part of some shows. Marissa kind of got a kick out of his reaction to the rowdy crowd and their reactions in return.

She turned, ordering a soda from the bar. Marissa wasn't in the mood to drink tonight, not that she ever was one to drink anyway. She was already pretty weird without alcohol in her system. Taking her soda, Marissa nodded her head along to the beat of the song, sipping her drink every so often. He looked so happy up on stage. She could imagine that that was the case for most musicians/singers. Beau was no exception, with his charming smile and Southern mannerisms. Hell, he belonged on stage.

Marissa tapped her toe to the music, clapping and hollering along with the cues, enjoying the night out.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau moved through his set effortlessly, making sure to wink and look at several girls in the town. He did mention Marissa directly at a song, even stopping to point at her. It was a goofy one about a car being broken down on the side of the road, hardly romantic, and definitely one that got people laughing and smiling. Beau proved as excellent at delivering that as he did various ballads. There were a few originals that slid in there, including one that several of the crowd seemed to recognize. It was effectively called "Liz's Song" and talked about a best friend in a manner that Taylor Swift probably would have appreciated. The crowd definitely knew this one, and a few of the girls squealed, one or two claiming to be "Liz" herself.

The set ended though, ended with a bang as Beau went into a rollicking, hand-clapping version of an old rock song. The audience cheered and he got several salutes, a handful of which he returned as he made his way through. He left his guitar at the stage for now, instead working through the crowd. He did have a destination though: Marissa herself. Couldn't keep a guest waiting. Beau gestured for the bartender to prepare him another drink, motioning to Marissa as well.

"They pay for my drinks when I play," he said, "so ya mightas well take advantage," he said. A Pepsi arrived soon enough, and Beau picked it up, took a sip, smacked his lips, and set it back down, nodding to Marissa. "Whatcha think?"

[Marissa Thompson]

OOC: Sorry for the delay! My laptop went on the fritz and I've been busy trying to catch up on my online course/life.

By the end of the set, Marissa had found herself getting real into it. She couldn't help it; Beau was incredibly charming and this personality trait really helped him out on stage. She had laughed and clapped the loudest in the crowd during the dedication and the song that followed, which had been ironic considering their encounter earlier that evening. Marissa sure got a kick out of that one.

Clapping at the finale, Marissa grinned towards the stage. What a great performance. Beau was clearly adored by fans from all age groups, male and female. She had to applaud him for that. Lifting her empty glass as a salute to the country musician, Marissa set it down as he made his way through the crowd. She knew it could take a while, with eager fans wanting to take a picture with a potential future star or just for the sake of taking a photo with a cute guy.

Finally, Beau made it to the stage, Marissa still smiling. "Great show there you put on tonight." She greeted, nodding graciously towards her friend. Marissa turned and sweetly smiled. "I'll have a Sprite." She said. "Thanks." After a quick sip, she smiled. "I think every time I come out and see you, I appreciate country a little more. It really was a great show." She said with a nod. "I think I saw a girl here faint during Liz's Song." Marissa snorted. It was true; a fifteen year old girl had been screaming her little head off and then next thing Marissa knew, the young girl was on the ground.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau returned Marissa's nod. Meant a little more hearing it from someone else he knew could play, especially someone like Marissa, whom Beau didn't think really dug the whole country music thing all that much. It was a lot easier to play for a fan of your genre than someone disinterested. Heck, Beau would take a hater: he could usually turn them in a few lines with the right song, or at least through sheer force of personality.

"Really? Damn, I keep tellin' 'em they need to lay pillows down for that number,' said Beau, chuckling and looking over the crowd. He rubbed the back of his head before settling back down, taking another sip of the Pepsi. "Don't know why so many girls think that's about them. Bit personal to be about some random girl, right?" he chuckled and shook his head, drumming his fingers against the bar. He really needed to get that girl out of his mind, especially since he was here with another girl. Sure, he and Marissa weren't dating, but if nothing else, it was blasted rude to be talking about another girl to someone.

"See anything you're plannin' on stealin'?" he asked, smiling and looking over at Marissa again. "Wouldn't be the first time, but if memory serves, you're good enough that I won't pitch a fit over it," he winked and took another drink of his Pepsi, nearly downing it. He definitely needed it after singing and all.

[Marissa Thompson]

Sipping at her Sprite, Marissa laughed, thinking back. She felt for the girl, really, but still didn't mind laughing at what had happened. "Tell them to get on it, or else you'll be sued or something of the sorts." She set down her glass with a grin. Nodding in agreement, Marissa looked over at Beau. "Who knows what all these people think though." Well, actually... she could, sort of. "I guess that they just get.. so overwhelmed and excited their mind goes on the fritz and they react by screaming and thinking its about themselves." Shrugging, Marissa kept a hand on the cold glass of soda. "Besides, we all know the song is really about me. Clearly the name is a front for me." She teased, winking.

"Damn, if I could get someone fainting at my shows that'd be kind of cool." Marissa grinned. "Why thank you, Beau. Saw a couple good ones up there but I don't think I'd be able to give the songs full justice. Not exactly a country performer."

[Beau LaRoux]

"I'll make sure they get right on it; tell 'em my legal adviser said it was right dangerous, jus' leavin' it like that," drawled Beau, nodding to the dance floor. He had to chuckle as Marissa explained what happened. He guessed that was how it worked. He certainly wasn't going to try and fathom the mind of teenage girls. The last bit got a more hearty laugh, with Beau even shaking his head. "Front; shoulda remembered that. Good thing I got you as my legal counselor then," he raised his glass and took a deep drink of it. Definitely a good line to use at some point in time, and Beau was definitely planning on using it.

"Hey, jus' start singin' a song 'bout a nonspecific boy," drawled Beau. "Though I guess they ain't gonna care how specific you get. an' you should try country," he insisted, raising a finger to jab at Marissa's shoulder. "Girl as pretty as you would have all the cowboys flingin' their hats at the stage. 'course, you'd have to deal with a lot of marriage proposals, an' I reckon you're a bit to young for that."

Beau paused and stroked his chin contemplatively, humming to himself as he faked thinking deeply about it. He couldn't hold it long (assuming Marissa would even let him), soon chuckling.