A couple weeks passed, and me and the band were hired by one of Lincoln's friends to perform for her birthday party. I believe Lincoln calls her "Girl Jordan." Anyway, she must have forgiven Lincoln after he and his friends embarrassed themselves at her last birthday party (the way I heard it, it was a pool party and they forgot to bring swimsuits, so they went for a dip in their skivvies; later on, Girl Jordan's dog ate their clothes or something, among other mishaps).
Sam underwent a slight style change slightly before the party; he'd dyed a lock of his hair dark blue, and he wore a denim jacket with the sleeves cut off over a white sleeveless T-shirt that had a blue-and-purple bull's-eye on the front tucked into purple pants torn off at the knees, held up by a black belt with a steel wolf's-head-shaped buckle. His gnarly Hobbit feet were still bare, and he was as hairy as ever. He even started growing a goatee on his chin. He was working out with my sister Lynn, too, and it was starting to show; his arms and legs were no longer the toothpicks they were when I first met him, and his chest had broadened ever so slightly. All in all, he was shaping up to be quite a hunk (to me, anyway).
"So where's this party gonna be at?" Sam asked as Chunk drove us there.
"Jordan's folks are pretty well off, so they're in the rich kids' neighborhood," I replied. "They're not all snobbish like some rich people, though. I'll tell you right now that we can certainly expect a decent paycheck!" Sitting across from us on the other side of Chunk's van, Mazzy and Sully snickered and fist-bumped.
We arrived at Jordan's house before long, and we set up our equipment while Lincoln and his classmates ran around playing lawn games, like horseshoes, cornhole, and other classic party games. Soon, the dog I'd heard about, which was a puny Corgi-looking thing, ran up to us barking his head off. I thought that he was barking at all of us, but that couldn't have been the case because then he'd be barking at all the partygoers too. I realized what the problem was when he tried to bite Sam's leg: he smelled another dog (or something along those lines) and was territorial.
"Ajax, no!Baddog!" cried our hostess, a girl about Lincoln's age with a yellow T-shirt, a denim skirt, and dirty-blond hair in a fish-tail braid. She pulled out a small tubular whistle and blew into it. To an ordinary human, no sound came out, but Ajax whined and tried to cover his ears with his paws.
Unfortunately, Sam wasn't an ordinary human.
The minute Jordan blew her whistle, he dropped the keyboard he was carrying and grabbed his ears, howling in pain. He stumbled around until Jordan stopped blowing out of surprise. When she stopped, he looked at her with an angry scowl, marched over to her, snatched the whistle out of her hand, and threw it into the distance as hard as he could. Then he realized what he did and gulped.
"I'll, uh, I'll buy you a new one," he said, but Jordan looked intrigued instead of upset.
"You can hear dog whistles?" she asked.
"Uh...yeah?"
"The coolness of that fact makes up for losing the whistle. Sorry for hurting your ears like that," Jordan apologized.
"No, no, it's cool. I should probably get back to work," Sam replied. Jordan's parents had rented a small stage for us to use, and we finished setting up our equipment in no time. We were scheduled to start our performance after Jordan opened her presents, while everyone was enjoying cake and ice cream.
The time came, and I signaled for Chunk to turn on the smoke machine for a little dramatic flair.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Dudes and dudettes! How's everyone doing tonight?" I asked over the microphone and was met with cheers in response. "You all know me; I'm Luna Loud, and this is my band, the Moon Goats. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce the newest member of the Moon Goats. Put your hands together and give a warm Royal Woods welcome to SAM SHARP!" Sam raised the hand holding his guitar pick in greeting, and was met with cheers and applause. "Next, I hear we're celebrating a special girl on her special day. Jordan Rosato, would you be so kind as to join us on the stage?" Jordan squealed in glee before climbing up and standing next to me. "I need all of you to sing with me!" I told the partygoers, then me and the band launched into a heavy metal cover of "the Happy Birthday Song." Afterwards, Jordan went back to her seat so that the main part of our performance could begin. "Now, this first song comes from the heart. Because you lovely folks should know by now thatI love Rock 'n'Roll," I said. I gave a nod to my band mates, and we launched into the well-known song by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, with me on the main vocals.
I saw him dancin' there by the record machine
I knew he musta been about seventeen
The beat was goin' strong
Playin' my favorite song
And I could tell it wouldn't be long
'Til he was with me, yeah, me
And I could tell it wouldn't be long
'Til he was with me, yeah, me,
Singin':
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
Ow!
He smiled, so I got up and asked for his name
"That don't matter," he said, "Cuz it's all the same"
Said, "Can I take you home
Where we can be alone?"
And next we were movin' on
He was with me, yeah, me
Next we were movin' on
He was with me, yeah, me,
Singin':
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
Ow!
Said, "Can I take you home
Where we can be alone?"
Next we were movin' on
He was with me, yeah, me
And we'll be movin' on
And singin' that same old song
Yeah, with me
Singin':
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
I love Rock 'n' Roll!
So come and take your time and dance with me!
The kids and present adults all cheered when the song finished. After taking a swig from the water bottle I kept by my feet (singing dries out my throat like you wouldn't believe), I sang two more songs that had female leads, after which I gave Sam his chance to shine. The song he sang was "We Will Rock You" by Queen.
Buddy, you're a boy
Make a big noise playin'
In the street, gonna be a big
Man someday
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace!
Kickin' your can all over the place
Singin':
We will, we will rock you!
We will, we will rock you!
Buddy, you're a young man
Hard man shouting
In the street, gonna take on
The world someday
You got blood on your face
You big disgrace!
Wavin' your banner all over the place
Singin':
We will, we will rock you!
Sing it out!
We will, we will rock you!
Buddy, you're an old man
Poor man pleading
With your eyes, gonna make you
Some peace someday
You got mud on your face
Big disgrace!
Somebody better put you back
Into your place!
We will, we will rock you!
Sing it!
We will, we will rock you!
Everybody!
We will, we will rock you!
Hmm
We will, we will rock you!
Alright!
The whole crowd joined in towards the end and went wild when Sam finished his guitar solo. We finished our show with five more songs, then Jordan's parents came to us while the rest of the party guests left one by one.
"Wow, you guys are so talented! You definitely deserve these," Mrs. Rosato complimented us and handed out fifty-dollar bills. Two for Sam, two for Mazzy, two for Sully, and three for me. This was an agreement all four of us worked out: I'd get a bigger cut because I was both the leader, and I did most of the work writing our original songs. In the end, we all broke even, because I always gave my extra fifty bucks to Chunk for driving us around.
