Cranked - Prologue and Ch. 01

**Unlike other stories posted so far, this is part of a much larger and longer story that I (J) am working on. There are characters who are minors, but NO minors are involved with anything sexual or inappropriate. All characters who have any sort of sexual interactions are 18+ as always. Also, mental health and anxiety are relevant plot points and could possibly be triggering for some readers.**

Cranked

Prologue - Detroit, Michigan

May 2018

"Who's ready to have some fuckin' fun tonight?!" I heard one of the members of a local band yell as my friends and I walked into the house for a party we heard about.

"This is awesome, man," my best friend Daniel said. "We haven't had a night like this in a long time. Besides, what's better than a road trip with my boys?"

"Yeah, it's pretty sick," I replied. "First time in Detroit, we're a long way from home now guys. We should make a pact right now, that if it looks like any of us are getting too drunk we go back to the hotel."

"Ha haaa, some of us can just handle our liquor better than others, sweetheart," my other friend Ezra said to me.

"I'm serious man, I don't need either of your moms skinning me cause you got drunk and mugged or something," I said with a chuckle.

"We'll be fine, Johnny," Daniel said. "C'mon, the next band's about to play."

"Alright, let's welcome a special guest singer to help us play...drumroll please," the guitarist of the band spoke as the drummer started tapping his drumsticks on the snare drum for a few seconds. "The Runaways' 'Cherry Bomb'! Lola, get on up here." Just then, a gorgeous woman with long black hair and pale skin joined them. She was wearing a baggy white t shirt with cuts and holes in it, denim booty shorts, fishnets, and black combat boots.

"Thank you, boys," she laughed, getting a microphone stand adjusted to her height. "Now that I'm here, we're gonna have some real fun right?"

"Fuck yeah!" I cheered, along with nearly everyone else in the house as the band started to play. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, watching her every move as the song went on. I finished my second cup of beer, starting to love this song more than I ever did. There was just something about the way she performed. She had an energy that was a weird mix of charisma and not giving not a fuck. She was good...really good. For a moment, while she sang, our eyes met. Unable to help it, I smiled at her and she smiled back, making me blush a little.

"How are you likin' the Motor City so far man?" Daniel asked me, handing me another beer.

"I like he... I like it a lot, man," I said, choking on the last of the beer I already had. "Sorry, booze must be gettin' to me a little already. What about you?"

"It's not too bad here," he replied. "The band's not bad at all. One of these days, we'll be playing shows here maybe."

"Yeah, they're amazing," I said. "She's great too, even though it's just a college party she's giving it her all."

"Yeah, she's not bad," he said. "Anyway, I'm gonna go find some poor guy's daughter to corrupt. See you in a bit." I started clapping and whistling as the band finished the song, my eyes meeting Lola's once more.

As the night went on, I ended up getting fairly tipsy after just an hour or two.

"Alright everybody, we're gonna throw it back a bit now," the singer said as I noticed Lola wasn't on stage now. "How about a little 'Sex on Fire'?" I took a drink of the beer out of my red plastic cup and looked around the crowded living room as the band began playing the next song. Daniel was making out with a girl in the corner, and even Ezra was chatting up a guy on the couch. I looked up after taking a drink from my sixth beer and saw Lola in the crowd of people again now. She noticed me staring and smiled, looking down shyly. I looked away as I took another drink, then looked back and caught her looking at me now. I looked in her eyes for what felt like forever, and couldn't help but smile at her. Even though it was dark, besides the blacklight throughout the room, I could see her blush and look me up and down. She motioned her head towards the stairs, and slowly walked up them. I dropped my half empty cup and followed her. I saw her waiting for me in the doorway at the end of the hall, and she slowly slid inside. As soon as I entered the room, I could feel a spark of connection between us. I pushed the door shut quietly, and stood there looking at the girl.

"Hey there," I said after a moment.

"Don't talk..." she said, slowly walking towards me. I walked closer to her and picked her up in my arms, staring deep into her eyes. She stared back at me, sighing and biting her lip. I leaned forward, closed my eyes, and pressed my lips against hers softly. I pulled away and felt my face get hot and red.

"Why'd you stop...?" she asked me, longingly. She moved her hand to the back of my head and pulled me into another kiss. I walked with her in my arms, kissing her passionately, until I reached the bed. I spun around and fell into the bed, pulling her on top of me.

"Are you...are you sure this is okay?" I asked her.

"Do you want to stop?" she asked.

"...No," I whispered.

"Then don't," she whispered into my ear, kissing my neck. I ran my hands up her back while she kissed my lips again, sliding her tongue into my mouth. I closed my eyes and gasped, making out with this gorgeous woman. "What's your name?"

"I'm Johnny," I told her, looking into her eyes again.

"I'm Lola," she replied with a smile. "Now we both know what name to moan." She grabbed my hair again, kissing me hungrily. We laid in the bed, making out with each other passionately. I ran my hands up her thighs, feeling her skin through the thin fishnets. She slid her hand under my shirt, rubbing my chest. She looked into my eyes and smirked, then rolled off of me, cuddling up against me.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked, confused and wanting more.

"You didn't think I was that easy, did you?" she asked me sassily. I blushed, embarrassed now.

"N-no, not at all," I told her awkwardly. "I just... I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.."

"It's okay, silly boy," she giggled. "Let's just get to know each other first." She stood up and walked around the room, looking at the posters of whoever stayed here.

"Alright, what do you wanna know?" I asked her, calming down again.

"Well, you got a bit of an accent on you, you're clearly not from here," she said, sitting down in a wheeled office chair. "Let's start with there and see what comes up."

"Well, I'm from Minnesota," I answered, sitting up on the bed. "Minneapolis, to be exact. My friends and I wanted to take a little road trip. We just finished our first year of college, thought it would be a fun start to the summer."

"Ah, the lady killer and the queen down there," she said, smirking.

"Ye... Yeah, how'd you know about Ezra right off the bat though?" I asked, surprised she knew he was gay already.

"Please, I know a queen when I see one," she chuckled. "As for your other friend, he tried his luck with a friend of mine and immediately went to the girl next to her when she turned him down. And then...there's you."

"Yeah? What am I?" I asked her, looking into her eyes and smirking.

"I don't know just yet..." she smiled slightly. "It's bugging me, I can't read you as well as I can read other people."

"Well, I've been told I'm quite mysterious... You don't believe me, do you?" I responded.

"I don't think even you believed yourself," she laughed. "No, not mysterious, just...curious."

"Hmm... I can live with being curious. But what about you now?" I asked, grabbing her hand and pulling, causing the chair to carry her closer. She was about a foot away from me, but slowly leaning closer, looking into my eyes.

"What about me...?" she asked shyly.

"I wanna know more about you," I told her. "You're gorgeous, clearly. And you're very talented at singing. And obviously have good taste in music. But what else? Are you from here?" I asked her.

"Yep...born and raised," she answered, giving a not very convincing smile.

"You don't like it here, do you?" I asked.

"Not really..." she said somberly. "I just don't feel like myself here. I just want to get away, go be who I really am...you know?"

"I do..." I said. "If you ever find yourself looking for a new place to stay, Minneapolis is very nice. And you'd always have a friend there."

"Just a friend?" she asked with a smirk. "A few minutes ago you had your tongue in my mouth, trying to get fresh with me."

"I wasn't...tryin' to get fresh, I just wanted to...explore," I replied, my face beet red. "You know, get to know you a little. Surely you can't blame me for that."

"I wanna get to know you too. Just...not quite so fast," she said, looking down at her feet.

"Hey, that's okay," I told her, taking her hand. "I'm sorry if I seemed too pushy. I promise, I'm not usually like that."

"You weren't pushy, I did invite you up here," she said. "But...thank you. Other guys probably would've just left by now."

"You don't have to thank me," I said. "What else do you wanna know about me?"

"You seemed to be really into the band, especially when I was up there," she said. "Do you perform?" she asked me.

"Yeah, actaully. Daniel, Ezra, and I are in a band we started in high school called Cranked.

"Really...? Come with me," she said, taking my hand and pulling me out of the room.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, hurrying down the stairs into the living room behind her.

"Boys, are you all done playing?" Lola asked the band's singer who was sitting down eating a cheesesteak.

"Yeah, we just finished a little while ago. Why do you ask?" the guy answered.

"There's another band that could play," she told him.

"What? Nah, we don't have our instruments," I objected. "Besides, the other guys are probably...gettin' busy."

"I'm not busy, what's going on?" Daniel asked, walking over to me.

"If gettin' busy's an offer babe, I won't object. What's up?" Ezra asked too.

"You three wanna play a few songs, keep this party going for a while longer?" the singer asked them.

"Hell yeah, why wouldn't we Johnny?" Daniel asked me.

"I'm...just a little nervous tonight, for some reason" I told him, not wanting to say I felt shy in front of Lola.

"You'll be fine hun, we've done this dozens of time," Ezra said, slapping my ass, walking behind the drumset.

"What are we even gonna play?" I asked, reluctantly strapping the guitar over me.

"We'll figure it out, don't worry man," Daniel told me, raising the microphone a little. I started tuning the guitar to our usual key and plugged it into the amp as Ezra hit each of the drums and cymbals a few times.

"Wait, don't you guys have a bassist?" Lola asked me.

"Uhh no, we don't actually," I said. "Oh well, maybe we can't play after all."

"Oh please, I can play for you guys," she said, strapping the bass on and getting tuned in. The party started flocking over once again.

"Hey everybody, we're gonna be keepin' this shit goin' for a while," Daniel called out into the mic. "I'm Daniel, lead singer. That stud over there is Johnny, our guitarist and backup singer. And we got our a real hot piece of meat, Ezra, on drums. And I guess we're lucky enough to have L-O-L-A, Lola with us on bass. All together, we're a little band called Cranked!"

"Wait, what are we playing?" I asked away from the mic.

"Fuck, just pick a song man," Daniel whispered to me.

We had opened with 'My Tunnel' by The Germs because I couldn't think of anything else at the time. We played a few songs by the Buzzcocks and two Misfits songs.

"Everyone havin' a good time?" Daniel asked into the mic after we finished the song 'Hybrid Moments.' The crowd of college kids cheered us on. "This is gonna be our last song for the night. Let's have some love for The White Stripes 'Fell In Love With A Girl.' Count us off, Ezra." I blushed at Lola, secretly pissed at Daniel now for choosing that song. Ezra counted off by hitting his sticks together four times before I started strumming the opening chords to the song. I started getting really into playing, moving around a bit and putting on a bit more of a show. We were already about halfway done with the song, so I decided we should do one more as an encore. I kept giving my all for this song, until I played my last chord.

"Hey, let's do one more. 'Wild Thing' by X, alright?" I said to Daniel away from the mics.

"We've never done that one before," he tried to argue.

"Trust me, we'll figure it out. But uh, I wanna sing this one," I told him.

"Hm... Okay, I trust you," he replied with a smirk. "Alright, we got an encore for you. Johnny here is gonna take over and sing 'Wild Thing' by X. Thank you all for letting us play for you." I started playing the chords to the song on my guitar and Lola improvised a bit of a riff on bass. I started singing and Ezra played a loud and catchy beat on the drums. It was my first time ever singing in front of Daniel and Ezra, much less a crowd of people. Lola was smiling and swaying a little with the music we played. As we finished the song, I slid the guitar off and walked outside quickly starting to feel the nerves come back.

"Johnny! Johnny, are you okay?" Lola asked, running out behind me.

"I..." I started saying, turning and looking at her. I immediately kissed her, then promptly passed out.

Chapter 1

Minneapolis, March 2019

It had been almost a year since I finished my first year of college. I still remember the road trip I took, where I had the most amazing night with Lola, who was still to this date the coolest chick I had ever met. As embarrassing as it may sound, I've thought about her every single day since then. Even though she lived so far away, and I probably would never see her again, I never did manage to date someone else. I met a few girls from college and went a couple dates, but they were all so...boring.

I pulled into the parking lot of my college and sat in my car, staring at the steering wheel.

"Am I really doin' this? Mom's gonna kill me..." I thought to myself.

"Fuck it," I said out loud, getting out of my car and walking into the school. I walked right up to the front desk and rang the bell, scaring the lady at the desk.

"Can I help you, Mr. Hayes?" she asked with a whiny and annoyed tone.

"It's not Hayes, it's Jett," I said. I had been telling her to call me that for months and she still refused. "Anyway, I need to talk to someone about my classes, please. Thanks a lot."

"One moment Mr. Hayes," she replied, walking into the back office.

"Hey Johnny, why aren't you in class man?" Daniel asked me, walking over with Ezra.

"I'm doing it, bro," I told him. "I'm finally dropping out to focus my time on the band. We can make it big, I know we can."

"Bitch please, I don't think you've been hearing the same music as we have," Ezra said to me.

"I'm serious, guys. We're good, we really are," I said to them.

"Did you tell your mom?" Daniel asked me.

"Fuck no, you know she'd just flip out on me if I told her that," I answered, as the lady at the desk returned with my class advisor.

"You needed to speak to me, Johnny?" Ms. Robinson asked me.

"Yeah, I have to talk to you about my classes going forward," I told her.

"Alright, follow me to my office," she said.

"Good luck, stud," Ezra said to me, mockingly. I sat down in Ms. Robinson's office, and waited for her to sit down across from me.

"So, what's going on with your classes?" she asked.

"Well, something important has come up. I'm going to be dropping out," I told her.

"Dropping out? But why? Your grades are very good," she questioned me.

"Yeah, I know..." I sighed. "It's just, this isn't for me. I only decided to come here because of my friends, and because my dad hasn't been around for years so I thought I needed to go here to be able to take care of my sister," I told her.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Mr. Jett?" Ms. Robinson asked.

"Yeah, it is," I told her.

"Okay... Well, it was a pleasure having you here while we did. Good luck, Johnny," she said as I left the room.

When I walked out into the lounge area of the school, people were already looking at me as if they all knew I dropped out. I heard the song 'Under My Thumb' by the Rolling Stones start playing from the speakers inside the room. My head started throbbing and my wrist got really itchy. I looked down and saw the faint scar of the cigar burn on my wrist and felt the two scars on my cheek start to itch.

"Um... H-hey, can you turn that song off, please?" I asked the lady at the desk.

"I...I can't, we don't have the controls for it here. Are you alright, Mr. Hayes?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm f... I'm fine. I just can't stand this song," I said to her, starting to walk away.

"So, you really dropped out?" this guy who used to pick on me in high school, Evan, asked me. He was a year younger, but that didn't stop him.

"Leave me alone, man. I d-don't have time for this right now," I said to him, trying to walk past him. He blocked my path and pushed me back a little. I started getting so pissed off, I was ready to punch him in the throat.

"I can't say I'm surprised, Johnny," Evan said. "You were a loser in middle school, a loser in high school, and now you're such a loser that you're dropping out of college at the age of twenty two."

"Evan, shut the fuck up and get out of my way... I'm serious," I said, making a fist.

"What, you wanna hit me? I fucking. Dare. You," he said, shoving me again. Without a second thought, I threw my fist at his face as hard as I could, punching him in the nose and knocking him down. As soon as I felt my fist hit him, everything went black.

I blinked a few times and saw I was sitting down in front of a desk, in an all white room. I looked at my fist and saw dried blood on my knuckles.

"Johnny, are you with me now?" a man asked me. I looked up and saw a man in his forties or fifties, in a sweater vest and glasses.

"W-where am I?" I asked him.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't know," he said. "You're in my office, I'm Dr. Jones. I'm a therapist. Do you know why you're here?"

"I got in a fight?" I guessed.

"From what I was told, there wasn't much of a fight," he said. "You beat one of your peers until he was unconscious. Do you remember that?"

"What...?" I exclaimed. "No, not at all. I know I punched him in the face, but that's all I remember. It... It was that fucking song," I admitted.

"Yes, let's talk about that song," Dr. Jones said. "I was told you asked someone to turn it off, and got noticeably shaken. I saw the video from the security footage. You were clearly not quite yourself. Do you know why you don't like that song so much?"

"I..." I tried answering. I couldn't remember why I didn't like it. I knew it had something to do with the burn on my wrist, but the important parts were missing. "I don't know, really... I got this burn on my wrist around the same time I started hating that song. But the details, I can't place. Am I okay to leave? I have to pick up my sister from school."

"Before I let you leave, I'd like to ask you about your father," he replied. "You said some things about him while you were blacked out here."

"I... I don't care. Look, I really need to pick up my sister from her high school, okay? Can I please go now?" I replied, already standing up.

"I think we're starting to get to the problem, so you may go," he said, standing up with me. "But, I think we should see each other again soon, alright? If you want to get better, you'll have to start caring about what you said. Here's my contact information."

"Yeah, I'll think about it," I told him, leaving the office as he handed me a card. I looked down at the card and read the phone number. "Yeah right," I said, ripping the card up and putting it in my pocket. "Hey, I'm running a little late. Be there soon," I texted my sister as I started down the stairs.