Tig Ripley Rock n Roll Rebel She’d become the leading lady and girls like Regan Hoffman with their sixth sense of exactly how many bangle bracelets to stack per arm and when to put a belt with a dress for a touch of I-just-threw-this together well they’d just be gnats on an Alabama summer night Who could compete with a girl who plays drums But the real catalyst behind Tig’s interest in playing drums Truth was it had a lot to do with Will Mason No Will Mason wasn’t some dreamy unattainable guy Tig barely knew but had been pining away for since he’d accidentally brushed up against her in the hall or asked to borrow a pencil Hardly What Will lacked in dreaminess he more than made up for in annoyingness One might have said Tig and Will were friends except for the fact that she couldn’t stand him They sat at the same lunch table but that was more a function of their having the same social status basically none and the same circle of friends the pretty-smart B students who could have probably 2
Chapter One made As if they cared enough to try Will played drums in the school band and carried sticks in his back pocket at all times Tig felt that Will thought this made him cool so one day when he began teasing her about her hair her braces or one of the other billion things he picked on her about she decided to set him straight Let me guess you’re so into your music that you can’t be without your drumsticks for even a moment she asked Or do you just want everyone to know you’re a drummer because that’s you know such a big deal I suppose you think you could play the drums Antigone he countered Tig’s first name was Greek and pronounced Ann-TIG-ah-nee but Will liked to pronounce it AN-ti-gone as in against going away I’m sure I could if I felt like it Tig said Yeah right Girls don’t play the drums Of all the guys to get stuck next to at lunch Will always sat at the end of the adjoining table of his best 3
Tig Ripley Rock n Roll Rebel friend Sam so Will and Tig usually ended up elbow to elbow Um 1960 called she said They want their male chauvinism back What you think girls aren’t strong enough to beat two puny little sticks against a circle Or we’re afraid we might break a nail Will scoffed It’s not an issue of physical strength It’s an issue of leadership Drummers set the pace The whole band depends on them for the beat You’re actually saying a girl couldn’t lead a band Tig asked The truth hurts For your information if you can learn how to play the drums it can’t be that hard I could probably get in a band before you could Maybe he said trying to sound like he wasn’t riled It’s good business to throw a good-looking chick in a rock band Probably get more gigs that way Although Tig was a little thrown by the good looking chick comment did Will think she was 4
Chapter One good-looking she was more focused on his ridic ulous arrogance Like he knew anything about business or gigs Did he not realize he was thirteen like nearly everyone else in their class I suppose you’re speaking from your vast gigging experience in the band room playing snare with a metronome Haters gonna hate he said And furthermore you assume that bands are made up of guys They are Ever hear of the Go-Go’s I think you just made my point The only girl band you can think of is from like thirty years ago And besides the only reason you know who they are is because you saw their documentary on VH1 about how they crashed and burned Girl bands are gimmicks They don’t work How would you know Because girls can’t get along period much less keep a band together Girls are too jealous of other girls They can’t trust one another 5
