ＣＡＴ ＳＣＲＡＴＣＨ ＦＥＶＥＲ

𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔫𝔲𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔱

♛

"And we'll be back at three, four, and five for some more updates," I smile.

"Until then, keep on farming!" Donna giggles. "Did you like that? I just added it in."

"D, we're still on the air."

"Oh, crap-"

I laugh and press a button. "Okay, we're good."

A knock comes on the door and I open it. "Oh, hey, Eric."

"Hey," he nods. "Donna, are you ready to go?"

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Uh, actually, Eric, I'm working until five today. We have to do the farmer's reports."

He frowns. "Well, can't Ana do it?"

"Max says we're better as a duo. Better ratings, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that, it's just... I thought we were going to the movies today. I just think this job is cutting into your Eric time. And that directly affects me. You know, I'm Eric."

Max walks in with some small slips of paper in his hand. "Hey, thanks for staying late again, girls. You know, you might just be able to turn this into a full-time gig."

"Hey, I'm her full-time gig!" Eric jokes, pulling Donna close by the waist.

"No offense, man, but you stink!"

"Yeah, Eric," I grimace. "I didn't want to say anything, but you're stinking up the office. Oh, did Fez slip a stink bomb into your pocket or something?"

"Damn, I didn't think of that," he mutters.

"Anyway, here are the tickets." Max hands me the slips of paper before walking out.

"Tickets?" Eric questions.

"Yeah," Donna grins, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "We've been working a lot lately and we wanted to make it up to you. So Ana managed to convince Max to hook us up with Ted Nugent tickets for everybody!"

"The Motorcity Madman?" he gushes. "No way! Oh, my disappointment is melting into a mixture of excitement and guilt!"

"Great! That's what I was going for." She gives him a quick kiss.

"Wait, but what do I do with the extra ticket?" he pouts.

I pat his cheek. "Go with Hyde."

♛

"The girl behind us is wearing a Blue Öyster Cult shirt," I mumble into Steven's ear.

"So? They're good," he shrugs.

"You say that as if I don't know it myself," I scoff. "It's a Nugent concert, though. Why would you wear a different band's merch to a concert?"

He chuckles quietly, turning his face so that our noses are touching. "It's not that big of a deal, Princess."

"Yeah, well, I just felt like pointing it out."

"Congrats. You did it."

I shake my head with a grin. "No need for the attitude, Steven Hyde."

"Let me make it up to you." He brings a hand up to my chin and presses his lips onto mine. I happily kiss back, pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt.

"Oh my god, the concert hasn't even started and you two are already sucking face," Eric complains.

I roll my eyes and push away from Steven. "You're just jealous because you want some more 'Eric time'," I jab.

He sticks his tongue out at me.

"What? Can't come up with a good enough comeback?"

"Stop the violence," Fez mumbles.

I glance at him and notice the large cardboard box on his lap. "What's in the box?"

"Counterfeit concert tees," he says as if it's obvious. "Me and Hyde are going to sell them after the show."

"How entrepreneurial of you," Donna jokes.

"I figure with the original concert tees going for fifteen dollars, we can sell ours for ten. That turns a fifty-dollar investment into two hundred and fifty," Steven explains.

"That's pretty good," I agree.

"Where'd you get the fifty? I thought you were broke," Eric frowns.

"Oh, I stole it from your Candyland stash. So, if you think about it, it's all profit!"

"What the hell, man?"

"Okay, fine. Can I borrow fifty dollars?"

I laugh. "Just be careful, okay? I don't need you two getting arrested."

"Do you want to see what fifty stolen dollars can buy?" Fez asks giddily. He holds up a plain black shirt from the pile with "Tad Nugent" printed on the front.

Steven scowls at him. "Fez, it's Ted Nugent."

"Uh-huh. Tad Nugent."

"No, man, I'm saying 'Ted.'"

"Me too. 'Tad.'"

"No, you're not. It says 'Tad.'"

"I know it says 'Tad.' I'm the one who put it there."

"Fez, it's pronounced-"

"Oh, fuckin' hell," I sigh. "Fezzie, it's spelled wrong. It should be an 'e' instead of an 'a.' As in 'Ted.'"

"Oh."

"These shirts are useless," Steven grumbles. "Now Forman's down fifty bucks."

We're quickly distracted when the stage lights come up and the crowd erupts with cheers.

♛

"Thank you, Wisconsin! Good night!"

"Oh my god, that was amazing!" I beam as the crowd starts to disperse.

"Yeah, now Fez and I have to try and sell these shirts," Steven sighs. "Do you want to come with us?"

I kiss his cheek. "I'll pass. Max is supposed to meet up with me and Donna. Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he waves it off. "I'll be fine."

As he and Fez climb up the stairs, Max approaches Donna, Eric, and me.

"Hi, kids," he smiles.

"Hi," we reply.

"Did you guys enjoy the show?"

"Are you kidding?" Eric giggles. "I'm deaf!"

"That's good to hear," he chuckles, sitting down and taking a backstage pass off of his neck. "I'm getting a little tired. Why don't you take this?"

"Oh my god," Donna mumbles as she gently takes it. "A backstage pass!"

"Yeah, too bad there's only one, huh?" Eric clicks his tongue.

"Actually, it accounts for any representatives of WFPP, so Anastasia will be able to go, too," Max informs us.

"We'll be back in like, five minutes, I swear," Donna reassures her boyfriend.

Disappointment manifests in his eyes. "You're going?"

"Well, yeah. Don't you want me to?"

"No! Of course I do!"

I frown. "Eric, if you want me to ask Max if-"

"No, you two go," he objects. "Have fun."

I smile softly. "Thanks."

"You're the best!" Donna adds unknowingly before pulling me up the stairs. "Oh my god, I can't believe this! It's going to be so cool."

We find the backstage area, identify ourselves as representatives from the station, and walk down a hallway to a small room.

The band members sit around the room, each with a hooker or two on their arms.

"Hey, who ordered the redhead?" Ted chuckles, eyeing me as the other two men raise their hands.

I wrinkle my nose. Gross.

Donna is too starstruck to think anything of it.

"Oh my god, you're looking at me," she squeals. "Ted Nugent is looking at me! Oh my god, stop looking at me!" She reaches over to shake his hand. "I'm Donna. I am, like, your biggest fan!"

I feel the need to be polite, so I reach forward for a handshake as well, deciding to use the name I've been given at WFPP. "I'm Annie."

Woah. I just shook a rockstar's hand. This might be cooler than I first thought it was.

"Well, hello, ladies," he grins. "Meet the other groupies. This is Blonde Girl, Other Blonde Girl, Tall Girl, and Tall Blonde Girl."

"Actually, we're not groupies," I correct.

"We love you!" Donna adds.

"Yeah, but we work for the rock radio station WFPP."

"You know. 'The Sound.' Yeah, we do the farm report! It's, like, a huge day for pork bellies!" She falters. "You don't care. Sorry."

He stands. "Oh, you two work for a radio station? Do you want to do an interview or somethin'?"

Max would love that, holy shit. "That would be amazing!" I beam.

Donna can't keep the grin off of her face. "Do you have some paper and one of those things..."

"A pen?" he smirks.

"Yes! A pen! Oh my god," she accepts a pad of paper from one of the hookers, "you are the best. Okay, first question, why are you so great?"

I laugh. "Okay, I'll take it from here," I pry the pen and paper from her grip and get down to business.

For the next half hour, I get some answers while Donna giddily butts in to let him know how amazing he is.

Eventually, he's playing us some blues riffs on his guitar while I pack the notepad into my bag.

We clap for him after he finishes.

"That was so cool!" Donna praises. "We should really go, though. My boyfriend is waiting."

"Don't you two want to stay a little longer? I'll let you touch my guitar," he offers.

I glance at her. "Donna, he's going to let us touch his guitar."

"We can stay a little longer," she decides.

We... well, we essentially fangirl over his guitar for a bit. I try to keep my cool when I ask, "I've actually been trying to learn guitar. Do you think I could play something really quickly?"

My heart skips a beat as he sizes me up. "Yeah, go for it." I gape at him. Ted Nugent is letting me play his guitar!

I take it from his outstretched hands. "I'm sort of a beginner, so I don't really know anything fancy..."

"Just play," he shrugs. "Everyone is a beginner at some point."

I take a breath and smile at Donna's happy thumbs-up. I play some chord progressions with different strumming patterns, even trying out a small riff, that, in all honesty, didn't go too badly.

Once I'm done, I hand the guitar back to him.

"Ana, that was so cool!" Donna squeaks.

"Thank you so much," I tell Ted. Oh my god, I'm so cool. 

"No problem, Annie," he nods. Oh my god, he said my name. "With some more practice, you'll be playing Cat Scratch Fever in no time."

I light up, not being able to come up with any new words due to my excitement. "Thank you so, so much!"

We bid him goodbye and rush out to meet the rest of the gang. Donna peels off to find Eric by the car, while I search for Hyde and Fez.

"We are free!" Fez yells, bringing my attention to the two of them running toward me. "At last we are free!"

I giggle. "What's going- ah!"

Steven picks me up and spins me around in the air before setting me down and smashing his lips onto mine. "We're not getting arrested! They tried to arrested us for selling counterfeit merchandise, but since it was misspelled, it wasn't counterfeit, it was just stupid!"

"That's great, Steven," I chuckle. "I'm glad you weren't arrested."

"Yeah, me too. You would've kicked my ass. So, did you get to meet The Nuge?"

"Oh my god!" I gush. "I did! Donna and I met him, and then we interviewed him, and he even let me play something on his guitar! He complimented me, too!"

"I didn't know you started learning guitar."

Biting my lip with a grin, I pull him closer by his belt loops. "Well, there's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"I'm happy you had a good time, Princess," he says genuinely.

"Yeah?" I smirk, sticking my hands in his back pockets. "I know a way to have an even better time."

"I'm right here," Fez interjects. "Now, let's go."

"Okay, but, Fez-"

"I said let's go!"

♛

I don't want her to be cliche bc it's like oOh she's aRtsY but I'm learning to play guitar and I would love to play a famous artist's guitar so this is my way of doing that :')

As always, feedback, comments, and votes are appreciated!

Love you guys,

Lissy