IN THE BAND!!

A New Start

August 3rd, 2026
"So I'll see you later, I've gotta go." Alyssa left Johnny in the parking lot with nothing but his bag.

This was ridiculous. Alyssa never liked Johnny, or Bentley. But that was aside the point.

There it was. Riggs University. Where Johnny would become a great singer, for himself, for his family, for Bentley.

Johnny dragged his suitcase behind him, all the way to the crowd of students outside of the school.

After he got his dorm room, he began to go to the building in which it was located. He was nervous, probably the first time he'd ever felt nervous in a social situation. Normally he'd talk up a storm with these people playing soccer, talking in big groups, or even heading to the same place he was. Today he just wasn't feeling it.

As Johnny hauled his suitcase up the stairs to the third floor, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey dude! You need some help with that?" The voice came to help him, or rather, the person in which the voice belonged to.

A guy wearing a yellow polo tucked into his jeans stood before Johnny. He had a welcoming smile on his face.

"I'm good, thanks though." Johnny said in a somewhat cocky manner.

"Say, are you a freshman?" The guy asked, the slightest hint at a Brooklyn accent became more evident.

"Is it obvious?" Johnny asked.

"Well, usually sophomores, juniors, and seniors know they're going to need more than one bag." He chuckled.

"I have more bags, but my sister left before I could get them out of the car." Johnny laughed back.

"Oh, I'm Sam by the way." Sam spoke, opening the door to the stairwell on the 3rd floor. "I moved into my dorm this morning, I'm just walking around helping people."

"That's nice of you. But, fortunately, I don't need help." Johnny brought back his arrogant demeanor, speaking with a sly smile on his face.

"Then I'll see you around, champ!" Sam waved, walking down to his dorm room.

Johnny looked at all the doors in the hall, trying to find the one that had his name on it. He spent a few minutes looking for his room until he saw it.

Johnathan Jones
Augustus Wilder

He chuckled at his roommates name, he couldn't help but think to himself; who the hell names their kid Augustus.

...

"Wait so... what's college like then? I've only ever been to that group of yours to play in our band." August asked. He clipped the seatbelt across his daughter's chest, fastening her into the car seat.

"It's alright. The classes you take can really make or break your experience." Heather, August's order sister, paused. "Also, don't drink the punch if you go to any parties."

"Noted." He sighed. "I don't plan on going to many parties."

"You say that now—" She was cut off by her shortness of breath, shoving August's backpacks into the trunk of his SUV. "But you'll give into the peer pressure."

"I don't give into peer pressure." August grumbled, making sure Luna's diaper bag was organized in the backseat.

"I feel like you do. But to each their own, I guess." She chuckled, pushing the trunk closed. Heather then ran around to the driver's seat. "You can now say goodbye to childhood, Auggie. You're in college now." She said confidently.