T.R.A.C.K: Debut Single

Chapter 1: Tyr

“This is it.”

            I sounded more confident than I felt, and felt more confident than the rest of my friends put together. And that would not do.

            “Who are we kidding?” Ryder mumbled. “’Overnight claim to fame’? That was just a lucky fluke.” He tuned his guitar a tad too hard, and a deafening screech blasted from the amplifiers. I winced, but there was no sudden silence outside for me to believe that anyone had heard our little slip-up. Once we plug into the main amp system, though—

            “All those people. Come to see us.”

            A graceful figure glided back into the shadows from beyond the heavy velvet curtains. Even in this semi-darkness, he seemed to glow.

            “Don’t be crazy, Ashley,” Ryder grumbled, ever the pessimist. “This is a competition. There is competition. And have you seen you seen the all-star lineup they have in store for the ad breaks? We’ve already been drowned out in all that star power.”

            Ashley simply shook his head, wavy blonde hair framing his dazzling smile. “Well, maybe,” he admitted, not all too convincingly. “But I still think most of them are here for us.”

            He was a nice guy, and goodness knows he was pretty, but he could also be pretty soft in the head sometimes.

            “Ashe,” I tried the gentle approach, “you can’t really think--”

            “Wait, Tyr.” Little Caelan came up to us but took Ashley’s side. Typical. “Do you hear that?”

            Hear… what?

            Ryder opened his mouth, probably to shoot off some wisecrack, but I motioned for silence. A finger to my lips, I cocked my head towards the curtains… and felt a smile spread across my face slowly at what I heard.

            “You’re right, Ashley. They do want us.”

            Over in the darkest corner of the backstage prep space, our last member, Kris, leapt off his seat on the moldy drum sets, joining us in that expressive silence he was so fond of. His face was unfathomable, as always, but I could feel excitement radiating off his every pore. Regardless of his permanent poker face, sometimes I wondered if he had a wild streak in him longer than even Ryder’s could match.

            “Shh.” Ashley’s eyes were feverish with anticipation. “It’s almost our turn.”

           

            I released a breath I did not know I had been holding, and cast my eye for what felt like the first and last time onto my bandmates. Everything—everything would begin, and everything else would end. Everything, rode on this one performance.

            Ryder was at my left, my second-in-command. He was fidgeting, restless. Anxious to ‘get this show on the road’, as he would say. He called me fearless, but sometimes I wondered if he even knew what the word ‘fear’ meant. Personally, I don’t mind—a healthy dose of fear comes in handy occasionally.

            Another one who could take a lesson or two in that was Ashley. He was brimming with nervous excitement, but I knew he had not considered the consequences should we mess up today, or the opportunities if we pulled through. And he had every reason to. Because, for him and not the others, this really was make it or break it. Even if our musical careers were to end here and now, each of us would have some semblance of a home to return to—but not Ashley.

            Caelan had slipped his hand into Ashley’s, when he thought none of us could not see it. There was no denying it—Caelan was Ashley’s number one fan, no matter how many teenage girls would beg to differ. Truth be told, little Caelan had his own fan base as well. But Cal was never the kind to care about such things. There was never a doubt in my mind, Caelan only hung around us so he could be around Ashley. Ashley was the loving, protective older brother he never had. It might not seem like much to us, but he meant the world to Caelan.

           

            “Hey.”

            I jerked around in surprise. It was not every day Kris took the initiative to start a conversation. Frankly he rarely ever bothered to participate actively in one either, but all of us knew better than to take him for granted. His icy blue eyes saw everything. I just fervently hoped he liked what he saw. Even if he was not what people would describe as ‘the life of a party’, he was still one of the most talented drummers I knew.

            And quite honestly? I rather liked him. He was one after my soul.

            “Ready or not, Kris,” I smiled at him.

            He half-snorted. Kris knew me too well to be fooled by small gestures like a smile. Sometimes I thought about taking offense. This same smile had, apparently, taken the entertainment scene by storm this year.

            “Even if we’re not ready, you would make us ready,” he said quietly. “However way you could.”

            The pressure was pressing on us all, and I knew my other bandmates were distracted, their eyes riveted on the dark curtains that would open a new chapter of our lives. So I felt safe enough to let my façade drop, just a little. The warmth trickled away from my eyes, and my pleasant voice took on a hint of frost.

            “You know me so well.”

            “And now, the favorites of the year--”

 

            “Ready, boys?” I hollered. “This is it!”

            “You already said that.” Ryder, of course.

            Four faces turned onto me expectantly, and I felt my fears melt away. This was what I was meant to do. To lead, and to have people follow me.

            “Strap up, people. It’s show time.”

            “Introducing: T. R. A. C. K!”