Battle Of The Bands (FOB FanFic ft. Panic! At The Disco)

[Chapter 1] Nothing To Lose (Patrick)

(Patrick's POV)

Lexy and I walked into my favorite after-school hang out place of all time - Reckless Records. They have almost everything you could possibly ever want - new and used CDs, DVDs, games, and more vinyl than you could ever imagine. The little bell above the door rang as we stepped through the threshold.

I did my usual "Hey, Liam, how it's going?" to the guy behind the counter, to which he usually replied "It's going good, Stumpy, you?". But instead today he said, "Good, hey, Stumpy, you said you were starting a band right?"

"Uh, yeah," I walked up to the counter, Lexy joining my side, "So?"

"I was wondering if you heard about the..." He leaned over the counter and continued in a whisper, "...the Battle Of The Bands."

"Battle Of The Bands?" Lexy and I repeated in unison.

"Shh!"

"What's the Battle Of The Bands?" I inquired, my voice quieter.

Liam looked to his left and right before pulling out something from under the counter and slipping it across the counter to me. It was a flyer. I took it into my possession and began to read it over, Lexy looking over my shoulder as she read it as well.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS - 2003

WHO: NEW BANDS ONLY - PUNK, ROCK, METAL, ABSOLUTELY NO POP OR COUNTRY

WHERE: CLEVELAND, OHIO

WHEN: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH THROUGH FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST => ENTRIES DUE BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

GRAND PRIZE: $5000 AND A RECORD DEAL WITH FUELED BY RAMEN TO PRODUCE YOUR FIRST FULL-LENGTH ALBUM

RULES:

1) YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT BATTLE OF THE BANDS

2) YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT BATTLE OF THE BANDS

3) YOU GET BOOED, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE STAGE AND LEAVE THE COMPETITION

4) ONLY TWO BANDS TO A BATTLE

5) ONE BATTLE AT A TIME

6) NO LIP-SYNCING OR USE OF PRERECORDED SONGS

7) BATTLES WILL GO ON FOR AS LONG AS THEY HAVE TO

8) IF THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST TIME AT BATTLE OF THE BANDS, YOU CANNOT PERFORM

"You should totally enter, Patrick!" Lexy exclaimed, smacking me on the arm, "You guys would be great!"

"I don't know, Lex..." I retorted apprehensively, rubbing my arm where she hit me and handing Liam back the flyer.

"What do you mean you don't know?" She asked me, "You and the guys could finally get the big breakthrough that you've been looking for!"

"Yeah, man, you guys have nothing to lose either," Liam agreed with my best friend and handed me the flyer back, "I want you to give this to your band mates, see what they think. If they don't want to do it, then you don't enter. But I agree with that girlfriend of yours, you guys should totally enter."

"I-I'm not his girlfriend," Lexy told him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He retorted, as if he didn't believe her.

I heaved a sigh and snatched the flyer out of Liam's hand, looking at it again.

Grand Prize: $5000 and a recording deal with Fueled By Ramen to produce your first full-length album.

"Hmm."

*****

I was in the basement of my house with Joe, Andy, Pete, and Lexy. Pete, Joe, and Andy were huddle together, looking at the flyer Liam had given me and told me to show them.

"Battle Of The Bands?" Pete remarked as he read over the flyer, "Sounds more like Fight Club to me. And they seriously couldn't have come up with a better name than 'Battle Of The Bands'? It's so unoriginal..."

"A five thousand dollar cash prize?" Joe mentioned in amazement, "Do you know how many things you can buy at the dollar store with five thousand dollars?"

"Uh...five thousand things?" Andy answered arrogantly, receiving a glare from Joe.

"I don't know if we should do it or not," I interjected before a fight or argument broke out between the two of them, "I mean, we just started a few months ago. We barely even have a song finished to play at the competition, which is in..." I looked over to the wall with the calendar hanging up on in, squinting my eyes to get a better view, "...three weeks. That gives us one week to apply. So we have to decide soon."

"I say you do it," Lexy joined the conversation, "The guy behind the counter said it himself, Pat, you've got nothing to lose. And what if you win? That's five thousand dollars and a record label producing your guys' first album. There's no reason why you shouldn't enter."

"Yeah, I agree with Lexy," Pete handed me the flyer. I snatched it from him. "There's no reason we shouldn't enter."

"But it's on a Friday and lasts the entire week after that...we're going to miss school." The four of them glared at me. "What? Missing school just means we're going to have to make up all the work we missed and-"

"We're entering the Battle Of The Bands," Pete cut me off, "Right guys?" He looked to Joe and Andy.

"I'm down for it," Andy retorted.

"I could use a week off from school," Joe added.

"So it's settled, we're entering the Battle Of The Bands." Pete pat me on the shoulder and grinned, "Okay?"

I heaved a sigh, "I guess..."