Band Love (Byler)

A Weird Flyer

Will threw his leg over his bike, hauling his backpack on his left shoulder. Another day over, another day spent alone. Will had been alone a lot his life, besides his mom and Jonathan, Will never had a friend he kept. Which was odd, there was nothing outwardly "wrong" with Will. Nothing to make people dislike him, he was caring and kind and well liked by his mother's friend. A gentle boy people often referred to him as. But those good qualities made him an easy target, and he was often beaten up and called nasty things, especially when he was little. But Will was 17 now, a bit stronger, a bit taller. So, the bullying died down, leaving Will to truly think about his loneliness.

"Crap, my notebook." Will muttered, suddenly dropping his bike onto the autumn-leaf-covered concrete. He jogged back into the school, heading to the bathroom at the very end of the school on the first floor. Will didn't like hanging around in the cafeteria or going out when he had free time, so usually he spent his time writing in the bathroom. It was the most unused one in the school, and he barely ever saw anyone go in so it was like a safe space for him.

When he reached the bathroom he threw open the door and headed to the last stall. Of course, there was his notebook, sitting on the floor. He quickly swiped it up and was about the leave when from the corner of his eye he spotted a black flyer with big red text from the corner of his eye. He turned on his heels and reached for the paper that hung by a piece of tape on the wall. "LOOKING FOR A BAND ASSISTANT/MANAGER" It read, and at the very bottom in tiny text it also said, "Sorry, no pay :(. Please come meet us in the abandoned shed by the train tracks at the edge of town today(I swear we're not creeps)!"

Will laughed a little, and then paused, mulling it over a bit. Then, without much more thought, he stuffed the flyer into his backpack and left.

Later that day, as Will sat on his bed letting the sounds from The Cure fill up his mind, he started thinking about the flyer again. He was lonely, he had no friends, and even if they did turn out to be axe murderers what was there to lose anyway? So, he shut off his music, and ran downstairs, grabbing his backpack that he had left at the front door. He rushed outside, hopped on his bike and set off to the ominous shed.

It wasn't a long bike ride, Will's house was nearing the edge of town anyway so 15 minutes at most. When he arrived, he was met by grassy plains, the kind that makes your bike get all jammed and topple over. So he got off and started walking his bike to the shed instead. As he walked, he thought he could hear laughing from the distance. He really hoped he was just going crazy, because to him, it sounded like a bunch of killers, ready to pounce on their next victim.

Will was maybe a foot or two away from the shed, so he quietly set down his bike, and hobbled over to the door. Slowly, he pulled the door open and peaked in. It was pretty dark inside, besides a small lamp set on a creaky looking wooden table, decorated in cobwebs. On the floor, say upon rags and old blankets was two girls and three boys. One girl had roughly cut hair, it hung above her shoulders and mascara was smeared under her eyes. She wore a jean jacket decorated with pins over a green t-shirt. Along with that, she wore a pair of black slacks and dirty converse that had been drawn on. Sat beside her was a boy and girl, the boy wore an AC/DC shirt, and the girl had her fire-red hair twisted into braids and was wearing a blue sweatshirt. There was one other person but Will wasn't able to give them a good look because the girl wearing the jean jacket stood up and greeted him.

"Hey! Are you here because of the flyer?" She asked, grinning.

"Um, yeah. I'm Will." He put out his hand for her to shake, and she took it roughly, giving him what his dad would've called "a manly shake."

"Will, nice to meet you! I'm Robin and this is Max, Eddie- and Mike."

Mike. It was Mike. Will was surprised, very surprised. Mike and Will had history, not anything crazy, but enough that Will worried it could be a bit awkward between them.

From kindergarten to freshman year of high school, Will and Mike were best friends. They spent every waking second together, and they were a perfect match for one another. But as high school approached the summer after 8th grade, Will could feel Mike distancing himself. At first, Will was devastated, Mike was going to leave him in the dust. What was he supposed to do now? But after a few more months of distancing, he decided to just let go. He stopped calling Mike, he stopped riding over to his house on his bike, he stopped listening to the records Mike had given him. Everything "Mike," had stopped. Will was, of course, still sad, but at the same time understood Mike. High school was a big deal, a fresh start, Mike just didn't want to be seen around with his lonely, loser friend. And Mike, at least in Will's eyes, was a cool guy. Friendly(mostly), smart(mostly), could play the guitar, and was decently good looking. And it was quite obvious that after he had left Will, he didn't have trouble making new friends.

After Robin introduced everyone, she went on to explain what kind of music they made, what Will would have to do as a manager, and other basic things to know. Just from that, Will could tell Robin was a talker, or to be more clear, a nervous talker.

But Max, who was never afraid to speak her mind, had obviously grown tired of all the chatter, and interrupted with a question. "So- Does this mean you're like our.. manager now, just because you showed up?" She was standing up now, dusting off the cobwebs and dirt from the rusty old shed.

Will turned to Robin, who he felt most comfortable asking. "I mean, if you're sure, then yeah! You're the only person who showed up here today anyways." Robin said.

Will chuckled nervously and then shrugged. "Well, say "hello" to your new manager then."

Everyone laughed, and Eddie gave him a playful slap on the back. "Never thought we'd be that fancy of a band."

"Yeah," Max yelled from the front of the shed, he was getting up now to leave like the rest of them. "who would've thought? But really, thanks for doing this. We really need the extra help."

Will smiled sweetly, "No problem, I have all the free time in the world." Quickly after saying that, Will could feel a pair of eyes staring at the back of his head. He didn't dare look back, because he didn't need to look to know, but also he was frightened of the things that would unravel if he did. Luckily, Max saved him by grabbing his shoulders and pointing him to the exit of the shed.

"We're heading to Rob's house. That's where we usually have band practice, we would've given you that address but she's super paranoid-" Max said, not being able to finish before being interrupted.

"Rather be safe than sorry!" Robin shouted as she walked besides Steve in front of them.

Max rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh. "Anyways- I think you'll have fun, Will. We're all pretty chill and we won't make you do anything difficult."

Will nodded without another word, although he didn't say it, he hadn't felt so happy in a long time.