The Edge Of Yesterday

Chapter 7

Weeks passed by, then months. Inevitably, we were running out of the money that we had saved up, so we ended up having to get a job. Alex had gotten hired to work for a pizza place, and I had scored two job; one as a waitress, and the other as a salesgirl at a jewelry store. Those jobs were quite  monotonous, but at least they paid enough to get by. 

One day, things were as they usually were. We were all in Rosie-and-Bone's apartment, fooling about, when Rosie suggested that we start a band. Although I wasn't good at any instrument, I liked the idea of that a lot. 

"I'll play guitar," Alex grinned. "I'm good at it. I'll bring it next time we meet up."

"Narcissist." I teased him. 

"You said that yourself! You quite literally said that I'm good at it! You traitor!" he pretended to have been stabbed in the heart, dramatically falling down onto the couch and pretending to die.

Rosie sniggered, then walked into a different room, then came back, bringing in her bass. It was a cool bass. It was jet black, covered in drawings that Rosie had doodled all over it in white marker: anarchist logos and stars, spiders and gravestones, curse words and band logos. "This is what I'll be playing."

"Drums for me." Bones sat down at his drum kit, gently tapping at it with his two sticks. "Now, who will be singing?"

Everybody's attention turned to me at once. I could feel myself becoming uneasy.

"Come on, Avril, you sing," Alex encouraged me. 

I shook me head. "Me? No, thanks." 

Although I enjoyed singing, the thought of being the center of attention of so many people was not something I would've enjoyed the slightest bit. 

"Who else is going to sing?" Bones said. "Rosie can't sing for toffee-"

"HEY NOW!" Rosie's head jerked around, as she glared at him.

"It's true, and you know it. I won't be able to sing, since I'll be playing the drums, so it's either Alex.-"

"No, thanks," Alex said. "Avril can do it."

"No, you do it." I protested. "You like being the center of attention, so being the vocalist would suit you more."

"But I don't want to sing."

"How come I have to sing just because you don't want to?"

"I've heard you sing before, and you have a nice voice!"

"Yeah, right."

"Come on, Avril, you do have a nice voice." You could clearly tell that Alex meant what he was saying. I felt bad for arguing with him, but at the same time, he was being rather irritating. 

"You know I don't like being in front of people." I pleaded.

"Maybe you should stop this fear of attention and just have fun with it." Rosie cut in. My head turned towards her as she continued. "If you have a good voice, then you should just own it and use that talent to your advantage. If I could sing, then I'd use that to my advantage. So be our vocalist if you want to, Avril. Or don't."

"Fine," I muttered, giving in. If this was how it was going to be, then I guess I would have to do it.

Rosie began strumming notes on her bass. Bones began playing his drum kit.

"Should we practice now?" Rosie called out, over the noise. "It will be fun!" 

"Absolutely!" I shouted back. 

Bones and Rosie played a bunch of notes that went together, while I improvised lyrics in the spot. The lyrics were mediocre, but they were a first draft that I was freestyling so I could always improve them later.