Beauty and the Freak (Mature)

Battle of the Bands

Veronica

I walk into Eddie's trailer and see all of the members of Corroded Coffin siting in the living room while Eddie is pacing back and forth." Hey guys what's up?"

" Gareth's grandmother died." Jeff said

"Oh no! Gareth, I am so sorry!" I go over and give the Corroded Coffin drummer a hug.

" It sucks but she was like really sick and like 90 so we kind of knew it was coming."

" What sucks more is that the Battle of the Bands is this weekend and we have to drop out because Gareth is going to be gone to his Grandmothers funeral." Scotty huffed.

" That does suck but it's one of those things that's kind of out of your control. I am so sorry guys, I know how excited you guys were."

Eddie stopped pacing and turned to face me, he put his hands on my shoulders." Sweetheart, you play the drums, why the fuck didn't I think of this earlier!You could fill in for Gareth! We don't have to drop out!"

I looked at him wide eyed, " Eddie, I just screw around and play for fun, I'm not good enough for playing at a Battle of the Bands!"

" No Baby, I have seen you play, your good." Eddie excitedly turned to Gareth. " We have four days , do you think that you could teach her the song?"

Gareth shrugged," I could try."

" She is like a musical genius, she will pick it up in no time. What do you say Darling? Will you fill in?"

" I will try Eddie-"

He fist pumped and took my face in his hands." Thank you so much Baby.. This means so much to me." He drew me in for a kiss.

When he pulled away I nervously smiled." Don't thank me yet, I could be complete shit at it. You guys are ok with this?" I looked at Jeff, Gareth and Scotty.

They all shrugged and shook their heads yes." It's worth a shot, we have till Friday to back out. If it goes well we'll stay in." Jeff said.

" Excellent!" Eddie clapped his hands together . " Lets go practice!"

" Hold up there Ed's," I paused. " I think that I should go practice with Gareth on my own first. I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now and I don't think that will get any better with all of you watching and judging my every move." I looked at Gareth, " Would it be alright if we practiced at my house? I have a drum set there."

" That's fine with me."

" Will Lucy be ok with this?" Eddie asked

" I'm sure she will."

" Can I at least drive you over?" He rubbed my arms.

" Absolutely."

He smiled." Thank you so much. Let's roll."

I practiced for 2 days straight with Gareth, every possible minute I could without completely annoying my family and the neighbors, Jason made it known multiple times that he was not happy with the "noise" that I was making and I made it very clear that I didn't care what he thought. I was starting to feel a little more confident in my skills the more I played and was glad that I had some background in playing. Gareth was sweet and patient and super helpful and I appreciated it. I also appreciated that Eddie had given me some space the past couple of days so that I could practice without distractions. He was coming over tonight to preview before my first practice with the band tomorrow. My stomach was in knots.

" I am so nervous. What if he thinks I suck."

Gareth rolled his eyes. " You have learned more in two days then I ever could. You really are a wiz at music.And do you really think that Eddie would ever think you sucked at anything? Even if you were absolute trash he would still think you were amazing."