Knee deep, at this point.

Playing the drums in a "Crummy" way.

"...got lost on your camera, insurance scam..."

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im in a band, if you havent realized. its called "OUR WHOLE BAWDIES" or OWB for short. we are the first(?) indie rock band in georgia that has a violinist.

in real life, my name is val to friends.

but to the band? i am crummy.

together, we are all crummy, ross, chars, knees, les and gnats. all of our names have either a meaning, or are similar to our real names. i wont get into it now.

and im on drums!

i was biking down the street, with my busted up drum-sticks sticking out of my backpack. it was a cold morning.

"oh god? could it be?" i heard from the other side of the door i knocked on. i was at a small studio we rent from the revenue we make from making music. its soundproof!

"CRUMMY-BUD! hey kiddo!" i was greeted by ross, the lead, and oldest member of the band. he's 19.

"okay so heres the deal, crumb." gnats said, from the other side of the room.

"we've been talking about the last song we wanted to play on new years and... we decided it was in ours, and the fans best interest to play two minutes. you think you could do that?" she finished. i was immediately excited.

two minutes was a shortened term for "two minutes of the drummer being violent"

the song from our album: "WE ARE A PILE OF BAWDIES WITH INSTRUMENTS!" it was the album where each member got to write their own song, and the one i wrote happened to be the most popular, and not just out of the whole album, but our entire discography!

it was inspired by Crywank's "privately owned spiral galaxy"! however, two minutes is more drum heavy and the screams are more melodic, happening in the background of the entire song, while ross and gnats sing songs about being hoplessly in love with people youre too shy to ask out, knowing they will never love you back.

and i wrote it! all me!

"right then, need a metronome?" knees asked me. i used metronomes to keep my pacing right during songs.

"i have one!" i replied, referring to my headphones.

after a few minutes of preparing, i started my metronome, and tapping my sticks to the beat, telling gnats i was ready.

"one-two-three-GO!"

and just like that, i was having at the drums, counting to four in my head. i slammed the sticks into the rims and cymbals at a pace that would be alarming.. if it werent me playing. i had my own unique playing style, which landed me a spot in the band, despite my young age.

i screamed in the background, and nobody else heard it the way i did. the headphones fed back the music in a way that tuned the audio, making me quieter.

i violently played and melodically screamed my vocal cords out, i didnt notice the buzzing from my phone in my pocket.

when the song ended, i gasped for air, looking down at my drums. there was blood splattered on it.

"wow, crummy." chars said.
"how's your throat? youre louder than usua- oh christ!"

ross cut in.
"you played the fuck out of that one, crumb. hey, knees? bandaids, please."

i looked down at my hands, and sure enough, they were bleeding. i looked back at ross.

"you did insanely good, crummy."

eventually, we got to go to the cool italian place les liked. i took the time to check my phone and...

on an app i completely forgot about, i got a friend request. some guy named "aiden clark".

i took a closer look at his profile...

"oh shit." i swore under my breath, setting down my fork.

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