Just a Crush: Dear Diary (Oli Sykes)

Chapter Six: Product of Our Time

'Oli took me to the shops today. We went to Damaged Society, and he got me a Blink 182 hoodie. It was his way of apologising for forgetting me on my birthday back in April. Kitty couldn't come with us, thank God. I hate her so much. She's always mean when Oli isn't around. And when he is, she pretends like she's the nicest girl in the world. Just thinking about her makes me ill. But today she had to write a paper on something. I couldn't care less because I got Oli all to myself today. He even took me to a café after the shops, and I had cocoa with marshmallows. He drank black coffee. I asked him what it tasted like, and he let me take a sip. I hated it. I asked why he would drink something so horrid, and he said that black coffee matched his black soul. I don't think Oli's soul is black at all. He's too nice. I think his soul is pink and fluffy, but I haven't told him that yet. I have to go now because he's just called me to watch a film with him. We're watching Beetlejuice tonight because I've told him that I'd never seen it.'

I was sitting outside, smoking, and trying to write a lyric. Aye, singular. You have to start small, y'know? But my head was blank. I stared at the blank paper, trying to think of something, anything, when I heard an odd sound. It was dark outside, so I couldn't really see anything other than my terrace. I turned the light on my phone on and stood. I took a few steps forward, but then I stopped in my tracks. I shrieked when a figure appeared in front of me. "Shut up, Thomas, you'll wake the entire neighbourhood," Dominic shushed me. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" I asked. "I dunno. I was bored at home," he shrugged. Dom was home alone because his parents took Gemma on a birthday trip to Edinburgh. They just left today. She'll be back on Friday, three days before the new term starts. "What were you doing?" He asked me when he got comfortable on my chair. I cleared my throat and waited for him to sit somewhere else. He rolled his eyes and moved. "Right, I was trying to write a song. But I've realised that I'm rubbish at writing lyrics," I whinged. "What's the song about? Is it a love song about Sykes?" He teased me and made a little kissy face. "Shut up, you git. I don't know what I wanted it to be about," I admitted after flipping him off. "Do you have the melody, at least?" He asked. I nodded and fetched my guitar. He listened intently as I played the melody I'd made up. "This would sound much better on electric," he said once I'd finished. "I know. I've tried it on electric already, and it smashed. I haven't gotten around to writing the music for bass and drums because I was counting on your help," I smiled cutely. "Show me the electric, and I'll try following along, yeah? We can do bass later," he said and got up. "Wait, let me just smoke another one," I stopped him.

"Does this song mean you're considering the future of our band?" Dom asked as he caught my tobacco and started rolling his own ciggy. "Aye, I've been playing around with the idea of becoming a proper musician. Would that be something you'd be interested in?" I asked. "Abso-bloody-lutely. We need a band name, though," he noted. "We also need a guitarist or two," I pointed out. "What? We have Laurie and Gemma," he said with confusion. "Dom, they're both going to uni in two years. They're in the band now, but won't be for long. We can't force them to join us," I said. "We could," he smiled mischievously. "No, we really couldn't. We'll find someone we like, don't worry," I smiled back at him. "Maybe they'll change their minds, too. We still have two years," he said. "Let's start with having a proper song, and then we'll go from there, shall we?" I suggested. He nodded with a frown, and we went inside. Dom sat behind my drumset and I plugged in my guitar. Before I started playing, I pressed the record button on my phone. I thought it might be useful to have the audio in case Dom did something absolutely brilliant on the drums on his first try.

He didn't. Neither of us were composers, and the problem with only playing covers was that it was really easy to subconsciously copy something from someone else. I'd made that same mistake with some of the riffs. We realised my mistake only after the fourth time I played it, and Dom followed with drums the way the original went. I'd totally ripped off Blink 182. "So, how do we go about not being so literally influenced by others?" Dominic asked after a minute of defeated silence. "I haven't got the faintest," I sighed. I'd been working on the song for a month, and it was rubbish. "I can't believe this. The song is bloody useless, innit? How could I be so stupid?" I asked, burying my head in my hands. "You're not stupid, Leonora. I bet almost every band struggled with their first song. Plus, your song isn't completely useless. We'll just replace the parts you borrowed from Blink 182, alright? Do you have the chords writ down anywhere?" He asked, resting a hand on my shoulders comfortingly. I looked up guiltily and shook my head. "What? Why not?" He asked. "I've a really good muscle and hearing memory. I didn't think it was necessary until the song was finished," I shrugged. "Blimey, Len, you really are something. Well, go on then, write it down. Then we can cross reference your notes with the notes from your favourite songs and see if anything else got in there by mistake," he suggested. "Alright, let's do it," I nodded. I went to the living room, hoping to find at least one of my parents.