I still remember the night of our first show like it was just yesterday. It was at a tiny grill/bar in Tempe. The kind of place where cigarette smoke hung in the air and the lights were dim enough that you could barely see what you were doing. We were supposed to go on at seven, but everything had gotten delayed because of, you guessed it, Caleb. Yup, he and Becky were at it again and me and the other guys were just sick and tired of it.
“Did you call him?” Blake asked Ryan, who had been checking his phone constantly.
“Yes, like ten times,” he answered.
“Asshole,” Blake muttered under his breath.
I could already tell that the band was beginning to crumble and I wasn’t really sure what to think when Caleb showed up twenty minutes late.
“Where the hell have you been?” Blake yelled at him.
“Uh, me and Becky were just getting a bite to eat,” he said as if nothing was wrong.
“Look man, we’ve been waiting for you for the past half-over, you need to get your butt on stage with us,” Ryan told him straight up.
Caleb grabbed his guitar and said, “Alright, alright, I’m going,” and headed onto the stage with the rest of the guys.
I took this as my cue to follow them. I could hardly believe that we were going on already, this was awesome!
Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to find Hannah standing there.
“Oh hey,” I tried not to sound too excited to see her, but not too bored either.
“Hey! Oh my goodness, you’re gonna do great out there, I know it!” she grabbed me and squeezed me tightly.
“Uh, thanks,” I said, practically gasping for air.
She finally let go and took a good look at me. “You can do this; I know you can do this.”
“Ha,” I laughed nervously without knowing that she was actually right. In fact, those words she’d said to me would be implemented in my brain for a lifetime.
“I gotta go, good luck!” she waved and headed off to her group of friends.
I took a deep breath, fished my sticks out of my bag and walked onto the stage.
Even though the lighting inside most of the place was pretty dim, the lighting on stage was freaking blinding. I shielded my eyes and looked out into the crowd. I saw John and my dad, who I had told not to come because I assumed that we would suck, but they’d come anyway. I waved to them and they waved back.
I sauntered over to my beautiful drum set. Yes, it was beautiful, I just bought some new parts for it and we custom-made the cover for the kick drum. Now it had ‘On the Brightside’ displayed in big black letters with a sunset background. ‘On the Brightside’ is the band name we decided on, hoping that it would bring us together, maybe think more positively so our band could stick together. Blake came up with it, and even though we argued about it, in the end we realized that it fit us perfectly.
I sat down at my drum set, which thankfully was placed in the ‘shade’ and adjusted my hi-hat.
This is gonna work, it’s gonna be good. People will like you. Is what I told myself.
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She's Got the Rhythm
Teen FictionMandy Hawthorne never wanted to play the drums. After being forced into playing by her dad and brother, she actually finds herself enjoying it. She hasn't told anyone that she's a drummer because she's afraid of what other people are going to think...
