The Phone Call -l.r.h.

The Beginning

A/N: If you want to read the old version instead, I'll leave it down below, but this is going to be similar, more detailed, and more accurate. Also, language warning.
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-Andy's POV-
It had all changed with a phone call. It was a rainy day in my tiny town, which most people despised, but I kind of enjoyed. To me, there was no better feeling than dancing in the rain. It was my favorite thing to do, except for band practice, of course. I mean granted, it wasn't always the best, but I loved hanging out with my friends and doing what I loved. When the idea of this band was proposed to me, I wasn't really into it, but I regretfully joined. It's not them, but rather the type of music Maddy would like to create. I like the things we are doing covers of, but she wants to turn it into an all metal rock band. Honestly, we will just have to see how it goes. I finally arrived to practice sopping wet, twelve minutes late. I walked into all of the girls chatting while setting up. It didn't take them long to notice me, though. While Audrey and Addie laughed at the sight of me soaked in rain water, Maddy didn't. She scolded me for being late, but I just ignored her and went to set up. You see, "Madeline" and I had this thing. It was brief, but sincere. She and I, well kind of dated. While we hate to admit it, the reason we sometimes fight now has nothing to do with it. Plus, we know too much about each other to ever just end our friendship, if we ever wanted to that is. It's just the fact that we have a personal connection that we both like to ignore. It's nothing really, besides just a mess. I continued setting up, and Maddy broke the silence. "Do any of y'all think this band is ever going to amount to anything, or are we just wasting our time?" At this point in the band's history, she definitely had a point. We barely played any gigs due to school and the lack of places willing to book live music. We all kind of just blew it off not wanting to answer, but then Audrey decided to say something. "Maddy, let's be realistic. This town just isn't going to take us the places we want to be. We are going to have to do more than YouTube in order to succeed, and you know that." It took Maddy a matter of seconds to chime in. "You think I don't fucking know that?  We are a shitty ass band who can't do shit. Even if we were somewhere else, what in the hell would we ever do?" Addie and I obviously planned on sitting sideline, by I guess the yelling got the best of her. "Maddy, first of all, don't you dare talk to any one of us like that. Second of all, we book gigs at the pizza parlor and do YouTube. That is all we are capable of doing. Don't get pissed off about shit we can't control." Also, of course, there is me who has to be a dumbass and chime in. "Hey, and we are having fun, isn't that what matters?" I half expected Audrey to respond with a simple yeah, exactly. Oh, but instead she decided to use a few different words. "Yeah, because this looks fun. All we are doing is arguing, today. I don't know what everyone's fucking problem is. I see you are trying to lighten the mood, but it's not working, so from the bottom of my heart, I am asking you to shut the fuck up." I did as I was told and proceeded to tune my bass. Addie told Audrey to calm down, then suggested that we should skip the cover for today, even though we always upload on Tuesdays. It would be one thing if we only had two subscribers, but 500k are too many to disappoint, in my opinion. After arguing, again, they decided, without my vote, to proceed with making the video. I was down for it, but kind of irritated that they didn't bother to ask me. I mean sure, they probably knew what I was going to say, but it's the thought that counts. It sounds as if they are super hateful towards me, but on better days we are like one big family. I pulled out my phone to check the time and for messages. It was 4:25 by now, and I had not a single message. Almost everyone I spoke to on a regular basis was in the room with me, so it didn't really surprise me. About five minutes later, we decided to turn on the camera and start recording. We recorded our intro. "Hey, I'm Maddy, the lead singer, who also happens to play oboe. I'm Andy, the bassist, and pianist, sometimes. I'm Audrey, the drummer. And I'm Addie, the guitarist, and we are (HEY GUYS, I DON'T HAVE A BAND NAME, SO LEAVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS. THANKS XX)." We recorded Castle on the Hill, by Ed Sheeran, before kicking back and turning off the camera. We searched online for music competitions to enter, but they were all out of state and too far away. It kind of sucks living in a small town, but I guess there are perks. Maddy, Addie, and I met each other in Middle School, and we have been friends ever since. Audrey's mom married into the family, and let's just say it wasn't all unicorns and rainbows, at first. We hated each other, until we realized we had a bunch in common. We both loved music, liked the same bands, and played the same instruments. Only good things happened from then on. She was now in college, since she was two years older than us, but you couldn't really tell. The rest of us just started our senior year in high school. We were the oldest kids in the school, but it didn't feel that way. It didn't feel great, like it should've. It felt like a race to graduate; a race that we were winning, but were still too far away from the finish line, to reach it. We were racing through Hell. Students having panic attacks, students wanting to die, students not eating, students stressing out to the point of collapse, students wanting to break their own legs or take their own lives to avoid going to this Hell everyday. This was our life. Nothing mattered, except for school. From a young age, we learned to put our school work before our health and happiness. Nobody saw a flaw in the system; all they saw were students who weren't obedient enough. All the saw were students who wouldn't obey to the rule of law, but the problem was that they did. They tried, but it slowly killed them. And so here we are running through Hell, trying to escape before it's too late, before we succumb to the system. Before we can no longer move or breathe, even though that might be a good thing. We could make it to Heaven, calm and serene. We would win, no, but death isn't the right option, and we must shy away from the idea of it and continue to suffer. There's no right way out, but only a right of passage. Twelve miserable years of our lives, taken, bruised, and abused. We kept fighting, though, and we are slowly making it through this Hell Hole that we call school. My thoughts were interrupted by a call from an unknown number. I was hesitant at first, not knowing the number, but answered reluctantly. "Uh, hello." I spoke into the phone nervously. "Oh, hi, yes. Is this Ms. Andy Barnes?" A deep, smooth, voice on the other end of the phone spoke. "Uh, yes, this is she. May I ask why you are calling." I was a little scared at this point. Who was this dude, and how in the world did he know my name and number? At this point Audrey came over to see what was going on. She sat in silence watching my facial expressions. Soon, the rest of the girls followed suit. "Sorry, my name is John, and I am a producer here at Capitol Records. One of my bands and I had seen you all's YouTube videos. They were amazing and we were looking to possibly sign you guys onto the label." I couldn't believe my ears. My mouth had dropped to the floor. The rest of the girls stood there perplexed as to why I looked so excited and shocked all at once. "I, uh, sorry, I just don't know what to say. That sounds amazing." It did sound amazing, but it sounded too good to be true. "I was hoping you would say that. We are going to pay for each of you and one parent or guardian to fly to Australia. The flight is Monday morning and you will fly here to meet the band." I was excited, but Monday? I have school on Mondays. I didn't think too much about it, and just responded with a yes, thank you and hung up. Were they really going to pay for everything? It was already too good to be true. As soon as I had hung up the girls were all over me. "WHO WAS THAT?" They screamed in unison, as if I had just ended a phone call with the CIA. "Oh, nobody, just Capitol Records." They couldn't believe their ears. Maddy thought I was kidding. I think they all did. "You're kidding. You're lying. There's no way. Absolutely, no way that they would just call and I just, what?" I knew it sounded like a joke, but they needed to trust me. "Guys, look. I know that it sounds like a joke, but it's not." I proceeded to tell them word for word what John had said. There were two issues. One was who was this mysterious band, and two was what would my mom say. I was nervous to go to Australia, even though it had been a dream of mine. Audrey also helped point out this strange fact. I loved the idea of going to Australia, but it was all too real. Being with another band, especially one I don't even know the name of, absolutely terrified me. I haven't even told my own band things about me, and now I'm supposed to go and chat it up with some other band. Don't get me wrong, I was overjoyed that our hard work had payed off, but it was still nerve racking. Obviously noticing my nerves getting the best of me, Maddy scooted closer. "Hey, Andy. I know this is scary, but it's what we have always wanted. You know this is an amazing opportunity." I did. I really did understand. I, just, there was something about it I couldn't lay my finger on. There was something off about all of it.  Maybe it's just my damn anxiety, or I'm nervous about the damn plane ride. Heck, it maybe I'm scared to ask my mom. I really am not sure anymore. It's all just a lot to process. We talked about it for a little longer, but I wasn't really into the conversation. I hated to be a bummer, but I just wasn't in the mood to be all excited. Sure, every one of us was nervous, but I felt as if I was ruining the fun of it all. After talking for what seemed like hours, we all went back to our houses and I realized that I needed to talk to my mom. That was a dreaded talk that I wish I could save for another day, but I couldn't. I had to rip off the damn bandage.