Dear Brother

6. Meet The Band

Haydrian's song is from 'A Farewell to False Love' by Sir Walter Raleigh'.

Haydrian had always wanted to be a front man of a rock band, but he would have never of guessed that when he turned fourteen, he'd actually be in one. He was seventeen how, and the band was his life. Apart from Iyden. Iyden dominated his life.

There was George, the bass guitarist, a quiet boy with a mop of blonde hair. He was stick thin and very tall, and never really gave any ideas towards song writing, but he was a good bass player. A very good bassist indeed.

There was also James, a lead guiatrist with dark brown hair and a handsome face, cocky and obsessed with his newest girlfriend, Joanna. Love songs came from him: always.

Ron was the drummer, a hairy, incredibly tall boy with red curly hair and freckles. He was nearly always crude and simply minded, but sitting behind a drum kit seemed to be his thing.

Lastly, there was Haydrian, who was the singer and rhythm guitarist: the calm one in the band, he was a perfect front man- confident on stage but sensible all the other times. Their best songs came from his pen and notepad.

 And they were all later. Not one of them could arrive on time, and it irritated Haydrian down to the bone.

They had all assembled in the Hecks living room: Ron with a pair of drumsticks and tapping on the piano lid, James tuning his Gibson guitar slowly and carefully, George was slapping his bass artfully, making sure his fingers were nimble, and Haydrian sat on the floor, flicking through his notepad. He sat like a small boy, legs outstretched and straight, his back arched over.

Iyden sat on the sofa under a blanket, his sketch book propped up on his knees and a pencil in his hand, poised over a new page. He was thinking carefully: English homework turned out to be a bore when he didn't know what to write.

"Haydrian, how can I start-"

"Okay band, listen up." Everyone turned to look at Haydrian, who had stood up now and had ignored his brother. He had his notepad open on a song which was titled 'Loveless', his fingers tracing the words carefully. Haydrian's irritation was building up slowly; first off, they were late, and now his brother was trying to interrupt the little time they had together. "I think I have a song we could do."

"Great," George mumbled, flicking his hair from his face and turning down the volume on his bass. "Let's hear it, Hay."

"Yeah, go on, mate." Ron chimed in, his face animated.

Haydrian cleared his throat and picked up his acoustic guitar, which was leaning against the sofa, and started to strum a simple chord pattern.

"Farewell false love, the oracle of lies,

A mortal foe and enemy to rest..." Haydrian began, his face serious.

Once Haydrian had sung through the song, the band looked impressed and smiled.

"I like it." James said simply. "Write down the chord pattern for me?"

"Sure." Haydrian said, putting down his guitar gently and ripping a page of his notebook out, scribbling down the chords.

Iyden cleared his throat quietly and began-

"Haydrian, how do I-"

"Go away, Iyden. Can't you just go up to your room?" Haydrian asked sharply, sending his brother a dark glare. He needed him to leave NOW, so he could focus. Jesus!

Iyden's face turned red and his eyes flashed angrily.

"I only wanted to ask-"

"Just go away."

Iyden stood up, flinging the blanket off him, and stormed out of the room, clutching his sketchpad to his chest. Haydrian heard the door slam upstairs, and the taps being turned on. Gushing noises came from upstairs, intrusive and unrelenting, and Haydrian kicked the sofa, his thoughts hot with a temper that was unlike him. Why did water, of all things, comfort him? He hated noise, yet he loved the sound of rushing water?

"He infuriates me!" he snapped. George sat up a little straighter and shook his head.

"You know what he's like, Hay." he mumbled. "You're just having a bad day. All brothers have it." And band practise resumed.