Catch Me

Chapter Forty-Four: Addicted

        Chapter Forty-Four: Addicted

The week seemed to pass slowly, between his nine hour shifts at the bagel shop, and moping around, thinking about Haleigh, Zander was finding it hard to focus on the band rehearsal. They had another gig at yet another Kappa Sigma party this weekend, and Zander was dreading it. Jackson had asked Zander if he would sing again for the upcoming gig, but Zander had declined due to the recent breakup with Haleigh.

    Zander picked his bass mindlessly as Alvin strummed his guitar. Dylan tapped his drum perfectly to the rhythm of the song. Zander wasn't even sure what they were playing, his mind was elsewhere.

    "Hold it!" Jackson yelled over the noise of the band. The boys stopped playing. "Zander, what song are you playing?" Jackson asked, he knew Zander's full attention was not focused on his bass.

    Zander shrugged in response.

    "Get it together, we have a day to get this perfect." Jackson reminded him, then turned back toward his microphone. "From the top." Dylan counted out the first beats of the song by clapping his drum sticks together. Alvin strummed his guitar right on queue, and Jackson began to sing.

    Frustrated, Zander strummed the strings of his bass as hard as he could, sending a horrifying sound through the amp. The basement of Jackson's apartment building flooded with the random notes of Zander's bass. One of the strings had snapped, gashing Zander's already torn knuckle. The rest of the band stopped playing as they watched Zander's anger get the best of him.

    Zander huffed, removed his bass from around his neck, and threw it down on the old worn out sofa that sat off to the side of the unfinished basement.

    "Zander!" Jackson tried to grab his attention as Zander stormed up the stairs and out of site.

    "I'll go talk to him." Dylan piped up. He set his drumsticks down on his drum set, then headed up the stairs after Zander, leaving Jackson and Alvin by themselves.

    Dylan found Zander sitting on an old wooden bench that normally sat abandoned in the lobby of Jackson's apartment building. Zander leaned forward, his elbows were propped up on his knees, and he covered his eyes with the palms of his hands. Dylan had known something had been wrong with Zander all day, the image of him with his face in his hands confirmed it for him.

    Dylan walked slowly and cautiously toward his friend, He was worried about him. After all the time these guys had been in The Wailing Donkeyz together, Dylan had never seen Zander act like this.

    "You alright?" Dylan asked as he took a seat next to Zander. Zander quickly looked away from Dylan, running the back of his hand over his blood shot eyes. Dylan knew he had been crying, but never mentioned it.

    "Yeah." Zander cleared his throat.

    "What's up?"

    "Girl drama." Zander confessed, clear and to the point.

    "Listen man, I don't know the logistics or whatever, but I do know the only thing that has ever gotten me through a breakup has been music." The words Dylan spoke were surprising to Zander. Dylan had always been a man of few words, and it surprised Zander that he would even take the time to come talk to him.

    "Everyone loved it last week when you sang." Dylan reminded Zander. "We think it will be really good if you did another song this week." Zander didn't say anything, he focused his attention on the wall that sat parallel to the bench. "I know you're going through a lot right now, but just think about it. Take these emotions and focus them into singing. Let the music be your therapy." Dylan smirked at his friend, then stood from the bench, he headed back down stairs to the basement.