Finding Yourself Again

Chapter 6

  Brendon was finishing up with his last student of the day, a piano student. Her name was Allie, and she was around 10 years old. He was really fond of her: she had natural musical ability, worked hard, loved playing, but most of all, she was so funny! She was always making him laugh at their lessons. She was just a joy to teach.

  This day was an early finish for Brendon, as it was a Friday, and was one of the nights their band did gigs. He was amazed at how quickly their band had taken off; he had been in LA for about 7 weeks now, and they'd already been doing a few gigs a week for over a month. Granted, Spencer's connections had helped them get their feet in the door, but it wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't been any good. They'd gone from playing one venue to a handful of clubs, and their audience seemed to increase with each gig.

  When it came time to name their band, Brendon had been clueless. They wanted something unique but not completely weird. Finally, after two hours of going around with everyone and getting nowhere, Spencer mentioned a song lyric that mentioned the phrase "panic at the disco". Everyone had liked it. It was certainly memorable but didn't really bring anything negative to mind. To make it even more memorable in print, they added an "!" after the word Panic, and it was a done deal.

  "Allie, you've done great work today! You tell your mama that if you keep working so hard and doing so well, you'll get to start playing some Mozart in no time!" Brendon grinned widely at her as her eyes grew huge.

  "For real, Mr. Brendon?? I'm glad it's him and not that Beeeth-oven Guy...his name is too hard!" Brendon burst out laughing.

  "Well, I'm glad that you're glad. Don't forget your practice book! Remember: 30 minutes every day!",  Brendon reminded her.

  "I will!", Allie said as she made a "cross my heart" motion. "I promise!"

  "Ok, then, see you next week!"

  Allie scurried out of the room with Brendon close behind her, and he gave her mother a friendly wave as they left. When he turned to the left, he saw Spencer there grinning, waiting to pick him up.

  "Cute kid! Good student?" Spencer asked.

  "Yep, she's awesome. And she's a riot too. She constantly has me laughing! One of my fringe benefits of teaching," Brendon winked at Spencer.

  Spencer chuckled. "Fair enough. We gotta head out if we're gonna grab anything to eat before we sound check and get dressed!"

  Brendon said, "Lead the way - you know I can't wait!"

  Spencer said, "I know! You've gotta be one of the most natural frontmen I've ever seen. Who knew you had that kind of character in your sweet, adorable little self, hmm?" Spencer reached out and pinched Brendon's cheek.

  "Cut it out!", Brendon cried as he swatted Spencer's hand away. Still, he couldn't help laughing at Spencer's special brand of crazy.

  "So B, I wanna tell you something, but you can't get your hopes all up in case it doesn't happen, ok?"

  Brendon furrowed his brows and looked at Spencer in confusion. "Okaaaay....go ahead."

  "I heard a rumor that an A&R guy from a relatively big record label might be at our show tonight. But a rumor is all it is. I obviously can't get any confirmation on that. That's why I don't want you to get your hopes up about it."

  Brendon laughed. "Geez, Spence, you had me worried for a second. That's cool. The way I look at the band is that I'm always gonna do my best in it no matter what, and what will be will be. If we never were more successful than we are right now, it would still be so fun to me!"w