String of Fate

Chapter Eleven

Yikes! I was late! Again! Why was it that the last lesson on a Tuesday always overran and I was always left running late to my band rehearsal? Seth was going to kill me if I was late again. That guy was so grumpy and insisted that the band was the most important thing. It was the most important thing to me, but my parents insisted that I had to be good in school if I wanted to stay in the band, so, I had to think about school as well as the band.

I got to the bus stop, just as the bus came. It was about time that I had some luck today. If this bus didn't take an endless amount of time, I might actually get to the practice on time. I was out of breath when I ran through the door of the community centre, being the last one there and making it just on the dot. I bent over a little bit to catch my breath – exercise was meant to be good for you. "Made it!"

"You're late, Bex. You're going to have to try and get out of lesson earlier. How many times do I have to tell you?" Seth asked from behind the mic, messing with his bass guitar. Jack and Emma were at their instruments – Jack twirling his drum sticks and Emma glancing over her music sheet while leaning against her keyboard, making sure not to hit the keys.

"Well, school isn't as lenient as college. Besides, you have Tuesday's off so you don't need to rush. That bloody teacher of mine insists on making the lessons run longer than they need too. They really need to learn how to plan lessons better." I answered, setting my bag down and starting to dig around for a clip to put my long, blue fringe back. I'd freaked my parents out when I came home with blue hair but I loved it and it really suited my look with the band. "You guys could always replace me with a college girl."

"No way. You're the only girl that didn't piss Seth off in the audition." Jack said, surprising me with that statement. Seth was always pissed off at me lately. No matter what I did, it was like he hated me, even though I didn't know what I could have done to make him hate me.

"Although, you did shock everyone when you came in with the hair, especially since you looked so different than the hair you had when we auditioned you." Emma added, her own hair a bright purple.

I was glad that, even though I was two years younger than them, they accepted me as a member of the band. The day after I'd become a member of the band, when they'd called me the day after the audition, I went to the salon and changed my hairstyle. I still couldn't find a clip in my bag, and was just about to give up and deal without one, when Seth handed me a hair clip. "You always forget to bring one with you. Maybe you should cut your fringe."

"Thank you for the hair clip. Sadly, it's going to have to be a no to the haircut, though." I replied simply. I'd waited years for this hairstyle and I wasn't going to cut my hair just because some guy said to. I took the clip from him and styled my hair, taking my electric guitar from the case and connecting it to the amp. Emma moved to behind her keyboard and Seth glanced at me. "Come on. I'm waiting for you."

"Ha ha. Funny. Let's start with the top of the list." He bossed about. Seth was the unspoken leader of the band – and no-one had argued with him about that yet. I'd been a little annoyed with him after about an hour – and he still annoyed me after a month. Apart from the mutual annoyance between me and Seth, the band was great.

After band practice, the four of us sat in Emma's flat trying to write lyrics and melodies for our own songs instead of covering bands like we did now. We slowly made some songs, trying to match the lyrics to the music. It was a difficult process but we were managing to get somewhere. It wasn't a full set list yet, but we were getting there slowly. A few more months of covering before we could start to integrate our own songs into the set lists.

"You still need to sort out your lateness and I hope you don't plan on messing us about during your exams. While we're at it – do not put the band second when you have your string." Seth warned me nearing the time that I needed to get home.