One And Only~ Maylor [Wattys 2019]

Ch. 6: Doin' Alright

Roger's P.O.V.

It's been some months or so since I joined Smile as the drummer. Indeed, it was a great band. I had a good friendship with Brian and Tim, and the music we played sounded quite great. Brian decided to take the band to something light, by performing at his college gig as the "opening hours" of another band. Tim and I agreed on the idea, so we practice more often in the week.

Today was the day of the show, and my stomach felt very queasy and my hands were soaking from the sweat, even though we didn't play for so long. It was going to be in Brian's college gig. Although it was going to be a small audience, I still felt nervous os screwing up in stage, or getting criticised. Even though Brian encourages me and tells me that I play wonderful, it stills doesn't calm me. Tim also encourages me, but not as much as Brian.

Before we went to the gig, the boys and I were in Brian's house practicing before performing. My hands simply couldn't play to the right beat or the right way, and it was driving me insane.

"Calm down Rog, you'll do fantastic! Just try to erase all your thoughts from your mind," Brian said, encouragingly. He was such an amazing and kind person with me, always encouraging me and talking to me. I never met a person that kind was kind as Brian is to me. He is good and outgoing with other people as well, but he seems to be nicer and kinder with me.

"You really think?" I ask him.

"Of course!" he said, "You are amazing! Trust me, you'll do great."

"Thank you Bri. I think you'll do great too y'know." He seemed a little flattered by my compliment and blushed a little bit, which was a bit odd, but I didn't mind it. We practiced and warmed up for some time before Tim interrupted and told us to head out.

"Come on guys! Let's go we'll be late!" Tim ordered. Whenever Tim gets stressed out, he'll get extremely upset and rude. It is something typical about him-as Brian has told me-but I managed to handle it. Overtime he acts like that, Brian tries to calm him down a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn't work at times.

Brian and I packed our instruments and carried them to his van. We then got in and headed to the school. When we arrived, there were a few people. It was still early so we had time to set up everything. As the time went flying by, my hands were already soaked like towels and my stomach felt queasy too. Of course, Brian needed up noticing it, and tried his best to calm me down. When, it was time, there were a lot of people in the bar.

"Hello and good evening everyone," said Brian through the microphone, "We are Smile. I'm Brian May, the lead guitarist, this is Tim Staffell, lead singer and bassist, and this is Roger Taylor on the drums. Hope you enjoy." Before we started playing, Brian gave me a "it'll be fine" look. Our repertory started with "Doin' Alright."

Yesterday my life was in ruin

Now today I know what I'm doing

Gotta feeling I should be doing all right

Doing all right...

The people seemed to enjoy our songs that they were cheering on us a bit. I felt more relaxed with me playing my drums and easing all my thoughts. I then realised that Brian was right, focusing and erasing all my thought would work. Then, we continued with "Earth," which was written by Tim, and "April Lady," written by Brian and I. When we finished, I was relieved.

"Told you it was going to be alright Rog." Brian gave me a pat on the back, "It was awesome."

"I think we made a good impression, even though we played for a short time," I said.

"Yeah I know, but maybe we can be more successful," Brian said. I really liked it when he had hope in something that was starting. It made you feel relieved and secure. Time was passing by, and the boys and I began talking about random things going on, like girls, music, etc. Brian didn't seem to be as comfortable or secure when Tim came up with the subject about girls. It seemed very odd. I didn't feel that comfortable either because I was questioning my sexual orientation and wasn't strongly sure on who I was attracted to, so I decided to maintain a conversation.

Time flew by quickly again, and it was already late. Tim was drunk, and I was a bit tipsy. Since we didn't want to head to our separate places because of exhaustion, Brian's place was our only alternative. We drove back there and decided to sleep in our practice room since there was a comfy sofa down there. Tim was already fast asleep since he was drunk, so the only ones awake were Brian and I. There was an awkward silence between us, but then it was interrupted by Brian.

"It was a good night don't you think?" He asked, playing with his brown curls.

"Indeed it was. I had a lot of fun playing with you guys." I said, tired.

"Really? Well, me too!"

"Do you think we will be very successful?" I ask, out of the blue.

"Well, I don't know," said Brian, "If we tried our best, well maybe." I always loved how Brian had hope, not only in the big things, but in the little things as well. I, on the other hand, didn't have so much hope, but when I hear Brian's words, I start to have more hope. We then started talking about random topics we both came up with. By every conversation we had, we began to know each other a lot better, and we grew closer too.