Chapter Text
The sound of music filled the room, its rhythmic melody flowing throughout. I felt myself grow more excited as we were near the end of the song. We had about 10 seconds left when I heard a loud crash behind me. I knew what it was right away. Our drummer had messed up and played early again. Jason and Clarisse stopped playing and groaned. It was the 6th time we had tried to record, and now it would have to be the 7th time. The new drummer the label had hired for the band never wanted to listen to any one of us. I had no idea how he had managed to get the job. I gripped the neck of my guitar and took a deep breath. I turned around and faced the band. Jason was turned around with his hands running through his blond hair. I could tell he was stressed. Clarisse gripped her guitar neck so tightly that I thought it was about to crack under the pressure, which I wouldn't have doubted she could do. Her jaw was clenched as she bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. I wished she would’ve said something, but she was on her third strike with the label and couldn’t afford any more slip-ups.
“Octavian. I thought you said you weren’t gonna make the same mistake again.” I said through gritted teeth. I smiled at him as I tried to hide my anger. I didn’t want to start problems with a new band member. Octavian rolled his eyes at me. He leaned back on his stool and stretched his arms over his head. I clenched my jaw as I saw that he was wearing a political t-shirt. I turned to Jason when I saw it. He seemed to spot it at the same time. He was in disbelief. He stuck his arm out at Octavian, and I sent him an apologetic smile. We weren’t allowed to wear anything that could show where we stood in politics in case of “backlash” from the public, even if we weren’t on tour.
“Lighten up, Will, we have time,” Octavian replied, leaning on the set. I took another deep breath and turned back to him. I loosened my grip on my guitar and unclenched my jaw. I just wanted to go home and sleep.
“Octavian, it's late, we want to go home. Plus, you're not allowed to wear that.” I said as I pointed to his shirt. He looked down and tossed his sticks behind him in frustration. He scoffed at me and crossed his arms. I looked over at Clarisse, and a vein was sticking out of her neck. I felt a little scared. I looked back over at Jason, and he was back to running his hand through his hair and taking deep breaths.
“What happened to freedom of speech? You people are too sensitive! Let me support who I want to and what I want.” He yelled. I had to restrain myself from taking my guitar and throwing it at him. I didn't want to damage the guitar or drum set.
“I'm not the only one that sounds bad anyways. Jason can't keep a rhythm.” He added. Jason made a face when he heard that. He turned to Octavian. “That's your hearing. I'm on the beat.” He spat. Jason was usually a calm and composed person, but Octavian could bring out the worst in everyone. He held onto his bass tightly as he pointed at Octavian.
“Oh please, I sound way better than any of you. Will can’t hold a note, You can't stay on beat, and Clarisse-” He started before being cut off by a flying object that dented the wall right next to his head. Everyone turned to where it came from. I turned and saw Clarisse fuming. “I'm going home! I can't take him anymore!” She yelled. She took her guitar off herself, marched over to her things, and began packing it away. I sighed as I realized the label was never going to hear the new song. I turned off the microphone and unplugged my guitar. I took off my guitar and turned to my things. I heard zipping and then loud steps. I flinched as Clarisse slammed the door behind her.
“She's sensitive,” Octavian said. I looked over at Jason, hoping he would deal with him. “Go home, Octavian,” Jason said to him as he began to put away his bass. Octavian scoffed. He picked up his bag and walked out. The door slammed behind him. I let out a sigh of relief as I sat down on a chair next to Jason. He ran a hand over the strings of it. I looked down at my guitar. It was red and white. The label had given it to me when I first started with them. Jason’s bass was simple and red as well. I looked over at Jason again, and he had an annoyed look on his face. I felt the same way. He looked up at me and just shook his head.
“We can't work with him, Will,” He exasperated. He zipped up the bag and sat down on an amp next to me. I put my head in my hands as I tried to take more deep breaths. I had no idea what to do. Octavian was only hired because he was some sort of distant relative of a famous artist. We had been looking for a new drummer since our old one had decided he wanted to go back to school. The label didn’t let us host auditions and picked him themselves. It was “good publicity.”
“I know, I just don’t know how to fix it,” I said. I took my head out of my hands and faced him. Octavian had been difficult since day 1. The band had agreed to give him a chance since we didn’t even know the guy yet. On his first day, he ate, then without washing his hands, touched our instruments, and couldn’t read sheet music, so we had to explain it to him and had picked fights with Clarisse, knowing she couldn’t do anything. He made lewd comments, and I was pretty sure he was in some sort of cult. He always carried around a pocket knife and a stuffed animal like he was ready to make a sacrifice at any moment.
“Let’s just go home for now. We can talk about it tomorrow, okay?” He comforted me. He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it before standing up and picking up his bass. I stood up to put my guitar in its case and zipped it up. I brought it over my head and down. I made sure it was secure before turning to Jason to see if he was ready to leave. He gave me a thumbs-up and walked to the door. I followed behind him. I turned around at the door to turn off the lights and looked into the practice room one more time. Clarisse’s jacket was hung over a chair, cables were strewn all over the floor, Octavian’s drumsticks were on the floor, and the blank white walls were only decorated by soundproofing. It got a little depressing. I flicked off the lights and closed the door behind me. Jason was leaning against the wall on his phone. He heard the door and looked up. I looked toward the exit, and we started walking to it. The exit signs glowed in the dark hallway as we stayed way past what we had originally planned. I looked at the time on my phone. 11:57 pm. We were supposed to be done by 10 pm, but Octavian had kept messing up. Jason pushed open the door, and the cool night air flowed into the building.
The cool air against my skin did little to help relieve my stress. We continued to walk to the car in silence. The only sound was Jason’s fingers tapping against his phone screen. I figured he was texting one of his friends since he was planning on going back to our hometown for the winter. The label gave us a couple of months off as a reward for doing so well on our recent album. It had managed to become the most listened-to album in a week. The band was ecstatic, but the news of having a break was more exciting. As my car came into view, I pulled out my keys and pressed the button to unlock it. I went around to open the trunk and placed my guitar in there, Jason followed suit and placed his bass in there. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off his phone. He walked away and got into the car. I shut the trunk and walked to the front. I got in the car and started it. I was waiting for it to warm up when Jason finally looked up. The blue light illuminated his face. “Hey dude, you coming back to Leavenworth for the winter?” He asked. Leavenworth. I hadn't been back in years, even though my mother still lived there. She insisted on coming to me even though I offered to go back multiple times. Every time Jason went back to our hometown, he asked me to come with him. Each time, I refused because there was work to be done. Also, after a certain amount of time of not speaking to anyone there, it becomes awkward. I contemplated it. My mother wouldn't be able to take so much time off of her tour to stay with me for months. Maybe it would be good for me to go back. I had missed my old friends there.
“Maybe we’ve never had this much time off. I don't know what I'll do.” I replied. Jason's eyes lit up, and he broke out into a smile. “Really? Dude, come on, you have to! You know Christmas was always the best over there.” He said, practically jumping out of his seat. I laughed at his antics. I just shrugged and began to drive out of the parking lot. Our apartment wasn’t too far from the studio, but walking around New York at midnight with our instruments wasn't the safest idea. The roads were deserted this time of night, with only a few on the road. As much as I hated late-night practices, the silence that came with it was almost worth it.
“Just one last meeting, and we’re done.” Jason sighed, leaning back into the seat. He stretched his arms and shoulders. “What time does it start?” I asked. I had completely forgotten about the meeting. I was busy doing other things to make sure the band could have a smooth transition to our break. “I think Nero said 9 am,” He replied. I groaned as I realized I wouldn't be getting much sleep. I reminded myself never to schedule an 8 pm recording session again, no matter how much I wanted to catch up on sleep. Jason was back to texting on his phone. Every once in a while, he would laugh at something and read it out for me. I enjoyed these late-night car rides. I would miss them when Jason would go back to Leavenworth. I bit the inside of my cheek. Maybe they wouldn’t have to end.
“Hey, Jace, when are you leaving for Leavenworth?” I asked, hopeful.
“Tomorrow after the meeting, remember?” He said without looking up from his phone. I thought about it for a little longer. I could stay at a hotel until my mom got back from her tour. I didn’t have keys to the house and personally didn’t feel like cleaning.
“You think I can still buy a plane ticket?” I said. That got him to look up. He broke out into a smile. He whooped and celebrated and was practically jumping out of his seat.
“You can have Thalia’s ticket. She can't come until after Thanksgiving because The Hunters are gonna do a couple of charity shows. It's gonna be awesome, man.” He said excitedly. He started rambling on about what we were going to do and how we needed to pack right now to make the flight. Of course, Jason hadn’t packed yet. He was the one who always seemed to know how to act around the public, but in reality, he was a mess.
I finally saw our apartment building come into view and pulled into the parking lot. Jason was still going on about how excited he was and how excited everyone would be to see me. I smiled a bit at that. I hadn’t kept in contact with anyone from there. I had gotten so busy that, at this point, Clarisse and Jason were my only close friends. I parked and turned off the car. I opened the door and debated whether to bring my guitar inside or not. The decision was made for me when Jason opened the trunk and took his instrument out. I walked over and pulled my guitar out, then closed the trunk. I clicked my keys, and the car beeped, locking it. Jason had pulled out his keycard that let us into the building and scanned it. He held the door open as I walked in and towards the elevator. I pressed the button for it and waited.
“By the way, Mom changed the locks, so we have to stay at a hotel until she gets back,” I told Jason. He nodded, and the elevator doors opened. We walked in, and I pressed the 7th-floor button. Jason was back to typing on his phone again. He seriously had an addiction to it. I leaned against the wall and looked around the elevator. I had been on it multiple times, yet I couldn’t get over its beauty. It had a gold railing and a sun carved into the ceiling. There were more little suns all over, which sparkled. I was looking around when the doors opened. Jason began to walk out, looking down at his phone. He was walking straight into a wall. I walked past him and out of the elevator. Behind me, I heard a thud, then a wince of pain. I turned around to see Jason holding his head where he bumped into the wall. I laughed as he walked out.
“Thanks for warning me”
“I was going to tell you, but I wanted to see you walk into the wall even more.” I laughed. He mumbled something as he pulled out the keys to the apartment and unlocked the door. He walked in and flicked on the lights. I shut the door behind us and locked it. I set my guitar down and flopped onto the couch. A wave of tiredness hit me. Jason set his bass down and collapsed onto the floor next to me. I threw a pillow and blanket from the couch down to him. He hugged the pillow and lazily pulled the blanket over himself.
“We’ll pack in a minute,” He mumbled. I hummed in agreement. I felt my eyes begin to grow heavy. I tried to fight the drowsiness, but I was exhausted. A couple of seconds later, I heard soft snores coming from where Jason was now sleeping. “I’m just resting my eyes for a second,” I thought to myself. I don’t know when it happened, but I fell asleep.