Best Thing In Town, chapter 1
"No shit we sucked... I never thought we'd get booed off the street corner, but I guess nobody here likes us," Caitlyn muttered angrily in reply to my question, thrusting her guitar into its case roughly and throwing the amp cords in with it.
I sat on my drum throne, looking at the ground with disappointment. All we had wanted was a chance to perform for the public, and we had been practicing for months. We had booked a spot at the corner of the park downtown, on the grass behind the huge fountain. It was all perfect; we even remembered to place an open guitar case on the ground for donations. But our worst fears came true; we were booed off of the corner, and looking at the donation case all we got were two pennies and some gravel.
"Fucking hell, why did we even try this stupid performance? Nobody in this retarded town cares about music... " Jack, our bassist, snapped at nobody in particular as he packed up his bass into its case. I got up from my drum set, picking up my floor tom sloppily and piling it into the van with the amps and cords. I hated it when both Caitlyn and Jack were mad; I was usually a happy person, but whenever my best friends were both pissed I couldn't help but feel down.
"Okay, well why don't we just go home and try again another day—"
"Come on, Erin, do you seriously think that this'll ever work? Nobody here gives a shit. We have no hope here!!" Jack exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration as he tossed a cymbal into the trunk. Caitlyn shot him a warning glance before turning to me with a sigh, noticing the sad frown on my face.
"Jack, c'mon. Don't be so harsh. If we give up now then we'll never know if we could've made it one day. If we just keep trying, we're sure to make it soon, even if this place is filled with morons," Caitlyn reassured me, helping me lift my bass drum into the van. Jack finished piling the cords and microphones into the trunk, and roughly threw himself into the front seat of the van.
"I'm driving, one of you in the trunk," he said quickly, slamming the door and honking the horn repeatedly. Caitlyn and I exchanged surprised glances, quickly throwing the rest of the drums into the van. As usual, I was in the trunk. Caitlyn gently closed the door behind me, and got into the passenger's side.
The car ride was silent except for "Insomniac" playing quietly in the background as we drove back to my house. Whenever I was alone, or had nothing to do, I'd think about what it would be like to meet Green Day, my favorite band and idols-for-life. I often wondered how I would react to seeing Tré Cool in person, or what I would do if they actually talked to me directly. That would be a dream and a nightmare all in one. I would kill myself if I said something stupid, yet I don't think my life could ever be complete without meeting them. To most people they were just a famous band, but to me I felt like I knew them in a way.
"Erin! ERIN!! Dammit Jack, I swear she's deaf!" Caitlyn laughed, as she and Jack lifted me out of the van. I guess I was daydreaming again. I woke up as I was thrown onto the grass, along with my drumstick bag and a ride cymbal.
"Was I asleep? Ah, never mind. Are you guys still mad at me?" I asked as I watched Caitlyn and Jack unload my drums from the van. They exchanged a confused look while still holding the bass drum, and looked at me inquiringly.
"Why would we be mad at you?" Jack asked, helping Caitlyn put the drum down on the street curb.
"Obviously, I mean, I totally fucked up our performance. I should've been keeping my eye on the drums, but there was so many people around, I think I have ADD or something... " I said, half to myself, and watched as a squirrel ran down a tree with an acorn in its mouth. It was being chased by another, bigger squirrel, and the pair ran across the street squeaking wildly.
"ERIN!! God, I think you do have ADD! I said that it wasn't your fault!! It was none of our faults, actually, we didn't suck. We all played our best, I could tell. You both sounded great. It's just the people here have no taste in music, it's their problem that they can't see talent when it yells in their face. Fuck them. We're doing very well for how many songs we have, so I say we should stick with it and keep trying until we can find someone willing to record us. Erin, please pay attention next time, you're watching the trees again," Caitlyn said, causing Jack to laugh for some reason.
"You always make everything into a speech, don't yah Caitlyn?" Jack said jokingly, gesturing for her to help him with the other drums. Caitlyn gaped at him, smiling as they wordlessly started a race to see who could get the most drums and cymbals out onto the grass the fastest. I think I zoned out there for a moment, because the next thing I knew I was sitting in the same spot, surrounded by my drums and a couple of amps. Caitlyn and Jack were gone, along with the van, and I could hear a dog barking at me from across the street.
"What time is it...? " I muttered to myself. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I talk to myself on a regular basis. Anyway, according to my watch I had been sitting there for more than ten minutes. I slowly got up and proceeded with carrying my drums into my house, which was not very easy by yourself. My house was probably the smallest one in existence. It was cheap, in a crappy neighborhood, and was literally falling apart. However I didn't care; I was the only one living there, and it was definitely an improvement from my parent's home. Stuffing the bass drum through the door was not an easy task, but eventually both it and the rest of my equipment was back in my house, in the corner of the main room (no, I didn't have a living room. I had a dining room, living room, kitchen all mixed together, with only a pathetic bar to separate the kitchen).
I looked around the room for a while, doing what I did best: think. Even though my house was a piece of shit, I knew I'd rather be here than anywhere else. I didn't have many memories in it yet, but it was the only place I could call mine. Band practices were usually held at either Jack's house or the nearby park, which nobody ever visited due to its large amount of garbage and rotting trees. So neither Jack nor Caitlyn came to my house much; their houses weren't much bigger, but were definitely better cared for. I was single; not many guys liked me because of my insane habits and tendency to ignore them, not purposely of course. Also, not many guys that I knew liked drummer girls; they weren't girly enough, according to Jack. Not that Jack disliked me, no, we were best friends; but he, "apparently", already had a girlfriend.
'Whatever, anyway, I have better things to think about,' I thought, noticing that my watch said I had been standing there for half an hour. Time flies when you are brainless, I suppose.
I sat on my drum throne, looking at the ground with disappointment. All we had wanted was a chance to perform for the public, and we had been practicing for months. We had booked a spot at the corner of the park downtown, on the grass behind the huge fountain. It was all perfect; we even remembered to place an open guitar case on the ground for donations. But our worst fears came true; we were booed off of the corner, and looking at the donation case all we got were two pennies and some gravel.
"Fucking hell, why did we even try this stupid performance? Nobody in this retarded town cares about music... " Jack, our bassist, snapped at nobody in particular as he packed up his bass into its case. I got up from my drum set, picking up my floor tom sloppily and piling it into the van with the amps and cords. I hated it when both Caitlyn and Jack were mad; I was usually a happy person, but whenever my best friends were both pissed I couldn't help but feel down.
"Okay, well why don't we just go home and try again another day—"
"Come on, Erin, do you seriously think that this'll ever work? Nobody here gives a shit. We have no hope here!!" Jack exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration as he tossed a cymbal into the trunk. Caitlyn shot him a warning glance before turning to me with a sigh, noticing the sad frown on my face.
"Jack, c'mon. Don't be so harsh. If we give up now then we'll never know if we could've made it one day. If we just keep trying, we're sure to make it soon, even if this place is filled with morons," Caitlyn reassured me, helping me lift my bass drum into the van. Jack finished piling the cords and microphones into the trunk, and roughly threw himself into the front seat of the van.
"I'm driving, one of you in the trunk," he said quickly, slamming the door and honking the horn repeatedly. Caitlyn and I exchanged surprised glances, quickly throwing the rest of the drums into the van. As usual, I was in the trunk. Caitlyn gently closed the door behind me, and got into the passenger's side.
The car ride was silent except for "Insomniac" playing quietly in the background as we drove back to my house. Whenever I was alone, or had nothing to do, I'd think about what it would be like to meet Green Day, my favorite band and idols-for-life. I often wondered how I would react to seeing Tré Cool in person, or what I would do if they actually talked to me directly. That would be a dream and a nightmare all in one. I would kill myself if I said something stupid, yet I don't think my life could ever be complete without meeting them. To most people they were just a famous band, but to me I felt like I knew them in a way.
"Erin! ERIN!! Dammit Jack, I swear she's deaf!" Caitlyn laughed, as she and Jack lifted me out of the van. I guess I was daydreaming again. I woke up as I was thrown onto the grass, along with my drumstick bag and a ride cymbal.
"Was I asleep? Ah, never mind. Are you guys still mad at me?" I asked as I watched Caitlyn and Jack unload my drums from the van. They exchanged a confused look while still holding the bass drum, and looked at me inquiringly.
"Why would we be mad at you?" Jack asked, helping Caitlyn put the drum down on the street curb.
"Obviously, I mean, I totally fucked up our performance. I should've been keeping my eye on the drums, but there was so many people around, I think I have ADD or something... " I said, half to myself, and watched as a squirrel ran down a tree with an acorn in its mouth. It was being chased by another, bigger squirrel, and the pair ran across the street squeaking wildly.
"ERIN!! God, I think you do have ADD! I said that it wasn't your fault!! It was none of our faults, actually, we didn't suck. We all played our best, I could tell. You both sounded great. It's just the people here have no taste in music, it's their problem that they can't see talent when it yells in their face. Fuck them. We're doing very well for how many songs we have, so I say we should stick with it and keep trying until we can find someone willing to record us. Erin, please pay attention next time, you're watching the trees again," Caitlyn said, causing Jack to laugh for some reason.
"You always make everything into a speech, don't yah Caitlyn?" Jack said jokingly, gesturing for her to help him with the other drums. Caitlyn gaped at him, smiling as they wordlessly started a race to see who could get the most drums and cymbals out onto the grass the fastest. I think I zoned out there for a moment, because the next thing I knew I was sitting in the same spot, surrounded by my drums and a couple of amps. Caitlyn and Jack were gone, along with the van, and I could hear a dog barking at me from across the street.
"What time is it...? " I muttered to myself. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I talk to myself on a regular basis. Anyway, according to my watch I had been sitting there for more than ten minutes. I slowly got up and proceeded with carrying my drums into my house, which was not very easy by yourself. My house was probably the smallest one in existence. It was cheap, in a crappy neighborhood, and was literally falling apart. However I didn't care; I was the only one living there, and it was definitely an improvement from my parent's home. Stuffing the bass drum through the door was not an easy task, but eventually both it and the rest of my equipment was back in my house, in the corner of the main room (no, I didn't have a living room. I had a dining room, living room, kitchen all mixed together, with only a pathetic bar to separate the kitchen).
I looked around the room for a while, doing what I did best: think. Even though my house was a piece of shit, I knew I'd rather be here than anywhere else. I didn't have many memories in it yet, but it was the only place I could call mine. Band practices were usually held at either Jack's house or the nearby park, which nobody ever visited due to its large amount of garbage and rotting trees. So neither Jack nor Caitlyn came to my house much; their houses weren't much bigger, but were definitely better cared for. I was single; not many guys liked me because of my insane habits and tendency to ignore them, not purposely of course. Also, not many guys that I knew liked drummer girls; they weren't girly enough, according to Jack. Not that Jack disliked me, no, we were best friends; but he, "apparently", already had a girlfriend.
'Whatever, anyway, I have better things to think about,' I thought, noticing that my watch said I had been standing there for half an hour. Time flies when you are brainless, I suppose.
Page 1/3 | Next
