The Arts

2 - Reunited...ish

ROBBIE

          Robbie Jacobs and Matt Chung both had different ideas about how they were going to deal with Tyler Miller, should he somehow appear at The Arts. Surely, Robbie thought, his former bandmate wouldn't ever step foot on campus; not after the colossal freak-out he had immediately following their audition.

          It happened like this: the trio had performed an original song. It didn't go as planned, and then Tyler started a petty argument that ended in him quitting the band.

          It wasn't so much that they couldn't do well as it was that the two boys had different ideas about what "well" sounded like, though the song wasn't without its imperfections. The lyrics, for example, could have been better; after all, they were eighth grade graduates. It wasn't going to be deep stuff full of wisdom from a long list of life experiences. Robbie's concern had been actual composition of the music, which he spent hours putting together himself before bringing it to Matt and Tyler. It was that chain of events that would ultimately end in the destruction of the band, and subsequently a four-year friendship in the making.

          The boys had a classic garage band setup. Robbie had called his friends over for an emergency band meeting a week before auditions were open for The Arts' next freshman class. Excited to tell them his master plan to gain admission to the school, which involved practicing and more practicing, he shoved his newly composed piece into the hands of his drummer and rhythm guitarist with an energy that could only be described as manic.

          "I really think this is it, guys," he spoke quickly, desperate to get as much information out of his mouth in as little time as possible so they could get right to rehearsal. As Robbie explained the chord progressions and detailed when each musician would get their chance at a solo, Tyler tentatively raised his hand, a most unusual occurrence as he had never asked many questions nor had he ever used basic manners when soliciting his opinions.

          "Yeah?" Robbie motioned for Tyler to speak.

          "Uh, this is really cool, but maybe we should end it differently. Maybe like a fade out loop or something. That would be sick."

          Something about that comment rubbed Robbie the wrong way. He was always open to criticism when it came from the right people, and Tyler had never made the list of "people to listen to about musical choices." Their partnership arrangement had stripped Tyler of the responsibility to do anything besides look cool and play guitar, and the fact that he was suddenly coming out of the woodworks with ideas during the biggest milestone of the band since the eighth grade talent show didn't feel like a chance that Robbie wanted to take.

          Unfortunately, Robbie, being a fourteen-year-old, was not the world's best communicator.

          "Oh. Well, that wouldn't really work, because the audition needs to be live and in person. You can't really do a fade out loop live. Let's stick with what I did and then once we get in we can start writing stuff with all that."

          It had come out sounding a little ruder than intended. Robbie felt bad, but had to go with his gut. Tyler had seemingly dropped the subject after the initial rejection, and the three weeks of practice that followed went rather smoothly. Robbie was confident that they'd pass, so much so that for once, he decided to give Tyler an extra responsibility: come up with a wardrobe for the audition.

          "We need to look together, like an actual band. Not just three guys who play in the corner of the garage," Robbie had said. Of the three boys, Tyler was the most concerned about image and branding, so he seemed like the perfect man for the job. And Tyler really delivered. He decided that they should all wear dark jeans, dark sneakers, and brightly colored t-shirts. In addition, they would each incorporate a chain into their outfits, all in a different place so that they "matched without looking dorky." Tyler attached a chain to his belt; Matt a chain around his neck; and Robbie a chain around his wrist. He had to hand it to Tyler; they really did look like a real band. Like they had their stuff together and could do anything.