PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

05. The Comrade

The summer festival is in two days. Tess, Becca, Anna and I are signed up for the talent show.

More like forced to sign by our beloved homeroom teacher who was utterly shocked by the lack volunteers for the task of making a fool of themselves in front of the entire school.

So Mr. Henry rounded up all the troublesome kids who owe him a favor, which included me and my friends, and wrote us down for the talent show he is in charge of.

Since it's better to be embarrassed as a group rather than as individuals, my friends and I decided to band up and play a song for the show.

Becca is our singer. Tess and I both know how to play guitar, so after a game of rock, paper, scissors, I won the slot of guitarist and she has been rapid-learning the keyboard for the past week. Anna became our drummer.

All seemed to be working out until Anna was snatched away by the sports committee for a team event. Anna is a cheerleader.

With one man down, the practice has been... meh. Believe me We Are Not Alone does not sound good without drums. But we've been managing so far while also headhunting for a drummer.

Fifi from the chess club seemed promising before she fell from the ladder while putting up a banner in the classroom.

She is alive, but her hand doesn't look good. I even poked it to check her reaction to be sure she wasn't just lying to us so she doesn't have to join the band.

She wasn't lying. I promise.

"We suck!" Tess says throwing the music sheet over my napping face. I wake up realizing I'd dozed off during practice.

We decide to take a break and go for a walk before we lose our sanity.

Some of the kids are already selling snacks at some of the stalls. We get our food from them and head to the grounds at the side.

Raylan and his friends are playing basketball outside.

They had tied a couple of trashed trash cans to the tree branches to stand in for the hoops. The ball they are using is for some reason white. I doubt it's really a basketball ball.

After a couple of games the guys come over to our side. Lara runs over to Tony and wraps her hands around him.

I can't help but lazily laugh a little. "What?" Becca says, seeing me laugh. "Just that Lara," I tell her. My friends look at where I'm looking at.

"She doesn't even know what great deed she had done for you," Becca says and we all laugh.

"Too bad you can't use your boy to help us now," Tess says.

I quickly sit up straighter. "He can play drums!" I tell them. I remember it now. He used to play drums. And I saw the instruments in his room.

"I thought we were going to be an all girls group," Tess says.

I stand up to walk over to Raylan. "Then I'll ask him to find us a girl drummer, or he's playing."

Raylan is sitting on the ground, leaned back over his arms. I sit down next to him.

"Heard you and your girls are going to play for the talent show. You really want to show everyone your awful guitar playing?" Raylan says.

I scoot closer to him and put my arm around his shoulders. He looks a little nervous. "You mean we are going to play for the talent show," I say. 

"What?"

"My band is short of a drummer," I say removing my arm.

"No. No fucking way. I'm not doing it."

I put my arm back over his shoulders. This time my hand is holding my phone. "Did I sound like I was asking your permission? I'm sorry if I did."

"You two going to make out or what? What's happening here?" Tony says. He's standing in front of us.

"Pull back your horses. I was just talking to your boyfriend. Leave us alone, will you?" I say.

Shaking his head, Tony leaves. "What a possessive and protective boyfriend you have. Imagine what will happen if he found out what you did behind his back," I say to Raylan.

Suddenly I find myself pinned down on the ground with an upset Raylan above me. "I told you I didn't kiss her," he says, making me smile even wider.

"And I told you I don't give a damn. Look, since I don't want to obliterate your ego just for the sake of a talent show — I'll be saving that for something more important — I'm now giving you two options: Either you play with us, or you find us a girl drummer by the end of the day."

"Seriously, kiss her already," Tony says. He's back, standing next to us, arms crossed, and grinning. I look to the side and their friends are also watching us with smiles on their faces. William has his phone's camera pointed at us so he could capture an historic moment at Heabrow between me and Raylan.

I face Raylan and wink.

Glaring, he gets off me and walks away. I stand up and tell Tony, "I tried man. Guess he's still madly in love with you." Laughing Tony walks away, too, chasing after his BFF.

I return to my friends. "Problem should be resolved by the end of the day," I confidently say.

————

In the evening, while we're grabbing our things from the locker to leave, a timid looking girl approaches us. She's small, wears glasses; Her hair is neatly pulled back in a pony tail. She hesitantly says, "Are you Ellie? Heard you need a drummer."

"We do. Raylan sent you?" I say.

She nods.

"Now, don't get me wrong, but you don't look like the drumming type, and we need someone who can catch up with us right away. Only one day left for the show."

"Don't worry, I'm good at it. I know I don't look like it but I really love playing the drums. Learned it from my brother. My brother, Ken, is also a drummer. He's Raylan's classmate. Ken said you were looking for a girl drummer, so they sent me to you."

I look at my friends. We all nod.

"You are in. Grab your stuff. We're leaving for practice right away."

End of chapter
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