Battle of the Bands: Full Disclosure {Wattys 2016}

The Anthem and Preliminary Performances

Chapter 15

<Hendrix Ramone>

The rest of the week goes by pretty quickly and soon enough it's Sunday morning; time to pack up and move onto our next destination: preliminaries in Santa Monica. Much to my chagrin, all of the teachers are staying with us for the whole competition, including Riley, every girl's dream and every guy's nightmare.

"Hendrix, have you seen my extra guitar strap?" Maddox calls from the other side of the room where he's double-checking his luggage.

"Isn't it in your case?" I reply, tossing my beloved leather jacket on top of the rest of my clothes.

"I thought it was..." His voice trails off as he checks again. "Here it is."

"You know if you cleaned that thing out every once in a while you'd be amazed what you'd find."

"Funny, Hendrix." Maddox rolls his eyes as we all grab our bags.

The four of us walk towards the elevator and wait impatiently for the elevator to arrive. We all step in and Maddox presses the lobby button. The doors close just as I see Beckham walking down the hallway with her bags. The doors open again and we quickly find our way to the ballroom where Delilah told us to meet to get bus assignments. I set my bags down against the wall and take a seat in one of the fold-out chairs near the stage. The rest of the contestants begin to trickle in band by band, carrying bags and wearing excited expressions. Once everyone has arrived, Delilah clears her throat and waits for everyone to quiet down.

"Okay, so I know we're all excited about the upcoming preliminary round, but we still have to all arrive at Santa Monica in one piece, so I need everyone to listen carefully. Bus assignments are handed out by band. There are five buses, so when I call your band, go to the table and you'll get the number of your bus written on your hand. It'll be your ticket to get on, so don't skip this part." Delilah warns and pulls out her clipboard. "Slightly Psychotic, bus five."

The four of us stand up and walk towards the table to get our numbers written on the back of our hands. Delilah continues to call out assignments as my band walks to the front of the hotel with our bags. Once everyone has their assignments, she leads us to the back parking lot where five coach buses are parked. They're all numbered, so my friends and I head towards the back where bus number five is parked.

We put our bags in the compartments under the bus and then take the seats in the very back of the bus. Another band gets on after us and then I see Beckham's blonde head pop on the bus. She catches sight of me and immediately takes a seat as close to the front of the bus as possible. Sadly, Riley gets on after her and makes us all be quiet.

"I'm going to make sure everyone is here and then we'll leave." He says as he flips through his clipboard. "Slightly Psychotic?"

We all raise our hands from the back of the bus.

"Motivated Struggle?" Five guys in front us raise their hands and then Riley calls the final band. "Falling Daisies?"

Beckham and her friends raise their hands and then Riley tells the bus driver that he can leave. He takes a seat across the aisle from Beckham, the pair of them engaged in a seemingly deep conversation. I'm not jealous. I repeat over and over again, but even I don't believe that anymore. This no romance thing may actually kill me.

~~~~~~

We arrive in Santa Monica after a relatively short bus ride. I spent most of it trying to tune out Beckham's flirty laugh as she talked to Riley. Maddox found this really entertaining, but I was less than enthralled with his comments about the situation. Riley is standing outside the bus, checking everyone off his list as they step off the bus to grab their luggage. I ignore him as he checks off the four members of Slightly Psychotic from his clipboard. I walk towards the compartment without giving him a second glance. I grab my duffle bags and follow the line of contestants to the front doors of a fancy-looking hotel.