Battle of the Bands: Full Disclosure {Wattys 2016}

Smells Like Teen Spirit and Cheap Perfume

Chapter 1

<Hendrix Ramone>

An electric guitar sits on its stand in the corner, like a prize mounted on a wall. It's a black Gibson Les Paul, sleek and shiny like the day my dad gave it to me. It's been used a couple million times, of course, for practice and performance, but since it's my prized possession, I don't let the wear and tear show. I run my fingers over the frets, the chords to a song flashing across my memory. I hear a honk outside that brings me back to reality. I grab my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder as I walk leisurely down the stairs.

"Hendrix Ramone, get your pretty-boy ass in this car, right now." My best friend, Maddox, shouts and honks his horn a little louder as I swagger down the front steps of my parents' mansion.

"Calm down before you have an aneurism." I chuckle and slip into the shotgun seat of his car.

Maddox rolls his eyes and turns up the Nirvana song he has blasting through his speakers as he pulls out of my driveway.

"You're the worst, I swear." He mutters under his breath, a smile playing on his lips.

"You know your life would suck without me." I wink and put on a pair of sunglasses.

"Yeah, right." He snorts as he pulls into a parking spot near the front doors of our high school. "Ready?"

"Ready to kick some ass, Maddox; we've only got three more months left and then we're free." I shove him and grab my bag from the floor before getting out.

"Yeah, sure, pretty boy's going to kick ass." Maddox chuckles and gets out of the car, locking it as he follows me to the front doors of Anaheim Valley High School.

"Are the rest of the guys coming or are they too hungover to figure out what day it is?" I smirk and pull out my phone.

"C'mon, Hendrix, we're always hungover and we seem to find our way just fine." Levi Mason, another one of my best friends, winks as he and Noah Carter come to stand with Maddox and I.

"So, is the plan to just stand here until the bell rings and then leave or..." Levi jokes and shoves my shoulder.

"That's not actually a bad idea," I reply and turn to Maddox, who's shaking his head disapprovingly.

"You idiots are barely going to graduate as is and on top of that I believe Hendrix here wanted to quote on quote 'kick some ass' or was I just mistaken?" Maddox crosses his arms as he looks at the rest of us.

"Well, he's made our decision for us; time to slay a school." I wink and open up the doors.

The school is abuzz with lively chatter; students rehashing their vacations and others rushing to get to class on time. My friends and I swagger down the hallway, accepting high-fives and acting like we own the place. People whisper as we pass them, looks of admiration widening in their eyes; girls twirl their hair slowly around their fingers and wink as we continue to walk down the hallway.

The four of us have been best friends since preschool; skipping school, causing trouble and more recently, playing music together. Since eighth grade, the four of us have been in a band that we've lovingly called Slightly Psychotic. Sure, no one outside of Anaheim knows who we are, but everyone in Anaheim does. Here, we're the guys everyone wants to be and every girl wants to be with; we're legends and someday, the rest of the world will recognize that too.

"Hey, Hendrix, how was your break?" Thomas Jackson, the quarterback of our school football team asks as if we've been friends forever.

In reality, we've only said a few words in passing to each other for the last four years.