Love Made Music

LMM 4: Obstacles

Gracewillwrite suggested I feature Bowling For Soup, so here they are! Thanks for the recommendation!

***

The next day at school I told Steve and Adam the good news. Adam, being Adam, whooped and hollered excitedly in the middle of the hallway during passing time, causing a big commotion. Steve and I watched with knowing smiles on our faces. I was pretty sure Steve wanted to join in on Adam's rampage but had too much dignity to act on it. For a while I was able to fight it but Adam's contagious energy eventually broke through my barrier and I joined in on the idiocy.

We got double the stares and quite a few disapproving head shakes. In the end, Adam and I got a referral from a nearby teacher who happened to pass by. The two of us landed ourselves in detention and I found myself grounded for the rest of the week by my parents.

It wasn't until Friday morning I was able to talk myself out of the grounding and WashOut was finally able to practice. This was most likely the reason Steve looked so angry.

We started setting up the equipment in Steve's basement as we waited for Adam to pick up Cassie. My van had been taken away as a compromise for letting me off early, so we had to rely on Adam's old Chevy Prizm to get us from place to place. The thing was falling apart and needed an oil change on top of everything but it was our only means of transportation. Luckily, my parents were willing to give me back my van for the Battle of the Bands that was taking place next weekend.

"You do realize the van is the least of our worries, don't you?" Steve grumbled. He finished setting up Adam's drums, Steve being the only person besides Adam allowed to handle them, and grabbed a Coke from the basement fridge. "Catch." He said as he angrily threw one at me.

I barely caught it and tapped on the top lightly to let the caffeine settle. Despite my efforts, the can still exploded into my face when I opened it. I proceeded to take off my shirt and wipe off my face. I looked down at the soaking mess my t-shirt had become, shrugged, and slipped it back on.

Glaring up at Steve, I stated sarcastically, "Thanks for the Coke."

Steve smiled menacingly. "No problem."

Jerk.

I sighed heavily, taking a sip from my half-full Coke, and stood up. "I get it, you're mad. It's not like I could help getting grounded. What was I supposed to do man?"

"Sneak out."

"Yeah, good call. Even though my dad's a tight-ass and a cop, not to mention the retarded mutt who whines at the top of his lungs whenever someone tries to leave the house, sneaking out was obviously the way to go. Why hadn't I thought to do that?" I pretended to think about it a moment. Then I dramatically slammed my fist into my hand. "That's right! Because it wouldn't work. Don't be stupid Steve. That's Adams thing."

Steve shrugged and took a long drink from his Coke.

Despite my arguing, I knew Steve was right. Battle of the Bands was next weekend and we hadn't had any time to practice. All we could do was pray that Cassie had a photographic memory and leave it at that. As long as nothing else went wrong, everything would work out. Or, at least, I hoped it would.

Suddenly, I heard the basement door open and whipped around to see Adam standing at the top of the stairs with Cassie behind him.

"Alright! Lets rock!" Adam boomed from above us. He descended the stairs two at a time and Cassie followed slowly. When Adam reached the final step, Steve threw him a Coke from the fridge. I didn't fail to notice how much more gentle Adam's toss was than mine.

"Want one?" Steve asked Cassie. Cassie shook her head.

Steve shrugged. "Suit yourself."

I frowned. "Alright already. Lets just play."

Adam beamed. "Sounds good to me."

"Hold on a second. We can't just start playing. Or did you two forget about Cassie?" Steve interrupted. Adam and I both turned to look at Steve.

Right. Cassie didn't know the songs.

"Actually, it's fine with me. Go ahead and play." Cassie's voice suddenly said. All three of us turned towards the sound, our eyes wide with shock.

Steve, like always, was the first to recover. "What are you talking about? There's no point practicing if our lead can't practice too."

Cassie frowned. "Why can't I? I already memorized the songs."

All three of us stared at her quizzically. How did she manage to do that?

Cassie looked at each one of us individually before zeroing in on me. "Shawn, don't you remember? You left your sheet music at my house."

She was right. I had completely forgotten to grab it before I left her house last Friday. What surprised me was that she actually took the time to memorize the lyrics. 

Steve smiled and Adam punched my arm playfully. "Good going man! Way to think ahead!" He said enthusiastically.

"Actually, it was an accident, but I guess that works!" I told them. "So, shall we get this party started or what?"

Adam and Steve nodded their heads simultaneously and headed towards their instruments. Cassie stationed herself in front of the microphone and waved me over to the mic beside her. I followed her instructions, picking up my ESP guitar and situating the shoulder strap so it was comfortable.

Adam counted us off, tapping his drumsticks together three times. Then we played.

Music was absorbed into every surface, engulfing the room. The walls pulsed with excitement. Soon we found ourselves entranced by the sound, floating in our own little world where no one could touch us. In this world, we were gods.

And then Cassie started singing. We were no longer gods; we owned the gods.

I opened my mouth as the chorus came closer. When it was within range, I joined Cassie for the chorus.

That was when everything went sour.

Suddenly the walls were shaking and the ground seemed to reject us. Torn from our world, we found ourselves in a basement, staring at each other in shock.

Adam was the first to say something.

"Uh...guys? Your harmony sucks..."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Cassie, who looked mildly perturbed. "Fan-freaking-tastic. The minute I sing back-up, our sound goes to shit. Now what?"

Steve burst out laughing. I turned on him.

"And what the hell is so funny, huh, Steve?" I yelled at him.

Steve pretended to wipe a nonexistant tear from his eye. "Its just that it's too perfect! We find our lead and she manages to get the major obstacle of memorization out of the way and then this happens!" Steve inhaled slowly, then motioned to Adam.

Steve turned back to me. "Alright, so here's what's gonna happen: Adam and I are gonna go out and you two are gonna practice harmonizing your vocals. I've worked too hard for something this stupid to get in my way. Besides..." Steve looked down at my guitar and then back up at me. "Our playing doesn't need any work, so we'll just forget about that for now. From what little I heard, she's got the rhythm down. So, all I can say is 'Good luck!'"

My jaw dropped as I watched Steve make his way to the stairs, Adam close behind him. Before he managed to take the first step, he called over his shoulder, "Feel free to use the basement. My parents will be home around seven, so we'll be back to take you guys home before then." Steve turned back around and took the stairs two at a time.

"See you later!" Adam added before running up the stairs after Steve.

After we heard the door to the basement close, Cassie and I turned to stare at each other. I frowned.

This was going to suck big-time, I just knew it.