Battle of the Bands - Sanders Sides

Chapter Eight

The week went by as slow as ever, but to the boy's appreciation, the weekend was in their grasp. Even though Remus, Janus, and Virgil were swamped with a summer's worth of homework for the two-day span, they agreed to put it aside so they could practice for the first round of the competition.

Remus was half-heartedly beating on his drums. While he was physically in his garage with his two best friends, he was mentally high in the clouds. He couldn't free the event with Logan from the other day out of his mind. It would've been driving him nuts if he hadn't started developing feelings for the young nerd.

He wasn't entirely sure what it was about him. Whether it was his demanding presence as soon as he walks in the room. Or his charming yet striking facial features. The mustached lover-boy couldn't decide. All he knew, is that he liked it. Whatever it was, he really liked it.

The unpleasant sound of fists pounding against dozens of keys at once broke him from his lovesick thoughts. He shot up straight, blinking a few times before seeing Virgil with his fists atop his keyboard and Janus snickering next to him.

"You with us now, Remus?" Janus asked between laughs. Remus' cheeks flared up as he scratched the back on his neck. Virgil rolled his eyes while Janus slipped his guitar strap around his shoulder. "As I was saying...I got an email from the school yesterday with the competition's rules. Basically, we'll play in the gym every week in front of the whole school. Once every band plays, students will vote for their favorite and whoever has the least amount of points is out until two bands remain. Whoever wins the whole thing gets to play at prom."

"That could be our break!" Remus squealed, excitedly patting his tom drum rapidly.

"It also could be the biggest mistake we ever make! What if we mess up in front of the whole school! If we aren't bottom of the food chain now, we'll be...well, whatever is lower than that!" Virgil anxiously fired at the two.

"Don't worry, my love. We have more potential in our music than people know. Once they see us, they'll understand we're here to play!" Janus assured him, kissing the top of his purple-dyed head.

"Alright, enough sap, you trees! I want to hit things!" Remus declared, banging his drums down to warm up a bit more. Janus rifted on his guitar a bit while Virgil dragged his fingers along every key on his keyboard.

The trio picked up their rhythm, smiling the whole way through. This truly was when the three were their happiest. Just having a good time jamming out together. It's like they were always meant to do it. And something told them, they were.

After a bit, the three boys jumped as the garage door began to lift up, signaling that someone was home. Once the way was clear, Remus groaned at his brother's blood-red car that was parked in their driveway. Out came said Prince brother, putting his sunglasses atop his head to gaze at the band in his garage.

"Oh, hey, Re!" Roman greeted calmly, shutting and locking his car up. The three glared at him as he walked inside, watching the three carefully.

"Where have you been all afternoon?" Remus grumbled. "You were supposed to be back an hour ago! And you know Mom and Dad will blame me because YOU were late!"

"Calm down, dude. I was with Patton over at Emile's place. His band was practicing and I wanted to support them! Besides, since when has Mom and Dad cared about what I do?" He chuckled. Before anyone else could have a word, he went into the house. Both Janus and Virgil could see the steam puffing out of Remus' ears.

In a flash, he bolted up from his drum set and walked inside, still seeing Roman taking off his shoes in the entree way. He shut the door behind him before exploding on his brother. "First of all, you don't get to ask 'when was the last time they cared about you!' Because maybe you're too blind to see, but they ONLY care about you! I challenge your high horse to think of a time when the world didn't revolve around you! Cause as far as I remember, it's always been about you, Roman!"

The other Prince stood there in shock. Words were coming to his head but he didn't have the power to push them out on his tongue. His face turned downwards with mild anger. "I'm sorry that you're jealous of me, Remus!"

"JEALOUS! I'm not jealous of you! I'm jealous of what you have! You know, I like to be treated like I exist too!"

"If you really did then you wouldn't hang out with those to emo trainwrecks out there!" Roman snapped back. Remus took a step back, quickly recoiling. But before he could say a thing, Roman put a finger to his lip. "I've tried to tell you years ago but, if you stick with me in life, you could have all the attention, friends, and fame you royally deserve. But you've thrown it all away for those pieces of shit."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" The mustached twin growled. "You wouldn't know a thing about having friends cause all you've ever done you're whole life was gravitate towards the popular crowd! I guarantee that Remy and his group don't give a fuck about you!" Both brothers panted in anger, neither of them believing the other.

"You know what? Fine. Be that way. But I hope you know, you're little fantasy about winning the battle, is bullshit. Patton's band is gonna win because people actually care about them!" Remus' face dropped as speechlessness claimed his throat. "And don't expect any pity from me when your black parade has nothing." Roman stormed up to the second floor, leaving his brother to soak in his sour tongue.

Soon enough, Janus and Virgil refused to wait for their friend any longer and came inside. They saw Remus about ready to burst into tears. They instantly were by his sides, hugging him tightly to try and ease his pain.

"That bastard will pay!" Remus grumbled under his breath.

"Don't worry, Re. Whatever he said, is wrong," Virgil comforted.

"What do you think about getting back at him?" The snake suggested. "What if we prank Patton's band. That'll put them back in their places!"

"I don't know. What if we get kicked from the battle?"

"Fuck it!" Remus blurted, sitting on his legs. "We can't let them walk all over us anymore! They've already made idiots of us, let's make idiots of them!"