And after that night, nothing would ever be the same for them again.
It was another Wednesday night at youth group, and DaVan had just finished his first draft for GO!, The first song on It Is Well With The Van. The intro song, you might say. To kick things off.
The Bible study time had ended, and B. Wells was excited to hear DaVan's verse. He clicked on the link to the track in Google Drive and listened.
Caught him at the red light, had to leave him dead, right
Shoot him in his head, right
We don't aim for legs, right
Ride around your hood like my name is Little Red Ride
Out of soda, I've been pouring up in red wine
Well, the vocal mixing could have been better, it was a little distorted. But the verse was still amazing.
There wasn't much time left, though, as B. Wells was being taken home by The Caballeros, Aaron's family, because his mom was still at the church playing music with his band teacher, Mrs. Mance.
But before he left, he had to speak to the one person he hadn't seen all week.
Christopher Casagrande had been a bit busy, but how come he never had any time to talk, even over text? There was something weird going on with him, and B. Wells couldn't figure it out. Was it really the wind? Or was it something else?
Ever since Brandon had witnessed Chris toss Robert Ribis against the wall like a plaything, he couldn't get that moment off of his mind. That type of stuff wasn't physically possible.
He couldn't be seeing things. Was he secretly on drugs? Did he accidentally eat one of DaVan's gummies or something and he didn't remember?
No, he would remember something like that. And plus, he didn't like having his mind messed up. It would damage him big time, like that acid did to Moby.
Nevertheless, B. Wells walked up to Chris.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hey." Chris replied back.
"I wanted to ask you something, but you were never available."
"Yeah, I've been busy. My family's trying to build a new house and stuff, so..."
Sure, they were.
"What do you need?"
"What was that back there? Last week, with Robert."
Chris seemed to tighten a bit, maybe a bit nervously.
"C'mon, bruv. You can tell me. I'm your friend. I'm not a snitch. You heard Get Banged, you know what happens to those."
Chris sighed. "I don't know, man. You wouldn't understand."
B. Wells put a hand on his shoulder. "Bro. It's ok. I saw. So did Levi. We'll protect your secret. Trust me."
Keegan came up to his brother. "Mom's here, we gotta go."
Chris looked B. Wells in the eyes for a second. "I'll tell you soon. Promise."
He walked away, and Brandon sighed. Was he ever going to find out?
Aaron, Tyler and Jordan came up to him.
"What was that about?" Aaron asked.
"That's what I'm tryna figure out."
"Hmm. You ready?"
"Yuuup." He replied.
And so B. Wells got in the Tesla with The Caballeros and started riding home.
"Hey, Aaron. You wanna listen to that new DaVan verse for our album? It's actually crazy."
"Sure."
Brandon held the phone up to Aaron's ear as the tall boy vibed. "What is it with him and popping pills? All the time, he always talks about that."
"I don't know, DaVan does what DaVan does."
"Well, hopefully his mixing gets better."
"It will, I have no doubt."
___________________________________________
A week later
"Yo, B. Wells! Look what I just got!"
DaVan had just got FL Studio and was about to record GO! on it. It was the free version, so he couldn't save anything. But it was a step ahead.
"You should go and get it. Your mixing is gonna be a lot better."
B. Wells shrugged. "I might. We'll see how it goes."
Audacity had been B's thing for a while, as Ableton had not worked at all. It was too distorted, and there was no way to get good mixing and autotune on it.
But now FL was the new software. And B. Wells was sure to get it soon.
DaVan had recorded Code earlier on FL, one of the other tracks on the album. But it was time to redo GO! now.
Ain't nobody gonna lie
But it's worth a try
You wanna die?
I'll put you in the sky
B. Wells was impressed. DaVan's mixing was amazing. It was on point, clean and very clear sounding. Nothing was muffled at all.
"You like it?" DaVan asked.
"Yeaahh!!! It's fire!!" Brandon replied.
"This album is definitely gonna be the album of the summer."
"Oh, for sure it is. We gonna go off. And if a performance at camp is possible..."
"Yoooo! Let's gooo!"
DaVan and B. Wells loved performing and doing concerts. They had gone to Scio before with B. Wells' youth group and tried to do a concert that night, and it.... Somewhat worked. Other than the fact that the people were playing killball instead of watching the fire performance.
Anyways, B. Wells was so impressed by the GO! verse that he went and downloaded FL right then. It did take a pretty long while to get the plug-ins, but it worked. And once he got the hang of it, it was pretty easy to mix.
"Should I release GO! as a single?"
B. Wells' eyes widened. "YES! That would be amazing."
"Alright!"
When DaVan went ahead to do that, B. Wells got a text on his phone. It was from Chris Casegrande.
"Meet me at Black Creek Park tonight at 10:45."
10:45? Why exactly that? Was it because Mr. Ciravella, his 7th and 8th grade band teacher always had his announcements then? But how could he know about that?
Eh, he didn't wanna dwell on it. Because that wasn't what he wanted to focus on.
Chris wanted to meet him late at night. Was he going to get the answers he needed? And what time was it anyways?
B. Wells looked at his phone. 10:30.
"Ight!!! I uploaded it. It should be out by Friday, let's goo!!!"
"Yeeaaaahhh! I can't wait for Doug to see it. He's gonna go wild!!"
Doug Araujo was a great Brazilian YouTuber. He did reaction videos to music, and livestreams was a way he had made more money on YouTube. He had given pretty good feedback before, and the two always loved seeing his reactions.
But it wasn't time to think about that yet.
"Hey, I gotta go. My mom's calling me."
"Ight, be ready for Doug!"
"Yeeaaaahhh!!"
But B. Wells had lied. Well, sort of. His parents would probably want him in bed soon. He couldn't ignore the text, though. He had to meet Chris.
Brandon got on his bike and rode on over to the park, in the darkness.
He got up to the pavilion, and saw the boy.
Christopher was standing there, waiting for him.
"Hey. You wanted to talk."
"Yeah. You ready to give some answers?"
Chris nodded and held out his hand.
B. Wells reached out to shake his hand, but as Chris grabbed his, something happened.
He suddenly felt super sleepy, and he didn't know why. He wasn't like Paul Ladeau, he didn't get tired that easily.
But in the blink of an eye, everything went black.
_____________________________________________
Yeah, I'm a future legend
I'mma get this money so I'm never stressin'
Yeah, keep that heavy weapon
I'mma teach a b***h boy a little lesson
DaVan upgraded his Distrokid not that long ago so he could set release dates for tracks and albums, and he was able to sign 1 artist.
Yung Penguin was the one.... For now.
He was really enthusiastic about his tracks, and he was excited to get Future Legend, his debut album out into the world, featuring the singles "President", and "Rap Freestyle".
B. Wells was apparently collaborating with him too, and so was Young Ferb. That was exciting.
DaVan was listening to the intro track, which was also the title track.
But Yung Penguin was obviously lying. "Money that I stack, tall like a giraffe"?
No, man.
But maybe B. Wells would like it. It was kinda funny.
Yung Penguin was the Tommy Wiseau of rap. He meant to make something serious and passionate, but instead made something unintentionally hilarious. I mean, who else says things like "I'mma leave that boy burnt up like some toast"? And who names themselves Yung Penguin?
He hadn't even told Evan his real name.
But anyways, he was on a call, bumping it with DaVan, trying to get some feedback.
"Yeah. You like what I got?"
DaVan nodded, and said, "It's pretty fire." Even though he was thinking otherwise.
"I'm gonna have 10 tracks on my album. But right now I'm waiting on features."
"B. Wells and Young Ferb!"
"Yeah. I'm excited to hear those. I gotta say, though. It was really hard to make some of these songs. It's kinda drained me, to be honest, man."
DaVan laughed inside. He had no idea.
"Really? It's not that hard."
"Well, I do make my own beats too."
"I guess that makes sense."
Just then, DaVan got a request for someone to join the call.
"Who's that?"
"DBro. I'll let him in."
DBro entered the call, and not even 1 second into the conversation, DaVan could tell DeAngelo was mad.
"BRO! I DID GO, I DID GET BANGED, I DID BADMAN, YOU NEVER EVEN RELEASED IT! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME RAPPING? LENNY GOT ON B. WELLS' ALBUM, WHY NOT ME?!"
"Bro, what? Calm down." Evan said, clearly shocked. "You never said you wanted it to go on the album. Besides, you asked to do it. I didn't ask you do GO!, and now I hear you asked B. Wells to extend Code? Bro. You're not gonna be on every banger that we make."
"...WELL THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME RAPPING?"
"I don't know."
"Uhh, hey. I'm Yung Penguin. You wanna be on my album?"
"No! I don't even know you! Bro, Evan! Why are you with this guy? Yung Penguin?"
"I signed him to my record label."
"AND YOU DIDN'T SIGN ME?"
"You never asked. It was him or The Fresh King of New York. And Yung Penguin was my choice."
"Why?!"
"Because Doug really liked his song, President."
DBro left the call.
.........
"So, uh, I'll call you when I got everything finished, alright, man?"
"Yeah, sure."
"This gon be fire."
With that, Yung Penguin left the call, and DaVan went back to his FL studio to work on Action.
_____________________________________________
B. Wells' vision was blurry for a bit, but it cleared up quickly.
Chris was standing over him, with another blond boy, spiky haired.
"Where am I?" Was his first question.
"My house." The other boy answered.
"Ven?"
Yeah, that was Ventus. B. Wells had befriended him a few years ago when Robert and Aaron couldn't hang out with him in school due to them getting in trouble.
He'd seemed like a normal enough kid, kinda lonely too. But it turns out he wasn't so lonely anymore, as he'd apparently been hanging with Chris and his brother for a while now.
Aside from having a member of the Gorillaz for a girlfriend, Brandon didn't know much about him, except for the fact that he had two friends named Terra and Aqua that he lived with......
"Wait, your house? Why? Did you drug me?"
"No, I used magic."
"Scuse me?"
"Magic."
This was too much for him right now. Only big heroes like The Avengers had magic. Or something like it. How would two kids know how to use it?
"Don't worry, it's not that scary."
"I never said that. I'm just confused as heck! You're what, 13? 15? 11?"
"14."
"Dangit, I was close.... How? Just how?"
"There's something in this world called light and darkness. I can help balance it with my keyblade."
"Ok, now you're just saying words. Make. Sense."
"Alright. It's like this. I've lived with Terra and Aqua for most of my life. They've known how to use magic for a very long time. They were taken in by Eraqus, someone called a 'keyblade master'."
"Ok, what's a keyblade?"
Ven held out his hand, and a sword, key, giant key thing appeared in his hand.
"This. You can beat up people and things with this, and use magic. But if you channel energy without it, you can still use magic."
"So, you're like an earthbender or something?"
"No, it's like... You know what chi is? Kinda like that."
"Alright, so you're from Mortal Kombat or something. Whatever. What I don't get is why Chris has it."
"I taught him."
"So you used your crazy frickin magic thing to toss Robert against the wall."
"You tossed Robert against the wall?!" Ven exclaimed suddenly. "In front of him? That's why he knows?"
"You didn't tell him?" B. Wells said, exasperated. "Y'know what? This is too much. I wish I didn't ask."
He got up, but Ven stopped him from walking away.
"But... We can teach you. I can teach you."
"Well, then I'd have to keep it a secret like the rest of you."
"You already have to keep it a secret!" Chris protested. "You know, and now you can't tell anyone! Not even Evan!"
"Well, y'know what? I don't want your magic anyway. If I get to have any type of power, I'm getting it on my own, and it's not gonna be given to me by anybody. I'm different. I bring different vibes."
Ventus sighed. "Ok, then. Well, at least let me take you home."
"And how are you gonna do that exactly?"
Ven tapped his shoulder and his keyblade transformed into... Some sort of glider.
B. Wells' eyes widened. "I gotta get on that?"
_____________________________________________
The next day
We ain't riding dirt bikes, no no
We be driving on the streets, rushing through the snow
You running from po-po, pulling out your fo-fo
Wanna take a photo?
Duck it down, low low
Doug Araujo was reacting to GO! live on YouTube, as today was Puttin' Y'all On day.
B. Wells was in the car, using data and DaVan was at home, just watching on his own.
It seemed like Doug was vibing pretty hard, as the song was a banger. He hadn't really given any feedback yet, he was just enjoying the track.
But when it got to "Ride around your hood like my name is Little Red Ride", Doug noticed this and paused the song.
He put his fingers to his temples, seemingly thinking. He sat in silence for a few moments before going back and listening to DaVan's verse again.
Out of soda, I've been pouring up in red wine
Doctor told me it's supposed to help me unwind
Doug paused it once again, thinking in the same position.
...............
"What?"
.............
The dogs outside barked.
..............
"Nah, hold up. DaVan came in with some bars here, bro."
B. Wells' dad laughed as he drove, and DaVan chuckled at home, too.
"What was it? 'Caught you at the red light, had to leave him dead, right, shoot him in the head, right, we don't aim for legs, right, ride around your hood like my name is Little Red Ride."
........
"Ride around your hood like my name is Little Red Ride, that's... Kinda crazy.... That's kinda crazy, bro."
The dogs continued to bark over in Brazil.
"That's kind of a crazy bar."
Doug finished the song, raising his eyebrows real high when DaVan said "You wanna die, I'll put you in the sky."
Evan could see that Jeffrey, now called Vlarity, had said "PUT ME IN THE SKY THEN" in the chat.
Doug sighed after he finished the track. "Tell you what, that's actually pretty impressive. You guys have come a very long way from, uh, where you were when you first started submitting music I'll say that.... I'm still, my mind is still blown from the Little Red Riding Hood bar, bro.... Yeah, I'll check, Flight. I'll check. That's impressive, guys. That's impressive. Just keep at it, dude."
B. Wells smiled as he rode back home. Doug Araujo liked GO!. He didn't even say any bad things about the mixing which told them both one thing. This was a step in the right direction.
And as the car drove on, B. Wells not only smiled and laughed at Doug's comments, but every now and then he would manuver his hand around a bit, and trying to channel some energy.
It wasn't working so far, but what Ven and Chris told him kinda stuck. Did he really want to learn this? Did he really want to get caught up in the world of crazy magic stuff? Or did he want to stick with DaVan and make music?
And then, B. Wells got an idea. And idea that would stay with him for a good long while now.
What if he could do both?
2856 words.