➤ ➤ ➤
"We'll see you soon, Har," I told Harley, patting his shoulder as he stood before the car that would take him away to the other side of Cloverland. We haven't graduated yet, but he had to move into his new apartment for his new school and new job, so he wouldn't be able to see us as much anymore. It's been a week since the performance at the club, Harley's last show with the band.
His old house was completely moved out of, and probably for a good cause. It was small and uncomfortable and he almost never stayed at home. He'd always find somewhere to stay, whether at my place, Rian's place, or literally sleeping in the local park. He does weird things when he's high.
"Don't say anything else, all of you, you'll make me emotional and there's no point in it," He warned us, pointing his finger from me, to Eden, to Torrence, to Levi, and then to Rian. We were all standing on the sidewalk outside of his old house in the sunset. The car was double-parked in the street, Harley's parents sitting in the front seats with the engine running. They watched Harley take his time to say his final goodbyes, impatiently glaring at us.
"Just get in the car and abandon us like you always do," Torrence snickered.
"I'll remember you guys!" Harley mocked with a long and drawn-out whimper, stepping one foot into the car. He reached his hand out to us as if he was being stolen away.
"We'll see each other at school tomorrow, quit whining," Rian remarked.
"Yeah, but I'm not in the band anymore," Harley continued.
"Auditions are at my house tomorrow, remember? We'll find you a good replacement," Rian informed him. Harley nodded, accepting the answer. He was about to fully board the vehicle and sit down in the back seats, but he stopped himself and poked his head out once more. Harley's parents groaned, anxious to leave.
"Hey, can I ask for one last favor? My goodbye present?"
"What?" We all asked, rolling our eyes.
"Change the fucking band name," He growled, jumping into the car and slamming the door.
➤ ➤ ➤
When tomorrow came, we all raced over to Rian's apartment after school. The five of us, excluding Harley (who was managing things over at CIVA), climbed the fire escape and entered through Rian's window. We cleared our small band rehearsal space in the middle of the apartment living room, pulling up a desk at the back of the room with five seats. We heaved the heavy drum set, piece by piece, towards the middle of the "stage" and sat back in our chairs. I pulled out a clipboard with an empty list.
We were like the judges of America's Got Talent, ordered from left to right at the desk as: Levi, Me, Eden, Torrence, and Rian. Rian was like the Simon Cowell of the group. Torrence and Eden were like the female judges that change almost every year, I was Howie, and Levi was too kind and soft to be a dream-destroying judge.
"When does everyone come?" Torrence questioned after a few minutes of sitting and waiting. He and Rian leaned back in their chairs like they were gangsters.
"I wrote 4 PM on the flyers," Levi answered, sitting with his back straight, looking at a copy of the flyer in his hands.
"Wait, who was supposed to hand out flyers?" Eden asked, leaning over onto the desk.
"Not me," Both Rian and I said at the same time.
"Levi, who did you put in charge of handing out flyers?" Torrence interrogated his little brother.
Levi stared at us, growing a little nervous. "H-Harley..?"
"What?!" All of us, except for Levi, gasped in unison. Levi jumped in his seat and backed away.
"What?" Levi freaked out, fear overcoming him. He always tried to be the best for us and felt terrible when he made mistakes.
"Dude, Harley never does what we ask him to do," Eden scoffed, giving Levi a look that said 'It's okay, don't worry'.
"He either forgets or decides not to," I added.
"Well, don't lose hope just yet, there's still time to see! He could've handed them out, you never know!" Levi rambled, fretting to ease our nerves. It was really his nerves that needed the easing.
"What time is it?" I asked.
Eden pulled out her phone.
"4:15."
We all sighed, except for Levi, and collapsed in our judging chairs, sinking down with irritation. Eden's face rested on the table as I slapped my paws over mine.
"Maybe no one was interested? Maybe they're all just late? E-Either way, I'm sure we'll be able to find a drum player somehow in all of Cloverland for our band," Levi babbled, not giving up hope.
"I'm gonna miss Harley, but he was uncoordinated as fuck," Torrence began to chuckle.
"I love him, but I hate him," Rian bantered.
"Guys, I'm sure he at least tried to hand out flyers—" Levi attempted until we all heard the sound of a knock on the door.
We all went quiet and shot our eyes at the door.
I looked at the others and made the decision to be the one to answer it. I stood up and walked over to the door, unlocking all the latches and knobs, and opening it to find a crow standing in the doorway.
"Hi, do you need anything?" I asked the stranger, not knowing whether he was auditioning or if he was just a visitor of Rian's that I haven't met. He was about our age and was the same height as me.
"I'm here for the audition?" He presumed. In his hands, he held a yellow flyer. "And I think everyone else here is too?"
From those words, I directed my attention to the hall behind him. I could hear chatter and ambiance coming from the stairwell. I politely pushed past the crow and walked out into the hallway, looking over the balcony to see a variety of teenagers in our grade, lined up one after another. They were all cooped up on the many apartment floors and stairwells linking them, waiting patiently, staring at the flyers, talking with others.
"The son of a bitch really did it..." I muttered to myself.
With a newly found sense of determination, I ran back over to the door of Rian's apartment and looked at the others waiting inside by the judging desk. They all looked at me, eager for an answer. "We've got candidates."
The three of them widened their eyes and looked at each other with excitement. Levi just crossed his arms and snorted, saying that he 'told us so', but I could also tell he was relieved he didn't mess up. I turned back around and stood next to the crow, scanning over all of the teenagers waiting in line behind him.
"Alright!" I shouted, getting the crowd's attention. "We're gonna need only one person to come in at a time! You'll stop by the door and wait your turn, and when we say 'next', that's when you come inside! All you gotta do is show us what you got. That means, playing a beat from a song you like or improvising, whatever, doesn't matter, just play for us, alright? We'll see whether you're worthy or not." I called out for everyone to hear. They didn't give me a verbal response, just a small nod. I faced the crow. "Okay, come on in."
➤ ➤ ➤
The next hour consisted of the five of us listening to random people play Harley's drums and consider whether they deserved to take his spot in the band. We were looking for three specific things: their skill in the area of drumming, their looks/style (because we still wanted to be a good-looking band, you know?), and their personality. Sure, we would've been looking for strictly canines to be our new member, but Harley wanted us to change the name, so this would likely be the deal breaker.
We weren't trying to fully replace who Harley was, we were finding someone who could fill in Harley's role while also bringing something new to the table.
The more candidates that went by, the more we began to lose hope in finding that someone.
We had high hopes in the beginning, but a lot of the auditions just didn't live up to the hype. Some people didn't even know how to play drums, they just wanted to be in the band. Some people only knew one repetitive beat, some people messed up occasionally and fell off rhythm. Some weren't even teenagers. A legit middle schooler tried to audition.
I looked over at Eden, who was growing tired of all the dud acts. Every time we called 'next', she stuck her head up as if she wanted someone to appear. It seemed as though Eden was waiting for someone to audition, but I didn't know who.
Half an hour had gone by and we were running out of candidates. The neighbor that despised us so much even tried to shut the auditions down because of the noise and crowded stairwell, but Levi, and his kind heart, did his best to talk the neighbor into minding their own damn business. In a nice way.
We were nearing the end of the line and we had looked at our clipboards of all the names and phone numbers we had taken down every time someone had auditioned. Levi had bought us star stickers at the corner store to press onto the contacts of the people we liked and considered bringing back. Unfortunately, no star stickers were used yet.
Eden kept tapping her foot repeatedly next to me with impatience. She kept staring at the door, waiting for something to happen. Even when an audition was happening, she just kept staring at that door.
And before we knew it, the last person in line had come inside.
He looked like a fifty-year-old man.
We all nodded our heads at a timid Levi. He sighed and sat up from his seat, walking up to the man.
"Hey, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" He suggested, standing by the door and gesturing his hand, leading the man outside into the hallway. Once he had stepped through the doorway, Levi slowly closed it shut.
"Hey, wait—!" The man exclaimed.
"SORRY, COME BACK ANOTHER TIME!" Levi squealed, slamming the door before he could say anything else.
Levi let out a deep sigh and pressed his back up against the door, sliding down to the floor.
"Is that everyone?" Eden wondered, visibly confused and disappointed.
"There was no one else left in the hallway," Levi whined, rubbing his head with exhaustion.
"No one? No one at all?" Eden pushed. Something was off with her.
"That was seriously everyone?" Torrence scoffed, lying back onto his chair and crossing his arms.
"Harley does not have good taste," Rian commented.
"I guess we'll have to work with what we have," I sighed, looking at the clipboard. My eyes scanned the long list of scribbled-down contacts. "Was there anyone you guys liked?"
"None of them really... fit the band," Torrence admitted. "I had a specific idea of who I wanted in mind."
"Let me guess, it was Harley?" Rian assumed.
"Ye... Yeah..."
"There's literally no one else in the stairwell, Levi?" Eden kept asking.
"I'm not checking, that man is probably still outside!" Levi squeaked with a high-pitched whine.
"I sorta liked the serval guy," I spoke, staring at each and every name, trying to recall their audition. Eden turned her head to me with a sneer. "He was good at drums, he had good looks, but he was just really..."
"Annoying? Yeah, he called me a bitch for looking at my phone during his set!" Eden huffed.
"You are supposed to pay attention to the audition, Eden, did you forget?" Torrence teased, only for Eden to stick up her middle finger at him.
"I was texting someone! It was an emergency!" She excused.
"He was the best drum player," I continued. I didn't like his personality, but we really didn't have anyone else, did we?
"And he was the worst person," Eden grunted. "Remember, we're replacing Harley Brownstone. Do you really want that guy in his place?"
"Well, is there anyone else you'd rather choose?"
That was when we heard another knock at the door.
Levi flinched and sat up, stepping away from it.
Eden's head perked up.
"Lev, open it," she instructed.
"What?! It's probably that man!" Levi shivered in fear.
"Just open it, babe," Eden ordered. It was as if she knew exactly who was behind the door.
I looked over at Torrence and Rian, who looked at each other and then back at me. We didn't know what to do. Levi groaned and carefully approached the door, resting his paw on the handle. He cracked it open and peeked his head through. I couldn't see who was outside since the fox held the door so tight to his face and his body, covering the sliver of the open doorframe.
"Hi, uh, I'm sorry I'm late, can I still audition?" I heard a familiar voice ask quietly from beyond the door. Eden immediately sat up from her seat and raced over to the door, opening it all the way.
"Of course you can!" She beamed, her attitude suddenly bright and bubbly.
In the doorway stood the one person that I least expected.
The Australian Shepherd.
He smirked softly at Eden with a warming gaze as she ran back to her seat with excitement. I looked at the other two canines at the judging table with confusion. They looked back at me the same way.
They... they know each other?
Levi looked at all of us, not knowing what to do.
The Australian Shepherd stood in the doorway, waiting for instructions.
"Come in," Eden smiled.
"Oh," He nodded his head and made his way in, glancing at Levi as he closed the door behind the shepherd.
Levi walked back around and sat in his seat at the judging table as well, staring at the Australian Shepherd the same way Torrence, Rian, and I did. He approached Harley's drum set and stood there, waiting for even more instructions. His feet pointed out in a rather charming stance. He was like a model, yet, he stared at us aimlessly.
This time, he wore a wool sweater with abstract squares and an earthy gray-brown color scheme, ripped skinny black jeans, a fall-colored flannel tied around his waist, and lockdown knee-high leather boots.
The shepherd and I made eye contact. He smiled subtly at me, again without showing his teeth. A little callback to the first time we met at the theater last week.
Eden tapped my shoulder. I turned my head to her and she raised her eyebrows, nodding her head in the direction of the shepherd. I was the one who interviewed our contestants first, but something about his presence had me in a trance, once again. This boy had such a weird effect on me. I didn't understand it.
"Oh, um, tell us who you are and your contact info," I stumbled, looking down at the clipboard, holding out my pen to the paper, ready to start a new line.
"Hm?" The shepherd said softly, as if he didn't hear.
"Uh... name and contact info..?" I twisted the pen in my hand awkwardly.
"Oh, sorry," He shook his head, retaining his composure. "My name is Arizona Sundance." He spoke in a brave and relaxed manner.
Before I even wrote it down, I found myself looking at him for another few odd seconds. Our eyes locked onto each other. My tail began to wag again. It became obvious to the others in the room.
"Harv," Eden notified me again, allowing me to return to reality. I wrote down the name 'Arizona Sundance' onto the clipboard.
"Most people call me Ari," He added with a sway of his head. I scribbled down a small note next to his contact, stating his nickname within parenthesis. I then wrote down his contact info once he had told me it.
"Alright, Ari," Torrence began, leaning in. "Show us what you got."
"Cool." Ari nodded his head.
He turned around and removed the small backpack with long straps from his arms, resting it on the floor. The leather of his boots squeaked softly every few seconds, but for some reason, I found the sound oddly satisfying. Ari reached into his backpack, pulling out a tiny Bluetooth speaker, the shape of an egg. He rested it on the ground and turned it on, connecting it to his phone. He tapped the screen a few times. I could only guess he was searching for a song.
"There are drumsticks in the little flap on the floor tom," Torrence told him. Rian and Levi were quiet the entire time, likely for different reasons.
"Oh, I have my own, it's okay," He spoke politely, pulling them out of his backpack as well. We all looked at each other, raising our eyebrows. His drumsticks were painted a bright neon yellow and had black-Sharpie-patterned-markings all over them.
He sat down on the stool and pressed the screen of his phone one last time, dropping it effortlessly onto the carpet. He gripped the two sticks in his palms and twisted his arms, stretching his muscles.
The speaker began to hum a strange buzzing noise, cueing the opening of a song I've never heard before. The buzz grew louder and more distorted, and before I knew it, Ari raised his arms with the drumsticks clenched firmly in his paws.
Here he goes.
He smacked them down on the drums, lightning-fast. It was so sudden that I flinched from the loud and controlled drum pattern. The beat was quick, rapid, and complex. His paws moved like laser beams, the drumsticks flowing through the air so fast they blurred and became transparent.
From that moment on, I knew we had found our new drummer.
Ari just kept raging to the beat as swift, flawless, and sophisticated lyrics began to vocalize over the current dark tone of the music, almost in the form of rap or a spoken-word poem. The song he was drumming to felt intimidating, which made me feel dominated under the Australian Shepherd's control over the beat. I felt my jaw drop as Ari swayed his head back and forth with his eyes closed, feeling the rhythm and tune puppeteer his arms and wrists. He showed no signs of anguish. He had it down.
The moment the pre-chorus hit, he dropped his right hand with the drumstick on the snare once every two beats, his eyes still closed, his body swaying from left to right. He was in his own world.
Then the chorus revealed itself, allowing him to go back to his tight, complicated drum patterns. I began to listen to the lyrics underneath his intricate drum playing, singing, "Can you save my heavy dirty soul?" Ari's expression looked as though he knew what the lyrics meant and that he felt a close relationship with them.
The track continued and Ari showed off more of his talent and range. When the bridge came around, he slammed both drumsticks to both cymbals, giving us a thrill ride and a mind-blowing performance. He had the talent, he had the looks, he had the personality.
The four-minute-long song felt like a whole hour while it was occurring, but when it was over, I felt it had passed by too quickly. I found myself wanting to hear more. See more.
As the slow hum faded to an eventual stop, Ari opened his eyes and looked at all of us.
We were all so amazed that we couldn't even formulate audible words in our mouths.
My attention was caught by Levi's paws moving in the seat next to me. I watched as he took a star sticker from the sheet and placed it on the clipboard in my hands, right next to Ari's contact.
"How'd I do?" He asked us. None of us could say a single thing.
That was when Eden began to squeal with happiness.
She immediately stood up from the chair, which fell onto the floor from the abrupt force, and ran past the table over to Ari, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. When he stood up to return the embrace, I noticed he was about the same height as her. He smiled widely and hugged her back. I looked on with uncertainty.
"I knew you could do it!" She whispered into his ear, to which he responded to with a small touch of his forehead to hers.
I looked at Torrence, Rian, and Levi. They looked back at me. We all knew we wanted him to be our drummer, but his relationship with Eden was unexplained. We needed to know more.
They defintely know each other...
"Thanks, babe," He whispered back.
The two of them looked into each other's eyes with a look you wouldn't find in any other duo. They had a close bond, a deep connection.
Wait...
Arizona... He's...
He's her boyfriend...