Chapter 15...The Middle
Eli wouldn't find out the name of his partner until it was two weeks until they had to have a video ready, he just hoped it was someone that he could work with and that after that would be able to drop without looking back. Since this round was the third and the fourth since both partner got to pick a song to perform Eli also hoped it was someone with a similar musical taste so it would sound good because to win you had to both of the weeks otherwise you were kicked off if you lose your week. Then after that the contest was basically half way done once the fifth round was completed which would leave only twenty people in going into the sixth round from the original 40. Jeremy and Iz had gone back to college leaving Eli alone once again, but since he got a job at the radio station it seemed like things were looking up for him.
Luke had his surgery and was slowly recovering, his body didn't take to the new organ and things seemed to go downhill. Eli acted like a loving son, but once he could get out of Luke's control he would never speak to that man again. Randomly as Eli was making dinner, ramen, he thought about that mysterious man and wondering why he showed up in Eli's life and if he had any connections.
After dinner Eli walked into the basement and looked at his guitar he had left down there to gather dust. Memories threaten to break free from their prison in the back of Eli's mind as if they were a ghost who was left behind due to unfinished business. Picking up the Maplewood neck and the body of the guitar with his other hand he shook the dust of what he used to once call his baby. Before even striking a power chord he knew the strings would be out of tune and only prayed that no strings would break.
Plugging the Line 6 into the wall he turned it on and grabbed the cable on the wall next to it and plugged in into the amp. Heard that electrical buzz he fingered a minor.
"Damn!" Eli said to no one in particular as he reached for the tuner sitting on the book shelf. Surprised the strings held up as he tuned the guitar knowing he should change them, but currently didn't have any new ones that would work. Daring to tune the guitar into drop c tuning Eli played the first song he ever learned to play.
"It's hiding in the dark; it's teeth are razor sharp. There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart. No one can hear me scream, maybe it's just a dream. Maybe it's inside of me, stop this monster. I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin. I must confess that I feel like a monster. I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun. I must confess that I feel like a monster."
His skin erupted in goosebumps as he shivered with each word he sung, feeling the music speak to him deeply, yet he wasn't a monster. Skillet had such an influence on Eli during those years he also had a spot for them. From being the first song he learned on guitar to the meaningful lyrics he wished one day to make something like they did that would give someone else the same feeling he felt listening to them.
The demons in his head had settled for the day and he was mentally exhausted. Looking back on everything Eli had gone through he realized something that made him get up every morning and continue with his day no matter how rough it got. Music was always there no matter what, lyrics touched the soul, giving him the strength knowing that one day he could change his life and make it through the storm.
Exhausted after playing all the songs he knew in drop c tuning, since the greatest pain was switching your tunings to play different songs, Eli climbed the staircase and then had to climb the second one from the ground floor to the second floor where his room resided. The black sheets and black comforter reflected the wide range of colors in Eli's color spectrum. He ranged from grey, black, white to a few colors mostly dark blue and red.
The future of this contest seemed like so far away, but he knew that sooner than he would think the competition would be over and he did not have a clue what his future after the contest entailed. As long as Luke was away the nightmare and fear subsided into the dark corner of his mind, but having the man back in the house tonight was a night where nightmares ruled over the dreams.
His breathing was heavy and he felt like he couldn't take another step as he pushed his legs past the point of exhaustion to get away. However, running in the dark he could never escape. He turned left and then right. The monster was always on Eli's tail claws scraping the backs of his legs. Ready to collapse and give in the scene changed and Eli's stamina was renewed. This time the monster chasing him was ten times bigger than the last and he started to run, but found out he couldn't move. Why couldn't he just wake up. This was the point in the nightmare where he knew that he was dreaming, but still couldn't wake up. The beast roared causing goosebumps to appear on the skin of Eli's arms as he involuntarily shuttered and flinched. It raised its hand sending crystal shards at Eli...
Waking up, Eli sat up in his bed running hands through his hair with the lasting image of the most recent dream freshly on his mind. God, he just wished the nightmares would disappear as for the longest of times he never could remember whether or not if he had a dream. Climbing out of the bed Eli stumbled over clothes and shoes to his desk where the laptop he managed to buy with his work money laid as he sold the desktop as it no longer suited his needs.
Logging in was enough trouble for the half awake zombie that sat at the chair at three in the morning. Once he realized the number lock was off he turned it on and retyped in his password getting the login finally right. The first thing he did was pull up iTunes and hit play on his music letting it shuffle the almost three thousand songs he had. He pulled up the email app he had connected with Windows and his account checking it to see if he would have an email from Danny and JoBell the couple who were hosting the competition.
He had a couple of spam emails and in the midst of deleting emails he saw that he almost deleted the one from Danny. Unclicking the delete box by the side of the email he deleted the rest of the spam emails before opening the email and reading it.
"Hello Eli,
Congrats on your progress in the competition and your partner is Chester..."
As Eli read the email the name Chester seemed familiar and he texted Jeremy to ask if he knew who the kid was. Getting a response almost immediately, Eli first wondered why he was still up and secondly his gut told him he had known who this person was.
"The guy you replaced when Anthem Falls was still a thing."
"Perfect this persons going to hate me and this competition will end for me most likely."
Eli spoke to himself in the dark room. Groaning Eli spent the rest of the night watching Netflix on the laptop as he sat comfily on his bed. This was a moment in time when he wished he had a dog. He had work that morning at half past seven and it was already half past five and he had not gone back to sleep since he woke up. Knowing bags would be predominately showing on his face he got out of his bed getting a shower before grabbing his long board and hitting the streets. By six he was at the gym and he lifted weights for an hour trying to clear his mind.
Working from seven thirty until four thirty, today was the last time he would have to go into work before his hours changed by half an hour as they found another newbie to allow Eli to shift his hours. Today the paycheck came and Eli would barely see the money as it went directly to bills and groceries.
After work Eli skated back to his house with paycheck in hand and mail in the other. His phone began to vibrate repeatedly telling him someone was calling him.
"Hello."
"Hey Eli."
"Do I know you?"
"It's Chester."
"Oh so you're calling about the competition right."
"That is correct, I am free to meet up tonight to see get a game plan for the next two rounds of the competition."
"Sure, where are we going to meet?"
They discussed a meeting place and Eli had to be at Chester's house in the next town over meaning he would have to drive the truck, but first had to make sure the truck had gas as he rarely drove it. Living in Florida benefitted Eli as he never truly had to drive anywhere unless he had to go out somewhere when it was raining.
Eli's nerves were on high alert as he drove over to the address Chester texted him because he was about to go and meet the person he only meant to fill in for a night, but ended up kicking him out of a band. Sure the probability of the situation being tense at firs was almost hundred percent. Driving along the Florida roads the sun was still out and the warm breeze blew on his arm that rested on the windows ledge and his music played fairly loud, but he did not care if people disliked it.
Singing along to the song he smiled laughing at himself as a memory of the first time he tried to play the song on guitar came from the depths of his mind. As he drove he drove past the cemetery in where his mother laid six feet under in a two and half feet by eight foot long grave. He told himself he would visit her soon as it had been a while since he last visited his mother and with everything going on he hated himself for so easily just removing her existence from his life.
Arriving at the house around six at night with a pizza which he hoped could be some kind of piece offering between the two men. Chester welcomed Eli into his apartment and the first thing he said which angered Eli was something about the band they both had been a part of. The first thing Eli said back besides a greeting of some kind was that he did not want to allow the fact that he accidently replaced him in a band that was no longer around and Chester agreed that they shouldn't hold a grudge against each other and just let their music talents shine in the contest for the next two rounds as they would have to work together for the next two weeks to be prepared for their first live show in their hometowns for the contest.
"So for this the only rules are that we both have to win each week and we have to win together to make it, but one of us can be voted off if they don't prevail in both rounds?"
"That's what I got from the emails from Danny and his wife. So I had a couple of songs in mind that I'd like for my pick and hopefully we have similar tastes in music since we both were in the same band."
They both laughed at that while eating pizza in the basement which was Chester's studio. Eli felt like that if he got to know Chester and they didn't let what happened in the past affect each other that he could be a good friend. Although, secretly they couldn't just forget about what happened at first and would learn to get along with each other as the next two weeks should be fun trying to learn two songs and get ready to show the world that what happens indirectly to two people cannot affect them where they can't get along.
Almost an hour later the two songs had been decided on and the entire box of pizza had been demolished by the two growing teenage boys. Eli decided on a Jimmy Eat World song and Chester's was going to be an A Day to Remember song which in theory was a perfect mix of heavy and light for the two rounds they thought. They set up a schedule around their work hours and they would meet Monday Tuesday and Friday for the next two weeks before the Monday of the first round and then Friday and Sunday between the third and fourth round that would take place the Monday after the third round. Eli got in his truck and drove back to the house he lived in climbing into bed with his laptop before falling asleep into a dreamless night of dreams.
"Do not let the person who donated that kidney regret it by drinking your problems away and destroying it Luke Matthew Carter!"
"I'll do what I damn please."
"Don't make me call the doctor and make you go back to the hospital where he can carefully monitor you."
"Call the doctor, but it's my GODDAMN FUCKING LIFE."
"You be a dead son of a bitch if you didn't have someone looking out for you and got you high up on that transplant list when you didn't deserve it. Ungrateful is what you are and there no hope for you."
Eli woke up to the sounds of shouting and instantly it felt like when Stacy and Luke fought when they thought Eli was asleep. The fighting had gotten bad when Eli was around ten due to Luke finding out she had an affair and that was when Luke realized that Eli might not have been his kid and after that they always talked carefully around Eli. No one realized how close the couple had been to getting a divorce, but they mutually agreed to stay for Eli's sake and eventually they remembered why they loved each other and then Stacy died and Luke blamed everything on Eli due to his wife's choice back now eighteen years ago.
Date nights as Eli had thought was his parent's way of seeing a marriage counselor without him knowing and when Eli turned sixteen they had been ready forgive each other and move on, but the tragedy struck and Luke got mad that everything he had worked for with his love was destroyed by her death. There was so much to his 'father' that Eli didn't know, but what he did know was that the man he used to be had long been gone causing Eli's once love turn to hatred.
Listening to the man who he supposedly called his father yelling at the nurse trying to watch out for him disgusted Eli as Luke seemed like he didn't even want to get better. Eli figured there was no hope left for Luke Carter anymore he lost his father the day he lost his mother and now lived with a monster like in the nightmares he had been having the past several days. Waiting until the silence filled the air, Eli decided to appear like he just woke up as he wondered downstairs into the kitchen fixing himself a bagel to eat before heading to work that morning.
Eli didn't have to work today, but he got a call late last night asking if he could fill in since Bobby left work early sick. Eli enjoyed going to the studio as he got to help pick the songs that aired sometimes and despite not liking all the jobs he did throughout the day it got him out of the house and it really wasn't that hard. Eli like the job of replying to emails the best as it was usually about new songs on the radio or something little or that he was knowledgeable in.
Today was Saturday and Eli had two days to try to learn the solo of his song since his choice was the song that they would play for the third round and before Monday strolled around he hoped to have learned it so he could get it ready since the rest of the song was easy to play. So once Eli got off work today he spent most of the rest of the weekend in the basement trying to master the wide variety of pull offs, hammer on, and picking in which the solo demanded.
The rest of the week flew by as during the day Eli worked from eight to five and after that he travelled over to Chester's house and they would spend a couple of hours practicing the songs mainly focusing on The Middle. By the Monday after the boys had spent multiple hours together eating pizza, singing songs, and playing guitars and drums. Chester played the drums and Eli was on guitar and both of them sung so it was a musical match made in heaven.
Now it was around five in the afternoon and they were sitting backstage getting ready to perform together on the same stage for the first time in a while as this was the first live performance of the competition and the crowd standing thought they had bought concert tickets to see a certain band and for each person the band was different, somewhere similar, but the point was to have random people listening to each group and each group was on different stage so no one should have seen more than one group, also they were all at different times.
Eli looked at Chester and they walked onto the stage Eli picked the guitar up off the stand tuning it quickly going through his warm up as Chester sat on behind the drums doing his warm up. You ready he mouthed to Chester and with the nod between the two they began.
Eli smiled as he palmed muted the notes and then Chester came in on the drums.
"Hey! Don't write yourself off yet..."
O+\z