🎤 TYLER'S PØV 🎼
"Have you met the new drummer in school?
"Who?"
"Well, he will be joining you, Tyler."
"Oh."
I wasn't too sure what Mr Stump was saying, but the two other judges nodded in agreement.
"I think both of you would make a great pair!" and this was one of the many times where Mr Urie's grin looked slightly devilish, but I knew he wasn't being sarcastic. That was good.
"Wait... Joining me?"
"Yep, we pair up the contestants in the individual category," Mr Wentz enlightened me, "we thought it would be more fun."
Oh... Oh no. Well there's a reason people join the school talent competition alone right? Sigh. Most other people signed up as bands or at least in pairs. Then there's me.
Simply put, I don't really like people much. Interacting with them, I mean. Humankind is rather amazing I would say, but I don't know who I can trust. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I don't want to trust.
But what is trust?
Giving someone a gun and letting them put it to your head, knowing that they wouldn't shoot?
Metaphorically, I think my thoughts made sense. Somewhat.
My train of thought was interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside the classroom. There were two knocks on the door, soft and unsure. A boy walked in.
The first thing I noticed was his grin. Second, his hair was FLAMING PINK.
Third, he was trying to get a drumset into the room. His gaze went from the judges to me, and at that instant I think I felt myself jump.
I might have been staring, but I quickly snapped out of it and ran over to help him carry the drums in. The smile he gave me was strangely better than the word "thanks" that I didn't really expect in the first place. Not in this society I happened to live in where gratefulness wasn't exactly trendy. His voice resonated in my ears over and over. It was... Hmm. How do you describe a voice? Sincere, happy, spunky?
"Joshua Dun? Show us what you got."
Joshua. What a name.
He nodded in response to the judges and took a moment to collect himself. I sat beside the piano, watching him from the other side of the room. Everything I heard thereafter was just breathtaking.
I wasn't too experienced with the drums, how do you describe a drum solo? That was sick as frick!!!
With his last crash, I subconsciously stood up and joined the three judges in clapping.
"Such talent!" that meant a lot, coming from Mr Urie who could also play the drums (and a bunch of other instruments). His vocal range was also as large as his forehead.
In fact, all three judges were the extremely talented, too talented to simply be music teachers in our school. I wouldn't be surprised if they went to form a band and got famous. Mr Wentz rocks the bass, I consider him an emo god with his dark eyeliner. Meanwhile, Mr Stump has the best manners in the world, and a soul voice. A real idol.
"It's your turn Tyler, amaze us once again."
It was going to be my second time performing for them, but somehow I was even more nervous. The first round was for the initial auditions, where I did a cover of Can't Help Falling In Love, on my uke.
I thought of three reasons why I was nervous.
One, I haven't played the piano live in front of anyone other than my family. You know, Christmas gatherings and the like.
Two, this time I was gonna perform a song I wrote myself.
Three, Joshua was looking at me.
Breathe in, breathe out. Calm down Tyler, you can do this.
I started off rapping the first verse...
I'm taking over my body,
back in control, no more shotty
I bet a lot of me was lost,
't's uncrossed and 'i's undotted
I fought it a lot and it
seems a lot like flesh is all I got
Not anymore,
flesh out the door, SWAT.
And it seemed like I was imagining it, but I heard drums join in for the second verse. My head shot up for a moment, and I saw Joshua looking straight back at me, and grinned. He doesn't even know this song, how does he play along so well..?
I quickly directed my attention back to my song, only paying slight attention to the drums. It fit surprisingly well, and for the first time I actually thought my own song sounded quite good. I gained a little more confidence, and so did Joshua. We were both enjoying ourselves, it was visible from our faces, and the three teachers were caught somewhere between shock and delight.
-----
"But Pete, that was fcking good."
"What a match, Patrick!"
"Don't swear Brendon, we're still in school..."
Joshua shut the door behind us, and we could no longer hear the teachers. I wasn't too sure how long they took to complement us. Ten minutes? Fifteen? Half an hour...?
"Hey, um, Tyler right? Wanna go have lunch together?"
"Oh. Uh, sure."
Wait, we haven't had proper introductions...
"Oh right, I'm Tyler Joseph" I extended my hand for a handshake.
"Joshua Dun, but you can call me Josh." and he kinda shook my hand a little harder than I expected.
We walked our way to the canteen. Or rather he seemed to be just following me.
"You're new in school, Josh?"
"Yeah I moved here a week ago, started school only yesterday. Not familiar with how to get around."
"I'll show you around I suppose. After we've eaten."
"Great!" he smiled and so did I.
School food wasn't exactly the best, but not too bad. Ice cream was great, though.
"So Josh... How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just now, it's like you knew the song I played."
"I simply listened to you and played along hahah, impromptu, whatever felt right."
Wow. Impressed. Not many people listen these days... All they do is hear. Some don't even know the difference between hearing and listening.
"That was really cool, you know? I never thought that song could sound that good."
"You're welcome haha. By the way, what song was that? Whoever wrote it is really talented, I really like it."
I think I was blushing.
"Oh uh... I... I wrote it... It's called Holding On To You."
And his mouth was open. "NICE!!!"
I laughed.
"Hahah um thanks I guess... Are you into that kind of weird music?"
"It's not weird, it's perfect! I'm sooooo into it." he grins. "What kinda music do you like?"
"I don't even know what genre I write, but I like it, sort of. Whatever it is... I'm still not sure what I like, but I suppose I'll tell you when I've figured that out..."
"If you had to name your own genre, what would you call it then?"
"Hmm..." I took a long moment to ponder about it.
"Alternative rock electropop emo piano rap boy"
:)
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It's my first fanfic sigh
I'm not too good at writing
Secondly, nope I don't really ship Joshler, I just think they're the bestest friends ever. I really envy their relationship sometimes. But still I'm writing this because why not. :D
Holy shit that's such a lie.
Lastly, I really wanted to write as close to real life as possible but I found that hard. So in this story, Josh and Tyler are both 15 years old and in school. I might name the school...when I think of something.
Honestly idk how schools in other countries work and I can't imagine it because I'm from Singapore and I'm fairly local (hehehehe) so I'm writing like it's sort of a school in Singapore (tho not as hardcore), and I won't be specifying where this story takes place. Imagine it's in your hometown if that makes you happy. XD