Chapitre Deux
It was warm from body heat and bass vibrated the floor. The Silver Cafe really was a cool place to be. It was dimly lit and had tables placed miscellaneously in front of the stage. There was a group up at the moment; some boy-band like group. They didn't really hold my attention, so I began to people-watch.
My ears suddenly began to perk when I heard a familiar voice. A male voice. I heard it before, but couldn't place it. I then heard another, similar voice that made me turn around.
Jesse Rutherford.
"Well hello man!"
Jesse saw me long before I had time to look away and act conspicuous. He approached me with his friends Zach, Mikey, and Jeremy beside him. Someone was missing though.
"Hey." We shook hands bro-style.
"What are you doing here?" Zach asked.
I shrugged. Trying to be cool.
"Just chillen. I figured I'd come see what all the talk was about this place. Not too bad."
"Yeah, Silver's pretty cool. Some of our first gigs were here." Zach said again, twisting his nose ring.
"We actually really formed the band here." Jeremy stated.
I nodded.
We were all a bit hushed for a moment before Mikey chimed in.
"What have you been up to lately Brandon?"
In case you were wondering, I went to high school with these guys. We were friends in tenth and eleventh grade-we were all retarded freshmen in ninth grade. I hung with them, and sometimes they hung with me. They were really my first guy friends because for a VERY long time before that, I hung out with Daniela and Dakota 24/7. Then school came, and they went to the private school on the other side of town, and I went to the public school.
Our friendship really seized when I made out with Jesse's then girlfriend Anabelle. Boy was he PISSED at me. And because Zach, Jeremy, Bryan (though he wasn't around very often), and Mikey were practically Jesse's brothers, they stopped talking to me too. So, we weren't friends all through senior year, and we've hardly spoken since graduation.
"I've been working still." I answered.
"At that hotel?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
Jesse, who looked at me over his glass, eyeballed me carefully, examining me for whatever reasons he could. He finally sat his glass down, and leaned against the counter.
Another band came to the stage.
"I'm actually here to see if any band needs a drummer." I admitted.
"Still playing?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, we do." Jesse was the first to speak on this new term.
"Yeah, our old drummer quit." Zach rolled his eyes, obviously not amused.
"Really? Bryan?"
They all nodded their heads.
That's who was missing. Bryan. The drummer.
"Last I checked, you were pretty good." The vocalist half-stood half-sat on a stool by me.
"I would hope so." I answered nervously. Jesse's eyes were penetrating. He was kind of scary.
"Learn the click-track to this. Its one of our easiest drumlines." Jesse handed me a paper with tracks and tick marks on it. At the top it said "A Little Death".
"We go on in about an hour. We still have some drums with us for you to practice on. We'll give you a try, see what you got."
I nearly jumped out of my skin. I nodded furiously, causing his group to laugh.
"Come back stage with us."
I got up and followed The Neighbourhood to a large backroom with their equipment.
"So, if you guys are a world class band, why are you playing here?" I questioned once back there.
"To chill out I guess. To unwind and perform in a natural setting." Zach said while drinking some water.
"Yeah. It's not often we get to come home and revisit old haunts of ours." Mikey added.
"Plus," Jeremy came in. "We need new song ideas. This place always gave us good ideas."
I felt glorified in their presence, and with such ease did it come!
But, there was still Jesse, eyeballing me over his nose from the couch. His long body was over it, legs crossed, hand over his lips some. I felt my face burn hot. I was intimidated! By my once best friend. So, to break the sizzling, I looked at the drums and the click track, and started to figure it out. It was, like he said, pretty easy. In the wait time, I had it down.
"Alright boys. A Little Death then we'll be done." Jesse stood and began to warm up his vocals with Jeremy.
While crew set up the stage, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. Who knows, I could be the new NBHD drummer!
I checked my phone. 7:1 2pm. The girls' game was still going on. Maybe I'll get done enough here to see some of their game or take them out for ice cream. Who knows.
We were on stage. 'Okay, don't forget the click track'. My brain said to itself. 'Don't forget the click track.'
"Ready Brandon?" Mikey asked me.
"Ready."
"Go." Jesse mouthed to me. I began to play, then everyone else filed in.
It was like second nature, like I've known the song for ages. I was playing so well, so easily, I found myself playing and thinking about my girls at the same time. I wonder how proud they'll be.
Then the song was over and we were done.
