The Pit - an Imagine Dragons story

Chapter 2

The first week of high school goes by well enough. Wayne tries to befriend Dan but isn't exactly succeeding at it. He's made some progress, but Dan lets out very little about himself. He's always got his head stuck in that dammed notebook of his.

All three of them keep trying their best to restrain themselves from reading what's in there. They desperately want to know, but they also want to gain Dan's trust. And snooping around in his notebook is not going to help.

The last class of the week is ahead of them and all of them can't help their excitement. They sit down at one of the tables and wait for their class to start. Right before the bell rings Dan enters the room and reluctantly sits down at their table.

"Hello class," The teacher speaks up. "All of you have chosen this class by yourself which means I expect full dedication to the subject. No daydreaming." He looks at Dan, who is staring ahead of himself. as he says that. "And no talking while I speak." He continues.

"For this first semester, we're forming bands. You will be working to fully perfect a performance to show the whole school. It can be a cover, but any original song will gain you extra credit. The bands are already formed, you'll be doing it with whoever you're sitting with right now."

"Nice." Ben smiles and looks at his friends. "This will be fun!"

"Who's gonna sing though? I sure as hell ain't gonna do that," Wayne says with a small fear hidden in his eyes.

"You know your voice isn't even that bad Wayne. But maybe Dan can sing?" Platz says.

They all turn to look at Dan who seems to be out of this world. Is eyes are fixed on the notebook on his table and he's scribbling something down with uttermost concentration. The first few lines are easy to make out.

The Pit
I would rather stay here
Where the flowers bloom and the Sun, it shines
It shines on you
It lights up your eyes

"Is that lyrics to a song?" Ben whispers so Dan can't hear.

"I don't know? It seems like it." Platz tries to lean over to see what the rest says, but is unsuccessful.

"Hey Dan." Wayne turns back to him, "did you hear what the teacher said?" He asks

This finally catches Dan's attention, "Eh no, I'm sorry. What was it? He closes his notebook with a bang and slides it into his bag along with the pen he was using.

"We're gonna be forming bands," Wayne responds.

Dan's expression becomes unreadable. He looks.. excited? But at the same time he looks absolutely terrified. "Oh nice, are you guys in a group already?" He asks nervously, clearly with the fear of being the only one left.

"You're with us!" Ben smiles, "One thing tho, do you happen to be able to sing? Someone has to be the singer."

"I can try I guess, I'm not sure if I'm any good though." Dan starts fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt.

"I'm sure you'll be great." Wayne smiles and grabs Dan's wrist, "Come on," he says while he leads Dan to one of the small rehearsal rooms.

Ben and Platz follow and close the door behind them.

"This feels like you're gonna beat me up." Dan nervously laughs as his eyes scan the room. He slowly walks backwards until he feels a chair behind him which he clumsily takes a seat on.

"Oh wow, no, why would you think that?" They're all surprised at what Dan just said. "We're really not going to hurt you," Ben adds.

"Wouldn't be the first time something like this happened to me. You know how I said I got bullied for playing the Sax in middle school?" They all nod. "I wasn't lying, I actually got beat up for it a few times as well."

"I'm sorry," Wayne says dejected. "I can promise you we won't ever do that. Ben might be scary because he's always been popular, but that also means that no one comes for you when you're friends with him."

"Exactly," Platz agrees and Ben nods as well.

// AN

Hope you're enjoying it so far. The Sax story is actually real. Dan told it while playing the Saxophone during Symphony a few months ago.