Meanwhile, my classes had been going well and I found myself balancing the band and school pretty well. We practiced in Ryan’s garage most days after school until five-thirty and then we went and grabbed something for dinner, usually Wendy’s.
We’d signed up for this thing called ‘CONCERTS IN THE PARK’ on Friday night; it’s pretty self-explanatory as you can tell by the title, and a good way to get our name out there. We were able to record a demo of the new song we’d written and even though it wasn’t amazing quality, it would do. Later, CD’s of the demo were burned and given out to everyone we knew.
Ryan even got his sister, Candace, to be our merch girl-which was awesome because I actually had another female to talk to. Oh, and the merch was pretty sick too, Candace made most of it herself-she was a graphic designer and was able to get our logo on different colored shirts and bags. And we had to get rubber bracelets too, so we ordered about a 100 custom-made ones online. Everything was finally coming together and it was pretty hard to believe, honestly. I never thought we would come this far as a band.
On Friday night, I straightened my hair and put on another one of my beanies, they were slowly becoming my signature thing. I put on some eyeliner and mascara and was ready to go. I picked up my bag and made sure I had my drumsticks and towel. Good to go.
I rushed downstairs and called to John.
He came out of the living room, his hair still wet from the shower he’d just taken and shirtless.
“Here,” I tossed him one of the turquoise colored band shirts, “put this on.”
He unfolded it and studied it. “Wow, this looks promising,” he pulled it over his head. “You guys really are serious about this, huh?”
“Well, most of us are,” I had already told John about Caleb.
“He’ll be gone soon, I wouldn’t worry,” he assured me.
“Yeah, it’s just, he better be here tonight, or else we’re screwed,” I pushed my bangs out of my face.
A smile spread across his face. “You’ll be great,” he made his way across the room and gave me a hug.
“Thanks,” he smelled like Axe. “Is dad coming?”
“Oh,” his smile quickly faded, “he said he couldn’t make it, something came up.”
I frowned. “That’s weird, but alright, you ready?” I looked down and saw that he was still barefoot. I picked up his Vans from our entry way and handed them to him.
“Thanks,” he took them gratefully and quickly slipped them on.
“Let’s go!” I exclaimed and we were out the door.
The park was actually quite beautiful. It was near a huge lake, and it wrapped around many large trees and trails. There were twinkly lights coiled around tree branches and in the middle of it all, there was the stage. Around the stage, there were several tents for the bands that were performing, about five.
With our windows rolled down, I could already smell the barbecue that was cooking. I grinned at this; it still felt like it was summer even though it was practically October.
John pulled into a spot designated for parking on the grass. After he parked, I jumped out of his truck and pulled out my phone.
YOU ARE READING
She's Got the Rhythm
Teen FictionMandy Hawthorne never wanted to play the drums. After being forced into playing by her dad and brother, she actually finds herself enjoying it. She hasn't told anyone that she's a drummer because she's afraid of what other people are going to think...
