Renegade - the band

Renegade - the band : Chapter 4 : A new face

Chapter 4 : A new face

 

It is November 5th, 2002, Arden sat down at the coffee shop, sipping his "Pumpkin Spice Latte". He wore a scarf around his face and a large hat to hide his identity from his fans, the paparazzi and the music producers. People are still trying to find him after the break up of the band.

The break up of "Hades Pirate" was so intense that it appreared several times on television, the newspaper and even on the internet. But still, Arden wasn't ready to give up on his dream yet. Then, something came into his mind, telling him to create a new band. But the problem is that, with the amount of money left in his bank account. How is Arden going hire new bandmates?

Arden kept on thinking while staring into his coffee. His mind went blank and can't think of any ideas. He was lost in his path. He needed inspiration and confidence.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he spotted a blonde haired guy who he used to buy musical instrument from ever since he moved into Chicago and created the band. Arden knew him as Thomas Taters and that he was a good pianist.

"Maybe he could be the one, the one to replace the pianist and also the vocalist in my previous band," Arden thought to himself while staring at Thomas.

From across the coffee shop, Arden examined Thomas Taters as Thomas walks out of his piano store smoking on a cigarette. Thomas was born on February 19th, 1982. So that he is age 20 this year (2002). Which shows that he is 7 years younger than Arden. Thomas Taters is a tall and thin guy. Thomas was also known as a kind person and had a general love of music but he wasn't very intelligent.

Arden had been inspecting Thomas from the coffee shop for almost 3 hours. Every move he makes, every step he takes, Arden is watching them. He became what we call, a stalker, just to find a good pianist / vocalist. He also followed Thomas to his apartment without him knowing. It may sound creepy but this is what he did.

After a few days of examining Thomas, Arden had no choice since he don't have enough money to hire a guitarist, he decided that it will be Thomas instead.

However the other problem is that, Arden wasn't sure how to talk about it to Thomas. He doesn't want it to be awkward and weird. So on the following night, as Arden was at somewhere in Chicago, feeling troubled and stressed wether to hire Thomas or not, he took some stress relieving pills to cool himself down. But Arden took too much. The pills made him felt really high and his eyesights became blur. In his current condition, he still managed to get in his car to drive back home.

On his way home, he passed by the coffee shop where he used to watch Thomas from. He then spotted Thomas in the piano store from his car. As Arden was still really blur and not knowing what he was currently doing, he drove his car straight into Thomas's piano store like a crazy maniac. Crashing his own car into Thomas who was sitting behind the counter counting the money. The crash was so bad that it broke down the wall, windows and the electronic keyboards.

Both Arden and Thomas blacked out after the incident. Arden then woke up twelve hour later to find himself lying down on a bed in a hospital with his head and arm bandaged. He was also shocked to find Thomas lying unconsciously in the other bed next to him. Thomas was lucky to survive the crash as it is a direct impact. But sadly, his arm was also broken and would take a few months for it to recover. Another thing is that, due to trauma from the accident, all of his hair fell off. Thomas is now literally bald.

Arden did not recall what had happened last night. After the nurse explained everything to him, he finally regained his memory and remembered everything. He felt guilty of his behavior and also regretted doing this to Thomas. He also find it amazing that he somehow survived the crash too.

Arden laid down in bed, staring at the ceiling as a lot of things are going on in his mind.

"What have I done! I don't wanna go to jail and live in some disgusting rat house yet!"

After about two hours later, Thomas finally regained consciousness. Thomas was also surprised to be in the hospital, alongside with Arden.

"The heck are we? Why are you here? How did I..you..we end up in this place?" Thomas asked repeatedly.

But Arden just kept quiet. He was actually panicking. He knew he had comitted a serious crime

"Oh, aren't you Arden Ceoen? I recognize you anywhere! In fact, I still have some of your posters of the "Hades Pirate" back at my piano store!" Thomas called out to Arden, not knowing that his piano store got trashed.

"I wonder how both of us got here...and OH GOD, my hair, I'm BALD!" Thomas exclaimed.

Later, three policemen, a lawyer and a man in his 30s arrived. The man was a passer-by who witnessed the whole incident last night.

The man then pointed at Arden saying, "He's the one! I recognize him from the crash," while attempting to sue him. Arden's heart rate speeded up as he was really scared.

The policemen then questioned Arden and Thomas about the incidence repeatly. Thomas then claimed that Arden saved his life. He doesn't know about the truth that had happened.

Even thought Thomas didn't find Arden guilty, the others did. So for Arden's sentence, he had to take care of Thomas for a certain amount of time. Which means that Arden will be by Thomas's side to take care of him until the time is up. Then, the case is closed.

"...Close, but hmm not what I wished for...," Arden thought. "Hope this doesn't ruin my friggin dream."

 Thomas and Arden are now stuck together. Maybe Arden might finally had the chance to talk to Thomas about joining him together to start a new band. Or will Thomas reject his offer and continue his piano store life in the future? We'll see soon.