The rain washed down over Franklin the morning the band held their first day of auditions. Unfortunately, more people who didn't play bass showed up than those who did. "I'm sorry," Hayley began, staring up at the blond haired girl who stood in the middle of the Farro living room, "our band isn't looking for a singer right now. We are looking for bass players." The girl's eyes fell to the floor and her face flushed red, embarassment enveloping her as she exited. Hayley sighed. "Don't people know how to read anymore?" she asked, picking up one of the posters we had made. "It clearly says we need a bassist!" Josh simply chuckled, he was taking this a lot easier than Hayley was at the moment. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck and it was almost enough to calm the nerves that churned in her stomach. "We'll get through the day, Hayles. Next!"
After three whole days of school, homework, and trying to go through the bass auditions, the band had almost given up altogether. Hayley was more frustrated than the rest because she really wanted this band to follow through and be amazing. Her goals for the band were out of this world, almost too large for anyone to comprehend, but they didn't get in her way when it came to what she wanted. But they needed a bassist to achieve all that. By the fourth day, Hayley had almost called off auditions.
But an idea hit her right as she woke up one morning.
"You guys will love him, I swear!" Hayley promised, running out the door. A black van appeared in the driveway and Hayley jumped up, running towards it. "Jeremy!" she hollered, running into a guy's arms. Josh stared back, feeling awkward.
JOSH'S POV:
The dude looked so strange. He was tall, blond, and way too skinny to be normal. He gave the impression of "hippe" with his many plastic bracelets on his wrists and his neon colored shoelaces. He had a bandana wrapped around his forehead, framing his angular face. Was Hayley crazy?
The girl rushed back to me with a look illustrating more excitement than I ever saw before. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she stood on her toes and put her lips up to my ear. "Don't worry, he isn't insane. Just listen to him play," she whispered, as if she read my mind somehow. Although I was less inclined to believe that was true, Hayley's biting-her-lower-lip expression had my questions dissipating somewhere off in the atmosphere.
"Hey dude!" Zac called, holding out his free hand. "Nice to meet you, man!"
Jeremy nodded and raised his eyebrows. "So you guys are Hayley's new band?" he asked.
"I got together with them," Hayley began, "because Josh and I wrote songs together, and not very long after, we had a pile of them. I could show you, if you want."
Jeremy followed us into my house as Hayley grabbed a handful of songs we had been working on. "It's not final, we are obviously still writing, but I know you'll get into right away like with our previous band."
Hayley paused and thought something to herself before snapping back into the situation. "I know you can write amazing things for us, Jerm. Just hear us play! You'll get your mind working on by then," Hayley said.
"Let's go!!" Zac yelled, rushing over towards his drums. "We'll play you the song Pressure. Tell us how you like it!" Jeremy sat against the couch as Zac and I began to play the beginning. "Tell me where our time went," Hayley sang, sounding even better than before.
She must have really wanted to impress this guy.
After the final ring of the guitar and the echo of Hayley's voice rang through the house, we stopped, waiting for Jeremy's rection. I placed my guitar against a stand and leaned against my living room wall, arms crossed.
"Wow," Jeremy said, his eyes wide. He looked impressed, even sounded impressed. "It was awesome, really. And I think I know what I'll play for that. Hang on, I'll be right back."
As Jeremy rushed out the door, Hayley flashed a bright grin towards Zac and me. "This could be really good for us!" She said excitedly. "Actually, I know it will be, because Jeremy seriously is amazing. You guys should just hear him! I should know, I mean we've played in the same band together already. Don't you remember, Josh?"
I thought back to when Hayley sang live shows with that separate funk band from a while back. Thinking back further, I remembered that skinny bassist they had, and Jeremy's face had already come rushing back into my head. "Oh, yeah!" I said, realizing it just now.
Jeremy came running in with a bass in his hands. As he got set up on the couch, he began to strum a simple melody that sounded like Pressure. As he progressed through the song, he made barely any mistakes, really no mistakes, and had his own little groove going. Hayley smiled the entire time he was playing, glancing my direction and nodding every now and then. "You've got mad skills, dude!" Zac exclaimed as he finished. I nodded in agreement, no reason to object. "He does."
"What did I say?!" Hayley asked me, with such a sarcastic bite to her words that I could barely take her seriously.
"He is pretty great," I answered definitively. And I wasn't lying. The dude was amazing. Finally, maybe things would work out with our band.
Throughout the rest of the week Jeremy had so cleverly written his own bass parts for each and every song we did. And the two of us had become friends. Actually, faster than I had ever anticipated. Once you get past the looks, he wasn't such a bad guy. He was funny, even. He and Zac always played around every chance they got. Hayley and I continued focusing on the music. Soon enough, the March dance was coming up at school.
Hayley called a band meeting Saturday morning at my place. She had sounded much too excited for her own good, so there was definitely something up her sleeve.
"Are you sure?" I asked her, doubting the plan.
"Yeah! Super sure! I know we are ready for it. And I miss playing live!" Hayley answered.
"It does sound like a pretty good idea," Jeremy chimed in.
"Dude, we are so ready!" Zac added, placing a hand on my shoulder. I frowned. Nobody was really agreeing with me here and were trying to convince me otherwise.
"It's just a school dance. Big deal. They won't care," Hayley announced, sounding sure. "The school is looking for a local band and this is our shot. We can see how people like our music. If we really do sound as good as it seems."
"Well yeah..."I said slowly, "but what if they hate us?" Hayley walked over to me and took me in her arms. "Josh, that's kind of saying I'm a bad singer." Hayley's eyes turned wide and she pouted, also stroking my hair in the process. I groaned, completely weak to the looks and the carressing that this girl had put me through. It was an advantage on her part, and I just had to get passed it before I gave in to everything. Not that I minded it much, anyways. "Fine," I finally said, a hint of a whine in there, agreeing to all of this. Zac cheered and called us all into a group hug. "To the Hot Wheels!" He said.
"Hot Wheels?" Hayley, Jeremy and I said synonymously.
"Yeah! It's our band name!" Zac replied.
Jeremy shook his head. "No way, dude."
I agreed. Hot Wheels did not embody nor express anything we were about. "We still haven't named our band," Hayley pointed out, her lips morphing into a straight, firm line. "I have no idea what to name our band," she concluded.
"There's got to be something cool we can name it. It's not like we'll be stuck on one name, we can change it up every time until we like something," Jeremy said.
"Yeah...but if you guys can't find a name can we do Hot Wheels?" Zac asked.
"No!" The rest of us said in unison.
Zac frowned, his face crumpling up. "Fine, then! Jeez!"
Hayley laughed at Zac. Soon enough, we all were laughing.
"I can't do this!" I wailed, sitting tightly against a chair. We seemed to be behind the stage, just about ready to play. The rest of the band huddled around me.
"What do you mean, Josh?" Hayley asked arrogantly.
"I can't do this! We can't play live right now! I can't!" I repeated, almost yelling. I felt my face burn red. Heat; slick and hot, flushing my cheeks.
"Josh, calm down! Of course we can do this. We are already ready. We've practiced! How can you say you aren't ready?" Jeremy said, as the rest of the band nodded.
"Dude, don't bail now! It's our first show and you're just going to ditch?" Zac asked me, a slightly angry lilt to his already frustrated voice.
"I said I can't do it! I can't! We need lots of time to work it out! We aren't ready!" I yelled.
I woke up, taking a big gulp of air as I sat up in my bed. I looked around my room, everything was fine, we weren't backstage at school, we weren't going to launch into our show. My lungs were filled with...fire. I felt sick. That dream got my heart racing, my chest aching, I almost had to reach for the air that felt so distant to me. I took tiny breaths as I turned and checked the clock. It was 6:12 AM, and today was Thursday. Tomorrow was the dance. And we had been practicing all week now. I wiped the sweat of my forehead as I sat up. What an insane dream. It felt too real, like it had happened, like it was reality...but hopefully none of it was. I felt like a total idiot just then. I definitely needed some water to calm myself down.
HAYLEY'S POV:
I dashed quickly and made my way to the Farro house down the street from mine. Today, we were going to miss the school day to rehearse. Skipping was never huge on our to-do list, but you gotta do what you gotta do when in a band.
"Band practice time!" I said in a little girl's voice as I pounded hungrily against the door. Zac opened it, still in his pajamas. "Why so early? It's 9 AM!" He complained, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I sighed. "Zac, 9 AM isn't early anymore. It's late morning, basically. Come on, we need to get some band time in. Tomorrow is our first ever show!"
"But what if I don't want to practice right now?" He added. I rolled my eyes and made my way inside the house.
"Here," I said, tossing him a granola bar I found on their dinner table, "eat up and get energized. Your going to need it. I really don't want to mess this up." I took out my phone and dialed Jeremy's number.
"Hello?" A voice groaned on the other line.
"It's Hayley. I'm calling for a band practice. You have to be here...well, now."
Jeremy groaned and grunted, there was shuffling noise in the background that I figured to be his feet against the carpet. "Hayley! I kind of want to sleep in today," he said.
"No complaining, Jerm! Just get over here. Tomorrow is our first show."
"I know, Hayley. Shouldn't you all be in school right now anyways?" he asked, getting off topic. "We aren't going to go to school today, Jerm," I replied, "I called a practice. Now please, please, please can you get over here?"
Jeremy sighed loudly and I heard the faint sound of a sink running against a bathroom sink. "Be right there," he muttered.
Once Jeremy had arrived, the living room had been set up for our practice, the couches pushed against the walls and the rest of the junk placed in a temporary spot. Zac was still chewing on some cheese and holding a drumstick in his unoccupied hand.
"Okay, I'm thinking we should start with Pressure," I said, writing out a possible set list. "I really want to capture that whole up-and-down feel. We should start with something energetic, tone it down, and then rise it up."
"Can we add My Heart to the set?" Josh asked. I looked back at him with a smile, reminiscing on the first time he had ever played the song for me. The memory was so completely vivid. I recalled it perfectly--his guitar in his slightly calloused hands, his fingers strumming, his voice smooth and velvet.
"Yeah, we can," I agreed.
"It's going to only be a five song set list, and then the next band playing will take over," Zac pointed out from behind his drums.
"We better pick the best songs then," Jeremy added.
I nodded. "Yeah," I snapped into a quick thought process and thought over what could bring the crowd to their feet. We had a decent amount of songs written out, the only thing now was to see what would catch people's attention. "Can we add Here We Go Again for the second song?"
The rest of the guys nodded along. "My Heart will definitely be last, though. I want to end it with a good, strong song."
"Woah can be thrown in there too," Josh began, "and then Conspiracy. There. I think we've got our set list."
We all agreed as we wrote it down. Thinking about the ingenious guitar riffs that Josh had written up, the bass groove and the perfect drum beats that Zac had created, I had no doubt about the perfection of this show. It would be wonderful.
The nerves had begun to wash over me right as we stood behind the curtain. I was in front of the microphone, and Josh was on my right, Jeremy on my left, and Zac behind. Josh smiled lopsidedly at me as I held the mic stand nervously in my hands. The curtain began to pull open, and it was right then that I realized the size of our crowd. I recognized a few faces, but almost everyone in the school knew me as the girl who dated Josh Farro, nothing less, nothing more. There was something completely wrong with that. They had to see more of me, and this might just be the opportunity to do that. I hope I don't disappoint tonight.
"Hey guys," I began, my voice shaky. I took a quick breath and remembered not to show my fear. I wasn't going to be any more afraid than I already was. "So who's ready for a fun filled dance tonight?" The crowd went wild. Their reaction sent my heart racing a brisk pace. It wasn't fear anymore, not really. It was pure adrenaline that infused my lungs with the snarling happiness that was just about ready to escape me. "Alright!" I agreed, voice louder, more clearer now. "We've got some awesome bands playing for tonight's dance. But for now, I'm Hayley, that's Josh," I began, gesturing to the right side, "that's Jeremy," I continued, gesturing towards our bassist. I turned quickly and raised my hands. "And that is Zac Farro!" I yelled excitedly. Zac beat against his drums quickly before the lights turned off. With the beginning riffs and the ring of the guitars echoing through the speakers, the lights flashed back on, the spotlight hanging over me. I let my voice belt out as loud as I could, and slowly but surely the fear had trickled away into nothing at all.
By the beginning of My Heart, I was ready to just let everything out. The crowd was going wild with each song, dancing energetically. "Okay," I said into the microphone, breathing heavily, "this is our last song of the night." The crowd went "aww" with a genuine disappointment that I was quite surprised to hear. I couldn't help but smile that they were sad to see us go. They must have really liked us.
"Don't worry," I said, "we promise we will be back!"
The crowd roared.
"We'll see you around," I said, as the lights turned off again. The band started up the beginning of My Heart as I sang softly into the microphone. By the end of the song, the crowd had applauded so loud my ears felt as if they'd be unresponsive after tonight. "Thank you!" I thanked them, and with one last gap-toothed smile, we headed out.
We exited off the stage and into the backstage area. Josh embraced me, picked me up, and swung me around the room. I laughed along, enjoying it, the thrum of adrenaline still pulsing in my veins. When he finally put me down, the rest of the band huddled together. "We were awesome!" Zac exclaimed. Bright smiles were on each one of our faces. I felt my stomach grumble. "Who's up for some fried chicken?" I asked. The rest of the band nodded happily as we walked and into the parking lot.
That night, that one amazing live show, was too good to be true. And soon enough, we were already booking other shows in schools and small areas outside of Nashville. The band was off to an amazing start. Who would have thought after starting off in Franklin without any friends or confidence, that I'd end up here? This was definitely an unexpected blessing.
After three whole days of school, homework, and trying to go through the bass auditions, the band had almost given up altogether. Hayley was more frustrated than the rest because she really wanted this band to follow through and be amazing. Her goals for the band were out of this world, almost too large for anyone to comprehend, but they didn't get in her way when it came to what she wanted. But they needed a bassist to achieve all that. By the fourth day, Hayley had almost called off auditions.
But an idea hit her right as she woke up one morning.
"You guys will love him, I swear!" Hayley promised, running out the door. A black van appeared in the driveway and Hayley jumped up, running towards it. "Jeremy!" she hollered, running into a guy's arms. Josh stared back, feeling awkward.
JOSH'S POV:
The dude looked so strange. He was tall, blond, and way too skinny to be normal. He gave the impression of "hippe" with his many plastic bracelets on his wrists and his neon colored shoelaces. He had a bandana wrapped around his forehead, framing his angular face. Was Hayley crazy?
The girl rushed back to me with a look illustrating more excitement than I ever saw before. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she stood on her toes and put her lips up to my ear. "Don't worry, he isn't insane. Just listen to him play," she whispered, as if she read my mind somehow. Although I was less inclined to believe that was true, Hayley's biting-her-lower-lip expression had my questions dissipating somewhere off in the atmosphere.
"Hey dude!" Zac called, holding out his free hand. "Nice to meet you, man!"
Jeremy nodded and raised his eyebrows. "So you guys are Hayley's new band?" he asked.
"I got together with them," Hayley began, "because Josh and I wrote songs together, and not very long after, we had a pile of them. I could show you, if you want."
Jeremy followed us into my house as Hayley grabbed a handful of songs we had been working on. "It's not final, we are obviously still writing, but I know you'll get into right away like with our previous band."
Hayley paused and thought something to herself before snapping back into the situation. "I know you can write amazing things for us, Jerm. Just hear us play! You'll get your mind working on by then," Hayley said.
"Let's go!!" Zac yelled, rushing over towards his drums. "We'll play you the song Pressure. Tell us how you like it!" Jeremy sat against the couch as Zac and I began to play the beginning. "Tell me where our time went," Hayley sang, sounding even better than before.
She must have really wanted to impress this guy.
After the final ring of the guitar and the echo of Hayley's voice rang through the house, we stopped, waiting for Jeremy's rection. I placed my guitar against a stand and leaned against my living room wall, arms crossed.
"Wow," Jeremy said, his eyes wide. He looked impressed, even sounded impressed. "It was awesome, really. And I think I know what I'll play for that. Hang on, I'll be right back."
As Jeremy rushed out the door, Hayley flashed a bright grin towards Zac and me. "This could be really good for us!" She said excitedly. "Actually, I know it will be, because Jeremy seriously is amazing. You guys should just hear him! I should know, I mean we've played in the same band together already. Don't you remember, Josh?"
I thought back to when Hayley sang live shows with that separate funk band from a while back. Thinking back further, I remembered that skinny bassist they had, and Jeremy's face had already come rushing back into my head. "Oh, yeah!" I said, realizing it just now.
Jeremy came running in with a bass in his hands. As he got set up on the couch, he began to strum a simple melody that sounded like Pressure. As he progressed through the song, he made barely any mistakes, really no mistakes, and had his own little groove going. Hayley smiled the entire time he was playing, glancing my direction and nodding every now and then. "You've got mad skills, dude!" Zac exclaimed as he finished. I nodded in agreement, no reason to object. "He does."
"What did I say?!" Hayley asked me, with such a sarcastic bite to her words that I could barely take her seriously.
"He is pretty great," I answered definitively. And I wasn't lying. The dude was amazing. Finally, maybe things would work out with our band.
Throughout the rest of the week Jeremy had so cleverly written his own bass parts for each and every song we did. And the two of us had become friends. Actually, faster than I had ever anticipated. Once you get past the looks, he wasn't such a bad guy. He was funny, even. He and Zac always played around every chance they got. Hayley and I continued focusing on the music. Soon enough, the March dance was coming up at school.
Hayley called a band meeting Saturday morning at my place. She had sounded much too excited for her own good, so there was definitely something up her sleeve.
"Are you sure?" I asked her, doubting the plan.
"Yeah! Super sure! I know we are ready for it. And I miss playing live!" Hayley answered.
"It does sound like a pretty good idea," Jeremy chimed in.
"Dude, we are so ready!" Zac added, placing a hand on my shoulder. I frowned. Nobody was really agreeing with me here and were trying to convince me otherwise.
"It's just a school dance. Big deal. They won't care," Hayley announced, sounding sure. "The school is looking for a local band and this is our shot. We can see how people like our music. If we really do sound as good as it seems."
"Well yeah..."I said slowly, "but what if they hate us?" Hayley walked over to me and took me in her arms. "Josh, that's kind of saying I'm a bad singer." Hayley's eyes turned wide and she pouted, also stroking my hair in the process. I groaned, completely weak to the looks and the carressing that this girl had put me through. It was an advantage on her part, and I just had to get passed it before I gave in to everything. Not that I minded it much, anyways. "Fine," I finally said, a hint of a whine in there, agreeing to all of this. Zac cheered and called us all into a group hug. "To the Hot Wheels!" He said.
"Hot Wheels?" Hayley, Jeremy and I said synonymously.
"Yeah! It's our band name!" Zac replied.
Jeremy shook his head. "No way, dude."
I agreed. Hot Wheels did not embody nor express anything we were about. "We still haven't named our band," Hayley pointed out, her lips morphing into a straight, firm line. "I have no idea what to name our band," she concluded.
"There's got to be something cool we can name it. It's not like we'll be stuck on one name, we can change it up every time until we like something," Jeremy said.
"Yeah...but if you guys can't find a name can we do Hot Wheels?" Zac asked.
"No!" The rest of us said in unison.
Zac frowned, his face crumpling up. "Fine, then! Jeez!"
Hayley laughed at Zac. Soon enough, we all were laughing.
"I can't do this!" I wailed, sitting tightly against a chair. We seemed to be behind the stage, just about ready to play. The rest of the band huddled around me.
"What do you mean, Josh?" Hayley asked arrogantly.
"I can't do this! We can't play live right now! I can't!" I repeated, almost yelling. I felt my face burn red. Heat; slick and hot, flushing my cheeks.
"Josh, calm down! Of course we can do this. We are already ready. We've practiced! How can you say you aren't ready?" Jeremy said, as the rest of the band nodded.
"Dude, don't bail now! It's our first show and you're just going to ditch?" Zac asked me, a slightly angry lilt to his already frustrated voice.
"I said I can't do it! I can't! We need lots of time to work it out! We aren't ready!" I yelled.
I woke up, taking a big gulp of air as I sat up in my bed. I looked around my room, everything was fine, we weren't backstage at school, we weren't going to launch into our show. My lungs were filled with...fire. I felt sick. That dream got my heart racing, my chest aching, I almost had to reach for the air that felt so distant to me. I took tiny breaths as I turned and checked the clock. It was 6:12 AM, and today was Thursday. Tomorrow was the dance. And we had been practicing all week now. I wiped the sweat of my forehead as I sat up. What an insane dream. It felt too real, like it had happened, like it was reality...but hopefully none of it was. I felt like a total idiot just then. I definitely needed some water to calm myself down.
HAYLEY'S POV:
I dashed quickly and made my way to the Farro house down the street from mine. Today, we were going to miss the school day to rehearse. Skipping was never huge on our to-do list, but you gotta do what you gotta do when in a band.
"Band practice time!" I said in a little girl's voice as I pounded hungrily against the door. Zac opened it, still in his pajamas. "Why so early? It's 9 AM!" He complained, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I sighed. "Zac, 9 AM isn't early anymore. It's late morning, basically. Come on, we need to get some band time in. Tomorrow is our first ever show!"
"But what if I don't want to practice right now?" He added. I rolled my eyes and made my way inside the house.
"Here," I said, tossing him a granola bar I found on their dinner table, "eat up and get energized. Your going to need it. I really don't want to mess this up." I took out my phone and dialed Jeremy's number.
"Hello?" A voice groaned on the other line.
"It's Hayley. I'm calling for a band practice. You have to be here...well, now."
Jeremy groaned and grunted, there was shuffling noise in the background that I figured to be his feet against the carpet. "Hayley! I kind of want to sleep in today," he said.
"No complaining, Jerm! Just get over here. Tomorrow is our first show."
"I know, Hayley. Shouldn't you all be in school right now anyways?" he asked, getting off topic. "We aren't going to go to school today, Jerm," I replied, "I called a practice. Now please, please, please can you get over here?"
Jeremy sighed loudly and I heard the faint sound of a sink running against a bathroom sink. "Be right there," he muttered.
Once Jeremy had arrived, the living room had been set up for our practice, the couches pushed against the walls and the rest of the junk placed in a temporary spot. Zac was still chewing on some cheese and holding a drumstick in his unoccupied hand.
"Okay, I'm thinking we should start with Pressure," I said, writing out a possible set list. "I really want to capture that whole up-and-down feel. We should start with something energetic, tone it down, and then rise it up."
"Can we add My Heart to the set?" Josh asked. I looked back at him with a smile, reminiscing on the first time he had ever played the song for me. The memory was so completely vivid. I recalled it perfectly--his guitar in his slightly calloused hands, his fingers strumming, his voice smooth and velvet.
"Yeah, we can," I agreed.
"It's going to only be a five song set list, and then the next band playing will take over," Zac pointed out from behind his drums.
"We better pick the best songs then," Jeremy added.
I nodded. "Yeah," I snapped into a quick thought process and thought over what could bring the crowd to their feet. We had a decent amount of songs written out, the only thing now was to see what would catch people's attention. "Can we add Here We Go Again for the second song?"
The rest of the guys nodded along. "My Heart will definitely be last, though. I want to end it with a good, strong song."
"Woah can be thrown in there too," Josh began, "and then Conspiracy. There. I think we've got our set list."
We all agreed as we wrote it down. Thinking about the ingenious guitar riffs that Josh had written up, the bass groove and the perfect drum beats that Zac had created, I had no doubt about the perfection of this show. It would be wonderful.
The nerves had begun to wash over me right as we stood behind the curtain. I was in front of the microphone, and Josh was on my right, Jeremy on my left, and Zac behind. Josh smiled lopsidedly at me as I held the mic stand nervously in my hands. The curtain began to pull open, and it was right then that I realized the size of our crowd. I recognized a few faces, but almost everyone in the school knew me as the girl who dated Josh Farro, nothing less, nothing more. There was something completely wrong with that. They had to see more of me, and this might just be the opportunity to do that. I hope I don't disappoint tonight.
"Hey guys," I began, my voice shaky. I took a quick breath and remembered not to show my fear. I wasn't going to be any more afraid than I already was. "So who's ready for a fun filled dance tonight?" The crowd went wild. Their reaction sent my heart racing a brisk pace. It wasn't fear anymore, not really. It was pure adrenaline that infused my lungs with the snarling happiness that was just about ready to escape me. "Alright!" I agreed, voice louder, more clearer now. "We've got some awesome bands playing for tonight's dance. But for now, I'm Hayley, that's Josh," I began, gesturing to the right side, "that's Jeremy," I continued, gesturing towards our bassist. I turned quickly and raised my hands. "And that is Zac Farro!" I yelled excitedly. Zac beat against his drums quickly before the lights turned off. With the beginning riffs and the ring of the guitars echoing through the speakers, the lights flashed back on, the spotlight hanging over me. I let my voice belt out as loud as I could, and slowly but surely the fear had trickled away into nothing at all.
By the beginning of My Heart, I was ready to just let everything out. The crowd was going wild with each song, dancing energetically. "Okay," I said into the microphone, breathing heavily, "this is our last song of the night." The crowd went "aww" with a genuine disappointment that I was quite surprised to hear. I couldn't help but smile that they were sad to see us go. They must have really liked us.
"Don't worry," I said, "we promise we will be back!"
The crowd roared.
"We'll see you around," I said, as the lights turned off again. The band started up the beginning of My Heart as I sang softly into the microphone. By the end of the song, the crowd had applauded so loud my ears felt as if they'd be unresponsive after tonight. "Thank you!" I thanked them, and with one last gap-toothed smile, we headed out.
We exited off the stage and into the backstage area. Josh embraced me, picked me up, and swung me around the room. I laughed along, enjoying it, the thrum of adrenaline still pulsing in my veins. When he finally put me down, the rest of the band huddled together. "We were awesome!" Zac exclaimed. Bright smiles were on each one of our faces. I felt my stomach grumble. "Who's up for some fried chicken?" I asked. The rest of the band nodded happily as we walked and into the parking lot.
That night, that one amazing live show, was too good to be true. And soon enough, we were already booking other shows in schools and small areas outside of Nashville. The band was off to an amazing start. Who would have thought after starting off in Franklin without any friends or confidence, that I'd end up here? This was definitely an unexpected blessing.
The rain washed down over Franklin the morning the band held their first day of auditions. Unfortunately, more people who didn't play bass showed up than those who did. "I'm sorry," Hayley began, staring up at the blond haired girl who stood in the middle of the Farro living room, "our band isn't looking for a singer right now. We are looking for bass players." The girl's eyes fell to the floor and her face flushed red, embarassment enveloping her as she exited. Hayley sighed. "Don't people know how to read anymore?" she asked, picking up one of the posters we had made. "It clearly says we need a bassist!" Josh simply chuckled, he was taking this a lot easier than Hayley was at the moment. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck and it was almost enough to calm the nerves that churned in her stomach. "We'll get through the day, Hayles. Next!"
After three whole days of school, homework, and trying to go through the bass auditions, the band had almost given up altogether. Hayley was more frustrated than the rest because she really wanted this band to follow through and be amazing. Her goals for the band were out of this world, almost too large for anyone to comprehend, but they didn't get in her way when it came to what she wanted. But they needed a bassist to achieve all that. By the fourth day, Hayley had almost called off auditions.
But an idea hit her right as she woke up one morning.
"You guys will love him, I swear!" Hayley promised, running out the door. A black van appeared in the driveway and Hayley jumped up, running towards it. "Jeremy!" she hollered, running into a guy's arms. Josh stared back, feeling awkward.
JOSH'S POV:
The dude looked so strange. He was tall, blond, and way too skinny to be normal. He gave the impression of "hippe" with his many plastic bracelets on his wrists and his neon colored shoelaces. He had a bandana wrapped around his forehead, framing his angular face. Was Hayley crazy?
The girl rushed back to me with a look illustrating more excitement than I ever saw before. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she stood on her toes and put her lips up to my ear. "Don't worry, he isn't insane. Just listen to him play," she whispered, as if she read my mind somehow. Although I was less inclined to believe that was true, Hayley's biting-her-lower-lip expression had my questions dissipating somewhere off in the atmosphere.
"Hey dude!" Zac called, holding out his free hand. "Nice to meet you, man!"
Jeremy nodded and raised his eyebrows. "So you guys are Hayley's new band?" he asked.
"I got together with them," Hayley began, "because Josh and I wrote songs together, and not very long after, we had a pile of them. I could show you, if you want."
Jeremy followed us into my house as Hayley grabbed a handful of songs we had been working on. "It's not final, we are obviously still writing, but I know you'll get into right away like with our previous band."
Hayley paused and thought something to herself before snapping back into the situation. "I know you can write amazing things for us, Jerm. Just hear us play! You'll get your mind working on by then," Hayley said.
"Let's go!!" Zac yelled, rushing over towards his drums. "We'll play you the song Pressure. Tell us how you like it!" Jeremy sat against the couch as Zac and I began to play the beginning. "Tell me where our time went," Hayley sang, sounding even better than before.
She must have really wanted to impress this guy.
After the final ring of the guitar and the echo of Hayley's voice rang through the house, we stopped, waiting for Jeremy's rection. I placed my guitar against a stand and leaned against my living room wall, arms crossed.
"Wow," Jeremy said, his eyes wide. He looked impressed, even sounded impressed. "It was awesome, really. And I think I know what I'll play for that. Hang on, I'll be right back."
As Jeremy rushed out the door, Hayley flashed a bright grin towards Zac and me. "This could be really good for us!" She said excitedly. "Actually, I know it will be, because Jeremy seriously is amazing. You guys should just hear him! I should know, I mean we've played in the same band together already. Don't you remember, Josh?"
I thought back to when Hayley sang live shows with that separate funk band from a while back. Thinking back further, I remembered that skinny bassist they had, and Jeremy's face had already come rushing back into my head. "Oh, yeah!" I said, realizing it just now.
Jeremy came running in with a bass in his hands. As he got set up on the couch, he began to strum a simple melody that sounded like Pressure. As he progressed through the song, he made barely any mistakes, really no mistakes, and had his own little groove going. Hayley smiled the entire time he was playing, glancing my direction and nodding every now and then. "You've got mad skills, dude!" Zac exclaimed as he finished. I nodded in agreement, no reason to object. "He does."
"What did I say?!" Hayley asked me, with such a sarcastic bite to her words that I could barely take her seriously.
"He is pretty great," I answered definitively. And I wasn't lying. The dude was amazing. Finally, maybe things would work out with our band.
Throughout the rest of the week Jeremy had so cleverly written his own bass parts for each and every song we did. And the two of us had become friends. Actually, faster than I had ever anticipated. Once you get past the looks, he wasn't such a bad guy. He was funny, even. He and Zac always played around every chance they got. Hayley and I continued focusing on the music. Soon enough, the March dance was coming up at school.
Hayley called a band meeting Saturday morning at my place. She had sounded much too excited for her own good, so there was definitely something up her sleeve.
"Are you sure?" I asked her, doubting the plan.
"Yeah! Super sure! I know we are ready for it. And I miss playing live!" Hayley answered.
"It does sound like a pretty good idea," Jeremy chimed in.
"Dude, we are so ready!" Zac added, placing a hand on my shoulder. I frowned. Nobody was really agreeing with me here and were trying to convince me otherwise.
"It's just a school dance. Big deal. They won't care," Hayley announced, sounding sure. "The school is looking for a local band and this is our shot. We can see how people like our music. If we really do sound as good as it seems."
"Well yeah..."I said slowly, "but what if they hate us?" Hayley walked over to me and took me in her arms. "Josh, that's kind of saying I'm a bad singer." Hayley's eyes turned wide and she pouted, also stroking my hair in the process. I groaned, completely weak to the looks and the carressing that this girl had put me through. It was an advantage on her part, and I just had to get passed it before I gave in to everything. Not that I minded it much, anyways. "Fine," I finally said, a hint of a whine in there, agreeing to all of this. Zac cheered and called us all into a group hug. "To the Hot Wheels!" He said.
"Hot Wheels?" Hayley, Jeremy and I said synonymously.
"Yeah! It's our band name!" Zac replied.
Jeremy shook his head. "No way, dude."
I agreed. Hot Wheels did not embody nor express anything we were about. "We still haven't named our band," Hayley pointed out, her lips morphing into a straight, firm line. "I have no idea what to name our band," she concluded.
"There's got to be something cool we can name it. It's not like we'll be stuck on one name, we can change it up every time until we like something," Jeremy said.
"Yeah...but if you guys can't find a name can we do Hot Wheels?" Zac asked.
"No!" The rest of us said in unison.
Zac frowned, his face crumpling up. "Fine, then! Jeez!"
Hayley laughed at Zac. Soon enough, we all were laughing.
"I can't do this!" I wailed, sitting tightly against a chair. We seemed to be behind the stage, just about ready to play. The rest of the band huddled around me.
"What do you mean, Josh?" Hayley asked arrogantly.
"I can't do this! We can't play live right now! I can't!" I repeated, almost yelling. I felt my face burn red. Heat; slick and hot, flushing my cheeks.
"Josh, calm down! Of course we can do this. We are already ready. We've practiced! How can you say you aren't ready?" Jeremy said, as the rest of the band nodded.
"Dude, don't bail now! It's our first show and you're just going to ditch?" Zac asked me, a slightly angry lilt to his already frustrated voice.
"I said I can't do it! I can't! We need lots of time to work it out! We aren't ready!" I yelled.
I woke up, taking a big gulp of air as I sat up in my bed. I looked around my room, everything was fine, we weren't backstage at school, we weren't going to launch into our show. My lungs were filled with...fire. I felt sick. That dream got my heart racing, my chest aching, I almost had to reach for the air that felt so distant to me. I took tiny breaths as I turned and checked the clock. It was 6:12 AM, and today was Thursday. Tomorrow was the dance. And we had been practicing all week now. I wiped the sweat of my forehead as I sat up. What an insane dream. It felt too real, like it had happened, like it was reality...but hopefully none of it was. I felt like a total idiot just then. I definitely needed some water to calm myself down.
HAYLEY'S POV:
I dashed quickly and made my way to the Farro house down the street from mine. Today, we were going to miss the school day to rehearse. Skipping was never huge on our to-do list, but you gotta do what you gotta do when in a band.
"Band practice time!" I said in a little girl's voice as I pounded hungrily against the door. Zac opened it, still in his pajamas. "Why so early? It's 9 AM!" He complained, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I sighed. "Zac, 9 AM isn't early anymore. It's late morning, basically. Come on, we need to get some band time in. Tomorrow is our first ever show!"
"But what if I don't want to practice right now?" He added. I rolled my eyes and made my way inside the house.
"Here," I said, tossing him a granola bar I found on their dinner table, "eat up and get energized. Your going to need it. I really don't want to mess this up." I took out my phone and dialed Jeremy's number.
"Hello?" A voice groaned on the other line.
"It's Hayley. I'm calling for a band practice. You have to be here...well, now."
Jeremy groaned and grunted, there was shuffling noise in the background that I figured to be his feet against the carpet. "Hayley! I kind of want to sleep in today," he said.
"No complaining, Jerm! Just get over here. Tomorrow is our first show."
"I know, Hayley. Shouldn't you all be in school right now anyways?" he asked, getting off topic. "We aren't going to go to school today, Jerm," I replied, "I called a practice. Now please, please, please can you get over here?"
Jeremy sighed loudly and I heard the faint sound of a sink running against a bathroom sink. "Be right there," he muttered.
Once Jeremy had arrived, the living room had been set up for our practice, the couches pushed against the walls and the rest of the junk placed in a temporary spot. Zac was still chewing on some cheese and holding a drumstick in his unoccupied hand.
"Okay, I'm thinking we should start with Pressure," I said, writing out a possible set list. "I really want to capture that whole up-and-down feel. We should start with something energetic, tone it down, and then rise it up."
"Can we add My Heart to the set?" Josh asked. I looked back at him with a smile, reminiscing on the first time he had ever played the song for me. The memory was so completely vivid. I recalled it perfectly--his guitar in his slightly calloused hands, his fingers strumming, his voice smooth and velvet.
"Yeah, we can," I agreed.
"It's going to only be a five song set list, and then the next band playing will take over," Zac pointed out from behind his drums.
"We better pick the best songs then," Jeremy added.
I nodded. "Yeah," I snapped into a quick thought process and thought over what could bring the crowd to their feet. We had a decent amount of songs written out, the only thing now was to see what would catch people's attention. "Can we add Here We Go Again for the second song?"
The rest of the guys nodded along. "My Heart will definitely be last, though. I want to end it with a good, strong song."
"Woah can be thrown in there too," Josh began, "and then Conspiracy. There. I think we've got our set list."
We all agreed as we wrote it down. Thinking about the ingenious guitar riffs that Josh had written up, the bass groove and the perfect drum beats that Zac had created, I had no doubt about the perfection of this show. It would be wonderful.
The nerves had begun to wash over me right as we stood behind the curtain. I was in front of the microphone, and Josh was on my right, Jeremy on my left, and Zac behind. Josh smiled lopsidedly at me as I held the mic stand nervously in my hands. The curtain began to pull open, and it was right then that I realized the size of our crowd. I recognized a few faces, but almost everyone in the school knew me as the girl who dated Josh Farro, nothing less, nothing more. There was something completely wrong with that. They had to see more of me, and this might just be the opportunity to do that. I hope I don't disappoint tonight.
"Hey guys," I began, my voice shaky. I took a quick breath and remembered not to show my fear. I wasn't going to be any more afraid than I already was. "So who's ready for a fun filled dance tonight?" The crowd went wild. Their reaction sent my heart racing a brisk pace. It wasn't fear anymore, not really. It was pure adrenaline that infused my lungs with the snarling happiness that was just about ready to escape me. "Alright!" I agreed, voice louder, more clearer now. "We've got some awesome bands playing for tonight's dance. But for now, I'm Hayley, that's Josh," I began, gesturing to the right side, "that's Jeremy," I continued, gesturing towards our bassist. I turned quickly and raised my hands. "And that is Zac Farro!" I yelled excitedly. Zac beat against his drums quickly before the lights turned off. With the beginning riffs and the ring of the guitars echoing through the speakers, the lights flashed back on, the spotlight hanging over me. I let my voice belt out as loud as I could, and slowly but surely the fear had trickled away into nothing at all.
By the beginning of My Heart, I was ready to just let everything out. The crowd was going wild with each song, dancing energetically. "Okay," I said into the microphone, breathing heavily, "this is our last song of the night." The crowd went "aww" with a genuine disappointment that I was quite surprised to hear. I couldn't help but smile that they were sad to see us go. They must have really liked us.
"Don't worry," I said, "we promise we will be back!"
The crowd roared.
"We'll see you around," I said, as the lights turned off again. The band started up the beginning of My Heart as I sang softly into the microphone. By the end of the song, the crowd had applauded so loud my ears felt as if they'd be unresponsive after tonight. "Thank you!" I thanked them, and with one last gap-toothed smile, we headed out.
We exited off the stage and into the backstage area. Josh embraced me, picked me up, and swung me around the room. I laughed along, enjoying it, the thrum of adrenaline still pulsing in my veins. When he finally put me down, the rest of the band huddled together. "We were awesome!" Zac exclaimed. Bright smiles were on each one of our faces. I felt my stomach grumble. "Who's up for some fried chicken?" I asked. The rest of the band nodded happily as we walked and into the parking lot.
That night, that one amazing live show, was too good to be true. And soon enough, we were already booking other shows in schools and small areas outside of Nashville. The band was off to an amazing start. Who would have thought after starting off in Franklin without any friends or confidence, that I'd end up here? This was definitely an unexpected blessing.
After three whole days of school, homework, and trying to go through the bass auditions, the band had almost given up altogether. Hayley was more frustrated than the rest because she really wanted this band to follow through and be amazing. Her goals for the band were out of this world, almost too large for anyone to comprehend, but they didn't get in her way when it came to what she wanted. But they needed a bassist to achieve all that. By the fourth day, Hayley had almost called off auditions.
But an idea hit her right as she woke up one morning.
"You guys will love him, I swear!" Hayley promised, running out the door. A black van appeared in the driveway and Hayley jumped up, running towards it. "Jeremy!" she hollered, running into a guy's arms. Josh stared back, feeling awkward.
JOSH'S POV:
The dude looked so strange. He was tall, blond, and way too skinny to be normal. He gave the impression of "hippe" with his many plastic bracelets on his wrists and his neon colored shoelaces. He had a bandana wrapped around his forehead, framing his angular face. Was Hayley crazy?
The girl rushed back to me with a look illustrating more excitement than I ever saw before. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she stood on her toes and put her lips up to my ear. "Don't worry, he isn't insane. Just listen to him play," she whispered, as if she read my mind somehow. Although I was less inclined to believe that was true, Hayley's biting-her-lower-lip expression had my questions dissipating somewhere off in the atmosphere.
"Hey dude!" Zac called, holding out his free hand. "Nice to meet you, man!"
Jeremy nodded and raised his eyebrows. "So you guys are Hayley's new band?" he asked.
"I got together with them," Hayley began, "because Josh and I wrote songs together, and not very long after, we had a pile of them. I could show you, if you want."
Jeremy followed us into my house as Hayley grabbed a handful of songs we had been working on. "It's not final, we are obviously still writing, but I know you'll get into right away like with our previous band."
Hayley paused and thought something to herself before snapping back into the situation. "I know you can write amazing things for us, Jerm. Just hear us play! You'll get your mind working on by then," Hayley said.
"Let's go!!" Zac yelled, rushing over towards his drums. "We'll play you the song Pressure. Tell us how you like it!" Jeremy sat against the couch as Zac and I began to play the beginning. "Tell me where our time went," Hayley sang, sounding even better than before.
She must have really wanted to impress this guy.
After the final ring of the guitar and the echo of Hayley's voice rang through the house, we stopped, waiting for Jeremy's rection. I placed my guitar against a stand and leaned against my living room wall, arms crossed.
"Wow," Jeremy said, his eyes wide. He looked impressed, even sounded impressed. "It was awesome, really. And I think I know what I'll play for that. Hang on, I'll be right back."
As Jeremy rushed out the door, Hayley flashed a bright grin towards Zac and me. "This could be really good for us!" She said excitedly. "Actually, I know it will be, because Jeremy seriously is amazing. You guys should just hear him! I should know, I mean we've played in the same band together already. Don't you remember, Josh?"
I thought back to when Hayley sang live shows with that separate funk band from a while back. Thinking back further, I remembered that skinny bassist they had, and Jeremy's face had already come rushing back into my head. "Oh, yeah!" I said, realizing it just now.
Jeremy came running in with a bass in his hands. As he got set up on the couch, he began to strum a simple melody that sounded like Pressure. As he progressed through the song, he made barely any mistakes, really no mistakes, and had his own little groove going. Hayley smiled the entire time he was playing, glancing my direction and nodding every now and then. "You've got mad skills, dude!" Zac exclaimed as he finished. I nodded in agreement, no reason to object. "He does."
"What did I say?!" Hayley asked me, with such a sarcastic bite to her words that I could barely take her seriously.
"He is pretty great," I answered definitively. And I wasn't lying. The dude was amazing. Finally, maybe things would work out with our band.
Throughout the rest of the week Jeremy had so cleverly written his own bass parts for each and every song we did. And the two of us had become friends. Actually, faster than I had ever anticipated. Once you get past the looks, he wasn't such a bad guy. He was funny, even. He and Zac always played around every chance they got. Hayley and I continued focusing on the music. Soon enough, the March dance was coming up at school.
Hayley called a band meeting Saturday morning at my place. She had sounded much too excited for her own good, so there was definitely something up her sleeve.
"Are you sure?" I asked her, doubting the plan.
"Yeah! Super sure! I know we are ready for it. And I miss playing live!" Hayley answered.
"It does sound like a pretty good idea," Jeremy chimed in.
"Dude, we are so ready!" Zac added, placing a hand on my shoulder. I frowned. Nobody was really agreeing with me here and were trying to convince me otherwise.
"It's just a school dance. Big deal. They won't care," Hayley announced, sounding sure. "The school is looking for a local band and this is our shot. We can see how people like our music. If we really do sound as good as it seems."
"Well yeah..."I said slowly, "but what if they hate us?" Hayley walked over to me and took me in her arms. "Josh, that's kind of saying I'm a bad singer." Hayley's eyes turned wide and she pouted, also stroking my hair in the process. I groaned, completely weak to the looks and the carressing that this girl had put me through. It was an advantage on her part, and I just had to get passed it before I gave in to everything. Not that I minded it much, anyways. "Fine," I finally said, a hint of a whine in there, agreeing to all of this. Zac cheered and called us all into a group hug. "To the Hot Wheels!" He said.
"Hot Wheels?" Hayley, Jeremy and I said synonymously.
"Yeah! It's our band name!" Zac replied.
Jeremy shook his head. "No way, dude."
I agreed. Hot Wheels did not embody nor express anything we were about. "We still haven't named our band," Hayley pointed out, her lips morphing into a straight, firm line. "I have no idea what to name our band," she concluded.
"There's got to be something cool we can name it. It's not like we'll be stuck on one name, we can change it up every time until we like something," Jeremy said.
"Yeah...but if you guys can't find a name can we do Hot Wheels?" Zac asked.
"No!" The rest of us said in unison.
Zac frowned, his face crumpling up. "Fine, then! Jeez!"
Hayley laughed at Zac. Soon enough, we all were laughing.
"I can't do this!" I wailed, sitting tightly against a chair. We seemed to be behind the stage, just about ready to play. The rest of the band huddled around me.
"What do you mean, Josh?" Hayley asked arrogantly.
"I can't do this! We can't play live right now! I can't!" I repeated, almost yelling. I felt my face burn red. Heat; slick and hot, flushing my cheeks.
"Josh, calm down! Of course we can do this. We are already ready. We've practiced! How can you say you aren't ready?" Jeremy said, as the rest of the band nodded.
"Dude, don't bail now! It's our first show and you're just going to ditch?" Zac asked me, a slightly angry lilt to his already frustrated voice.
"I said I can't do it! I can't! We need lots of time to work it out! We aren't ready!" I yelled.
I woke up, taking a big gulp of air as I sat up in my bed. I looked around my room, everything was fine, we weren't backstage at school, we weren't going to launch into our show. My lungs were filled with...fire. I felt sick. That dream got my heart racing, my chest aching, I almost had to reach for the air that felt so distant to me. I took tiny breaths as I turned and checked the clock. It was 6:12 AM, and today was Thursday. Tomorrow was the dance. And we had been practicing all week now. I wiped the sweat of my forehead as I sat up. What an insane dream. It felt too real, like it had happened, like it was reality...but hopefully none of it was. I felt like a total idiot just then. I definitely needed some water to calm myself down.
HAYLEY'S POV:
I dashed quickly and made my way to the Farro house down the street from mine. Today, we were going to miss the school day to rehearse. Skipping was never huge on our to-do list, but you gotta do what you gotta do when in a band.
"Band practice time!" I said in a little girl's voice as I pounded hungrily against the door. Zac opened it, still in his pajamas. "Why so early? It's 9 AM!" He complained, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I sighed. "Zac, 9 AM isn't early anymore. It's late morning, basically. Come on, we need to get some band time in. Tomorrow is our first ever show!"
"But what if I don't want to practice right now?" He added. I rolled my eyes and made my way inside the house.
"Here," I said, tossing him a granola bar I found on their dinner table, "eat up and get energized. Your going to need it. I really don't want to mess this up." I took out my phone and dialed Jeremy's number.
"Hello?" A voice groaned on the other line.
"It's Hayley. I'm calling for a band practice. You have to be here...well, now."
Jeremy groaned and grunted, there was shuffling noise in the background that I figured to be his feet against the carpet. "Hayley! I kind of want to sleep in today," he said.
"No complaining, Jerm! Just get over here. Tomorrow is our first show."
"I know, Hayley. Shouldn't you all be in school right now anyways?" he asked, getting off topic. "We aren't going to go to school today, Jerm," I replied, "I called a practice. Now please, please, please can you get over here?"
Jeremy sighed loudly and I heard the faint sound of a sink running against a bathroom sink. "Be right there," he muttered.
Once Jeremy had arrived, the living room had been set up for our practice, the couches pushed against the walls and the rest of the junk placed in a temporary spot. Zac was still chewing on some cheese and holding a drumstick in his unoccupied hand.
"Okay, I'm thinking we should start with Pressure," I said, writing out a possible set list. "I really want to capture that whole up-and-down feel. We should start with something energetic, tone it down, and then rise it up."
"Can we add My Heart to the set?" Josh asked. I looked back at him with a smile, reminiscing on the first time he had ever played the song for me. The memory was so completely vivid. I recalled it perfectly--his guitar in his slightly calloused hands, his fingers strumming, his voice smooth and velvet.
"Yeah, we can," I agreed.
"It's going to only be a five song set list, and then the next band playing will take over," Zac pointed out from behind his drums.
"We better pick the best songs then," Jeremy added.
I nodded. "Yeah," I snapped into a quick thought process and thought over what could bring the crowd to their feet. We had a decent amount of songs written out, the only thing now was to see what would catch people's attention. "Can we add Here We Go Again for the second song?"
The rest of the guys nodded along. "My Heart will definitely be last, though. I want to end it with a good, strong song."
"Woah can be thrown in there too," Josh began, "and then Conspiracy. There. I think we've got our set list."
We all agreed as we wrote it down. Thinking about the ingenious guitar riffs that Josh had written up, the bass groove and the perfect drum beats that Zac had created, I had no doubt about the perfection of this show. It would be wonderful.
The nerves had begun to wash over me right as we stood behind the curtain. I was in front of the microphone, and Josh was on my right, Jeremy on my left, and Zac behind. Josh smiled lopsidedly at me as I held the mic stand nervously in my hands. The curtain began to pull open, and it was right then that I realized the size of our crowd. I recognized a few faces, but almost everyone in the school knew me as the girl who dated Josh Farro, nothing less, nothing more. There was something completely wrong with that. They had to see more of me, and this might just be the opportunity to do that. I hope I don't disappoint tonight.
"Hey guys," I began, my voice shaky. I took a quick breath and remembered not to show my fear. I wasn't going to be any more afraid than I already was. "So who's ready for a fun filled dance tonight?" The crowd went wild. Their reaction sent my heart racing a brisk pace. It wasn't fear anymore, not really. It was pure adrenaline that infused my lungs with the snarling happiness that was just about ready to escape me. "Alright!" I agreed, voice louder, more clearer now. "We've got some awesome bands playing for tonight's dance. But for now, I'm Hayley, that's Josh," I began, gesturing to the right side, "that's Jeremy," I continued, gesturing towards our bassist. I turned quickly and raised my hands. "And that is Zac Farro!" I yelled excitedly. Zac beat against his drums quickly before the lights turned off. With the beginning riffs and the ring of the guitars echoing through the speakers, the lights flashed back on, the spotlight hanging over me. I let my voice belt out as loud as I could, and slowly but surely the fear had trickled away into nothing at all.
By the beginning of My Heart, I was ready to just let everything out. The crowd was going wild with each song, dancing energetically. "Okay," I said into the microphone, breathing heavily, "this is our last song of the night." The crowd went "aww" with a genuine disappointment that I was quite surprised to hear. I couldn't help but smile that they were sad to see us go. They must have really liked us.
"Don't worry," I said, "we promise we will be back!"
The crowd roared.
"We'll see you around," I said, as the lights turned off again. The band started up the beginning of My Heart as I sang softly into the microphone. By the end of the song, the crowd had applauded so loud my ears felt as if they'd be unresponsive after tonight. "Thank you!" I thanked them, and with one last gap-toothed smile, we headed out.
We exited off the stage and into the backstage area. Josh embraced me, picked me up, and swung me around the room. I laughed along, enjoying it, the thrum of adrenaline still pulsing in my veins. When he finally put me down, the rest of the band huddled together. "We were awesome!" Zac exclaimed. Bright smiles were on each one of our faces. I felt my stomach grumble. "Who's up for some fried chicken?" I asked. The rest of the band nodded happily as we walked and into the parking lot.
That night, that one amazing live show, was too good to be true. And soon enough, we were already booking other shows in schools and small areas outside of Nashville. The band was off to an amazing start. Who would have thought after starting off in Franklin without any friends or confidence, that I'd end up here? This was definitely an unexpected blessing.