Chapter 1
Monday September 13th, 2012
5:56pm
It was a beautiful September evening in Sodor, a fictional suburb of Chicago where we see a trio band of young 17 year old boys jamming in a garage to "remedy" by Seether. The band was named Engine 165 and consisted of bassist/vocalist Thomas Harwell, guitarist/backing vocalist James Coolidge, and drummer Percy Scott.
"Throw your dollar bills and leave your thrills all here with me
And speak but don't pretend I won't defend you anymore you see
It aches in every bone, I'll die alone, but not for you
My eyes don't need to see that ugly thing, I know it's me you fear
If you want me hold me back
Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"
I don't need a friend, I need to mend so far away
So come sit by the fire and play a while, but you can't stay too long
It aches in every bone, I'll die alone, but not for pleasure
I see my heart explode, it's been eroded by the weather here
If you want me hold me back
Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"
Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy"
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"
Hold your eyes closed, take me in
Hold your eyes closed, take me in
Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"
Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"
The only two people in the audience were Emily Hewitt who was Thomas' girlfriend and Molly Winfried who was James' girlfriend. After they got done with the song they both cheered.
"Alright, great rehearsal guys" said Thomas
Emily went up and hugged Thomas "That was the best I've ever heard you guys play! I loved it!" she said. Thomas smiled "Thanks baby" he said as he kissed his girlfriend.
"You nailed that guitar solo baby" said Molly which also made James smile.
"Ah, it was nothin'. I mean after all I am best in the band" he joked.
"Ah shut up James everyone knows drums are the best" said Percy "And besides, without me where would the cool beat come from?"
"Drum machine?" Thomas joked which made everybody giggle "And I thought I was the cheeky one" said Percy rolling his eyes. When they stopped laughing Thomas and James put their instruments in their cases and exited Percy's garage along with everyone else.
"So who's up for pizza? I'm buying" asked Thomas.
"Sorry Thomas I got a lot of homework crap to work on and my mom will kill me if I get another C in math" said Percy locking the garage door.
"What about you two?" he asked James and Molly
"Actually we're going to catch a movie right and later we both have some homework to do too, sorry" Molly said "Maybe some other time dude" said James.
"I'll go with you baby" said Emily making Thomas smile.
"Ok, so I guess we'll catch you guys in school tomorrow. See you later" said Thomas and they all said their goodbyes back and went their separate ways.
Thomas and Emily hopped into Thomas' blue chevy cavalier and headed for the pizza parlor
"So how are the songs coming along Thomas?" asked Emily. Thomas was the main lyricist of the band. James and Percy were the ones that usually come up with the music parts.
"Great, I'm almost done writing the lyrics and after James and Percy are done coming up with the chords and whatever we'll start doing some demoing hopefully" He said.
Engine 165 is a band the three have been in since 7th grade. They started out doing mostly covers of their favorite bands such as Smashing Pumpkins, Primus, Faith no more, Living Colour, The Melvins, Helmet, and the list goes on. Being a fan of the 90s grunge and alternative scene Their choice of clothing would range from flannel shirts and acid wash jeans to band tees and converse shoes and they all had long hair also. Because of this they are all kind of considered social outcasts because of their outdated fashion, nevertheless they couldn't really give a damn.
"That's great honey" and Thomas smiled at her
…...
Maithwaite Pizza Parlor
6:22pm
They got to the Pizza Parlor and ordered a large New York style pizza (yes I know they're in Chicago but I don't give a damn) and took it out to the patio space to eat it.
"This is so good, you could eat pizza anywhere else in the US and it would suck" Said Thomas enjoying his food "I'm from Chicago and I still say You can't beat New York style. Well unless the guy wipes his dick on it or something when you're not looking".
Emily slapped him on the back of the head "Watch it doofus we're in public".
"Hey come on I'm a loveable doofus aren't I?" he said smirking which made Emily shake her head and sighed "Cheeky bastard" she mumbled
After they finished their dinner they decided to leave "That was great, let's head out" Thomas said getting up
"Don't forget to leave a tip" said Emily
Thomas groaned and rolling his eyes "Alright alright" as soon as he left a tip they left and got back in the car. Once they were in the car Thomas reached into his pocket and took out his pack of Marlboros and zippo lighter. "Want one?" he asked offering her a smoke and she nodded her head yes.
On the drive to Emily's house they were talking about school "So what did you think about Mr. McColl's test today Emily?" asked Thomas taking a drag of his cigarette "He really needs to loosen up on the questions cause none of us, not Even Edward can keep up" Edward is a friend of Thomas, James, and Percy, he's an 18 year old senior with a 4.0.
"Agreed, I really hate him." She said taking a drag of her cigarette. "Yesterday he almost gave me a detention for wearing a strapless tube top. I mean what the hell! It's not like I'm the type of girl who would go around flashing her breasts to people. I guess I was violating the dress code a little but give me a break. He should've looked at the popular girls, they're even worse"
"Teachers" Thomas said
"Yeah…"
….
Emily's house
7:37pm
Thomas pulled into the driveway of Emily's house and got out to walk her to the front door and disposed of their cigarette butts. As soon as they got to the door they both kissed each other good night.
"I love you" Thomas said stroking her black hair.
Emily smiled "I love you too" they kissed again and said good night to each other and Emily went into her house and closed the door.
Thomas sighed "Homework time now…" he grumbled and got back into his car and drove to his house.
….
Thomas' house
7:52pm
Thomas got out of his car and walked to the front door and before he entered his house he sprayed himself with some axe and shoved a piece of gum into his mouth so his mother wouldn't find out he was smoking.
"Hi sweety how was your day?" asked a petite middle aged woman sitting on the couch while watching TV.
"It was good Ma" he said to her.
"That's good, have you eaten?" she asked.
"Yes I went to the piazza shop with my girlfriend" he responded
His mom smiled "How nice".
As Thomas began to climb the stairs to his room his mom had stopped him "Thomas hold on". "What is Mom?" he asked.
"I got your grades today and you have three Cs, what is up with that?" she asked crossing her arms
"Uhhh, well… it's just…" Thomas tried saying "Alright I haven't been taking classes as hard as I should of I'll admit it" he said putting his hands up
Mrs. Harwell just pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed "What am I going to do with you? What will it take for you to focus Thomas?"
Thomas shrugged his shoulders "I dunno, I guess I've been focusing more on my band than school"
"Well let me tell you this young man, if you keep going like this then your grades will get so low and you'll have to repeat the 12th grade and I will not allow that!" she said raising her voice "Now go upstairs and study, now"
"Alright Ma, I'm going…"
"And one more thing Thomas, if I see another C on your report card again then I will ground you from playing music do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am"
"Good now get to studying" she told him and went back to watching TV
Thomas ascended the staircase and entered his room and closed the door. His room was a normal teenager's room, there were posters of his favorite bands and posters of trains (Him, James, and Percy for some reason always have had a fascination with trains which influenced them to come up with Engine 165 for their band name). Thomas kicked off his shoes and put his blue beanie on his night stand. He turned on the lamp and slumped on his bed and used a remote to turn on his stereo which was playing "mayonnaise" by smashing pumpkins, his favorite song.
He bobbed his head to the music. "One day, Engine will make it like SP did" he thought "I know we'll get a record deal one day, I just know it!"
…...
Percy's House
8:03pm
Percy had finally finished all his homework and put it back into his backpack. He then went out of his room and went into the kitchen where his parents were arguing, again… Percy shook his head and went to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda without his parents knowing and headed to the back of the garage where the band was playing earlier and lit up a cigarette
"Why the hell does it always have to be like that with them?" he asked himself while taking a drag of his smoke and taking a sip of his soda "I don't get it, they used to get along so great but now whenever they have a conversation it always involves shouting and cursing"
After Mr. Scott was laid off at the construction site one year before he started drinking which got worse over time and whenever he would return home wasted which caused put a strain on his relationship with his wife and son.
"Dad what am I gonna do with you?" said Percy taking off his dark green hat and running a hand through his spiky brown hair.
After finishing with his cigarette and soda he put the butt into the empty can and threw it into the garbage can next to him. He then unlocked the doors to garage and closed the doors as he entered. He turned on the lights and grabbed his drum sticks and started practicing. The thought of his parents one day splitting would kill him, his therapist had recommended taking on a hobby to ease the pain and anger.
When Percy was born he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and he has struggled with it most of his life. When he was going through puberty the depression side would come up and to ease the pain he would often cut his wrists with a razor blade and wear wrist bands to hide the cut marks. It wasn't until his parents caught him doing it one day and took him to see the therapist. And the rest is history.
After he got done practicing a small tear came out of his eye but he sucked it up and fought back the oncoming tears.
"I. Hate. My. Life." He said through gritted teeth and trying to stop himself from crying. After regaining control of his emotions he exited the garage and locked the doors again and lit up another smoke
"The band is all I got left…"
….
AMC Theatre
8:28pm
James and Molly exited the movie theatre and walked on home holding hands "So what did you think of the Avengers James?" asked Molly
"It was pretty friggin incredible, best superhero movie ever" James said "Way better than that piece of crap Batman and Robin- well actually anything is better than Batman and Robin" he laughed and Molly laughed too.
"So are we studying at my house or yours?" asked James
"We can do it at yours, if it's no problem" said Molly
"Ah, don't worry my parents won't be home till like midnight or somethin'"
"How come they're out so late?" she asked
James shrugged his shoulders "Beats the hell out of me, I got a free house tonight so I'm not complaining"
After a half hour of walking the two got to James' house and went into his room which was about the same as Thomas'. James took off his red leather jacket and hung it in his closet along with Molly's sweatshirt
"Wanna split a beer Molly?" asked James taking a Guinness out of his secret cooler under his bed
"Sure" said Molly taking a sip of the beer "You got good taste"
"Don't I?" he said cheekily. When they finished the beer James put on Alice in Chains' album "Dirt". He adjusted the volume so he and Molly could study.
"Ok, let's start with science cause I know you've been having a hard time in biology lately" Molly took out a set of notes from her backpack and they began studying. But while James' girlfriend was taking he drifted off and looking at how beautiful she is. "I'm one lucky son of a bitch to have a girl like her". At the same time James was thinking about the music they were listening to, taking in the tone of the guitars and the drone of Layne Staley's voice. He began thinking about his own music that he had been writing as well.
"Hello? James are you in there?" Molly asked snapping her finger
"Huh? Wha?" James said coming out of his trance
"Are you ok baby?" she asked
"Ummm… Yeah just fine"
"Are you sure? Cause you zoned out on me for like 5 minutes"
"Sorry babe. My mind has just been going somewhere else"
"What were you thinking about?" she asked
James sighed "I've been thinking about Engine and the music we've been writing, we've been working so damn hard and have been turned down twice by the record executives."
"Awww, don't worry baby I'm sure you'll get it this time" she said hugging him. "You know what they say, third time's the charm"
James smiled and hugged her back "Thanks"
"You're welcome, now let's get back to studying" she said and James nodded.
Another hour went by and James was starting to understand the material more. When the cloak struck 10pm they both decided to call it a night. But before Molly headed out she asked James to do something for her "James can you play me one of your songs?"
James scratched the back of his head "I don't know, I mean Thomas has the lyrics and I haven't even looked at them just yet"
"Please?" she pleaded
James sighed "Alright, hold on a sec" he took out his guitar and plugged it in and started playing for her. Even without the lyrics the groove and the feel of the song sounded so perfect to her and when he reached the solo she just sat there in awe. When he got done he looked at her and smirked at the look on her face
"I take it that you liked it?"
"Yes, it was great! You wrote all the chords for all the songs?" she asked
"Actually me and Percy do that part, we leave the lyrics to Thomas" he explained "I'm not really that great of a lyricist but I'll learn someday"
"Well it was great anyways James I loved it"
James smiled "Thanks babe" he looked at his clock "Oh crap it almost 10:30, I think we should call it a night"
"You're right" Molly got up and grabbed her yellow sweatshirt from the closet and headed for the front door, but before she got there James stopped her
"Molly"
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?" James asked
"James, I live like two blocks down the street it's not that long of a walk" said Molly
"I know it's just I don't want some maniac going after you and then having to read about you going missing in the papers"
Molly kissed him on the lips and stroked his blonde hair "I'll be fine, don't worry. I would never let some guy sweep me off my feet and take me away, unless if it was you"
James laughed "Yeah I guess, just be careful alright?"
Molly nodded "Of course, goodnight baby"
"Goodnight" they both kissed and Molly left for her house.
James closed the door and sighed "You damn well better be alright Molly" he mumbled and then he went to take a shower.
After his shower he got into his pajamas and flopped into his bed and before he closed his eyes he thought to himself "We'll make it, we gotta stick to our guns and hope for the best. Engine's a big part of my life and I ain't gonna let it go down". And then he turned out the light and let himself fall into a deep slumber.
End of Chapter One
So what did you all think? This time I decided to try something different and I think it turned out pretty ok. In the next chapter I'll focus on developing the characters a little more and show what it's like for the band and what they all have to deal with in school. If any of you have any advice I'd appreciate if you leave some in comments section. Till then I hope you guys like this story. Later