Disclaimer: ...Not JP. Duh.
A/N: ^-^ Thank you guys for all the reviews, like I say in my replies, support really means a lot. I KNOW I SUCK FOR THIS BEING SO DAMNED LATE, school, life, you know? Crap like that. Plus, I'm an absolute failure with my internet life right now -.- Just keep being as patient as you are, please! ^-^ The songs in this chapter [in order] are:
Josey, by Hey Monday.
Past Praying For, by VersaEmerge [the lyrics aren't there, but it's still on their setlist, and VE rock ^-^].
Bring Me To Life, by Evanescence [ditto to Past Praying For. Though, if you don't know who Evanescence are, then, no offence or anything, but you're living under a rock. Amy Lee FTW].
Weightless, by All Time Low [ditto. My fave ATL song ever? Hell yeah].
Brick by Boring Brick, by Paramore [ditto].
Fallen, by Death in the Park feat. Hayley Williams.
Music-heavy chapter, but didn't you expect it? ^-^ Enjoy!
The reaction from the audience was amazing. Indescribable. They just started... screaming. And I mean, ouch, and all, but still... wow. I really am just that cool.
"Thanks, guys," I tried to quieten them whilst still being polite and all (good impressions. They can always be ruined later when they realise Iggy's in a stable relationship... with a Pokething). To my surprise, the crowd were immediately silent, apart from the occasional: 'I love you!' Heheh. See. I'm loved. Way more than Iggy. Take that, Pikachu freak. "Okay, this is a little song you might know... it's called Josey, and it's by Hey Monday."
I took a few steps back, and nodded at Sam. He started up a few power-chords, smiling when it was the perfect volume. Iggy started up on the drums, his loud beats resonating around the field while Dylan kept the tempo at the right speed, tapping his foot to the rhythm.
It sounded awesome, and the crowd seemed to agree, going even more insane than before (which is pretty damn insane, you know). And now I had to sing. God help me. Taking a deep breath, I looked straight at Fang and Angel, my eyes begging them to give me the strength I suddenly needed, and started to sing.
The drinks are flowing just like the river
Then she keeps going
The whole night ends with a blur
She's got no limit she thinks she's so tough
Can't walk a straight line
The end of the night she's rough
I leaned down a little, singing to the front row conspiratorially. The kids laughed, jumping along with me before I straightened up again, my voice silky-smooth.
Her dress whispers reckless
That night starts now
And she slips on her necklace
We leapt into the chorus, the guitar almost harmonising with my voice. Performing like this... felt pretty damn incredible.
Josey don't you worry
It's just a phase you're going through
Some day you'll know just what to do
Josey it's alright
Slap the hand that just keeps pouring
It doesn't matter just do something
She's ready to roll tonight is different
She'll start it off slow
To keep herself in check
Oh no oh no it's two for one
She starts the show now
From this moment on she's done
Her dress whispers reckless
That night starts now
And she slips on her necklace
I laughed out loud, jumping up and down at Sam's side, bringing my head up and down to the music just like our audience.
Josey don't you worry
It's just a phase you're going through
Some day you'll know just what to do
Josey it's alright
Slap the hand that just keeps pouring
It doesn't matter just do something
My voice was only just audible over the music, soft and sweet...
The party is tonight
And she thinks they're playing her song
The party is tonight
And it's playing all night long
...Before I absolutely belted out the final chorus, Dylan and Sam bouncing on the balls of their feet beside me, Iggy behind us smacking his drums with vigour.
Josey don't you worry
It's just a phase you're going through
Some day you'll know just what to do
Josey it's alright
Slap the hand that just keeps pouring
It doesn't matter just do something
We finished with our trademark flourish, all of us with grins splitting our faces'. Hell. That was freaking fun, let me tell you. If you ever get the chance to perform in front of a thousand odd people, with your future at stake? Go for it. No joke. The applause, screams and general approval from the crowd was deafening, all of them practically bursting their lungs to cheer for us.
My gaze flickered over to where the judges were sat, to the right of the stage. I'd been avoiding looking over at them, but hey, curiosity never killed the cat. Hang on. I think that's wrong... sod it. If I was a cat, then I'd be able to land my skateboard without looking like an elephant who's just sky-dived. All three of them were hunched over the desk, whispering to one another as they scribbled on paper, occasionally flicking us a glance.
"Our next song's called Past Praying For, by VersaEmerge," I winked as Sam started up his round of power-chords, Dylan picking along with him.
This time, starting to sing wasn't half as hard: the crowd was supporting me through and through, and as always I could feel my nervousness slipping away as the music filled parts of me I never knew were empty. Around me, all the guys completely let themselves go, just enjoying the music.
Have I already said that it felt amazing? Yeah, well, it did.
By the end of our set, we'd rocked through Bring Me To Life by Evanescence (with Sam shouting along. Let's just say he should be jealous of dying cats), Weightless by All Time Low (you should've seen the raving down there. All Time Low are just loved, okay? Everyone loves them. And if they say they don't, they're in denial. Fact) and topped it all off with Brick by Boring Brick by my personal favourite, Paramore (are brackets really needed here? No, no they're not, but that's beside the point).
"Thanks, guys," I grinned, breathing heavily after my, to say the least, energetic performance. Sam and Dylan were smiling like idiots, waving randomly to random people standing around randomly (I like the word random. Don't judge me), and I could only imagine what Iggy was doing behind. Actually, scratch that, I really, really don't even want to think about what Ig's probably doing. Next time, we really should give him a talk on 'appropriate' on-stage behaviour.
"It was awesome playing for you all," Sam chipped in, speaking into the microphone he hadn't abandoned after he tried to raise the dead in Bring Me To Life (hahaha... that's seriously ironic. No pun intended, I swear... it just slipped out).
"We'll see you guys around!" I gave a final wave, letting the various catcalls and whistles brush right past me (some of them were rather inventive, actually. I hope Ig didn't hear them: he might get ideas, and we don't want that. At all. Ig's ideas kill. I'm serious, the kid has a serious bomb disorder).
As we strolled off, I couldn't help looking over my shoulder to look at the judges again. I knew I shouldn't, but that just made me want to that much more. It's natural, okay? Leave me alone. Anyway, the little Barbie doll was just sat there, barely clapping, hardly concealing her disapproval. I was extremely tempted to flip her the bird, but I refrained, which is probably a good thing. Hell, we'd just given it her all, but hey, of course it's not good enough for her. We could've worn lycra costumes and flipped around the stage like freaking acrobats, and it still wouldn't have been good enough. Wait. No, no we couldn't have. The day I see Iggy in anything vaguely tight-fitting will be the day I die.
No joke.
See, it's so true it even deserved a whole new paragraph. Um, yeah, so anyway... the country guy I actually liked was smiling, applauding us heartily, while the boy from that new crappy boy band was nodding approvingly, clapping a little, but nothing major, you know? Yeah.
All in all... I think they kinda liked us. Except Miss 'I can't hear you, my head's stuck in my arse' who's just too good for any of us local bands. You know, now that I think about it, she kind of reminds me of Lissa. Yup, that was definitely needed in this little musing session, which I'm officially ending because I actually referred to it as a musing session and... now I'm rambling.
As soon as we pushed through the curtains, Iggy threw himself onto one of the little plush armchairs (I know, how glamorous? Edward Cullen should be jealous). Sam flopped down in a slightly more controlled fashion and Dylan just went back to spying on the next band. Clever me, however, heard footsteps echoing away from us.
"Hm," Iggy's eyes were closed as he talked. I wonder if I could steal his Pikachu badge ('I need the support to know she's always with me!')...? "I think we've been spied on." Typical. Has to read my mind, doesn't he? Crap, that means he knows about the badge mission... oh well. I'll have to reschedule. Fang'll love this.
"By who?" Sam lifted his head for a few seconds before collapsing again.
"People," Iggy replied, his eyes opening. Oh, how prophetic.
"People who?" Dylan asked, confused. Oh dear God. Why me?
"Band people..." Houston, I think we've found the problem.
"Another band?" Congratulations, Sam. You have more than one brain cell, which is more than I can say for Iggy. And Dylan. Put together.
"No shit Sherlock," I finally jumped in, rolling my eyes. "The same one that just went on."
"If you're not mistaken," Dylan turned to look at me with deep, teasing eyes.
"When am I ever mistaken?" I grinned cockily.
"Touché," he winked before turning back to the stage. Iggy and Sam promptly starting arguing, this time about some game revolving around fish (I'm sorry, guys, but COD is a fish. Not a game. Get over it). After checking they weren't going to rip each others' throats out (it took like fifteen minutes. Believe me), I moved to Dylan's side, leaning past him slightly to look out past him. I could feel heat radiating from him before he took a nervous step back. Glancing back, I saw his cheeks were blazing scarlet. See, now I feel all bad about the dance thing.
He'd been really sweet and all understanding when I'd told him that I was planning to go with Fang. You know, just letting it go. It's how you'd want it to go, all perfectly smooth, nothing out of place. No anger, no raised voices (or fists, in my case... Still not violent, though), just... calm.
It just made it that much freaking worse. Alright, I can deal with anger, annoyance, all that stuff, but turn a sad face on me, and I'll struggle. Dylan was just... Dylan. Calm, controlled... okay, no, he was flustered (he always seems to be, around me, these days), but he just accepted it. Even said he was happy for me and Fang before I set the record straight, then he just laughed. He gave me one last sweet smile before leaving for home.
I felt so freaking horrible. Couldn't he have just, you know, hurled a couple of glasses at my head or something? Oh, no. He just had to be so perfect.
Wow, I'm messed up. Complaining about a guy being too perfect... well, that's me. Typical.
Anyway, out on the stage was a pretty red-headed girl, flanked by two guys on electric guitar, a boy on bass, and another back on the drums. They were kinda like us, with the whole female fronting thing, except they had another drummer. And none of us looked anything like any of the band.
"We're gonna slow things down a little for our last song," the girl announced, smiling and winking at the crowd. "We've been Angel Range, thanks for supporting us!" Me and Dylan exchanged a look before turning back to the stage, eyebrows raised, watching as one of the guitarists with blonde floppy hair exchanged his electric guitar for a nicely polished acoustic. The other guitarist and the drummer both waved goodbye to rapturous applause as they pushed through the curtains... right next to us.
Well. We just got owned.
They just stood there for a moment like lemons, looking at us, who were looking right back at them like... oranges. Oranges are cooler than lemons, okay? Fact.
"Hi," I eventually said lamely.
"Hi," the guitarist repeated, looking a little confused (quite like Dylan, actually). There was an awkward silence. Damn, I hate awkward silences. Actually, I'm really bad in them, I just start rambling off about everything and anything. It's awful. Seriously.
"They were spying on you," Ig said helpfully, before I could open my mouth and let a whole a stream of embarrassing things gushing out. I sent him an exasperated look over my shoulder. He's so dead later. Not quite sure when, but he'll stop breathing at some point. At my hand. Wow, that sounded cool.
"Sorry," Dylan smiled apologetically, ever the diplomatic one. If I keep my big mouth shut, we might actually get through this, without an argument...
"Yeah, well, you were spying on us too," I shrugged. I just had to go there, didn't I? Typical. Just have to make myself seem like an arrogant, cocky little shit. Which, you know, I kind of am sometimes, but there's no need for them to know that yet. I like to keep my alter-egos to myself until they know my main one, so to speak.
To my surprise, both of them burst out laughing. Hmm. Seems they have a mental disorder of some sort... well, they'll get along well with Iggy, then.
"No worries," the guitarist said, grinning.
"Yeah," the drummer added. "Gotta check out the competition, huh? Anyhow, I'm Tom, drummer supremo!" He winked to show he was only joking... I hope. Really hope. Pikachu might get mad on Iggy's behalf, and if that happens... well, let's just say sparks fly. Get it? Oh God, I amuse myself sometimes.
"Matt," the guitarist gave us both a friendly smile, casting a glance at the collapsed, barely-recognisable figures on the arm-chairs. They looked like deformed monsters. Especially in Iggy's case. I'm kidding (sort of).
"I'm Dylan," Dyl said, extending his hand for the other two to take. Aw. He's such a gentleman. How sweet.
"I'm-"
"Max needs introducing?" Ig's head snapped up, and he jumped up, zooming over at a ridiculous speed. "This is Max, she has multiple psychopathetic tendencies, absolutely no common sense, can burn cereal, and has anger problems."
"And believes she'll rule the world," Sam chipped in lazily, now sitting up with his feet propped up on Iggy's abandoned chair.
Well. Aren't I loved? You'd think, after all this time, they'd realise that most of that I take as a compliment. But still. They must pay.
Slowly, I turned around, ignoring Tom, Matt, and Dyl's snickers. Smiling sweetly, I elbowed Ig in the ribs. Pretty damn hard. He groaned and reached down to stroke them tenderly.
"Are you sorry?" I leaned up onto my tiptoes so we were approximately the same height (I'm not short! I'm just vertically challenged. There's a difference. Except when Iggy's concerned, since he's both stupid and mentally challenged) and I could look into his eyes properly.
"Very much so," he straightened up so he could tower over me, smirking. I rolled my eyes before turning to Sam, who was watching us amusedly.
"You should shut it or it'll be you next," I said threateningly, knowing it was a completely empty threat.
"Aye aye, Cap'n Max," he saluted me, grinning, and I laughed despite myself. Stupid guys. Always know how to get to me. Damn them. Love them really, though. I'd never admit it, but I do.
"Hey, they're starting," Matt called to Tom, who was grabbing a can of 7UP from the various vending machines scattered around. Naturally, in the end, all six of us ended up crowded round the curtains, even Sam (Iggy dragged him up with promises not to try and set him up with... um... Piplup? I don't know, I'm not a Pokeperson. Get it? Hahahaha... never mind).
On-stage, they'd both sat down, on little stools facing each other. The boy started playing a cheerful acoustic tune, smiling at the girl, who was nodding her head in time to the music gently.
[Italics = boy, bold and italics = both]
Ooohh, oooh, oohh love letters written in lipstick
the case is closed and I'm covered in your fingerprints
lay right here with me tonight
the sun is coming up
I've got a perfect view
I've got the day planned out
even thought it through
The boy's voice was surprisingly soft and gentle, though it had a rough edge. It was lovely to listen to, though. I wonder why he doesn't sing more often?
oh baby teach my something I never knew
like a diamond in the roof I'd shine for you
The girl took a deep breath before joining in, her voice strong against his as they melted into one, the harmonising voices bringing tears already to the audience's eyes'.
Stop. chase here into the dark. Let's hit the town parade every avenue
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Stop. chase here into the dark.
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Ooohh, oooh, ooohh
Let's burn it down, forget all we ever knew
Free from these city lights
Undercover, out of sight and out of mind
Where I can give you all my time
Oh baby teach me something in ever knew
Like a diamond in the roof I'd shine for you
Their eyes met as she sang again, and the intensity their gazes bore was... insane. Wow. If they weren't in love, then I was Barack Obama. Which, before you make some sarcastic joke, I'm really not.
Stop. chase here into the dark. Stop. chase here into the dark.
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Stop. chase here into the dark.
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Ooohh, oooh, ooohh
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Stop. chase here into the dark.
With such grace, it's never been this hard.
I've never fallen, I've never fallen faster.
Ooohh, oooh, ooohh
They finished strongly, their eyes lingering on one another before they stood and bowed to the mountainous applause, which, if I had to be completely honest, they completely deserved.
"Liam and Jamie," Matt smiled, clapping quietly. "Resident love-birds."
"Wouldn't guess it, though," Tom winked, applauding vigorously and almost smacking Ig in the face (well, someone has to). "It's hard to get Jame to even hold hands with him when we're around." Matt gave him a look.
"He means that Jamie isn't exactly one to flaunt her relationship," he explained more politely, slipping Tom a quick elbow in the stomach. Hmm. Jamie sounds cool, not to mention she has a freaking killer voice. Pretty, too. I'm not sure whether to like her for sounding awesome, or hate her for being better than me at just about everything. Stay tuned folks. Coming soon.
"Hey guys!" Jamie came bounding backstage, Liam traipsing behind her. "We did okay, huh?" She continued to babble away hyperly to Matt and Tom while Liam came up behind her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Despite her band's raised eyebrows, she let him, and even offered a small, happy smile.
"Jamie, shut up for like a second," Tom rolled his eyes, and Jamie shoved his shoulder a little, nothing major.
"This is Max," Matt jumped in, gesturing towards me. "And Dylan, Iggy, and Sam," he continued, pointing to each of them in turn. "They're Golden Silence."
"No freaking duh," Tom muttered under his breath. "What? We watched them, dumbass." All us on-lookers laughed as they began to wrestle playfully, Jamie rolling her eyes.
"Awesome to meet you," she grinned at me once they'd moved out of sight. "You guys were incredible! You so have to show me how to sing that chorus of Brick by Boring Brick, I can never get high enough."
"Sure," I smiled a little. "You were good, by the way. I'll show you Paramore if you show me how you did that acoustic cover. It was... okay."
Sam, Ig and Dyl burst out laughing at the last part, both Sam and Ig resting their arms on my shoulders (damn their tall-ness!).
"Okay in Max world is like out of this world in normal world," Iggy explained to a confused Jamie. "She lives in her own little world, you see."
"Hey, don't knock it!" I protested. "It's okay, see, everyone knows me there." The guys rolled their eyes, and Jamie laughed.
Tom and Matt reappeared, both of them rubbing various parts of their arms and necks, grumbling. They flopped down on the seats Ig and Sam were in earlier, and we soon joined them, my burst of energy beginning to fade.
And that was how we met both our main rivals, and good friends, Angel Range.
A/N: Again, so so so sorry about the lateness, I'll try to make sure the next one is nowhere near this later. Also my apologies for not replying to reviews, if I don't get round to it tomorrow or whatever, I'll definitely reply any I might get for this chapter [the next chapter will come sooner if I get feedback... wink wink]. Anyhow, hope you liked it, was a bit of a longer one I think? Next chapter, results, and the dance! You might hate me for the next chapter, actually, but hey.
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