Chapter 11- Band Rehearsal
Nick's POV
The day went by quickly and before long Nick found himself on his way to the band rehearsal. He had spotted Max a few more times today and each time he had seen a guy eyeing her. He couldn't tell what his reaction was. Every time he had seen her he felt protective and possibly…jealous. But it was probably only because he liked her as friend, nothing more.
His dad had actually gotten home from work on time today and was driving him to James's house. They pulled up the driveway and Nick saw James waiting out the front for him. James looked slightly shocked at the car he was turning up in. Nick looked at the car as he got out and knew why.
It was a sleek, black, fancy car that his dad owned. His dad was pretty successful, so they had some money. The interior of the car only added to the expensive look. It was spotless and looked like it could've been bought yesterday.
"Hey," James said to him.
"Hi."
"Have a nice time," Nick's dad called from the driver's seat. Nick shut the door to the passenger side and walked up the driveway to meet James. He had his guitar with him. The car backed out of the driveway quietly and before Nick knew it his dad was gone.
"Everyone else is already here. We set up in my room," James explained. Nick looked at the house for the first time. It was actually pretty fancy looking. It was a plain white colour and only one storey, but it still looked like a fairly expensive house. The garden was full of blooming, colourful flowers that Nick assumed was the work of James's mum.
James led him into the house and the headed down a hallway to James's room. The house was full of knick knacks and little ornaments. It actually looked really cosy and welcoming. They entered James's room, which was at the back of the house. Luke and Daniel were already set up. Luke was sitting at a drum kit and Daniel was sitting behind a keyboard. Nick was surprised to see how big James's room was. They could fit a whole band in there and it still didn't look too crowded. Nick suspected that James and his family had quite a bit of money.
"Is that an electric guitar?" James asked, pointing to the case in Nick's hands.
"Yeah," he replied. He thought it was obvious. The case was thinner than an acoustic guitar's case.
"Excellent," he said, walking over and picking up his bass that was leaning against the wall.
"What songs do you play? Do I need to learn the lyrics?" Nick asked.
"We basically do covers of other bands. But our old guitarist wrote his own songs and sometimes we performed them. But they weren't very good."
The others laughed. Nick smiled slightly and started unpacking his guitar. Once he got it out of the case he plugged it into an amp next to James's amp. He strummed the strings and quickly tuned it.
"Do you know how to play Guns 'n' Roses' Sweet Child of Mine?" Luke asked.
"Er, yeah," Nick answered. "But I don't sound like him when I sing."
They laughed at this. "That's okay. How 'bout My Sharona by The Knack? Can you play that?"
"Yeah," he answered.
"Even the solo?" James asked.
"Yeah." They all looked impressed. He guessed the solo was difficult and fast. But guitar came naturally to him. It was strange, but one day he just picked up a guitar and found he could play it reasonably well. Then he started lessons and he picked it up really easily.
"James likes the old songs," Daniel informed him.
"We do new ones as well," James said indignantly.
They laughed again. "Well, I like Linkin Park. We do songs from them," James said.
"Yeah, we do a lot of Linkin Park songs. Is that okay?"" Luke said.
"Yeah, I like Linkin Park."
"Can you sing like they do? They shout a lot in their songs," Daniel said.
"Yeah, I think I can manage."
"Good, because we get gigs and that, so it's not like we're just doing this for fun," Daniel said seriously.
"Well, do we wanna test out a song and see if Nick's the guitarist for us?" James asked. They all nodded their heads. James swung his bass up and got into position. Luke picked up his drum sticks and Daniel placed his fingers over the keyboard.
"How about My Sharona first?" James asked. They all nodded. Nick picked up his guitar and took out his pick. When he was ready Luke started the drum pattern. Then James came in with the bass. It was actually sounding like the song. Then Nick came in with the guitar. He realised that there wasn't any keyboard in this song and glanced over at Daniel. He had gotten another electric guitar and was getting ready to play it. Hmmm, so he played guitar as well. Then he remembered that there were two guitar parts. One guitar played the solo while the other played the tune along with the bass.
Nick started singing the lyrics.
Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one.
When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run.
Gun it comin' off the line Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. I always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My Sharona...
Come a little closer huh, ah will ya huh.
Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona.
Keeping it a mystery, it gets to me
Running down the length of my thighs, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up. Such a dirty mind.
Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My Sharona...
M M M My Sharona…
When you gonna give it to me, give it to me.
It is just a matter of time, Sharona?
Is it just destiny, destiny?
Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona?
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. I always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My Sharona...
M M M My Sharona…
M M M My Sharona…
M M M My Sharona…
Then Nick launched into the solo. When he was finished the song returned to the main tune
Ooooooooh Ooooooh, My Sharona
Oooooooh Ooooooh, My Sharona
Nick ended the song and noticed that they were all staring at him.
"Wow," James said. "You're definitely in. You rock. You played that whole solo perfectly. It took our old lead guitarist weeks to learn that."
"Er, thanks," Nick said.
"Let's play another song. How 'bout a slower one from Linkin Park? Do you know Leave Out all the rest?"
"Sure," he answered.
"You're a guitar God,' Luke said gratefully.
They adjusted their instruments and Daniel switched back to his keyboard. Daniel started the intro and then Luke came in on the drums. Then Nick started singing.
I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared
But no one would listen
'Cause no one else cared
After my dreaming
I woke with this fear
What am I leaving
When I'm done here
So if you're asking me
I want you to know
The chorus was about to start and Nick started playing his guitar. James also came in with the bass and the drums got louder.
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
The chorus ended and the next verse began.
Don't be afraid
I've taken my beating
I've shared what I made
I'm strong on the surface
Not all the way through
I've never been perfect
But neither have you
So if you're asking me
I want you to know
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
Don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
Forgetting
All the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well
Pretending
Someone else can come and save me from myself
I can't be who you are
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
Don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
Forgetting
All the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well
Pretending
Someone else can some and save me from myself
I can't be who you are
I can't be who you are
The song ended and Nick put down his guitar. The others put down their instruments and sat on the couch that was against the wall. Yes, James had a couch in his room.
"Nick, why aren't you famous yet? I mean, between your singing and playing, you could be in a famous band," James said.
He shrugged. He never really felt comfortable when people were complementing him.
"We sound better than we did before," Daniel said. "We might actually get a gig with you in our band."
Want something to drink?" James asked, getting up from his seat and heading to the door. He paused and waited for everyone to answer.
"Coke," Luke called.
"Sprite," Daniel said.
"Just water," Nick said.
"Okay," James said, walking out of the room.
"Don't you like soft drink?" Daniel asked.
Nick shrugged.
"You don't speak much, do you?" Luke asked.
Nick shrugged again.
"There's nothing wrong with that," Luke added.
"We usually practice on Saturday mornings," Daniel said, changing the subject.
"So is there a practice next Saturday morning?" Nick asked.
"Yep," James said as he entered the room. He passed cans of drink to Luke and Daniel and then handed Nick a glass of water. His throat was dry from singing and he swallowed a mouthful of water straight away.
"I've got good news," James said.
"What is it?" Luke inquired.
"We've got a gig," he announced.
"What?" Luke and Daniel said at the same time.
"Yeah. I didn't want to tell you guys until we'd tested out Nick. But we're going to play on next Friday during break. I think everyone will gather to watch," he said.
"This is awesome. Everyone will love us with Nick as our singer and guitar player," Daniel said.
"So you all agree that we should do it? The school's been looking for bands to play."
"Sure, sounds like fun," Luke said.
"I'm in," Daniel announced.
"Sure," Nick added. He didn't really feel comfortable singing in front of all those students. But he knew there was no way he was going to get out of it.
"Here's a list of all the songs we know how to play. You can look over them and see if you know them all," James said, handing him a small piece of paper.
He looked down at the piece of paper and nearly laughed. "You do like Linkin Park," he said.
The others burst out laughing.
Thanks for reading my story. Plus, I just chose random songs. So your're probably going "What the?" about my choices. Oh well. lol.