Author's Note
The following chapters are an alternate, fanmade version of the Loud House episode "Really Loud Music" This is not an attempt to plagiarize the aforementioned episode.
It was yet another Friday and the final school bell had rung. Luna was sitting outside on a bench. She was waiting for her friends to meet her there. She had some important news to tell them. Something that can achieve her lifetime goal of being a rock-star. A few minutes passed until the purple rocker's friends had arrived.
"Yo Lunes. What's up?" George spoke first.
"Well dudes I've kinda been kinda doing some thinking lately and I've decided on something. I'm going to make a song and submit it to, America's Next Hitmaker!" Luna declared excitedly.
Luna's announcement was a pleasant surprise to her friends. Andy in particular was especially happy for Luna. The young man knew how much she wanted to become a rock-star so he felt that this was a huge moment for her.
"That's great to hear, Luna!" Ruth exclaimed with glee. "So did you have a song written up?"
"I'm kinda working on it." Luna responded. "I got some music notes down but as for everything else I'll figure it out some how."
"Some how?" Sam echoed. "Isn't there a deadline?"
Luna scratched the back of her head. "Yeah but I got a lot of things to do. I got to write the song, record instruments and so much more."
"You're doing all that by yourself!?" George blurted out. "Dude you can't do all you just said before the deadline."
The purple rocker waved her hand in dismissal. "I can handle it. I'll just work non-stop on the song." Luna explained which was met with a sigh of disapproval from George.
"You know, Luna, you don't have to do this by yourself." Andy said. "We could help you out."
George and Sam's ears perked up when Andy offered assistance. They both looked at the black haired boy with sparkles in their eyes. Andy, meanwhile, realized why his two friends seemed excited.
"Er…I mean Sam, George and Ruth can help you." Andy corrected himself.
"No no no no! You're not getting off the hook this time!" Sam interjected with a smile.
"Sam's right, my man. You're gonna show us them guitar skills." George added.
Andy groaned quietly about his predicament. Sure the boy was experienced in playing the guitar but so was everyone else in his group of friends. He just wanted to be there for Luna and hang with his friends. Regardless he hoped Luna would come to his defense and try to persuade Sam and George to drop the subject.
"Actually," Luna spoke in a pondering manner. "I wouldn't mind hearing Andy pull off some riffs."
Andy froze in place. "S-s-seriously?" he managed to utter. "But...why?"
"In all honestly I just wanted to see how your progress is going. That and I think this would be a good experience for you." the purple rocker said with a gentle smile.
"Oh…" the youth replied. He couldn't find a good reason to object other than he was nervous. Still Luna had high expectations in him so it'd be rude to not agree to her demands. "Alright. I'll do it but just don't expect anything amazing."
"YES! Wooo!" George cheered. "We finally got him to agree!"
Sam elbowed the brunette. "Dude chill before he changes his mind."
"Now that Andy's on board when should we do this?" Ruth asked.
Luna tapped her chin with her finger while she thought. "Lets start tomorrow and we'll keep working on it on the weekends." she answered to which everyone agreed.
The next day the group of friends all met at the Loud house. They had set the garage up with music equipment. Meanwhile Andy was feeling a bit anxious about having to play in front of his friends. It was important for the youth to do his best since he was playing the guitar for Luna's song. Andy wanted to help out Luna so he tried to calm is nerves.
"Okay. Everything is all set!" George announced. "Alright Luna what's first on the agenda?"
"Lets just play a song to see if the recording is working well." the purple rocker answered. "It can be any song."
Once the group chose a song everyone, with the exception of Andy, got their instruments ready and started recording. After finishing the song Luna checked the recording.
"Okay the recording is running well. It should be smooth sailings from here." the Loud said. She then began to pass some music notes to everyone. "These are the music notes that I jotted down. It's nothing to fancy just something I came up with on the spot when I made them."
"Its all good Lunes. Should be a piece of cake." Sam spoke as she analyzed the notes.
"I'm good to go." Ruth nodded.
Everyone looked at Andy who was in the middle of looking at his paper. The young man was studying the notes, having a decent understanding of how to play it on a guitar. He was rather absorbed in the paper which prompted George to clear his throat.
"Oh Andy~" the brunette called in a playful voice which caught his friends attention. "You ready, dude?"
"Um…yeah sure." Andy replied. "Just trying to memorize this."
"We're just practicing, my man. Just play it by ear and if you mess up you can retry it again. Besides we got some time before Luna has to submit the song."
"That's right Andy, don't worry about not being perfect, we got sometime." Luna added.
Andy nodded but then started to think. "Wait what are you going to be doing then George?
"I'm the back-up in case your fingers get tired or you need a break." George answered. "But I doubt I'll be needed."
Andy was felt that George was placing too much confidence in the former's skills but Andy shrugged and took a deep breath. He wanted to do good and help Luna out. So the young man strummed his guitar and glanced at the notes as he played. There was some parts that seemed a bit difficult but overall he did pretty well.
"Hmm. I need to work on this a bit more." Andy mused.
"True but you did pretty good." Sam replied. "Just don't overwork yourself too much. We need you for this."
Andy smiled. He appreciated the support his friends gave him despite the difference in experience. Then again it must say something that they are letting him perform along side with them. The group` continued to work on the song, while also taking some needed breaks, until before evening.
"I think this is a good stopping point for today. Great work dudes." Luna said.
"Sounds good. When should we work on this the next time?" George inquired.
"How about tomorrow?" Andy suddenly interjected. "We should try to work on it as often as we can."
The youth's suggestion surprised everyone. Once they quickly got over being stunned they agreed on the next session being tomorrow.
"Looks like Andy wants to jam out even more. And he was the one worried about not being good." Sam playfully teased.
The other's all wore proud smiles on their faces while Andy blushed a bit as he began to unplug his guitar. The teens started to put all the smaller instruments away and Luna had taken the recording gear back to her room. Once everyone went home Andy replayed the day in his mind. As much as he didn't like being the center of attention, it felt great to perform with the others.
For three weekends the group gathered at the Loud's garage to record Luna's song. Finally, after days of hard work the song was complete. The teens decided to celebrate for the rest of the day after they decided to pack up some of the music equipment.
"So how should we celebrate?" George asked.
"Hmmm we should go to somewhere that has some good treats." Luna answered but didn't have anywhere in particular.
"Hey how about we go to Dairy Whisk? I've been dying to try out their Pop-rock cookie-dough whisk!" Sam suggested.
"Oooh that sounds good. I'm down for it." Ruth agreed.
"Ditto!" Andy added, with two thumbs up.
Luna at George and gave a nod. "Dairy Whisk it is."
The teens made it to Dairy Whisk to celebrate and, fortunately for a Saturday, the fast-food place wasn't full. Once they gotten their ice-cream, the group of friends all sat outside at the tables.
"So when are you going to submit the song?" Andy asked, eating another spoonful of his blueberry pie ice cream.
Luna gulped a bite of apple caramel whisk. "I might do it tomorrow. For now I just want to chillax with you dudes."
"It was fun doing this." Sam spoke stirring her pop-rock cookie-dough whisk. "We should do this again."
"Well lets see how this song does first." Luna replied.
"It's gonna do fine. We made an awesome song, you'll definitely get noticed by the judges." George assured then munched on his strawberry mint ice cream.
"Speaking of," Luna started, putting her spoon down in the whisk. "we worked on this song for a few days. We should submit the song under our names. It was a group effort and you all deserve some cred."
There was a pause once Luna finished making her suggestion. The other's all stopped eating their ice cream. Luna felt that she said something wrong despite trying to be considerate.
"Luna, I can't speak for everyone else but I don't want put my name." George spoke. "Now don't get me wrong I'm proud of what work we put into it but this is your song."
"I agree with, Georgie." Ruth said, mixing her chocolate and orange whisk. "You're the one who wanted to make a song to submit to America's Next Hitmaker. I just wanted to help out."
"But…it doesn't feel right." Luna replied, not hiding her doubt.
Sam sighed and shook her head. "Lunes when you told us about this contest you also said you were working on the song. If anything we just wanted to help you out and relieve you of a possibly stressful time."
"Uh…Luna?"
The everyone all directed their attention to Andy. He was tapping his spoon on the top of his ice cream cup. It took him a bit to find the words he wanted to use but once he did he wasted no second.
"When…you first told us about entering the contest I felt happy for you. I know this must be a huge step closer to your dream and I wanted to help you out in any way. All I want is for you to shine cause this is your moment." Andy finished with a smile.
There was another pause at the table. Almost everyone was surprised by Andy's sincere comment. Ruth was the only one who wasn't surprised. She simply smiled, knowing that Andy would say something genuine especially towards Luna. However she was a little disappointed that Andy didn't confess his feelings right then and there. Still it was a good moment for Ruth to witness.
"Okay. I'll submit the song under my name." Luna finally accepted. "But I'll still give you guys a shout out."
"Sounds good to me, Lunes." George replied. "And if you ever need a band like how Rob Letty has the Lovemakers don't be afraid to hit us up."
Luna chuckled. "Sure thing."
The teens had all finished their ice-cream and left Dairy Whisk. They then went back to Luna's house to pack up the remaining music equipment and once that was done the friends all went home. While he was heading home, Andy had finally decided that after Luna submits her song he will tell her how he feels. All he had to do was wait until Monday.
Sunday morning had arrived and Luna had gotten up. She was going to submit her song to America's Next Hitmaker but something stopped her. She still felt very selfish about submitting her song to the contest under her name. As much as she appreciated their help it felt wrong for her to use their hard work for her own benefit.
The purple rocker did her usual morning routines and went downstairs to eat her first meal. When she entered the dining room, the twins were bickering over something and Lily was playing with her food. She had entered the kitchen to see her older sisters drinking coffee.
"Morning dudes." Luna greeted with a lack of energy which didn't go unnoticed.
"Morning Luna. Is everything okay?" Lori asked.
"Uh…yeah I'm fine." She lied and faked a smile as she got herself a cup of juice.
Lori didn't believe her younger sister but didn't press on. It was too early to question her siblings and it was already annoying to hear the twins go at it.
"So how's the song going?"
Luna put her cup on the counter. "We got it done yesterday. I'm gonna send it some time today."
"That's great! This literally must be an exciting moment for you, Luna." The eldest Loud spoke.
"Thanks." Luna replied in a monotone voice.
Leni tilted her head in confusion. "You don't seem so happy about it."
"I am. I'm just a bit tired." Luna lied once more.
"Oh. You should take a nap then!" the fashionista suggested.
Luna was grateful that Leni wasn't so perceptive although she took no pleasure in lying to her. All Luna wanted to do was to drink her juice, eat something and go submit the song.
"Ah to think my little sister is gonna be famous." Lori mused. "You're gonna be the next Karen Smith."
"Oooh! I love her music!" Leni replied.
"Isn't she a pop singer?" Luna asked.
Lori nodded. "Yup. Literally everyone loves her songs. They're just so catchy and memorable."
Hearing about Karen Smith's music made Luna a bit curious. She didn't pay attention much to the pop-star's career but she figured it'd be a good time to do some research. Once the rocker ate her breakfast she went back upstairs and searched up Karen Smith on her laptop. During the search Luna learned that Karen won various awards and sold millions of copies.
"Wow…she's done pretty well. All this from winning America's Next Hitmaker. I wonder how other winners did."
Luna then searched for the other winners and noticed that they've done well in their respective music genres. However the Loud noticed something rather peculiar. While there were artists that sung country, or pop or hip hop there was no rock singers. Luna assumed that maybe there wasn't any contestants that sang rock music but when she looked it up she was proven wrong. There were rock artists, but none of them made it to the to five let alone top hundred. The Loud saw comments about the rock songs, a decision she would regret.
'This song gives me a headache. Its sooooo bad.'
'I think I went deaf hearing this...'
'LOL this is garbage!'
'These losers have zero talent! Rock music is dead!'
Luna turned off her laptop, shut it close and flopped back on her bed. It was bad enough that she didn't feel right about sending her song in but if she did it would receive a lot of hate. Luna felt so defeated. She didn't think she could recover from this but she gave it some thought.
'Literally everyone loves her songs. They're just so catchy and memorable.
Lori's comments echoed in the rocker's mind. Maybe…she still has a chance. Maybe it isn't too late to do something about this predicament. Maybe… there is enough time to make another song. The more Luna thought about it the more she got motivated. Within an instant, the girl sat up, got off of her top bunk bed and began to bring out some instruments for her new song.
"I still have a chance! I will make a song that everyone will love! I can finally be a famous musician!"
As she went to work, Luna thought about her friends and wondered how they would feel when she tells them about this new change. She felt bad about making another song without telling them but she figured if she was honest about it they would be a bit upset but would understand.
The next day, after school, Luna had messaged her friends to meet at the outside benches. She felt nervous about telling the other's about the change of songs but she felt that it would all end well.
"Hey guys. Thanks for coming." Luna said.
"Sure thing, Lunes." Sam replied. "Is everything alright?"
"Um…yeah. I just needed to tell you guys something." The purple rocker took a deep breath. "I didn't submit the song."
"What!?" George exclaimed, stunned by the announcment. "But-but why?"
"It's a good song but rock songs don't do good in America's Next Hitmaker." Luna explained. "I've seen some comments about the past rock songs and performers and they weren't very…nice comments. So I decided to make another song, a pop song, and I submitted it yesterday."
The others had stayed silent during Luna's reasoning. As they thought over it some conflicts had formed within them. On one hand it was rather hurtful that Luna went behind their back and made a different song, which disappointed them all, especially Andy. On the other hand she didn't want their song to be a source of mockery and hatred, indicating that she truly loves the original song. Despite the mixed feelings, they all had the same question. Why a pop song?
"Luna," Andy spoke first. "Why did you submit a pop song?"
"I saw that pop songs are better received in singing contests." Luna answered.
Ruth had tilted her head and made a confused look which was evident despite her hair covering her eyes. "Is…that true?"
Luna nodded. "Yeah it is. You guy's know Karen Smith. Her songs are loved by everyone and that's what I want. To have a song everyone loves."
"Come on Luna that's ridiculous." Andy scoffed. "Sure Karen Smith is popular but I doubt everyone loves her music."
"Then how else do you explain her success?" Luna asked, getting a bit annoyed.
Andy shrugged. "I don't know. Its not like I follow her every move."
"Then don't act like you know what it means to be a musician." The rocker growled.
"Hey now, lets all calm down." George stepped in.
Andy didn't accept the brunette's suggestion. "What's that suppose to mean?"
"You only play the guitar only for fun! You wouldn't know how hard it is to maintain a career making music in this day and age!" Luna yelled.
"Luna, calm down." Sam interjected trying to defuse the situation.
"I may not know what its like to be a professional but I do know it that being a sellout is a lousy way to make it big!" Andy angrily retorted.
"Andy please stop." Ruth begged.
"I ain't sellin out! I'm giving the people what they want! Besides I'm the one making it big when you're gonna be stuck doing some boring ass office job!" The purple rocker countered.
"Well good for you! Hopefully being sham of a musician works out for you! As far as I'm concerned I'm done with you!" Andy shouted before storming away from the group.
"Fine! I don't need fake friends like you anyways!" Luna roared.
Silence fell around the group. George was trying to talk some sense into Luna and try to advocate for Andy but it fell on deaf ears. Sam couldn't say anything despite how much she wanted to speak. Ruth was on the verge of tears after seeing her two friends going at each other's throats which broke her heart. The three teens felt miserable. As far as they knew their happy fun group will never be the same.