A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!

Hey guys!

Okay so I've got some good news. For those of you asking if I had a Twitter, yes I know, I said that I had one but it was my personal one and I couldn't give it to you and yeah...but NOW I made a Twitter strictly for people who want to follow me for updates on my writing. I guess I should mention it to you now that I want to be an actual author and that I do write and occasionally post original stories on if you want to check out my stories there I'm: WriterAtHeart12! And on Twitter I'm WriterAtHeart14! Sooo you can follow me and I'll post updates about this story, and possibly even original stories that I plan to possibly post on Fiction Press! I haven't tweeted anything yet but that's because I literally just made it today and I don't feel right tweeting if no one's following me...so if you have a Twitter you can follow me there! (:

Oh and I'm really sorry for this late update but I don't know I've just had a hard time writing. Also, I feel this story is kind of in a rut because it consists of Alex going to school, being basically bullied, coming home, talking to Nat or Rosalina, then occasionally going to band practice. I hope you guys don't see it that way, because I'm really trying to make it more interesting but I'm a little stuck. But...I'll work on it! I promise(:

Anywayyyy...

Enjoy the chapter!

"How was school today, Alex?"

I was getting tired of the question. Every day since this whole "Juanita problem" started I come home with worse news each day. I knew Nat was only trying to be nice but this question was beginning to get on my nerves. "Eh," I said, shrugging.

Nat looked at me over his shoulder. "Eh?" He asked in confusion.

"It wasn't the best day."

Rosalina glanced at Nat.

Nat didn't look at her. "Well, look at it this way. At least Dad's coming home today."

"Whoopee," I said dully.

"We have band practice today," He added hopefully.

It made me feel slightly better. "Cool."

Today was one of the days that Rosalina stayed at our house after school, since we had rehearsal, Nat and I rode with her instead of walking like we usually do. "Alex, you should get started on your homework," Nat said, as we walked into the apartment. "I want a majority of it to be done before practice."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I mumbled, walking straight past the kitchen and turning down the hall to go into Nat's and my bedroom. I shut the door behind me and fell onto the bed. I sighed. Let's review. First, Juanita won't talk to me. Then I find out that everyone thinks I'm talking badly about her. Then when I try to explain, she won't talk to me. Now her stupid boyfriend is talking about me behind my back to everyone else, so now everyone will probably start talking about me. Fantastic. I sat up and pulled my backpack onto my bed to start homework. I was pulling out my books and stuff when someone opened the door.

"Hey, you okay Alex?" Nat asked, sticking his head in the room.

"I'm fine," I said, not looking up at him.

"Did anything happen today?"

"Nothing good." Hey, I wasn't lying. Finding out that people are talking about you behind your back is never a good thing.

"Does that mean something bad happened?"

I looked up at him. "Matt is talking about me behind my back."

Nat came inside the bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Matt is Juanita's boyfriend right?"

I nodded.

"Maybe if you told Juanita that Matt was talking about you, she'd dump him." He sat next to me.

"No, she wouldn't believe me now. She'd think I was just lying or something."

"Alex, I'm sure not everyone will believe everything Matt says."

"You'd be surprised," I said sighing again.

"The kids who believe him aren't worth it. You don't need them as your friend," He assured me.

I just shrugged, looking down.

"But hey," Nat said, trying to get my attention.

I looked up at him.

"Start your homework. We have band practice in an hour." He grinned at me.

I tried to hide a smile. I've been dying to go to practice. It helps me get my mind off of things. "Okay."

"Are you still going to do your homework in here?" He asked, getting off the bed.

I shook my head as I shoved all of my books back into my backpack. "I'll come and do it in the kitchen."

"Good," Nat said, smiling at me.

I followed him into kitchen and Rosalina looked up from where she was sitting at the table already starting on her homework. She smiled at me. "Everything okay?" She asked, looking back and forth between Nat and me.

I nodded as I sat down at the table and Nat smiled as he hopped up on the counter nearby.

~NBB~

I stepped out of Rosalina's car and looked up at the studio. It felt like forever since I'd last been here. In reality it'd been only a week, but after everything that's happened, it feels like much longer. We walked inside and Cooper was the only one there. "Hey Coop," Nat greeted.

"Hey guys," Cooper said, looking up from his phone.

I ran over to where my drum set was and sat behind it. I looked at Nat. He already knew what I was thinking.

"Go for it, bro."

I started practically banging on the drums, in a specific rhythm of course. I couldn't bang just anything. I was playing one of my drum solos from one of the past tours, but it was extra loud this time. I needed to get some anger out, even though right now I felt really happy playing the drums. Playing the drums was my outlet. When I stopped Cooper looked really confused, but Rosalina and Nat didn't seem fazed at all.

"Alex, what the heck was–"

Nat cut him off by whispering something to him.

Cooper seemed to understand whatever Nat said, and just nodded. "Good to see you've still got it, Alex."

I nodded as David, Thomas and Qaasim walked into the studio.

Nat pulled them all aside and whispered something to them.

At first, my curiosity rose and I wondered what they were talking about. But then I realized they must be talking about me. Why else wouldn't I be included in the conversation? Nat was probably telling them about what happened. Hopefully not everything but enough to understand.

"Great, now you guys can get started," Cooper said, walking away from the group.

They all walked over to their instruments and Nat looked at me from the piano. "Let's do 'Body I Occupy'," He said, scanning the band's faces.

They all shrugged or nodded.

I was happy because I knew I got to start it and the drums were a huge part in this song. As we started playing, and got more into the song I did something I hadn't done in a while.

I smiled.

I smiled a smile that felt so good, because right now, playing the drums made me feel really happy. I don't even know why it made me so happy right now. I've played drums plenty of times. Maybe it's because of everything that was going on. I don't know. But what I do know that when Nat walked away from the piano and walked around singing, he saw me smiling and he gave me a look that made me even happier. And when he did that, I realized something else. I realized that in this moment, everything was fine. I was doing what I loved, and it made me happy. It didn't matter about the rest of those kids. Nat was right. I didn't need them. They weren't worth my time. What I should be focusing on is the band. Who knows, hopefully Cooper will book us some shows soon and we'll be so busy practicing and performing I'll forget about Juanita and everyone and everything else.

"That was awesome, guys!" Nat said happily, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I think that was your guys' best performance of that song yet," Cooper said, smiling at us.

"I think so too," I said, still smiling like an idiot.

"Let's try one of Alex's songs," Nat suggested.

Everyone looked at me.

My smile slightly faded, but it didn't disappear. Not yet. "I Could Be?" I asked, looking around at the band.

They agreed and we started playing. The song went amazing in my opinion. Not once did I think about Juanita or anything though. That's what made it so good. All I thought about was the song, and the music. Nothing else. And I smiled the whole time. It was something I hadn't done in a while. I could tell Nat noticed, and he gave Rosalina a look which made her smile. Nothing can ruin this either, I thought. I could walk outside and have all those kids shout the most terrible names they could think of, but it still wouldn't ruin my mood. Not right now, anyway. Right now, I was the drummer of the Naked Brothers Band. The happy, crazy, energetic kid that the world knew me as. I felt the same way I did when I first started playing the drums. I can't even explain how happy I felt.

When the song was over, Cooper walked over to us. "I've got some good news guys."

"What is it, Cooper?" Nat asked, as we all looked at Cooper expectantly.

"We have an upcoming performance at the park this Saturday afternoon."

We all cheered.

"Nat, you'll have to figure out a set list, and we're going to have to practice as much as possible if we're going to be ready by Saturday."

My situation had taken an unexpectedly, good turn.

But the question is...will it last?

Keep checking back! (:

~NatalinaFanForever~