Boyfriend stood at the black door in front of him. The class had already begun, and he had just barely found his new class. It was near the corner of the school, where no one really went.
He looked up to read the inscription once more, just to confirm that he was about to enter a strange place.
Sunday's band practice
Surely Sunday and her band weren't the only students in this class, right? Boyfriend stopped for a moment, just examining the door. It seemed burnt, worn out, and had a few bullet holes for some reason. The inscription seemed crudely written as well. Boyfriend figured he had chosen appropriate attire, now donning a black shirt with the red cross out.
He could hear someone scream from the other side, along with the music that was playing. It sounded very harsh and croaky, but Boyfriend somehow knew that it was Sunday singing.
"Fuck capitalism!"
Yup, it was Sunday
Boyfriend groaned, just giving in, and opening the door. There he saw Sunday and her bandmates, Nate, Abigail, and Tossler. He turned and noticed that Pico and Whitty were sitting near the corner of the room. The band stopped playing their music, all turning to Boyfriend. Sunday raised an eyebrow at Boyfriend as she took a drink of water. Pico sneered, and Whitty snickered. The other band members looked confused.
"Um... Are you lost?" Sunday asked, setting her water bottle down on a nearby table. "I don't think you're in the right room, 'cuz this is the room for metal." Pico and Whitty laughed to themselves from the spot near the corner of the room.
"No..." Boyfriend sighed, feeling dejected, he walked into the room more, examining it. "Daddy Dearest put me in here." Boyfriend went to go sit Pico and Whitty, putting his head down on the desk, and closing his eyes.
"Ohhhhhhh," Sunday said as she grabbed its stand. "That makes sense. Didn't you piss him off, and he made you change genres?"
Boyfriend didn't answer, but another loud sigh was enough of an answer. Sunday shrugged and turned back to her band.
Pico laughed to himself from behind Boyfriend.
"I bet it's because he found out you took out Girlfriend on a date, huh?" He asked, poking Boyfriend's back. "Is that it? Blame Tabi and Agoti, because they were the ones who posted pictures of it."
"I'm just glad they didn't even consider punishing me or Carol for being there," Whitty said, sighing with relief. "But, uh, sorry. I know that you liked rap. And, um, producing it. But rock and metal aren't so different from rap!" Whitty seemed to be trying to make Boyfriend feel better, but it certainly wasn't working. He groaned, lifting his head back up, and turning to Pico.
"Since when do you make rock music?" He asked, beginning to wonder why Pico was even here at all. The ginger scoffed, turning his back to Boyfriend in a sarcastic manner.
"I'll have you know that I'm actually a very versatile artist!" He said, exaggerating an offended tone. "But yeah, I actually just kinda do whatever I wa-"
"1, 2, 3, go!"
Pico was then cut off by Sunday's band beginning to practice a song. Boyfriend couldn't even tell it was a song, actually. All he heard was noise. He made sure not to say anything, though.
After about 5 minutes of sitting with Pico and Whitty, listening to the band perform, Boyfriend began to get bored. As Sunday and her band finally took a break, Boyfriend stood up.
"Where are you going?" Whitty asked, sipping on a drink from Tankman's. "Don't tell me you're gonna try and play something." The bomb watched as Boyfriend went up to HugeNate, the drummer in Sunday's band.
"Watch this, Nate's gonna decline him," Pico said to Whitty, the two watching as Boyfriend walked over.
"Hey bro, can I try to play something?" Boyfriend asked, standing in front of Nate's kit. Abigail stood next to Nate, tuning her Nate looked up, his black visor showing one of his eyebrows raised.
"Aren't you a rapper? I didn't think you could play, um... actual instruments." Nate said, not moving from his drum stool. "'cause I just got this kit, I don't know if I want a noobie touching it." Abigail laughed, setting her literal axe guitar on a stand. Boyfriend rolled his eyes.
"No man, I have tons of experience with drums. Look, you should let me show you." Boyfriend suggested, holding his hand out for Nate's drumsticks. Nate hesitated but began to hand over his sticks. Just before Boyfriend grabbed them, the door flew open.
"What's up?" Aldryx said as he walked in, holding a bag from Tankman's restaurant. "Sorry for being la- wait, what are you doing here?" The digidevil pointed a finger at Boyfriend, as Nate pulled the sticks back.
"God damn! Took you long enough!" Whitty said, sitting up in his chair. "How were you so late, anyways? We were literally together for lunch."
Aldryx laughed to himself as he went to sit in the corner.
"Yeah, I got a little bit sidetracked. Anyways, I'm here now." He said, sitting next to Whitty. "But for real… what is he doing here?" Boyfriend shrugged.
"Pissed off my girl's parents." Boyfriend said, and Nate began playing the drums really loudly and hurting Boyfriend's ears. Boyfriend sighed.
"You've been doing that a lot lately, huh?" Pico asked, snickering as he secretly stole some food from Aldryx. "Haven't you only been here for like… a few days? It's not that hard to stay out of trouble."
"I beg to differ," Sunday said with a laugh, somehow getting near the group with her guitar. "Especially when you play a genre that everyone seems to dislike. I'm surprised that Pico and I managed to convince Double D to give us this room." The Latino looked Boyfriend up and down. "Hey, you're the one that burned down Garcello's funeral, huh?"
Boyfriend groaned. It had been a while since he had heard that, but it somehow got more annoying, even though it was true.
"Ugh, I guess," Boyfriend said, trying to ignore Aldryx and Pico laughing behind him. "But I want to say, he's still basically alive. All thanks to me."
Whitty snorted. "Yeah, now he doesn't get to rest in peace, he's stuck in this shit hole. Thanks for that." He gave Boyfriend a light shove.
"Whatever. Can we just move on and focus on the fact that I don't know how to play an instrument?" Boyfriend asked, desperate to change the subject from him ruining a funeral. "Sunday, you should teach me the guitar."
Sunday scoffed. "You kidding me? We got a gig coming up soon, I don't really have the time to teach you how to play guitar unless you feel like waiting," She said, tightening her grip on her own guitar.
Boyfriend sighed, turning to Whitty, Aldryx, and Pico. "How about you guys?" He asked with some hope.
"I'm just a vocalist," Said Whitty.
"I don't really want to do anything right now," Grumbled Aldryx, his mouth full.
"I totally lied, I don't actually like metal," Pico said, chuckling to himself. Sunday rolled her eyes.
"I decided something," Daddy Dearest said, standing in the doorway, nobody even realizing he was there. Sunday and Tossler yelped, the latter nearly dropping his guitar.
"You all have to teach Boyfriend every instrument, and he has to learn all of them by next week." The purple-skinned demon said, much to the delight of Boyfriend, but not for Sunday's band.
"Aw, what? We don't have time! We have to practice for your concert!" Abigail said, leaning against the wall. "There's just not enough time to teach this short little fire starter every instrument!"
Daddy Dearest began to grumble. She was right, he didn't want his concert to be ruined because he forced his daughter's loser boyfriend to learn instruments. He went silent for a moment. The demon looked over at Tossler, the band's co-guitarist.
"You, how hard is your part?" Daddy Dearest asked the young man. Tossler began to get rather nervous, being put on the spot like that.
"Umm… I guess for him it would be pretty hard?" He said, inching away from Daddy Dearest. "Please don't make him use my guitar, he'll probably break it."
"Hey, I'm right here!" Boyfriend said, crossing his arms and pouting. "I think I could totally kill that part."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Nate said with a chuckle, the rest of the band laughing along. Even DD gave a little smirk.
"Well then, you're taking Tossler's part. End of discussion." The demon said, turning to leave the room.
"Oh, and you better not ruin that concert. You guys are the opening act. There will be consequences if you do. For all of you. Even if you're not playing. Just because."
The demon gave a devilish grin as he finally left the room, leaving the students to wonder how they would ever get someone as, well, fucking stupid as Boyfriend to learn a guitar part in a week.
Tossler groaned as he hesitated to take his guitar off. Sunday patted his shoulder. "It's alright, we'll get you the bass or something if you're up for it." They said, giving a soft smile. "But for now, we need to give this little man some basics."
"Aren't y'all the same height?" Aldryx spoke up, noticing that all of his food was gone. He didn't even care, because he knew for a fact that Whitty and Pico (especially Whitty) were always going to steal his food.
"Aren't you gonna shut the fuck up?" Sunday asked, sarcastically with a wry grin on her face.
"Damn, they got you there. You just gonna take that?" Pico asked, poking Aldryx's arm to try and start a fight. "Especially from Sunday?"
"Shut up, Pico," Aldryx and Sunday spoke at the same time.
*
Sunday's practice space
"Well, it was nice of you to bring your own equipment." Tossler said as Boyfriend walked into the shed that the band practiced in out of school. Tossler was being very sarcastic, however, as Boyfriend literally had nothing.
"Hey, I don't own any equipment! I figured that you guys would just let me use yours…" Boyfriend said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ugh. I guess I have to. I don't want Daddy Dearest breathing down my neck for no reason." The guitarist said, giving Boyfriend his guitar. He turned to Sunday. "Guess I'll take the bass…"
She nodded. "Cool. It's in the case back there. But for now, should we teach you the basics?" They asked, having a blanket wrapped around them, looking like they just woke up.
"Let's start with how to hold a pick. I'm assuming that you don't already have one." Sunday said, rolling her eyes. Boyfriend shook his head. "Here, I have one." She produced a small maroon guitar pick from her pockets and handed it to Boyfriend. He grabbed it as soon as he was finished playing with the guitar strap.
It would be about 20 minutes before Boyfriend finally understood how to hold the guitar pick and strum the guitar. Both Tossler and Sunday were ready to leave, but they knew that Daddy Dearest would be pissed if Boyfriend was the reason the concert fell apart. By now, Pico, Whitty, and Carol have shown up to watch Boyfriend failing at guitar. Whitty and Carol were holding hands. Sunday and Boyfriend both looked at them and giggled, but didn't say anything.
"Are you seriously having trouble with strumming?" Whitty asked, just based on his observations. "It's really not that hard. Pico could probably even do it." Whitty and Carol both laughed with each other while the ginger scoffed.
"Fuck you, Whitty! Even though you're right, heh." Pico said, slightly shoving Whitty's arm.
"Of course he is. Didn't I try to show you once?" Sunday asked as she rested her arm on the guitar. "You said that playing guitar was 'Too Hard,' for you."
"I don't got any memory of that…" Pico snickered.
"Whitty's got a point, though," Carol said, looking at how Boyfriend was holding the guitar pick in his hands. "I'm pretty sure you're not holding the pick right." Boyfriend held up the pick to his face to make sure, Sunday and Tossler leaning in as well to check. Boyfriend was just pinching it between his index finger and his thumb. Tossler and Sunday facepalmed.
"God dammit, we just spent twenty minutes on that part! It's not that hard!" Sunday exclaimed, once again showing Boyfriend how to hold a guitar pick.
"Okay, and I just..." Boyfriend trailed off, strumming the guitar with a single chord that he saw Tossler do once. It sounded not bad, especially since it was Boyfriend.
"See, now you're getting it." Carol smiled, letting go of Whitty's hand to give Boyfriend a thumbs-up. "Does he have a singing part?" She asked, looking to Sunday for the answer. The Latino shrugged as Boyfriend strummed the same chord multiple times. Tossler turned down the amp because it was beginning to annoy him.
"Tossler didn't sing, but knowing Double D, he'll probably make Boyfriend sing anyways. I do screams mostly, so someone else will have to teach him." They said, looking over to the couple (and Pico). They grinned smugly.
"Not it!" All three yelled at once.
"Hey, that's messed up! I thought we were friends!" Boyfriend complained, looking offended. "I take that to heart."
Carol shrugged.
"Nothing personal, it's just that, you know, um, I don't even know the part." She said, softly intertwining her fingers with Whitty's once more. The bomb looked like he couldn't handle this much affection.
Sunday laughed. "I guess I can make Aldryx do it. He knows the lyrics to the song we'll be doing."
*
"Are you kidding me? That's the last thing I want to do!" Aldryx complained, sitting up at his desk back in the classroom and setting down his drink. "No offense." Boyfriend did take full offense, but he was beginning to get used to it.
"Well, Daddy Dearest was the one that told us to tell you." Pico lied, trying his hardest to look serious by getting rid of his grin. "I would listen to him if I was you."
The band stopped playing to listen in on the conversation, with Sunday and Tossler laughing. Nate and Abigail seemed to think Pico was telling the truth, which was sort of silly to think.
"Damn it. Well, whatever. At least I know Boyfriend can already sing. Just wish that I didn't have to deal with him also learning guitar and singing at the same time." The digidevil said while rolling his eyes.
"I guess Dearest likes to piss people off," Abigail said, her bandmates snickering. "That's not surprising, it's Daddy Dereast, after all."
"I guess let's start," Aldryx said, standing up, even though he didn't want to. "You guys wanna play along?" The band nodded, as Tossler handed Boyfriend the guitar.
They spent the rest of that period practicing with Boyfriend to teach him the part. To everyone's surprise, Boyfriend was actually getting better pretty quickly, except of course parts that he hadn't learned yet. Sunday and Aldryx might even say that they were having... fun with Boyfriend? It was going so well.
As they were playing, Boyfriend missed a couple notes in the song, causing him to stop playing. He groaned, but the other members didn't seem as upset.
"It's cool. It goes like…" Sunday trailed off, showing him how to do it once more. Boyfriend nodded, doing the part again, but slightly slower. He shifted his body as he did so, feeling his elbow bump into something on a nearby desk. Boyfriend turned to look as a drink fell to the ground, right onto the extension cord being used for the band's equipment.
Luckily for the band, the cords were very low quality in terms of safety, with a severe lack of rubber around the wires.
"God dammit! Why did I put my drink there!?" Aldryx yelled, watching as a few sparks began to fly around the outlet, which nobody dared to go near. Sunday quickly unplugged the guitar from her amp so that it wouldn't get ruined. Boyfriend simply took off his guitar. Everyone noticed that smoke was coming from the electrical outlet by now. The small lights on the amps began to turn off. One even blew open.
"Aw shit, all the equipment is getting ruined!" Nate yelled, backing away from the sparks from the cords that all went into one outlet, because of course they did. The outlet began to catch fire.
"Damn, Boyfriend. You can't seem to stay away starting fires, huh?" Pico asked, seeming to be enjoying himself. Whitty, however, quickly moved away out of fear of one of the sparks catching his fuse.
After all the sparks stopped, the electric equipment and the outlet had smoke coming out of them.
The equipment was ruined. Everyone turned to look at Boyfriend with dangerous glares.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm sure that it'll be fine... we can get new ones before the concert...right??" He said, completely sure that things would work out in his favor in the future. As of now, however, everyone was pissed at him again.
*
"Well, it seems like that loser, Boyfriend ruined the band's equipment, yes?" Daddy Dearest asked, standing in his office. In front of him stood a figure hidden in a shadow. "Of course he did. And just a few days before the concert." The demon pinched the bridge of his nose. He was trying his damndest to not go over to Boyfriend and just kick his ass. Unfortunately, his daughter would never forgive him, and he could not have that. Instead, he took a very long deep breath as he put a file back into his file cabinet. He took a step closer to the figure in front of him.
"Get your brother and your manager. You need to go buy more equipment. And if you ever tell anyone about the file I showed you... well, I already told you what would happen, didn't I? It'll be way worse if you let Boyfriend know. Way worse. And it won't just be the The Void. And on the topic of The Void... I'm sending a colleague of mine with you to get the equipment." The demon said, looking down at the person in front of him. "Can you handle that, Aldryx?"