Hiddenville XXIII
Summary: Max's band gets a new name and auditions for a recurring gig at Splatburger.
Evie's Notes: Thank you all for the love on the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this snippet of life in Hiddenville. - xo Evie
Amelia was so happy that the renovations on the public parts of the house were finally done, she loved her camper but was happy to be moving in soon. Henry and her had finished painting the last room during Piper's therapy appointment the previous week. Henry said that the counseling sessions paired with a meditation prescribed by a Hiddenville psychiatrist were really helping Piper.
Mia was so happy that the girl was getting the help that she needed. She just knew that things would be even better next year when the Swellview contingent made their official move. Plus, now that the cat was out of the bag about the move, Piper had been sending Mia photos of things she wanted for her room and the pair were starting to bond over text. This was great news since it would help make the transition easier on the group.
Mia was hanging a chandelier in her room when her phone beeped signaling she had a new text. Climbing down the ladder she picked up her phone to see that the text was from Max.
Thunderbolt: Hey M, swing by Splatburger this afternoon. I have a surprise for you.
Blondie: I'm so in, but you're down to buy this time.
Thunderbolt: yeah, yeah, burgers can be on me
Changing quickly, Mia donned a brown suede skirt, sheer polka dot tights, white sweater, high heeled boots and a tan wide brimmed hat. Her blonde and lavender hair was styled in soft curls that fell lightly around her face. Happy with her cute fall outfit, Mia grabbed her keys and drove into town to meet her friend and crush.
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
Walking into Splatburger, Amelia's smile fell slightly when she spotted Gideon and Oyster near a booth by the door. Don't get her wrong, she loved her boys, she had just thought… or well hoped that this was Max finally making a move. She noticed what she had thought had been signs that Max returned her feelings.
Putting the disappointment out of her mind for now, Amelia greeted the boys "Hey Gideon, Hi Oyster".
"Hey M!" greeted Gideon, scooching over in the booth so that Mia could sit beside him.
"What up, shorty" grinned Oyster offering his hand for the pair's secret hand shake.
"Nothin' much beach boy. Curious as to what Max called all of us here together for"
"He said something about wanting us to meet someone. Do you guys have any ideas?" asked Gideon.
"No idea," admitted Oyster.
As if summoned by their words, the boy in question walked through the door; he was followed by a pale, dark haired kid who appeared to be their age anxiously tapping out a beat on his body with a pair of drumsticks.
"Guys, I found us a new drummer!" exclaimed Max excitedly. "This is Wolfgang".
"That's a weird name," scoffed the group's bassist, as he outstretched his hand in welcome. "What's up? I'm Oyster"
"And I'm Gideon" waved the smaller boy, "I'm kinda the heart throb of this band"
Mia did her best to stifle her laughter at the boy's comment. Shaking the new boy's hand she introduced herself as well. "Hi I'm Amelia, I'm not actually in the band… but you'll still be seeing a lot of me".
"She's our mascot" teased Oyster, leaning over to steal her hat.
"Nah, that's Gideon" disagreed Mia, snagging back her beloved hat. It was one Char had gotten for her.
"Wolfgang is exactly what we've been looking for" continued Max, used to Mia and Oyster's playful bickering. "There's just one tiny catch…"
At that point, the new boy spoke for the first time "Hey guys, ich bin Wolfgang!"
"He's a foreign exchange student who only speaks German, and very very little English" winced Max. "Oh, and by the way, Gideon,he lives with your family now. Bradford signed off on the papers this afternoon".
"Fine, but I'm not sharing my water bed" sighed Gideon, but motioned for Wolfgang to join them at the table.
Amelia brightened at the opportunity to use her German skills. It would be fun to have a language buddy. She hadn't had a chance to speak German since her time in Dystopia.
"Willkommen Wolfgang, wir freuen uns, dass Sie der Gruppe beitreten. Ich spreche ziemlich gut Deutsch. Wenn Sie also einmal nicht weiterkommen, kann ich Ihnen helfen". (1)
"Danke Amelia, das werde ich im Hinterkopf behalten. Ich habe in diesem neuen Land noch viel zu lernen" (2)
"Well with that settled, how about we celebrate with a rock feast?" suggested Max
Oyster leaned over to plug in their order. The splat tube whirred and out dropped their food… "One Taco?" asked Max, seriously unimpressed.
"It's all we can afford, bro" admitted the bassist.
The five students suddenly began scrambling to try and eat the taco.
Their squabble was broken up by the manager JJ coming over to the table. "Hi Guys! You're a band, right?"
"Yeah-unless you're lookin' for a stolen cowbell… Then, no" agreed Max.
At the word cowbell, Wolfgang produced the instrument from his bag and began playing it loudly. Mia took it from him and put it in her purse quietly explaining that they needed to keep the cowbell (and like half of their instruments) secret, since it had been stolen from the music room.
"Well I'm holding auditions to hire a band to play here every Saturday" explained the manager.
"Cool!" exclaimed Oyster and Amelia
"Awesome!" grinned Gideon
"Wolfgang!" celebrated Wolfgang, though he didn't know why his new friends were all so happy all of a sudden.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. A band of our caliber comes at a price" protested Max.
"The pay is free food" smirked JJ.
"That's the price" laughed Max.
"Great, see you on Friday"
"Wait, how can we be the Splatburger band, if we don't have a single good song?" wondered Gideon.
"What about the new song I wrote? Everyone will love it. Watch" demanded Max, offended by the insinuation that their song writing wasn't good.
Grabbing his guitar Max began to loudly sing: " Words words words, words are for nerds Nerds nerds nerds, are using the words, So we won't use words ?"
Max rocked out on his guitar playing several riffs that sounded fine on themselves, just not paired with the lyrics he was singing.
Unfortunately for the singer, the patrons of Splatburger were not a fan of his singing. They ordered whole tomatoes through their tubes and launched them at the singing boy. Poor Max was covered in tomato paste.
"So I think we should take that as a sign you guys need a new song for Friday" laughed Mia, as she helped lead the sulking tomato covered boy out of the restaurant.
"I'll take Max home" offered Oyster, "see you all at school tomorrow!"
The friends went their separate ways to enjoy the end of their weekend.
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
"Our band needs a new hit song and I've got nothing" ranted Max, as he paced the living room, Tuesday after school. "Colosso, what rhymes with snot rocket?"
"You stink at writing songs-ocket" sassed the supervillain.
"Whatever-like you know anything about making music" scoffed Max.
"For your information, I once dropped my own rap album. Hey! Hey! Hey! I hipped and I hopped I could go non-stop Because I am a bunny and carrots are my- " rapped Colosso .
"Enough!" shouted Max, "That sounds awful".
"Yeah, well, I didn't say I wrote good music. To do that you need to have a heart and supervillains like us don't have one".
"Hey, I have a heart, okay? It's just… filled with spiders and black licorice" protested Max, fiercely shoving thoughts of his beautiful best friend out of his mind. "Maybe I don't have what it takes to write a good song".
Just then Phoebe and Cherry arrived home from their trip to the Mall.
"Link is seriously the best boyfriend ever" sighed Phoebe lovingly.
"I know. I feel like every time I turn around, he's giving you another gift" commented Cherry.
While the blonde's back was turned, Link super stretched his arm into the room to pass Phoebe a heart shaped balloon.
"See? You're dating a gift ninja" exclaimed Cherry excitedly.
"Yeah, I'm running out of space in my diary to write about him," admitted Max's sister. "Seven hundred pages of passion and poetry straight from the heart".
"The tree that died to make that diary dies a little more every time you write in it" snarked Max, trying desperately to come up with some rocking lyrics for his song.
Phoebe just rolled her eyes and shot him the middle finger as she and Cherry headed upstairs to work on homework.
"Max, if you want a hit song with meaning and passion, you need to get that diary" whispered Colosso.
"No, I could never find her diary. She hides it ever since Billy did a book report on it" disagreed the supervillain in training.
"Well, then, you've gotta sneak into her room and see where she puts it," suggested the bunny.
"How would I do that? Hide inside of a giant teddy bear?" joked Max, before realizing that knowing Link and his latest gift giving obsession… that wasn't that bad of an idea.
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
"Aww, the gift ninja struck again" cheered Phoebe, as she returned to her room after showing Cherry out. "I wonder what my sweetie wrote this time?".
Opening the card she read: "'Here's this. From Link.'...Well, they can't all be winners".
Dropping a kiss on the bear's head, Phoebe went over to the wall where she pressed a hidden button to open the slot behind her picture frame in which she hid her diary.
Max watched all of this from a hole in the bear's neck. As soon as Phoebe left the room he would snag a few photos from her diary and then presto! Instant hit song and permanent gig Saturday nights. What could go wrong?
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
Max bounced with anxious excitement as he waited for his band's turn to get up on stage.
" Max, your new lyrics are incredible" complimented Oyster.
"Yes, they are a wonderful declaration of love, Wolfgang approves" added Wolfgang
"You're a real softy, aren't you?" teased Gideon, elbowing his friend softly.
"Yeah, I'm just a big old teddy bear," smirked Max.
"Okay, you guys are up" ordered JJ, "Oh wait what's your band name?"
The boys all froze and looked at each other. Even after all this time they still hadn't agreed on a name.
Mia who was sitting in a booth sipping a milkshake, dressed in dark jeans and a strappy tank top and Max's plaid button down, shouted, "They're called Antihero"
"Great. Let's hear it for Antihero, ladies and gentlemen… remember free food is on the line" called JJ, retaking his place in the judges seat.
The band shot Mia a look which told her that they WOULD be talking about her naming them like that. But honestly, Mia couldn't bring herself to care… It had been months and they still hadn't settled on a band name. She had just hurried the process on a bit, plus it would get under Max's skin to be in a group called anything hero.
"All right, this song means a lot to me as an artist, songwriter and someone who likes free food" announced Max. "Hit it, boys!"
The band began to play a funky upbeat melody with Wolfgang going all out on the drums. Mia was so glad that Max had found him and brought the boy into the group, he was clearly the missing piece their friend group (and band) needed.
Max began to sing " You got a little secret. Something I never knew, but what's so special is the trust between me and you " Wait a second… was this song about Mia? She blushed as she considered the lyrics.
" I care about you deeply. I want you to know, I'll never speak a word about your bonus toe " OK, so not about her. That sucked. Clearly Max was crushing on somebody else who had a bonus toe.
"Your bonus toe" echoed the band.
"It's no biggie"
"Your bonus toe"
"So get jiggy" rhymed Max
"Your bonus toe"
"With your extra piggy"
"I'll never speak a word about your bonus toe" finished Max as the song came to a close.
"That's enough! That's enough!" shouted JJ excitedly. "Wow! Just give us a sec, okay?"
Link rushed over to the stage from where he had been mopping, frantically signaling for Max's attention. "Max, I need to talk to you".
"Sorry, Link, no autographs for dudes" teased Max.
"N-N-N-No" stuttered Link, clearly distraught. " Did you find out about my extra toe from Phoebe?"
"Oh, um, technically, yes," admitted Max. "Is it weird that I'm dying to see it?".
"I can't believe she told you my secret," exclaimed Link disappointedly.
"You'd better get some more songs ready. You boys are the house band at Splatburger!" shouted JJ, breaking up the boy's conversation.
This led to excited cheers from everyone in the restaurant, especially Mia and the band.
"Hey, Link. What time you getting' off work? I actually flushed an earring down the toilet" laughed Phoebe entering the restaurant and approaching her boyfriend.
"Was that before or after you flushed my trust?" snarked Link, angrily mopping the floor.
"What are you talking about?" asked Phoebe, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and get him to look at her.
" You know what you did" replied Link, brushing her hand off his shoulder. "I don't think we should see each other any more". He started to walk towards the door of the restaurant.
"Wait, Link, you can't just leave like that" cried Phoebe, in shock at being dumped for no reason.
"Ugh, you're right, my shift isn't over yet" admitted Link before storming off to the kitchen.
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
"Your bonus toe" sang the band as they finished their latest rendition of Bonus Toe. Mia whistled loudly and clapped from her designated place atop Max's bed so she could see the group rehearse.
"Good rehearsal, guys" cheered Max, trying to bring their practice to a close.
"Wolfgang!" protested their resident German
"Wolfgang's right. It wasn't good. We just played our one song over and over" added Gideon
"Yeah, bro, if we wanna keep our gig, and get free food, we need more good songs like Bonus Toe." piled on Oyster.
"Plus, you can't just play the same song all night, and 'Words are for Nerds' did not go over well last time" finished Mia.
"Hey, relax. Maxie's gonna write us a hit. You guys go home. I just need to find
my inspiration"
As soon as Mia and the other's left, Max whipped out his phone and said "And by inspiration I mean take a peek in Phoebe's diary".
"Congrats, Max. Not only did you crush that audition, but you also crushed your sister's heart" cackled Dr. Colosso.
"Come on, Phoebe'll be fine" scoffed Max, not finding what he wanted in the photos, he turned off his phone. "Link will get over it and they'll get back together. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a giant teddy bear to crawl into".
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
"That Link is such a jerk for breaking up with you" ranted Cherry angrily, she hated to see her best friend so upset over a stupid boy. "Hey, I know what'll make
you feel better!"
Taking a big swing, Cherry began to repeatedly punch the giant teddy bear Link had sent Phoebe, stupid gift Ninja. "Boys are stupid! Boys are disgusting! Boys are Stupid! Boys are– Wait, this bear's a boy, right?"
"Well, it won't tell me what I did wrong-so probably" agreed Phoebe. The superhero in training used all her force to dropkick the bear and could have sworn she heard a squeak… but figured it was just her imagination. "What's the use? Drop-kicking this bear isn't gonna help me find out why Link broke up with me. But maybe this note
I wrote him will. I really poured my heart into it".
Cherry opened the note and began to read it, tearing up slightly the further she got."This is the most beautiful, romantic thing I have ever read".
"Can you just take it to Link for me, please? He doesn't want to see me right now, and I can't stand to see him".
"Of course," agreed Cherry. And with one more swift and powerful kick to the giant teddy bear, she headed out the bedroom door intent on delivering the letter.
Max knew he had to get that letter. So once Phoebe was distracted by her phone, he ditched the bear suit and went racing after Cherry.
Max finally caught up to the blonde at the front door to the house. "Cherry, wait, don't go!" he yelled
"What's up?"
"I really need to talk to you," he insisted.
"Aw, Max" began Cherry. "I'm flattered, but you're my best friend's brother and I'm good friends with Mia and I just don't think I could do that to either of -
"I'm not asking you out" cut off Max.
"Oh" replied Cherry, kinda offended that he wasn't actually into her.
"I wanna deliver that note to Link myself and talk to him, guy-to-guy, to fix this" lied Max.
"That is so sweet of you to help Phoebe like that".
"Okay, don't tell Phoebe I took the note. I don't want her to think I care about her" instructed Max.
"You secretly have a heart… I knew it! Are you sure you don't wanna ask me out? Because if it wasn't for Mia I'd say–"
Max just slammed the door in the chatty girl's face. God, why couldn't all girls just be like Amelia?
Looking down at the note in his hands, Max grinned crookedly "Hello, new hit song".
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
Max was hanging out on the couch in the living room watching TV while he waited for the band to come over. Mia wasn't joining them today. She had begged off saying something about getting a big shipment for the house.
"Alert! Alert! Oyster, Gideon, and the strange German kid approaching" blared Supercomputer, giving Max a heads up that his friends were on their way.
Opening the front door he found his three band mates standing on the opposite side all with somber looking expressions.
"Hey, guys, get the new song lyrics I sent ya?" asked Max.
The three just stepped forward and wrapped Max in a giant group hug.
"What's happening?" asked Max, super confused. "Are you guys okay?"
"The real question is– are you okay?" asked Giddeon.
"We read your song. We know you're in pain" added Oyster, clapping a hand on Max's shoulder. "I am so sorry that this is happening to you bro. I can't believe Mia".
"Strudel?" offered Wolfgang, holding out a yummy looking danish.
"Save your strudel. It's just a song, guys" argued Max, avoiding the part about Mia.
"'My heart skipped a beat when I saw you before. But now I'm not sure my heart even works anymore.' That's not a song, bro, It's a cry for help" argued Oyster.
"Don't you think I was just being a normal, over-dramatic teenage girl– er, boy-because I'm a boy" suggested Max awkwardly.
"Only true pain could write words like that. I know. I was once burned pretty badly by a girl" replied Giddeon solemnly. "Like actually burned. With a curling iron".
"We've all been there," agreed Oyster. "But Max has it worse".
"I do?" asked Max.
"Yeah, that whole part in the song about not knowing what you did wrong to Mia" explained Oyster.
At that point Phoebe stomped down the stairs sobbing loudly to her mom, "I don't even
know what I did wrong".
"I wanna help you, sweetie, but there's only one person who can tell you that" comforted Mrs. Thunderman.
"I'll be right back," Max said, following his sister and mom into the kitchen.
"Strudel?" offered Wolfgang again.
"Well he's not gonna eat it" suggested Giddeon.
"Group strudel!" celebrated Oyster, the trio dug into the danish while they waited for Max to return.
In the kitchen Phoebe was crying into a tub of ice cream; "Link and I had the kind of relationship where we could share anything with each other".
"I know you did, honey" soothed Mrs. Thunderman, rubbing a comforting hand on Phoebe's shoulder.
"Now he won't even respond to my note".
"Oh, that's because boys are stupid"
"I know!" sobbed Max's sister.
"Look Phoebe, I need to talk to you about Link" said Max guiltily.
"Don't say his name!" ordered the young superhero. "I'll be in the fridge".
Seeing as his sister wasn't in the mood to talk, Max went back to his attempt at convincing his friends that he wasn't actually broken-hearted and that a song was just a song. Needless to say… they didn't buy it.
*A New Hero - A New Hero - A New Hero*
Hey, make sure you open with "Bonus Toe". That song inspired my new line of appe-toe-sers" ordered JJ as the band got set up for their first performance. He passed Max a list of the special orders.
"Fried toe-tellini. Maca-toe-ni and cheese?" read Max, "Boy, you really went all out"
"Dude, what about our pay?" demanded Oyster
JJ held up a remote and summoned a tube with a sign on it which read "Splatburger Band".
"Sweaches! Our own private tube" celebrated the bassist.
"Wolfgang tubin'!" shouted Wolfgang jumping for the tube.
"Sorry, no eats till you drop the beats" disagreed JJ, making the tube go back up.
The dinging of the bell over the door drew Max's attention as he spotted Phoebe entering the restaurant.
"Phoebe, you came" he exclaimed, rushing over to join her.
"Yeah, Link texted me and said he was sorry for being a super stretchy jerkface who smells like coleslaw" replied his sister, pulling a strange face at the last part.
"I never sent you a text" said Link, who had overheard the conversation while bussing a nearby table.
"You didn't?" asked Phoebe.
"Okay, so I might have hacked Link's phone and texted you" admitted Max. "But he does smell like coleslaw".
"Why would you do that?" demanded Phoebe, Link looked angry as well.
"Because I needed to get you here so I could talk to you and Link. Here's the deal, right?"
"I don't wanna hear anything you have to say, Max" denied Link.
"Me, neither. I'm going home" decided Phoebe, heading for the door.
"Come on, Max, we've gotta play now" called Gideon.
"Phoebe, don't go! Listen carefully to this song!" yelled Max as he rushed over to the stage.
Phoebe grudgingly decided to stay and hear her brother out. Link only stayed because he was working and couldn't leave.
Max launched into Bonus Toe and watched as a look of furious realization came across his twin's face. Phoebe shot him her deluxe "I'm going to kill you later stare" before chasing after an upset Link to explain what had happened. By the end of the song the pair had clearly made up if the fact that they were making out in the corner was any suggestion.
Strumming the final note, Max looked out over the celebrating restaurant. Everyone was in a good mood and cheering, but there was one patron in particular that stood out to Max. Standing in the doorway cheering for him was Mia. She looked absolutely radiant in a white tennis skirt and a soft green sweater.
"Go Max" she shouted loudly.
"Thank you!" announced Max to the crowd. "We are Antihero. Check out tonight's special menu and enjoy some more music" gesturing to where the group had set up a box, Max added "Tips are always appreciated!"
The band then launched into their next song, Paralyzed, which Max had actually written with no help from Phoebe's diary.
"You, you walked into the room, on a Friday afternoon. That's when I saw you for the first time and I was paralyzed." sang Max.
"Time stops ticking, My hands keep shaking, You don't even know that…" sang Oyster
"I try to speak, but girl, you got me tongue-tied. I try to breathe, but I'm f-f-f-frozen inside. I try to move, but I'm stuck in my shoes. You got me paralyzed, paralyzed, p-p-p-paralyzed" sang the band together as a group. "I see you walking, but all you do is pass me by. Can't even talk, 'cause words don't come into my mind I'd make a move if I had the guts to But I'm paralyzed, paralyzed, p-p-p-paralyzed"
Now I've learned a lot from my mistake, never let a good thing slip away. I've had a lot of time to look back but my only regret is not telling you what I was going through" sang Gideon as he played the Piano.
"You didn't even know that I try to speak, but girl, you got me tongue-tied. I try to breathe, but I'm f-f-f-frozen inside. I try to move, but I'm stuck in my shoes. You got me paralyzed, paralyzed, p-p-p-paralyzed" sang the group as a whole.
"As the years go by I think about you all the time. If I get the chance I hope I won't be paralyzed, paralyzed by you" sang Max, making eye contact with Amelia who was dancing excitedly with Cherry and Kelsey who had also come by for the band's first performance.
"I try to speak, but girl, you got me tongue-tied. I try to breathe, but I'm f-f-f-frozen inside. I try to move, but I'm stuck in my shoes. You got me paralyzed, paralyzed, p-p-p-paralyzed. I see you walking, but all you do is pass me by. Can't even talk, 'cause words don't come into my mind. I'd make a move if I had the guts to but I'm paralyzed, paralyzed, p-p-p-paralyzed" sang the group.
The end of the song was greeted with lots of cheers and demands for more. Max and the band played on and off for another two hours, taking breaks to use their private tube which they invited Mia, Kelsey, Cherry and grudgingly Phoebe to use as well. All in all, Max marked it down as a wonderful first official gig for the band, he expected many more fun performances in the future.
Evie's Notes 2: I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story so far in the comments or my Tumblr Find-y0ur-j0y! - Xo Evie
(1) Welcome Wolfgang, we're happy to have you joining the group. I speak pretty good German, so if you ever get stuck, I can help you out.
(2) Thank you Amelia, I will keep that in mind. I have much to learn in this new country.
Paralyzed by big time rush: https/watch?v=qih7HnB0Hd4
Bonus Toe: https/watch?v_T9ZeCDi2AA