The Only Cure...
Band Practise Part One
Joe was waiting at the bus stop, his mp3 player blocking the world out. As his head bobbed along to his music, an old lady looked warily at him. Who gives a shit, he thought, she’s probably incontinent anyway. Then he hoped she wouldn’t be getting on the same bus as him.
Luckily, she got on the next bus, and he was left alone again. There weren’t that many people around at seven on a Saturday morning anyway. Not in Leytonstone. It was surprising that that old bat had been.
He realised that he’d stopped half-dancing and so diverted all his attention back to the song he was listening to. He smiled; it was one of his favourites.
Eventually his bus came and he beeped his oyster card and sat down, at the back. There was only one other person on board, and he didn’t know about upstairs. So he stared out of the window and waited for his stop.
It was a muggy, grey sort of day. To Joe, everything looked grey. The streets, the buildings, the sky, even the occasional person had a grey, dead look to them. Even though clouds filled the sky, it wasn’t raining.
Joe Wood was about 17, and had reddish brown hair which sat messily under his baseball cap. He slouched in the seat, his Vans-wearing feet on the chair in front. A scuffed pair of dark jeans and a hoodie covered him; his hands were in his pockets. The only visible skin was his face, and that was up against the window.
He was humming along to the next track on his mp3 player; the Artic Monkeys’ Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts. The other people on the bus wouldn’t have recognised it, however, as the driver wasn’t listening, and the lady sat near the front was into the Beatles more than the Artic Monkeys.
When it got to his stop, he got off the bus and slouched along the road to Nicola’s house. They met there because Nicola had a garage, and for that reason, he kept his guitar there and Alexia kept her drums there.
He knocked on the door, and Nicola answered. Either her mum wasn’t up yet, or she’d gone to work. He’d soon find out when the started practising! Once they were all in the garage, they started off by practising some songs they’d already mastered, like always.
It turned out that Nicola’s mum was still asleep, as she came flying downstairs and ripped a strip off them. That, and turned off the power supply to the garage. Luckily this didn’t include the lights, and the trio weren’t left in darkness.
Alexia sat behind the drums. She could make as much noise as she liked; drums don’t need to be plugged into an amp to work. However, she just sat for a moment, watching Joe and Nicola as they stood with their guitars.
Joe was first to move from his playing position. He set his bass down, and sat on the, now off, amp. They could very easily have turned the power back on, the switch was in the garage, but then again, Nicola was the one who would have to deal with the consequences.
Now that they were both sat down, Joe and Alexia watched Nicola. The way they were practising then was set so that they were all facing each other in a triangle. Nicola’s guitar was hanging from her guitar strap, and she had her thinking face on; her eyes were fixed somewhere, staring into space.
To Joe, she was an old friend; someone he’d known since primary school. Currently they were at the same college. To Alexia, she was her beautiful girlfriend, and she could do no wrong. Joe had introduced them. He thought lesbians were hot, but somehow when it was his cousin and his best friend…
The cousins looked at each other, and then back at Nicola. Even though they were related, their guitarist and singer was the glue that held the band together, she was pretty much the glue that held their lives together.
Eventually, her eyes lit up again. She put her guitar down and turned to her band, grinning from ear to ear.
“I have a plan!” She ran to the back of the garage and picked up an acoustic guitar from behind some old boxes. There wasn’t a car in the room; her mum’s car was always in front of the house, being as it was safe there. “We need to write new shit anyway, right?”
They spent a while with some stuff Nicola had written; she stopped them because she felt selfish. To her, it wasn’t just her band, and it wasn’t fair if she got to write and sing everything. Unfortunately, neither of the other two had any to hand.
“We could go to mine.” Joe put in. “I’ve got a couple of notebooks with crap in; there might be a song somewhere. And there should be an acoustic and a keyboard in the house somewhere.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Alexia grinned, and turned to Nicola. “And I mean, I only live round the corner from you so I could pop back home quickly and get my notebooks, if we’re writing… Not that I have anything.”
The last sentence was somewhat rushed, and Nicola was intrigued. Especially as the younger girl was blushing now, it was obvious that she had a song or two written. And one she didn’t want Nicola to hear at that. It was either rubbish or about her, she deduced.
“No, you can get your notepad, Ally! Whatever bits and pieces you’ve written can go with what ever bits and pieces me and Joe have. We’ve never all three written a song together!”
Luckily, she got on the next bus, and he was left alone again. There weren’t that many people around at seven on a Saturday morning anyway. Not in Leytonstone. It was surprising that that old bat had been.
He realised that he’d stopped half-dancing and so diverted all his attention back to the song he was listening to. He smiled; it was one of his favourites.
Eventually his bus came and he beeped his oyster card and sat down, at the back. There was only one other person on board, and he didn’t know about upstairs. So he stared out of the window and waited for his stop.
It was a muggy, grey sort of day. To Joe, everything looked grey. The streets, the buildings, the sky, even the occasional person had a grey, dead look to them. Even though clouds filled the sky, it wasn’t raining.
Joe Wood was about 17, and had reddish brown hair which sat messily under his baseball cap. He slouched in the seat, his Vans-wearing feet on the chair in front. A scuffed pair of dark jeans and a hoodie covered him; his hands were in his pockets. The only visible skin was his face, and that was up against the window.
He was humming along to the next track on his mp3 player; the Artic Monkeys’ Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts. The other people on the bus wouldn’t have recognised it, however, as the driver wasn’t listening, and the lady sat near the front was into the Beatles more than the Artic Monkeys.
When it got to his stop, he got off the bus and slouched along the road to Nicola’s house. They met there because Nicola had a garage, and for that reason, he kept his guitar there and Alexia kept her drums there.
He knocked on the door, and Nicola answered. Either her mum wasn’t up yet, or she’d gone to work. He’d soon find out when the started practising! Once they were all in the garage, they started off by practising some songs they’d already mastered, like always.
It turned out that Nicola’s mum was still asleep, as she came flying downstairs and ripped a strip off them. That, and turned off the power supply to the garage. Luckily this didn’t include the lights, and the trio weren’t left in darkness.
Alexia sat behind the drums. She could make as much noise as she liked; drums don’t need to be plugged into an amp to work. However, she just sat for a moment, watching Joe and Nicola as they stood with their guitars.
Joe was first to move from his playing position. He set his bass down, and sat on the, now off, amp. They could very easily have turned the power back on, the switch was in the garage, but then again, Nicola was the one who would have to deal with the consequences.
Now that they were both sat down, Joe and Alexia watched Nicola. The way they were practising then was set so that they were all facing each other in a triangle. Nicola’s guitar was hanging from her guitar strap, and she had her thinking face on; her eyes were fixed somewhere, staring into space.
To Joe, she was an old friend; someone he’d known since primary school. Currently they were at the same college. To Alexia, she was her beautiful girlfriend, and she could do no wrong. Joe had introduced them. He thought lesbians were hot, but somehow when it was his cousin and his best friend…
The cousins looked at each other, and then back at Nicola. Even though they were related, their guitarist and singer was the glue that held the band together, she was pretty much the glue that held their lives together.
Eventually, her eyes lit up again. She put her guitar down and turned to her band, grinning from ear to ear.
“I have a plan!” She ran to the back of the garage and picked up an acoustic guitar from behind some old boxes. There wasn’t a car in the room; her mum’s car was always in front of the house, being as it was safe there. “We need to write new shit anyway, right?”
They spent a while with some stuff Nicola had written; she stopped them because she felt selfish. To her, it wasn’t just her band, and it wasn’t fair if she got to write and sing everything. Unfortunately, neither of the other two had any to hand.
“We could go to mine.” Joe put in. “I’ve got a couple of notebooks with crap in; there might be a song somewhere. And there should be an acoustic and a keyboard in the house somewhere.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Alexia grinned, and turned to Nicola. “And I mean, I only live round the corner from you so I could pop back home quickly and get my notebooks, if we’re writing… Not that I have anything.”
The last sentence was somewhat rushed, and Nicola was intrigued. Especially as the younger girl was blushing now, it was obvious that she had a song or two written. And one she didn’t want Nicola to hear at that. It was either rubbish or about her, she deduced.
“No, you can get your notepad, Ally! Whatever bits and pieces you’ve written can go with what ever bits and pieces me and Joe have. We’ve never all three written a song together!”