Wanna Live It Up Just Because

"So why don't you introduce yourself for the viewers? Names, role in band, and ages," asked the man standing next to RxN.

They were at their interview. It was decided that they would be the first to do their's; All Time Low stood behind the camera, watching their fellow Hopeless Records band.

The man, the interviewer, had no microphone. Apparently, it wouldn't be necessary; the camera would pick up the sound just fine. That was a tiny miracle. With six members, passing around a microphone could be difficult.

"I'm Neon and I sing. I'm twenty-one," Neon started the introductions, smiling brightly at the camera.

On the inside, she was seething at the fact All Time Low was watching. Why couldn't they just disappear?

"Dante and I play the guitar. I'm also twenty-one," Dante continued.

"I'm Lestat and I also play guitar. I'm twenty-two and I'm the oldest member," Lestat patted Neon's back.

He, as well as the rest of the band, could feel the tension radiating off of the lead singer. They were hoping it wouldn't affect the interview. She had been pretty good at faking enthusiasm so far; she just needed to keep it up for the next few minutes.

"I'm the bass player, Dorian. I'm twenty."

"I'm Jazz. I play the keyboard and I'm twenty."

"And this is Arpeggio, our drummer and my little sister. She's only seventeen," Neon introduced the young girl standing at her side.

Arpeggio nodded to the camera, a small smile on her face. It was fake. She didn't want to be here in front of the camera doing some pointless interview where she wouldn't even talk. This was a waste of her time. But she would grin and bare it, so to speak.

"So what is the meaning behind your band name? And are we supposed to pronounce it as individual letters or as an actual word?" the interview asked.

"You're supposed to say each individual letter. In chemistry, the letters 'RxN' are used in place of the word 'reaction' when doing experiments. That's where the band name comes from," Neon stated.

"Obviously, we want to strike some sort of reaction from our listeners. I mean, who doesn't, right? Its one of those 'I want to change the world' type things," Lestat continued.

"Awesome. So how did your band form?"

"Do you want the whole story?" asked Neon.

"Yeah, that would be great."

The band exchanged nervous looks. They would have to talk about their ex-drummer.

"Well, Jazz and I have been friends since birth basically. We went to the same school until high school," Neon started.

"I'm a year younger than her but I was an accelerated learner so I was a bumped up a grade and we always had the same classes. My family had to move when we started high school so I ended up going Sparrows Point High, whereas Neon went to Dulaney," Jazz added.

"I lacked social ability when I was younger and Jazz was my only friend. We kept in contact, went to each other's houses every weekend. Some weeks everyday."

Dante cut in, "I was also really shy, I guess. Neon and I had the same English class during our freshman year. We both sat in the back next to each other. In the middle of the year, we were reading Romeo and Juliet and Neon had said something about Juliet being a fucking idiot. I laughed so hard."

"We ended up getting detention together because of that. We've been friends since," Neon laughed.

"During our sophomore year, we had math class with Dorian. He was a freshman but he was a math genius and he still is," Dante said.

"Some guys were picking on me one class period because I'm gay. You know, some people just aren't okay with homosexuality. Neon and Dante stood up for me and beat the guy up. That's how we became friends," Dorian said.

There was a brief pause. The band members glanced at each other again.

Neon took a deep breath and continued, "In the middle of my sophomore year, I stated dating this guy. His name was Armand Lonsdale."

"My little brother," Lestat added.

"Yeah, Lestat's little brother. He took me to his house to meet his family. I met Lestat first and I was trying like crazy to impress him. The older brother has a major say in who the younger brother dates typically. We hit it off well. And through Lestat we met our manager Grim," Neon's mood was visibly depressing.

"Our parents loved her. Armand loved her. Neon's like my little sister. She was the best thing that could have happened to my brother," Lestat smiled, nostalgically.

"We got together as a group and realized we all played an instrument so we made a band," Jazz said.

"Armand was our drummer," tears filled Neon's eyes.

The interviewer's eyebrows drew together in confusion. All Time Low looked to each other for an explanation. Where did Arpeggio fit into this?

"We were popular underground. During my junior year, we recorded a demo cd and we were going to send it to some labels," Dorian said.

"But Armand got really sick after visiting our dad in New Mexico so we decided we would hold off on sending the cd till he was better in case we had to travel," Lestat took a breath.

"Armand was the type who never went to the doctor. He hated them. When he got sick he kept saying it was just the flu; he would fine. He was vomiting blood all the time and he was in pain. Then his neck started swelling. So we forced him to go to the doctor," a few tears fell down Neon's face.

"We waited for a few hours. The doctor came back and told us that anyone who had contact with Armand had to be given a set of antibiotics and his stuff needed to be disinfected," Lestat said.

"As medieval as is sounds, Armand was diagnosed with bubonic plague. The disease is still around but it's typically only seen in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Armand had been bitten by a rat when he went down there and didn't start showing symptoms till he got back home," Dorian said.

Tears were falling freely from Neon's eyes. Lestat had tears falling in random intervals. A few tears were falling from Dorian's, Dante's, and Jazz's eyes. Even Arpeggio was tearing up. Arpeggio wrapped her arms around her sister.

"When it's caught in the early stages, it can be cured with simple antibiotics. Armand was too far in. He passed away in the hospital when the swelling in his neck popped," Lestat stated.

"We all flew into this depression of sorts. Some worse than others. You don't expect your friend to die from the plague. That's something that happens in science fiction. We didn't think we would be able to find a drummer good enough to replace Armand," Jazz said.

"About a month after Armand's funeral, his will was found. He was paranoid and had a will ready in case of emergencies, which he updated every six months. Everything was given away like we expected it to be until we got to his drum set," Lestat stated.

"We expected that to be given to the band," Jazz cut in.

"Right. But he threw us a little curve ball; he gave it to Arpeggio and left us a note with his reasoning," Lestat wiped the tear stains from his cheek.

Neon, who had stopped crying, removed herself from her little sister's arms and continued, "It turns out that he had been teaching Arpeggio to play the drums since the day he met her. He claimed she was hurting and she needed the therapy. She knew all of his drum beats and had the skills necessary to make up her own stuff."

"Now, we had to make sure this was true so we sat her down and made her play. Armand was right when he wrote that she was amazing. She was only thirteen at the time and she was playing things a seventeen year old with years of drum training made up like it was nothing," Lestat said.

"Of course we immediately took her as our drummer. After all, Armand left her for us in his will even if it wasn't in his place to do so," Neon finished.

The interviewer stood shocked for a moment, his jaw hanging and eyes wide. He recovered quickly.

"You guys have been through a lot together," he said.

"But it made us closer as a band and as friends," Dorian stated.

"I can see that. So I know this may cause another sad story but how are you connected to To Write Love On Her Arms?"

The band glanced around again, except Arpeggio who had diverted her attention to her shoes. They knew who they wanted to tell the story but that person didn't know they had planned that behind her back. They focused their attention on the drummer, who was kicking the grass with her black and blue ballet flats. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up.

Why were they looking at her?

Neon faced the interviewer, "We think Arpeggio should tell that story herself."

Arpeggio's eyes widened. She didn't want to tell her story. There was nothing to tell. And she didn't want to talk. They must have been planning that. The group had been told in advance about the question. They conspired against her.

Damn her band mates to hell.