xXx
We carried all the stuff we needed into Socks’s basement. Edgar had borrowed some amps from his father, and the guys carried those down the stairs while Fern and I carried the guitar cases. “I’m nervous,” I said to her while we were alone on the stairs. “I don’t want to sound bad.”
“I know what you mean,” she commiserated. “I’ve been practising every night and Edgar says I sound great, but still.”
“I know you’ll be awesome,” I murmured, squeezing her arm. “I can’t wait to hear you play.”
“You’re going to be amazing too.” Fern would have my back, no matter what the guys thought.
While Edgar and Fern set up their amps and pedals, Socks set up a microphone stand for me, also borrowed from Edgar’s father, and I plugged in the microphone.
“Hello,” I said, and jumped. The others looked up, startled at the loudness of my voice.
“This is going to be really loud,” Edgar said.
“It has to be, so she can hear herself over the drum kit,” Socks said. “You guys are going to have to turn up pretty loud too.”
“Won’t your parents be pissed?”
“Nah,” Socks replied. “They aren’t home. And the neigh-bours are all old people, half deaf anyways. I jam down here all the time, nobody ever said anything.”
Socks took his seat behind the drum kit, and Fern and Edgar pulled their guitars over their shoulders, checking the amps. Once everything was set up, there was an awkward silence. For some reason Socks was looking at me expectantly, as if I was supposed to get things started. I panicked and fumbled, trying to think of something to say. I glanced at Fern and realized that both she and Edgar were also looking at me, waiting. I felt blood rush to my face and hoped they didn’t notice my confusion.
“Okay, so, let’s play a song,” I said awkwardly.
“Right,” Edgar said. “So Fern, why don’t we play something and then, Socks and Rachel, you guys can join in when you’re ready. We’ll just go through it a bunch of times.”
“Cool!” Socks replied, raising a fist from behind the drum kit.
“Okay,” I said, nodding. Fern gave me a nod and a small smile, which I tried to take strength from. She looked absolutely amazing, with her long white hair contrasting the shiny black of her guitar. I didn’t feel ready, but I felt proud.
Facing each other, Edgar and Fern counted themselves in and started playing. Socks and I watched as Fern’s fingers moved quickly over the fretboard for the song’s intro melody, and Edgar backed her up. I was surprised, to be honest. They both played fast, and it was better than I had expected it would be.
They moved into the first verse, and Socks joined in with a crash of cymbals, proving, indeed, that he could play intuitively. Somehow he was able to estimate where chorus would turn to verse and back again, and when he missed it at one point he immediately corrected himself so it was barely noticeable. I stood and watched Socks’s hands moving so fast they seemed to be a blur, throwing in the double kick for the chorus portion as Fern and Edgar thundered along. It was so loud that my stomach felt a bit queasy, and as they relaxed into the song, I was struck with the thought that they all played better than I had thought they would, especially for a first rehearsal, and I felt even queasier at the thought of joining in. Fern launched into a solo, her fingers dancing up and down, and it was a little sloppy but she corrected herself so quickly that it was obvious she was going to be a really good player. Even Socks, hammering away on the drums, watched her and nodded to himself as if acknowledging how amazing she was.
When they finished, the three of them grinned at each other.
“That was great,” Socks said. “Sorry I had a couple little screw-ups here and there.”
“Nah,” Edgar replied. “That was amazing. It’ll be even better when we go through it again.”