Ready to Rock?

[D. Planet]

Mal took a deep, nervous sigh, and looked over the flyer one more time, as if he could spell check the darn thing again and fix it even after he printed it out. He still had some very big doubts about this idea, mostly concerning his own talent. His mom had told him that he was getting excellent at the guitar, but he still thought he had a lot to improve on.

But, heck, he was frustrated. After weeks of trying, he had just three days ago gotten the final "no" in his attempts to join the football team. Too many issues with the suit, they said, might harm other players. It hadn't mattered how many times Mal had demonstrated that that wasn't possible, the RISAA wasn't convinced. He had spent the last two nights losing sleep, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't daring to go out on patrol at this point, not when he was still terrified of some possible Nemesis retaliation for his snub. At about four in the morning the third night, he tripped over something on his way to the bathroom and hit his head on the bedpost. Ignoring the fact that something like that could be traumatic in a regular gravity environment, he looked down and saw his guitar, which he hadn't touched in three weeks, peeking out from under the bed.

Then again, that probably wasn't what had tripped him.

In any case, Mal suddenly had a weird idea, an idea was probably a bad idea too. But really, what did he have to lose right now?

Mal slunk around the school, and posted at least six flyers up on any public bulletin boards he could find.


****
Band Members Wanted!

Guitar-playing student is looking for other rock and rollers (or any kind of music really) to form a band.

Music style is open for negotiation, would prefer old school rock/metal (AC/DC, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, etc). Need a drummer, singer, and bassist, and maybe another guitarist. If interested, contact Malcolm Eades at 555-5555.
****

Mal had included a picture of Slash at the top of the page. If anything, that screwy Cat-in-the-Hat hat might get some people's attention.

[Sweet Magnolia]

'Del Sweetwater stood in front of the bulletin board down the hall from the boys' locker room, reading the flyer posted there titled "Ready to Rock??" Her delicate face wrinkled in distaste at the image of what appeared to her as a hedge of black steel wool with a nose and mouth under an ebon top hat, sitting atop the body of a heroin addict whose hands clutched an electric guitar in a death grip.

"Heavy metal," she said aloud with a trace of scorn. Infantile power trip fantasy music, she thought wryly, excuses for boys to scream at their top of their lungs and pretend they're singing, more like. What was Malcolm thinking? A heavy metal rock band in a Catholic school? The faculty would love that.

'Del planted a manicured fingertip against her cheek, thinking. Despite any disapproval that she anticipated would be coming from Sister Moltar and the rest, this was probably going to start a scramble for the boys to form their own garage bands, which would inevitably lead to "The Battle of the Bands". She didn't know if this school had anything like this in its history...she was sure they'd *had* to have had a Talent Show at some point since its inception.

'Del had been singing since she was seven years old, eventually becoming one of the soloists in the church choir at First Baptist. She'd started piano at nine, and learned guitar on the sly from her next door neighbor at twelve. She was already signed up to join the Saint Joseph's choir program next semester, and she was confident that her voice would impress.

She had missed the opportunity for Cheer Squad, which was just as well; her heart wasn't in it. But this...this was an idea.

[QueenCobra]

Valerie Bower, decked out in leather pants and a dark red AC/DC shirt, looked at the flier she found near her favorite spot, the bonfire on campus. Woohoo, a chance to show off!

She quickly dialed Mal's number, left an enthusiastic voice message.

"Oh my god Mally, i'd love to jam with you sssome time! Thiss iss Val, by the way. Give me a call with all the information on when we're meeting up!"

[D. Planet]

*Mal calls Val back later that day*

"Hey Vally! That sounds really awesome! You can sing, right? And play guitar? I play the acoustic guitar, but I've been practicing with one my dad's bass guitars-he's a guitar freak, see-and it doesn't seem that hard to grab the basics. So really all we need right now is a drummer...hm...you know any drummers?"

[James Garret]

James looked up at the flier and thought for a moment. "Hmm, I haven't been in a band for a while.. and it IS gettin' kinda borin' singin' casually like I do now.." James contemplated before taking out his cell phone and dialing Mal's number.

"Hey, Mal, if you're still lookin' for a singer, I'm up for it, drop me a line when ya get this message. Later." He said before hanging up and slinking off to see what kinda trouble he could dig up.

[D. Planet]

.

"Hey, Mal, if you're still lookin' for a singer, I'm up for it, drop me a line when ya get this message. Later." He said before hanging up and slinking off to see what kinda trouble he could dig up.

"Hey, that's great! We have two guitarists and a singer now....All we need now is a drummer. Unless we want a keyboardist too...or someone to play tamborine...or..hm..... *Mal goes silent for a second as he thinks*....oh, right! We're going to try to meet up this Saturday to figure something out. See ya later!"

[Billi Ivey]

*email sent to Mal*

Yo, Mally! A friend of a friend of a little bird told me you were looking for someone to play the tambourine, and sing. I'm a heck of a singer, you can see me sing in Chorus, and I can play the tambourine pretty good too. Or whatever. If you got space, let me know!

-Thrillinbilli@hotmail.com

[D. Planet]

To: Thrillinbilli@hotmail.com
From: doctormal0203@gmail.com

Subject: Re: Band

OK BILLY THAT SOUNDS COOL ALSO JAMES SAID HE WANTS TO SING SO I GUESS YOU GUYS COULD SWTCH OR SOMETHING WERE MEETING ON SAT IN THE MUSIC ROOM SO I GUES WE CAN WORK IT OUT THEN BRING WHAT EVRE INSTRUMEN YOU CAN PLAY UNLESS YOU PLAY DRUMS CUZ I THINK THAT WULD BE HEAVY ALSO IF YOU KNOW ANY DRUMMERS ASK THEM IF THEY WANT TO JOIN PLZ THNKS -MAL

[Billi Ivey]

To: doctormal0203@gmail.com
From: Thrillinbilli@hotmail.com

Subject: What the hell?

Hey Mally-o! I played the drums for a year in my junior high band...how much harder can it be? I can keep a beat and hold the sticks...I can give it a try if you want. I'll bring my tambourine, though, just in case, lol. c u there!

-She Who Is Billi

[D. Planet]

To: Thrillinbilli@hotmail.com
From: doctormal0203@gmail.com

OK BILLY THAT WOULD BE AWESOM SEE YOU THER -MAL

[Tamesis]

Tam eyed the notice,

bassist eh?

She was still waiting to hear about Val's band about being a bassist for her group. Remembering how much fun she had jamming with Kit, she smirked and she made her way down the hallway.

Maybe I'll talk to Mal about it when I seen him next...

[D. Planet]

Saturday...

Most days, Mal pretty much hated his dad. This was not one of those days. All it had really taken was a polite request, and he had pretty much given Mal all of the equipment he had in storage from his old band in his college days, which included two fairly nice speakers with a microphone, a keyboard, a bass guitar, an electric guitar, and to top it off a full drum set. Mal had gotten permission to set up all of this equipment in the music room (which had really surprised him), and he managed to get everything set up with a little help before his dad left.

Mal sat back, pulled out his PSP, and waited to see who actually showed up.

[James Garret]

"Let's see.. music room.. music room." James said wondering the halls.

"By the looks of it, it's to your right," James heard before looking to his right.

"Ah, never been here yet, thanks for the directions." James said with a grin.

"Only because your hopeless on your own." James heard before laughing and opening the door and walking into the music room.

"James Garret, singer, reportin' for duty." James said with a mock salute and a grin.

[QueenCobra]

Val walked down the halls for about ten minutes until she finally found the band room. She took off the guitar case off of her back and laid down on the table, while smiling at Mal. She then unloaded her baby: A dark red Gibson SG with a custom-painted black snake on the neck. She giggled like she always did when she saw the beauty, then slung its strap over her shoulder. She played a few fancy chords and smiled toward Jimmy and Mal.

"Ready!"

[D. Planet]

Mal smiled as Valerie finished the demonstration of her talents. "Wow, that was awesome, Val...." He reached over and picked up the bass guitar. "I'm not THAT good, but..." He strummed out a few licks on it, and while they weren't anywhere near Valerie's level of skill, it was obvious he knew how to handle and play it.

"It's kind of weird that I can play with the gloves on my suit, I know." He flexed his fingers. "Good thing the metal's really thin on my hands, I guess." He pulled the microphone over to James, tapped it, and flinched when he got feedback. "OK, what kinda stuff can you sing?"