FicWad

Chapter Four

I didn't have time to see Quinn before their interview because of the mountains of homework that had accumulated during the week. I'd briefly spoken to him on the phone after work the night before, and he was nowhere near as nervous as Ihad been expecting. I sent him a good-luck text before getting stuck into writing my English essay. I got a grateful thank-you text back and I smiled to myself, we were lucky to have each other. Sure, we had our ups and downs, but we always got through them and I couldn't imagine my life without him.
I didn't think the interview would take too long, a couple of hours at the most. It was likely they would be asked to perform a song, and they had been preparing for that. One worry I had about that was Quinn's voice, because of all the smoking he'd been doing lately. The guys certainly didn't help by saying they thought his voice sounded really cool, that it had an edge to it they liked. In the long run it would ruin his voice but it wasn't really my place to say anything, none of the guys really thought about long term consequences and I'd gotten used to that now. Right now I would do anything for them to win this competition, it was exactly what they needed and it couldn't have come at a better time. It seemed like it was just meant to be, like fate or something. Even if they didn't win, it was amazing they had gotten this far, and even Quinn would have to agree with that. It had come along unexpectedly and it was an experience they'd never forget. An opportunity like this was huge for just an unknown, high school band.
I had procrastinated enough, and while the band was at their interview I had the perfect time to write my essay without any interruptions. However, my time wasn't spent well. I tried really hard to focus on it but I just couldn't. Every time my pen touched the paper my mind wandered, wondering what the band were doing right at that moment and I forgot what I was supposed to be writing.
An hour and a half later I gave up after having only written a quarter of my essay. It wasn't going to happen, I just couldn't concentrate. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the sound of the doorbell. Ihadn't expected Quinn for another hour or so. I got up from my desk and rushed to the door. I opened it and tried to read the expression on Quinn's face, but he wasn't giving anything away.
"Hey, come in," I said, standing aside and we walked through to the living room.
"How'd it go?" I asked, anxious.
"I honestly don't know. They asked us about our band, questions like how long we'd been together and all that sort of stuff. And then they made us play one of our songs. I was so nervous," he said sitting down on the couch.
"How was your voice?" I asked. If it hadn't gone well I would have blamed the smoking and he knew I'd be right, so I expected him to say it was fine, even if it wasn't.
"It was good. Considering all the smoking, I know," he said with a smile.
I was surprised he had admitted it. I could tell he felt better about how the interview went than he was telling me, he looked happy anyway and I was glad to see that again. I knew he didn't want to just put it all out there saying it went fantastically and get everyone's hopes up if they didn't win. As long as he really did feel that way, it was enough for me to be reassured by.
"Did you see any of the other bands?" I asked, wanting to know everything, I had so many questions to ask him and I couldn't wait to hear every detail.
"No, they're from all different states. So they're interviewing them individually while Unfortunate Lives are promoting their new album. Only one band will win, they're doing this competition as a one off thing. Unfortunate Lives already have an opening act for the tour so this is just an extra for whichever town it's in."
"Oh, I see. How were the guys after the interview?" I asked.
Lately I hadn't seen as much of the band as I usually did. I had been getting more shifts at work than usual, I was going to have to ask them to cut back my hours soon because I had too much going on at the moment to work so often.
"Oh they're pretty optimistic about it. But when I really think about it, I mean, what are the chances of us actually winning this?" he asked.
Even though Quinn was saying this I could still tell by the tone of his voice and his smile that he was still positive. I could even almost see that sparkle in his eyes again. He had been really down for a long time and it was good to see him feeling better about things, about life again.
"One in five to be exact," I smiled, they were pretty high chances, "besides, if you think about something enough, you just might get it."
Now was the perfect time to test that saying out, it had worked for them so far. Almost three years of forming the band and trying to make it successful, and now it was so close to being worth it all.
"It's pretty amazing enough that you got into the top five," I said.
"Yeah I know. If we win this, all my dreams would have come true, well I'd be so much closer to getting them. I'd finally be making something of my life, I know it's what I'm supposed to do in life. I've wanted it for so long," he said.
He kissed me, a long and tender kiss. It was all going so well, and if this competition worked in their favour things would be even better. Life was finally looking up, things were slowly starting to work out for us and I felt like there was only more to come. I was so excited for the future, for out future which looked so much brighter and clearer than it ever had
"When did they say they would call?" I asked Quinn the next morning while getting abowl of cereal for myself.
My parents knew that Quinn occasionally stayed over, but we never talked about it. Of course I'd had the 'sex talk' with mom a while ago. I didn't really like talking to her about things like that though, I don't know why but it just made me feel uncomfortable. Besides, she had made it clear I could tell her anything if Ineeded to, and that was all that really mattered. I was seventeen and my parents knew they could trust me to make sensible decisions.
"Sometime over the next week, they still had two bands to interview," Quinn replied, getting some cereal for himself.
"You seem quite calm about it all," I said, then wondered if it was a bad idea to say that. I didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud. I didn't want him to change his attitude towards it. I was just so glad to see how he was handling this, much better than I'd thought he would. I'd thought he would have been negative about it already. Not that I was complaining, far from it. Maybe he had that same good feeling that I had. Whatever the reason was at least he wasn't stressing about the final phone call they would get in just a few days and Iwanted to keep it that way.
"I don't know. I know there's a big chance we won't win it, but we've gotten this far already. I wish they'd just hurry up and ring. Put me out of my misery, you know?" He sat down at the table opposite me.
"Yeah I know. Are you guys prepared, if you do win?"
The concert was just one week away so I knew that if they did get the call they wouldn't have much time to get ready for the show.
"I'm going over to Blake's today to sort it all out. Apparently if we do win, we'll need to perform three songs. So we've got to get all that figured out, because we'll really need to give it our all. This could be our big break. We can't stuff it up," he said.
It sounded to me like he was reassuring himself. This concert would be a time for them to really show how good they were, to even gain fans and meet people in the music industry. If they won this, it was very likely to be the opening to their music career as a band. They had a similar music style to Unfortunate Lives so the crowd would be interested in the band and they would have to try their best to make a good impression on the fan base. I was backing them one hundred percent, because I knew they were good enough for this. They were more than ready for it, and they had certainly proved that with all of the effort and practice they had been putting in. They were so committed to this band that any opportunity they got would get them somewhere.
"Will they call you if you don't get in?" I hated even thinking of negative thoughts like that.
"Yeah, they said they will, so in a way I can't wait for the phone call, but I'm also dreading it," he admitted.

"I seriously can't believe we're in the top five," Connor said a few days later as we all sat outside in Blake's backyard after school.
I'd spent almost every afternoon here this week, when I wasn't working. They had been practicing the three songs they had chosen to perform at the concert if they won over and over again. They would definitely be ready for it if they were chosen, each song sounded superb. I still had areally good feeling about it. They had taken a break, and I had found this opportunity for a reason. This wasn't going to be a rejection like the demos had been. This was all for something and it was going to mean so much for the band. I kept telling myself that, and it was easy to convince myself because Iknew it was true. I noticed the band members were starting to lose their confidence in winning so I tried to keep them thinking positively. I knew if Iwas in their shoes I would've had my doubts too. It wouldn't be long before they received the phone call and it was all we could think about. Quinn rarely let his phone out of his site, constantly watching the screen for an incoming call. Waiting was the hardest part for the guys, and even I was starting to get impatient. They were so close to getting what they had always dreamed of. Ididn't even want to think what it would be like if they didn't get through. Ididn't want to imagine how they would feel, how I would feel. The negative thoughts kept creeping into my head and I couldn't let that happen.
"I wonder when they're gonna call," Aaron said, moving the swing chair back and forth with his foot. He seemed calmer than the rest of them, but he was usually calm about everything, nothing ever really stressed Aaron out.
"I don't know, but I wish they'd fucking hurry up. It's doing my head in," Blake said taking a puff from Quinn's cigarette. He and Quinn were definitely taking the wait the hardest.
"I thought you didn't smoke anymore?" I asked Blake, I remembered him giving up the year before.
"Oh, just occasionally when I'm stressed," he said, handing the smoke back to Quinn.
"That's what Quinn said," I muttered under my breath.
Quinn avoided looking at me but I knew he heard what I said. He'd been smoking almost every time I was with him recently. He wouldn't listen to me and now I was even getting used to it. Besides, I understood how much stress there was in his life right now. Then we all heard Quinn's cell phone vibrated on the outside table, the sound of it made me jump. Everyone looked at it for a moment.
"Shit, that's my phone," Quinn exclaimed, stating the obvious and picked up his phone. He walked indoors to take the call.