Categories > Celebrities > Good Charlotte > Look Inside Me
Ch. 6
The Surprise and the Making of Good Charlotte
Joel pulled the car up to the house and looked at Benji, “Here we are..” He said
Benji looked at him, “What? This is Billy’s…” He responded but Joel started to get out
Joel smiled while he got out, “Nothing big bro.” He walked around and opened the door for Benji, “Lets head inside.” Joel moved out of the way so Benji could get out
Benji got out and looked at Joel with a puzzled expression, “You hiding something?” He asked walking towards the front door.
Joel shrugged, “No.” He started following Benji to the door letting him get there first
Benji grabbed the doorknob and looked back at Joel, “Ok am I supposed to know something? I mean you are all weird.” He opened the door and walked in and looked around. The curtains were shut and the whole room was quit dark. He reached for the light switch and after moving his hand along the wall awhile he found the switch and turned it on
“Surprise!”
Benji jumped and looked forward as all his family members and friends were standing there. Most of his classmates were there to. He put his hand to his chest, “What the?”
Joel walked up, “Dude, it’s our birthday. March 11th?” Joel hugged him saying softly, “Happy seventeenth birthday bro.”
Benji turned around and hugged Joel, “Happy birthday Joel.” He said tears going to his eyes
Robin, there mom, walked up, “And this party is also for your relies from the hospital.” She said hugging both of them
Benji hugged her, “Thanks mom.” He said and he looked back at everyone else. He smiled, “Thanks everyone!”
Everyone started clapping and laughing.
Benji loved the sight, he didn’t know why but it warmed him up. Probably cause he hasn’t gotten to hang around any of them for six years. Well mostly seven years cause he’s seventeen now.
Billy walked forward, “Yo bro.” He said and hit him on the back lightly
Benji blinked cause Billy’s right eye was bruised, he has a black eye. Benji hugged Billy and looked at him saying, “So what happened to your eye?”
Billy pulled away, “Nothing. I weight lift so I hit myself in the eye. No big.” He said turning away
Benji crossed his arms then put his hands to his sides thinking, “I can’t believe he came up with such a gay excuse!” He patted Billy on the back, “It’ll be ok. I bet it hurt.” He said to him
Billy nodded, “Yeah it does but I can handle it.” He said forcing a smile
Benji nodded, “Alright.” He said and smiled
Billy looked up, “Brb bud.” He said and started walking off
Benji blinked and nodded not saying anything
Joel watched Billy then looked at Benji concerning.
Benji stood there waiting for Billy to get back
After a few minutes Billy came back with a big package under his arm and another package in his hand, “Here…” He said and handed the big one to Benji and then handed the small one to Joel, “I was gonna wait but I decided to see if you guys would approve.”
Joel started unwrapping his package. He got it unwrapped and pulled out the box, he opened it and blinked taking out a microphone, “Dude. This thing is cool!” He moved his finger along a cross on the side of the microphone. The cross had a hallo around it as well and above it, it said “Love” and across the middle of the cross it had “And” on the bottom it had “Peace” Joel read the words out loud, “Love and Peace? Billy… this is awesome!” Joel said looking at him
Billy smiled, “Thanks Joel. I had that made just for you.” He said
Benji started unwrapping the big box sense he let Joel go first. He pulled out the big box and opened it. Inside it had a white electric guitar, “Whoa…” Benji moved his hand along the top of it. He looked at Billy, “How did you pay for this?”
Billy looked at Benji, “Dude it was only $500. Nothing big.” He said smiling and putting his hands on his sidesBenji smiled thinking, “He doesn’t change. He still puts his hands on his hips like a girl.” He put the guitar on the bottom side and smiled at Billy, “Good choice.”
Billy smiled, “So do you accept?” He asked putting his hands together
Joel blinked, “Accept?” He asked getting even more confused
Billy nodded, “Yes! Accept! Do you accept the offer to make a band?” Billy said hopping up and down some on his heels
Joel blinked, “A band?” He asked
Benji also blinked, “Ok so you want to make a band?”
“Yes um!” He said a smile across his face
Benji shrugged, “I don’t see how…”
“We can sing at this club.” Billy said holding up an ad for a club hosting a karaoke night May 29th.
Joel grabbed it and started reading, “Any newbie bands come and sing for our karaoke nite. May 29th. Judges will be there to judge your skill and see if you are fit. To sign up, sign the form out on the bottom.” Joel looked on the bottom of the page and there was a form to fill out. He started reading the things to sign to himself, “Leader, backup (?), Guitarist, drummer, etc. Name of all of them…First and Last name, also nicknames in ().” He looked up at Benji and Billy thinking, “So I would put them down for their instruments and anything. Ok.” He looked down at the paper again saying out loud to himself again, “Name of band…” He looked down thinking, “Which we don’t have.” He looked at the paper again, “Name of song for performance. We don’t have… City, state, address, phone number (Not required).” He got through it and looked at Billy. He smiled
Billy smiled, “What you think?” He said
Joel nodded, “We can do this! If we come up with a name for our band, get more band members, and come up with a song to sing, we will be all set!”
Billy shrugged, “I already have two more people.” He said
Joel blinked, “Seriously? Who?” He asked putting the paper to his side
Billy smiled and walked off, “Be back again guys.” He said
Benji looked at Joel, “Ok he’s gonna go get them so…” He looked up, “We can use two more. That would make us have five people. Good enough.” He nodded
Joel nodded and looked straight as Billy walked up
“Gentlemen. May I introduce you to our two new recruits.” Billy said and moved. Two guys were standing there, one had blonde short boy cut hair, chubby not that bad. The other was tall and bald, very skinny. Billy poked the chubby one in the shoulder, “Paul Thomas. He said he would play Bass Guitar.” He walked up to the tall bald one and put his hand on his shoulder, “Chris Wilson, our drummer.” He smiled, “What you think?”
Benji smiled and walked up holding his hand out, “Benji Madden. How ya doin and welcome to our nameless band.” He said
Joel walked up and held out his hand, “I’m Benji’s twin brother Joel Madden. Welcome to our band.”
They all shook each other’s hands
Paul smiled at them and nodded, “It is cool to meet you guys!” He looked at Chris
Chris nodded agreeing with him, “Yes… True…” he said smiling
Billy smiled and looked at Benji and Joel, “What do you guys think? You want to do this band or not?” He said putting an arm around Paul’s shoulders then
the other around Chris’s shoulder
All three smiled
Benji smiled and looked off to the side, “Well…” He looked at Joel and smiled, “I think this would be like totally awesome!” He said smiling
Joel stood there holding the microphone looking at the floor, “But… with this microphone… am I gonna be the lead…”
“Singer? Yes…” Billy said cutting in
Joel looked up at him, “Me?” He asked his hyper act disappearing fast
Billy blinked and walked forward, “Dude…” He put his hand on Joel’s shoulder, “You sing great… I’ve heard you… You are perfect and Benji is back up…” He
grabbed the karaoke paper and a pen and put the paper against the wall, “Lead singer” He started writing “Joel Madden…” He looked at Joel then studied the group then looked forward and kept writing, “Backup singer, Benjamin (Benji) Madden, Electric guitarist Benjamin (Benji) Levi Madden, Guitarist… William (Billy) Martin…” He looked at them, “I play normal guitar… plus I play keyboard”
He looked at the paper writing, “Keyboard, William (Billy) Martin, Bass Guitar Paul Thomas, Drums Chris Wilson…” He started tapping the pen against his bottom lip thinking, “Name? Will get that later…” He turned towards them, “We need a song!” He said, “This day isn’t to far away! We need to get our butts in gear!”
Benji blinked and smiled watching Billy
Billy rubbed his head, “We need a name, name of song, practice the song, memorize, and play at the night…” He closed his eyes saying, “Gah! So much
guys!” He looked up at them, “Ok… tomorrow we meet at the park by the big fountain… Benji and Joel… Bring paper and a pen, Paul, you bring your guitar, and Benji… don’t forget your guitar, Joel you don’t bring anything… Chris for you well… gah… no… here just meet me at the park at noon! Ok! Now just enjoy the god damn party!”
Benji started laughing and nodded as Billy walked off, “Man, Billy needs to lay off the stress…” he said looking at Joel
Joel looked towards the microphone with stars in his eyes of excitement, “This is tough… He planed this all…” He said looking back up at Benji
Benji smiled, “This is really awesome bro… but in the mean time you better go get some fun dude!” He said and looked at Paul and Chris, “You two too…” he smiled
Joel smiled and nodded, “Later bro!” He took off running
Paul and Chris looked at each other and smiled and walked off
Benji smiled and started walking when he heard a guy’s voice
“Hey there…”
Benji looked over
The guy was blonde and was tall with a lot of tattoos like Benji he smiled warmly at Benji
The Surprise and the Making of Good Charlotte
Joel pulled the car up to the house and looked at Benji, “Here we are..” He said
Benji looked at him, “What? This is Billy’s…” He responded but Joel started to get out
Joel smiled while he got out, “Nothing big bro.” He walked around and opened the door for Benji, “Lets head inside.” Joel moved out of the way so Benji could get out
Benji got out and looked at Joel with a puzzled expression, “You hiding something?” He asked walking towards the front door.
Joel shrugged, “No.” He started following Benji to the door letting him get there first
Benji grabbed the doorknob and looked back at Joel, “Ok am I supposed to know something? I mean you are all weird.” He opened the door and walked in and looked around. The curtains were shut and the whole room was quit dark. He reached for the light switch and after moving his hand along the wall awhile he found the switch and turned it on
“Surprise!”
Benji jumped and looked forward as all his family members and friends were standing there. Most of his classmates were there to. He put his hand to his chest, “What the?”
Joel walked up, “Dude, it’s our birthday. March 11th?” Joel hugged him saying softly, “Happy seventeenth birthday bro.”
Benji turned around and hugged Joel, “Happy birthday Joel.” He said tears going to his eyes
Robin, there mom, walked up, “And this party is also for your relies from the hospital.” She said hugging both of them
Benji hugged her, “Thanks mom.” He said and he looked back at everyone else. He smiled, “Thanks everyone!”
Everyone started clapping and laughing.
Benji loved the sight, he didn’t know why but it warmed him up. Probably cause he hasn’t gotten to hang around any of them for six years. Well mostly seven years cause he’s seventeen now.
Billy walked forward, “Yo bro.” He said and hit him on the back lightly
Benji blinked cause Billy’s right eye was bruised, he has a black eye. Benji hugged Billy and looked at him saying, “So what happened to your eye?”
Billy pulled away, “Nothing. I weight lift so I hit myself in the eye. No big.” He said turning away
Benji crossed his arms then put his hands to his sides thinking, “I can’t believe he came up with such a gay excuse!” He patted Billy on the back, “It’ll be ok. I bet it hurt.” He said to him
Billy nodded, “Yeah it does but I can handle it.” He said forcing a smile
Benji nodded, “Alright.” He said and smiled
Billy looked up, “Brb bud.” He said and started walking off
Benji blinked and nodded not saying anything
Joel watched Billy then looked at Benji concerning.
Benji stood there waiting for Billy to get back
After a few minutes Billy came back with a big package under his arm and another package in his hand, “Here…” He said and handed the big one to Benji and then handed the small one to Joel, “I was gonna wait but I decided to see if you guys would approve.”
Joel started unwrapping his package. He got it unwrapped and pulled out the box, he opened it and blinked taking out a microphone, “Dude. This thing is cool!” He moved his finger along a cross on the side of the microphone. The cross had a hallo around it as well and above it, it said “Love” and across the middle of the cross it had “And” on the bottom it had “Peace” Joel read the words out loud, “Love and Peace? Billy… this is awesome!” Joel said looking at him
Billy smiled, “Thanks Joel. I had that made just for you.” He said
Benji started unwrapping the big box sense he let Joel go first. He pulled out the big box and opened it. Inside it had a white electric guitar, “Whoa…” Benji moved his hand along the top of it. He looked at Billy, “How did you pay for this?”
Billy looked at Benji, “Dude it was only $500. Nothing big.” He said smiling and putting his hands on his sidesBenji smiled thinking, “He doesn’t change. He still puts his hands on his hips like a girl.” He put the guitar on the bottom side and smiled at Billy, “Good choice.”
Billy smiled, “So do you accept?” He asked putting his hands together
Joel blinked, “Accept?” He asked getting even more confused
Billy nodded, “Yes! Accept! Do you accept the offer to make a band?” Billy said hopping up and down some on his heels
Joel blinked, “A band?” He asked
Benji also blinked, “Ok so you want to make a band?”
“Yes um!” He said a smile across his face
Benji shrugged, “I don’t see how…”
“We can sing at this club.” Billy said holding up an ad for a club hosting a karaoke night May 29th.
Joel grabbed it and started reading, “Any newbie bands come and sing for our karaoke nite. May 29th. Judges will be there to judge your skill and see if you are fit. To sign up, sign the form out on the bottom.” Joel looked on the bottom of the page and there was a form to fill out. He started reading the things to sign to himself, “Leader, backup (?), Guitarist, drummer, etc. Name of all of them…First and Last name, also nicknames in ().” He looked up at Benji and Billy thinking, “So I would put them down for their instruments and anything. Ok.” He looked down at the paper again saying out loud to himself again, “Name of band…” He looked down thinking, “Which we don’t have.” He looked at the paper again, “Name of song for performance. We don’t have… City, state, address, phone number (Not required).” He got through it and looked at Billy. He smiled
Billy smiled, “What you think?” He said
Joel nodded, “We can do this! If we come up with a name for our band, get more band members, and come up with a song to sing, we will be all set!”
Billy shrugged, “I already have two more people.” He said
Joel blinked, “Seriously? Who?” He asked putting the paper to his side
Billy smiled and walked off, “Be back again guys.” He said
Benji looked at Joel, “Ok he’s gonna go get them so…” He looked up, “We can use two more. That would make us have five people. Good enough.” He nodded
Joel nodded and looked straight as Billy walked up
“Gentlemen. May I introduce you to our two new recruits.” Billy said and moved. Two guys were standing there, one had blonde short boy cut hair, chubby not that bad. The other was tall and bald, very skinny. Billy poked the chubby one in the shoulder, “Paul Thomas. He said he would play Bass Guitar.” He walked up to the tall bald one and put his hand on his shoulder, “Chris Wilson, our drummer.” He smiled, “What you think?”
Benji smiled and walked up holding his hand out, “Benji Madden. How ya doin and welcome to our nameless band.” He said
Joel walked up and held out his hand, “I’m Benji’s twin brother Joel Madden. Welcome to our band.”
They all shook each other’s hands
Paul smiled at them and nodded, “It is cool to meet you guys!” He looked at Chris
Chris nodded agreeing with him, “Yes… True…” he said smiling
Billy smiled and looked at Benji and Joel, “What do you guys think? You want to do this band or not?” He said putting an arm around Paul’s shoulders then
the other around Chris’s shoulder
All three smiled
Benji smiled and looked off to the side, “Well…” He looked at Joel and smiled, “I think this would be like totally awesome!” He said smiling
Joel stood there holding the microphone looking at the floor, “But… with this microphone… am I gonna be the lead…”
“Singer? Yes…” Billy said cutting in
Joel looked up at him, “Me?” He asked his hyper act disappearing fast
Billy blinked and walked forward, “Dude…” He put his hand on Joel’s shoulder, “You sing great… I’ve heard you… You are perfect and Benji is back up…” He
grabbed the karaoke paper and a pen and put the paper against the wall, “Lead singer” He started writing “Joel Madden…” He looked at Joel then studied the group then looked forward and kept writing, “Backup singer, Benjamin (Benji) Madden, Electric guitarist Benjamin (Benji) Levi Madden, Guitarist… William (Billy) Martin…” He looked at them, “I play normal guitar… plus I play keyboard”
He looked at the paper writing, “Keyboard, William (Billy) Martin, Bass Guitar Paul Thomas, Drums Chris Wilson…” He started tapping the pen against his bottom lip thinking, “Name? Will get that later…” He turned towards them, “We need a song!” He said, “This day isn’t to far away! We need to get our butts in gear!”
Benji blinked and smiled watching Billy
Billy rubbed his head, “We need a name, name of song, practice the song, memorize, and play at the night…” He closed his eyes saying, “Gah! So much
guys!” He looked up at them, “Ok… tomorrow we meet at the park by the big fountain… Benji and Joel… Bring paper and a pen, Paul, you bring your guitar, and Benji… don’t forget your guitar, Joel you don’t bring anything… Chris for you well… gah… no… here just meet me at the park at noon! Ok! Now just enjoy the god damn party!”
Benji started laughing and nodded as Billy walked off, “Man, Billy needs to lay off the stress…” he said looking at Joel
Joel looked towards the microphone with stars in his eyes of excitement, “This is tough… He planed this all…” He said looking back up at Benji
Benji smiled, “This is really awesome bro… but in the mean time you better go get some fun dude!” He said and looked at Paul and Chris, “You two too…” he smiled
Joel smiled and nodded, “Later bro!” He took off running
Paul and Chris looked at each other and smiled and walked off
Benji smiled and started walking when he heard a guy’s voice
“Hey there…”
Benji looked over
The guy was blonde and was tall with a lot of tattoos like Benji he smiled warmly at Benji
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