Toi Un Plus: Chapter 2: Planning And Nerves

Chapter 2: Planning and Nerves

Rhy tapped his pencil against his jaw and looked out the window, studying the shadows cast outside by the street lights. It was quiet inside his and Alexei's shared apartments, the only noise being the sound of his roommate's pencil scratching against his sketchbook.

Words flowed through the vocalist's mind and he sang softly as he turned back to his paper and wrote them down. “As I lie awake, your sadistic, laughing face appears, and I find myself unable to forget.”

Alexei's pencil paused. “Are you working on Catharsis?”

Rhy nodded and continued writing. The idea for this song had been haunted him for months and he'd finally made it into a full music piece. The drums, guitar, and bass parts were done but the lyrics weren't finished. He was having a hard time writing them since it was such a difficult subject to write about. This was the fourth version and he already liked it better than his previous attempts. This one flowed better and had more emotion.

Alexei laid his hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed hug. “Is it hard… writing about it?”

The vocalist sighed and nodded. “Yes.” He'd been reluctant to write the music for Catharsis since the song was so close, so personal to him. He'd been kidnapped at seventeen and now, two years later, his captivity still haunted him. He rarely spoke of what had happened, and only his two older brothers and Alexei knew the full story.

Alexei hugged him once more and released him. “I think this song will help you. You'll be able to release some of your pain and you'll be able to sing with great emotion. I think this is going to be one powerful song.”

“Mm,” Rhy agreed, writing down a few more lyrics.

“Rhy…” Alexei sounded hesitant, a tone that was rare for him. He was usually so confident. The vocalist glanced up, prompting him to continue. “Are you… going to talk about this song's meaning with Callum and Sungam? We've been with them for months and they only know the barest minimum that you've told them.”

The vocalist averted his eyes. “I don't know.” He preferred to avoid the topic as much as possible. The emotional scars of his kidnapping ran too deep, and he hadn't known the guitarists long enough to gain the same level of trust he had with his roommate.

“It's your decision. I'm not pressuring you to talk, but as a friend I think you should tell them your story someday. All of us like you and we want to help you… but in the end it's your choice whether you want to talk or not.”

Rhy was about to reply but paused as his phone rang. Wondering who was calling at ten o'clock he took his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Hello?”

“Hi, it's Sungam. I know it might be kind of late but Callum and I wanted to see if you and Alexei could come over so we can talk about Noku's audition. I want to plan it out and tonight would be the best time to do so. I'm kind of busy tomorrow.”

“I'll check.” Rhy lowered the phone and glanced at Alexei. “Sungam wants us to come over and plan the audition.”

“Oh, sure. That sounds good,” the drummer said, closing his sketchbook and getting to his feet. “Does he want us to bring anything?”

Rhy repeated Alexei's question. “Yeah, can you bring all the music you've written for the band? Even the unfinished pieces?”

“Yes.

“Great. Thanks, Rhy. I'll see you soon,” Sungam said, hanging up.

Rhy pocketed his phone and went into his room to get his music folder, returning to the living room and picking up his lyrics notebook.

“Ready?” Alexei asked. He'd already donned his shoes and didn't seem to care that he was going to his friend's house in his pajamas.

The vocalist nodded and slipped into his own shoes before following his roommate out the door and to the parking lot. He didn't own a car and depended on Alexei or his bike to go places.

“I really hope this will be a good audition,” Alexei said, unlocking the car. “I want our band to be complete.”

“Me too.” Sungam and Callum had been the first to start the band and had talked to Alexei about taekwondo, offering him a place in their band. He'd eagerly signed up to play as drummer and had asked Rhy if he'd liked to be the vocalist. He'd been hesitant at first, uncomfortable about performing with people he didn't know well, but his love of music had eventually made him agree. That had been in February and the four of them had been able to cope with their lack of a bassist but lately it'd begun to bother all of them.

He could only hope Noku would be the right one to fill the position.

* * *

Alexei parked his car outside of Sungam's house and Rhy walked up to the door with him. The drummer rang the doorbell and stepped back, waiting for Sungam to open the door.

They heard footsteps approaching and the lead guitarist opened the door, stepping aside to let them in. “Hey, thanks for coming,” he said happily.

“You're welcome.”

Sungam glanced at Alexei. “Geez, you couldn't even get dressed?” he teased.

The drummer glanced down and chuckled. He'd changed into his favorite Batman pajama pants and an old t-shirt as soon as they'd gotten home from taekwondo. “I just worked out for an hour. I reserve the right to be comfortable afterwards.”

“Cal's the same way,” Sungam said, glancing over his shoulder.

The second guitarist came up to the door and gave them a cheerful smile. He'd also changed into his pajamas too - plaid pants and a white t-shirt. “I like being comfortable.”

“I've noticed,” Sungam said, ruffling the younger boy's hair.

The guitarist was suddenly businesslike. “Right. So for the audition I have a plan but I want to know what you think we should do. Callum wants to start by seeing if Noku brought any of his own music to play, which I'm assuming he will.”

“We should have him play with one of us,” Alexei said.

Sungam nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“What are your ideas?” Rhy asked.

“I like Callum's suggestion for the start of the audition. If Noku's good, I'll keep testing him to ensure he's the right one for the band. Once he's played his song I'll see how good he is with sight reading and have him play one of our songs. You can choose which one, Rhy, since it's your music.”

The vocalist nodded and looked through his folder, wondering which song to use. Possibly Catharsis… he'd written a bass part for it. It was kind of weak but changes would come depending on whether Noku joined the band or not.

“Then I'll have him play with me. If that works then we'll practice a song as a whole band and we'll make our decision after that,” Sungam finished.

“That sounds good,” Alexei said.

Callum nodded. “Hopefully he's the right one.”

“Me too. So what song do you think we should play?” Sungam asked.

Alexei glanced at Rhy. “How about we play Catharsis?”

“Is that your newest song?” Callum asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you have all of it done?”

“Everything but the lyrics. I'd been working on them when you called.”

“Oh. Sorry for interrupting,” Sungam apologized.

“It's alright.” Discussing the future of their band was always more important.

“Can I see what you have so far?” Rhy took out the papers relating to Catharsis and handed them to Sungam. The guitarist scanned through them, looking pleased. “This is really good, Rhy. I'm going to go get my guitar and play this.” He handed the papers and went upstairs, returning with his guitar. He reclaimed his part from Callum and sat down on the couch to play.

Rhy watched in silence as Sungam transformed the notes into reality. The band leader played them slowly, getting a feel for the music. He finished playing and went through it a second time, playing faster. “This is really good, Rhy. Can I see what you have of the lyrics?”

The vocalist hesitated a moment before handing him the page. Sungam read through the five lines he'd had time to write and looked up, concern etched into his dark green eyes. “Is this… about your kidnapping?” he asked quietly.

Rhy nodded.

Sungam sighed and set his guitar and music down before getting up and enfolding Rhy in an embrace. The vocalist stiffened, startled by the unexpected action, but forced himself to relax. He didn't like being touched but Sungam, like Alexei, tended to think of comfort in terms of hugs.

The guitarist let him go. “The song is good, Rhy. It's sad… but it's good.”

“Thanks.”

Sungam cast him a serious look. “I know this isn't something you want to talk about but if you ever need to, I'll listen.”

Rhy nodded again. “I know you will. I just… don't want to talk about it.” Not yet anyway. He'd only known the guitarist for four months. It was far too early to share such a horrible, personal experience. He preferred to avoid discussing the topic in general and he'd learned to cope with the lingering pain. It was hard, but he could live with it.

“I think we should play this tomorrow,” Callum said. “I want to play it too.” He went upstairs and came back with his own guitar. He hooked it over his shoulder and sat down on the couch before playing through his part. Sungam took a seat next to him and added his own guitar to the music.

Rhy listened and found himself unable to stay quiet any longer. He started singing softly, wrapping his arms around himself and closing his eyes as the words flew out of him. He sang long past what he'd written down and committed the new lyrics to memory, resolving to write them down as soon as he and Alexei were home.

The music ended and Sungam looked up at him. “This song is amazing. It's the best one you've made and we're definitely playing it tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” Rhy murmured, letting his arms fall back to his sides. He hadn't been sure how they would react to this song but he was happy to see that he could make beautiful music from such a dark time in his life.

Alexei came up to him. “We should probably get back soon.”

“I know.” Rhy was ready to return to the apartment and finish Catharsis.

“Thanks for coming over,” Sungam said.

“You're welcome, this was fun. Sorry we can't stay for long,” Alexei apologized. They were meeting up with Rhy's older brothers for an early breakfast tomorrow morning and had to be awake in time.

“That's alright. See you at the audition.”

“Bye,” the drummer waved.

Callum returned the music to Rhy and the vocalist said goodbye before following Alexei out to his car.

* * *

Noku strummed his fingers along the strings of his bass and closed his eyes, feeling his pulse quicken as he thought of tomorrow. He was still furious with Koro for volunteering him to play in the band without asking his permission, but he was also nervous and excited. He loved music so this could be fun… if he could stand the others in the band. Which was unlikely since he hated people.

The boy started to play the song he would use tomorrow and ran through a few more for additional practice before setting the instrument aside. Playing his bass usually helped him calm down but he was too nervous about the audition. What if he made a fool of himself? What if he was late? What if they hated him? What if he couldn't stand them? And what if I like the band? He wondered.

Noku pushed the thoughts away and slid off his bed, going over to his bookshelf. Reading always helped relieve his stress. And he knew which book he wanted to read. It was right there on the third shelf… or it should have been.

Growling, the boy whipped around and stalked out of his room. “Koro! I told you to stay out of my room!” he snarled as he found his brother in the kitchen.

“I wasn't in your room.”

“Yes you were! You stole one of my books,” Noku snarled.

Koro rolled his eyes. “Relax, bookworm. Instead of sticking your nose in a book why don't you do something better, like practice your bass? You don't want to look incompetent in your audition, little brother.”

“Don't call me that,” Noku snapped as he glared up at his taller sibling.

Koro laughed and ruffled his hair. “Why not? It's what you are.”

The younger boy slapped his hand away and stalked off, knowing Koro wouldn't be of any help. He wouldn't give him the book no matter what he did and as much as Noku hated to go back and do what Koro had told him to do, he couldn't deny that he needed more practice.

Noku shut and locked his door and sat back down on his bed. He picked up his bass once more and began to play again, running through all the songs he'd ever written. He practiced the one he'd play tomorrow four times and felt his anger start to ebb away. Music always helped to calm him down and he closed his eyes as he continued to play.

Finally Noku set the instrument aside with a yawn. It was midnight already and he packed up his bass before curling up under the sheets. He wanted to be well rested and prepared for the next day.