Sing It Out

*Sam's POV*
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I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I groaned over and picked up the phone, glancing at the I.D. to see if it was worth getting up over. It was Caz, so no, but I'm a good friend so I picked it up anyway. There must be something important to tell me, because it's kind of hard to have a phone conversation with somebody who doesn't talk. Besides, it's summer and he should be sleeping in. I whistled quietly into the phone to let him know I was listening.

"Hey Sam! The guys and I are hanging out at the skate park if you wanna join. I know you normally don't go, but The2020 is performing in the park across the street, and I know you love them. Text me and let me know, okay?"

I wanted to ask him why he didn't just text me in the first place, but I knew that if I tried, I would end up in the hospital. Instead I hummed a noise that I hope sounded approving. Caz and I are best friends, so I think he got the message. We've been communicating wordlessly since I stopped talking four years ago.

"Bye Sammy!"

He hung up the phone before I could growl at him for using that stupid nickname. I opened up my messages app to shoot him my answer.

Don't call me Sammy, Cazzy. I'll be at the park in 15. You woke me up :/
~S

He replied rather quickly, as usual. That doof was always on his phone. Then again, he had just hung up like 20 seconds ago.

Sorry about that. I'm glad you're coming. Wouldn't want to miss the show would you?
~C

He knows I love The2020. They're just a small-town band, not famous or anything, but I can count on them to play my favorite bands: My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Grouplove. My band has even covered a few of their originals. The lead singer and I have very similar tastes in music (AN: Hehe).

I rolled out of bed, pausing to stretch before I dragged myself across the floor to my closet. I threw on a pair of black skinny jeans, and my black converse, hastily throwing a Danger Days tee over my head. I shuffled into the bathroom, running a brush through my unruly, knotted hair. Screw it, I decided as I grabbed a Modest Mouse beanie to hide the mess.

I blew a kiss to my mom as I left the house, not bothering with breakfast. I'm a recovered anorexic, so sometimes my appetite is nonexistant. It's normal though, so nobody is surprised if I don't eat. My mom wouldn't care anyway though, I'm not too important to her. Ever since my dad died, she hardly cares about anything.

I grabbed my skateboard and exited the garage, heading for the local skate park. I put on my headphones to block out the world, humming along to The Sharpest Lives as I skated along the street.

When I arrives to the park, it didn't take me long to find Caz, with his bright red hair. He was sitting on a rail (what a rebel), watching The2020 set up across the street. I snuck up behind him and tapped on his shoulder. He jumped.

"Geez Sam, don't sneak up on me like that, I might have a heart attack."

My heart lurched at the memory of my father, dying of a heart attack.

Caz seemed to realise what he said. "Oh my god Sam, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking."

I shook my head. It's fine, I mouthed.

He smiled sadly and pointed at the band across the street.

"They're set to perform in about an hour." He held out a hand to me, trying to be gentlemanly. "In the mean time, may I have this skate?"

I rolled my eyes, fist-bumped his hand and skated away to find Seth and Alex.

**One hour later**

I had skated around with the boys for a while, or at least, Seth and Caz. Alex was too busy worrying about our safety. He's like the mom I never had.

We realized that The2020 was getting ready to preform. we rushed over to get front row seats. Or rather, stands. Even if it was a free concert, we tended to dance and jump around rather than sit and peacefully watch. Peaceful is not part of my vocabulary.

The voice of the lead singer, Chloe, rang through the air.

"Hello Bloomingdale!"

The crowd of roughly 15 people cheered.

"Who's ready to ROCK?"

Man, I wish I could yell like that. When we perform, I'm stuck there standing there looking retarded.

"Sorry if we sound a little half-hearted today. We just found out that we can't participate in the Colorado Battle of the Bands, because someone," she looked pointedly at Tyler, the bassist, "is busy next month."

Battle of the Bands? What is that? I made a mental note to look it up later. Maybe we could go compete. I doubt we would win or anything, but I like performing. Everybody assumes that just because I'm mute, I'm super-shy and stuff, but no, I am just stuck with the unfortunate inabilty to speak. I love communicating and I love performing with louds crowds, especially crowds full of energy.

Speaking of crowds full of energy, The2020 concert was now underway. They were currently performing a cover of Teenagers, and the crowd was freaking out, singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. For once I stayed quiet. I was too busy thinking about the Battle of the Bands.
Would we stand a chance? I knew the crowd would be made up of mostly kiddy boy bands, just knowing the other bands our age that we know of. My band, The Californians, is the opposite of that. We jump around the stage screaming like idiots, but we enjoy our music, and it's quite fun.

**Later that evening**

The concert was amazing as always, but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy thinking about the contest. Our band has never competed in a contest before. We've performed all over the small town of Bloomingdale, Colorado, just like The2020, but they were just free gigs for fun. Were we actually good?

I opened up my laptop covered in MCR, FOB and Green Day stickers to do some research.

The Colorado Battle of the Bands is exactly what it sounds like. Bands from all over CO will perform five songs (covers only, no original songs), and the winner will get to meet a guest artist. My guess is that it would be someone like Harry Styles or something, but a tiny part of me wondered if it might be an artist I listened to. Not that we had a shot at winning anyway. But hey, it would be fun. I decided to text the band about it.

To: The Californians
Check this out!
~S

I attached the link, and not two minutes later, all three of the idiots responded with their consent. Their excitement, even. I signed us up and put in our five best songs. The performance is in about a month at Red Rocks. We should get practicing.

Notes

Well that's the first chapter :) I hope you guys like it. I'm listening to MCR while I'm writing this so I'm very inspired.

FYI, The2020 is the name of my band, and they are based off of us in this story.

If you see any errors, or if you are confused about the plot, please don't hesitate to leave a comment for me.

xoxo

~Chloe Rose