"JB!" A familiar voice calls to me.

I turn and see Alicia and Missy standing in my doorway.

"You ready girl?" Missy practically screams.

I exhale and let out a soft smile.

"You bet."

-*-

Tonight, Alicia, Missy and I are going to see JERKS live.

JERKS is a really popular boyband consisting of three members. Not only are they all talented, they're really fucking hot.

You have Everett, who seems to be the face of the band, he's on lead vocals and guitar.

Next is Nate, he plays another guitar but he also plays bass occasionally.

Last is Shiloh, he's probably the least popular of the three, but he has his own little fanbase and they're all sweethearts. He's on drums.

Missy introduced them to me, I introduced them to Alicia, and we've been fans for a while.

Actually, JERKS is the reason I got into drumming. It's an instrument, but it's not so complex you really need to learn a lot about it.

This will be our third time seeing them live.

-*-

"Almost forgot," Missy giggles.

She passes me a blue glowstick.

She has a green one and Alicia holds a pink one.

"We have to be noticeable, right?" Missy says as a smug smile creeps across her face.

I chuckle.

"Yeah."

-*-

There's the silence before the show, where the only thing that can be heard is the wild screams of fangirls.

There are even a few guys in the audience, though, they are really talented, I wouldn't be /too/ surprised if they had a huge male fanbase.

The lights flash on stage and the smoke machines start up, smoke fills the stage as dancing neon lights trace every edge of it.

The three boys walk on stage and ear-bleeding screams and squeals fill the venue.

They don't waste any time before starting to perform.

The spotlight shines on Everett who stands at the front of the stage.

Alicia, Missy and I were lucky enough to get somewhat close to the stage.

Missy already starts to squeal, before they've even started. I guess she's excited, but, I can't deny that I am too.

Everett holds the microphone close to his mouth and Nate strums the guitar, it echoes throughout the room.

-*-

"God damn you treat me like shit, but I, keep coming back for more."

Missy and I jump up, waving our glowsticks. Alicia simply smiles and waves hers around.

I smile wide as Everett's voice causes my heart to ache.

"I'm so over it, but I just can't run - Cause just when I think I've had enough, of your suicidal love, you always suck me in."

It's silent for a split second before Nate strums his guitar with incredible force and Everett kicks the microphone stand down, holding the actual microphone itself, up to his lips.

"I guess I got a heart with your name on it."

Shiloh begins aggressively playing the drums. Or, maybe not? But it looks aggressive.

There are screams coming from all directions, it's the heat of the moment, Missy and I are jumping so high and so fast, we're barely a minute in before my calves start to ache.

"Can't get away from it - No matter what I do~!"

He's loud, but it never sounds like he's forcing himself to sing, it always flows out like it was somehow natural, it never seems like he's straining his voice. It's somehow always smooth.

"I should be single when I'm young, hooking up and having fun - But I keep coming back to you!"

-*-

"Are you alright?" Missy asks, helping support me.

My legs feel like jelly and my arms ache so much due to me frantically waving them around like I'm some sort of possessed octopus.

"I hurt everywhere~" I groan.

"That's your fault, JB," Alicia smiles.

"Shut," I say, without much remorse in my voice.

"We going to their next show?" Alicia asks, her voice full of hope.

"You know it," Missy beams.

"Nate looked really good today," Missy hums.

"Speak for yourself," I groan, "Everett looked amazing."

Alicia chuckles.

-*-

I hear my name being screamed and I pry myself up from my bed.

"Huh? What?" I say grumpily.

Missy is in tears and Alicia looks really sad.

"What? What happened?"

Alicia hands her smartphone to me, it's opened on some sort of news site.

[ JERKS has gone on hiatus for unknown amount of time due to falling out with drummer ]

"Huh?" Escapes my mouth, it doesn't seem real.

"Do you think they're gonna break up?" Missy wails, shoving tons of tissues to her face.

"I hope not," Alicia frowns.

"Is this a joke?" I ask, wearily.

Alicia clenches her jaw and shakes her head.

It seems like a dream, yesterday we were dancing to them, and today... They may never perform again.

"Do they know what happened with Shiloh?" I ask.

"They won't tell the media /anything/. Just that it was a falling out and Shiloh plans to work solo."

I wince, solo drummer? That never ends well.

I stare at Missy from the corner of my eye and let out a weak smile.

"I'm sure it's going to be fine. This hiatus is probably just so they can find a new drummer," I suggest, plastering on a big fake grin.

Missy looks over in our direction as Alicia lets out a smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right, JB."

------------------------------

"Hey, look at this!" I hear someone yell as extreme force is applied to my back.

"Ack-"

Missy pushed me forward, waving her hand in the air, her phone is clutched between her fingers.

"Ugh, can't this wait...?" I quietly groan.

My next class starts pretty soon, and if I'm late /again/ the professor will surely tear me a new one.

Missy hands me her phone, she seems giddy with excitement.

My eyes scan across the screen.

[ JERKS looking for new drummer | AUDITIONS OPEN ]

I let out a genuine smile. A big one, too.

"See, I was right," I say, passing Missy's phone back to her.

"Are you going to audition?" She asks, peering at me.

"W-What?" I yell, my face flustered at the thought.

"You're a really good drummer! You could totally get in JERKS."

I can feel my heart pace quicken as I let out a long sigh.

"I'm mediocre at /best/, and besides, why do you seem persistent on the idea?" I say, cocking an eyebrow up at her.

"Because~," she says, dragging the word out.

"You like drums! You started because of them, right? Even if you don't get in, it'd be a major step for you to a least give it a try!" Missy says, her smile reaching from ear-to-ear.

I can almost never say no to Missy, Alicia's normally the one to do that for me. She leaves me vulnerable.

"...Fine," I exhale, slouching.

Missy wraps me in a big hug.

"Also, if you /do/ get in, you can knick Alicia and I free tickets," she whispers in my ear.

"I knew it," I say as a smile unintentionally fades onto my face.

-*-

"You're gonna do great!" Missy beams at me, embracing my hands in hers.

Alicia nods and smiles at me.

I swallow.

"I just hope I don't fuck up," I nervously laugh, avoiding eye contact with them.

"JB," Alicia says, my eyes slowly creep in her direction.

"You've got this. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're a jerk yourself, you'll fit right in."

I burst into laughter at her comment, she smiles in response.

-*-

I hear my name called and I exhale.

I walk onto the small stage-like area. There's a table in front of me where-

I sit down at the drums.

Well, if I fuck up, who cares?

I look up at the people behind the table.

Nate Lawson.
Everett Gray.

"Um, are you gonna-"

I cut Everett off by starting drumming.

I didn't really have a plan for this, I don't usually have plans for anything, to be honest - So I'm just drumming the beat from their song "Temporary Bliss."

All stage fright immediately wears off.

I realise how meaningless the fright is.

There's no need to be scared.

I hit my final drum and the room floods into silence.

I stand up, my body coated in a thin layer of sweat.

I turn my eyes to the boys, who have unreadable expressions.

Figures.

"Wow," I sigh.

"You guys really /are/ jerks," I smile before exiting the room.

-*-

I slouch in the plastic chair I'm seated in as I read the text Alicia sent me.

-*-

ALICIA: hey we gotta jet back to our dorms, tell us how it goes tmrw

-*-

I let out a smirk and tuck my phone away into my back pocket.

I suspected they'd have a large number of people auditioning, I mean, how could they not?

If I knew how long I'd have to seat in an unventilated room full of plastic chairs and preteen girls wearing JERKS merchandise I would've never come.

"Everyone back to the stage, please!" Some guy yells at us.

I swing my backpack over my shoulder and walk within the flood of girls and boys alike.

-*-

"First of all, we want to thank everyone for participating-"

I kind of block out what he's saying - Just get to the results already.

I'm tired. I just wanna get back to my dorm.

I hear something familiar and perk up.

I face forward, my attention on the speaker.

"That's you, isn't it?" He says as he points to me.

"I-"

He asks me who I am, to which I reply.

"Yeah, congratulations," he says, putting on a smile, but I've seen so many fake smiles it's easy to see that he doesn't really care.

"This way, please," he says, taking me towards a door as the other people who I stood with less than a minute ago get escorted out of the building.

My mind is filled with so many things right now, but at the same time, it's not.

I can't focus on one clear thought, or distinguish what any of the thoughts are actually about.

I open the door.

-*-

I'm greeted with a firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Nate Lawson, that-"

I scan the room and see Everett lying on a sofa, reading what looks like a romance novel? Or maybe it's just erotica, who knows.

"-That's Everett Gray..." Nate says, looking more upset than he was a second ago.

I introduce myself to them, awkwardly, but, it gets the job done.

"Everett, are you going to greet her?" Nate says, his expression is /scary/.

Everett looks away from his book and stares at me for a few seconds.

He then puts the book back to his face.

"Her tits could be bigger."

"For God's sake, /that's/ what you're thinking about?" Nate snaps.

"You're right," Everett says, turning a page of the novel.

"She'll be behind the drum-kit, nobody'll see her anyway."

"Gh-" Nate grunts.

"You guys really live up to your name, huh?" I say, a smug smile creeping across my face.

"Anyway-" Nate says, clearly angry, or no, distraught?

"Are you ready? You're going to have to be dedicated to this. We tour a lot and produce new music not short after said tours."

I nod, "I gotcha, handsome."

"Hah?" Nate says, furrowing his brows.

"Relax, it's a compliment. None for you though, Eyebrows." I say sticking my tongue out at Everett.

"I feel like we've made a grave mistake..." Nate says, holding his head as if he has a migraine.

"Nah, don't worry, I won't let you down," I say, smiling brightly.