Battle of The Hearts: Part Three
Jesse became obsessed with his mother’s new-ish relationship. He knew Mr. Vander was up to something. What if this was his plan all along? To get with my mother and break up the band. But why would he want to break us up? Wouldn’t he make more money with us together?
Jesse tried to talk to his mother about his concerns about Mr. Vander, but she didn’t believe him. She was hypnotized by her boyfriend’s charm and kindness.
What if they got married? He’d be my stepdad. That would be awkward, he’d start me sport, champ, or buddy.
He didn’t really talk to Steven and Kevin anymore, but he still talked to Lee. They’d been friends since elementary school. He called Lee to his garage.
“You must be wondering why I asked you here?” Jesse queried.
“Yes, I have choir practice in an hour.”
“I thought we could get the band back together, just the two of us. We’d be a duo.”
“I don’t know, what about Kevin and Steven?”
“I need something to distract me from this.” Jesse opened the door to the kitchen and Jesse’s mother and Mr. Vander were making out. He closed the door.
“I understand, it’s hard when your ex-manager and mother are dating. But what would we call our band?”
“Two hearts? No, The Battle?”
“I like ‘The Battle’, but who’s going to book us gigs?”
“I will or you can.”
“Alright.”
“We’ll start practicing next weekend and in the meantime, I will book us some gigs.”
“Sounds good.”
Mr. Vander heard about their new band and he dropped by their next practice session.
“So, I booked us a show in New York. It’s an open mic night, but you never know who will be there,” Jesse said as he tuned his guitar.
“But who’s going to write the songs? That was Steven’s job,” Lee replied.
“Good point, I’m not much of a songwriter.”
“I’ve tried to write songs, but they never come out good.”
The garage door opened and Mr. Vander walked under it.
“Alex,” Jesse said.
“Jesse, I told you, you can still call me Mr. Vander.”
“I’m good. What do you want?”
“Word around the house is that you two are starting a new band and I like to manage you guys.”
“I don’t think so, we can manage ourselves.”
Jesse and Lee talked in private in the corner of the garage.
“He could help us with getting gigs,” Lee said as he elbowed the paint cans.
“I know, but I don’t want our duo to break up like The Hearts.”
“Me neither, but we should give him a second chance.”
“Why should we?”
“He has connections in the music industry. Maybe he could get us a record deal.”
“I don’t have all day, boys. I’ve got a meeting at four,” Mr. Vander interrupted.
“You can be our manager again, but under one condition–you have to stop dating my mom.”
“I haven’t told her yet, but I love her. I’ve never been in a serious relationship like this one.”
“Yeah, right, you don’t love her.”
“Oh, but I do.”
“Whatever, you can be our manager, but we write the songs and this is your last chance.”
“I won’t you down.”
“You better not.”
“I gotta get to my meeting, but I’ll see you guys later.”
Word of their new band spread around school and made its way to Steven.
Steven walked up to Lee and Jesse’s table.
“I heard you two are a band now.” Steven looked around and called over his new friend. “This is Derek, he plays bass.”
“That’s–cool. What did you name your duo?” Jesse asked.
“The Souls.”
“That’s great.”
“And we signed up for the Battle of the Bands next month. We’re gonna win.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You and Lee better practice.”
“Oh, we will.”
Jesse and Lee practiced that weekend.
“We need to come up with a new song that will wow the crowd.” Jesse paced around the garage.
“I’ve tried to write a few songs, but I can never finish them. I always run out of lyric ideas,” Lee replied.
“Let me hear what you’ve got.”
Lee handed Jesse the notebook.
He flipped through its pages. “Maybe we could combine some of these unfinished songs.”
Jesse sang the lyrics he thought fit well together.
A month later, it was finally time for the Battle of the Bands at Elrose High School Auditorium. A few bands went on first and The Battle and the Souls were the last acts. The Souls went first.
Steven spoke into the microphone at the front of the stage: “I’m Steven and this is Derek and we’re the souls. The song we’re going to play for you tonight is called ‘The Souls and Stars’”. He turned around and walked to his keyboard stand.
Derek strummed a kind of romantic/rock ‘n roll beat.
Steven sang, “The stars and our souls are aligning tonight…And everything’s gonna go right…As we stand under the moonlight…I can feel your heart beat fast.”
Derek joined in, “We will travel around this world,…Forever intertwined…Forward in time.
Backstage, Jesse and Lee waited.
“That was our song! He just changed the lyrics!” Jesse whispered to Lee.
“So? He must be out of new song ideas and we have a new song that will rock this auditorium!”
Steven and Derek continued to sing: “The stars and our souls are aligning tonight…And everything’s going alright…As we stand under the moonlight…Our minds are in sync…And we are finishing each other’s sentences.”
The audience clapped with the beat and once the song was over, they got out of their seats and gave the Souls a standing ovation.
“I don’t know how the next band is going to outdo that performance, but here they are. The Battle,” the MC or Principal Maxoplax announced.
“I’m Jesse and this is Lee. We’re The Battle and our song is called ‘Selective Memories and Time’.
Jesse swung his strapped guitar over his chest and then sang, “I can forgive, but I’ll never forget…Time can heal all wounds,…But it can’t heal what you did to me.”
Lee joined in, also on guitar. “I told you everything…And nothing…Our hands can separate,…But all I can still feel…Your hand in mine.”
Then they brought their microphones closer and pulled out two stools. They sat down and looked into each other’s eyes. “I can forgive, but I’ll never forget…What you did to me…Time will keep moving…And so will I.”
The audience was captivated, their eyes were locked on their hand and hand movements.
“I’m done hitting the snooze button. It’s time to wake up…And try to forget you…And all the bruises…It will be a hard journey…That only I can take.”
They sang a little slower as the song was about to end. “I can forgive, but I’ll never forget…Everything you did to me…Time will keep moving on…And so will I…I just need to move on…From you.”
The curtain fell and the audience clapped and cheered.
“Alright, settle down folks. I will now announce the winners of the Elrose High Battle of the Bands.” He pulled a pink envelope out of his back pocket. “And the winners are The Battle!”
Jesse and Lee walked up on stage and hugged in excitement.
“You win a $100 gift card to the Elrose Mall.”
“Cool,” Jesse replied.
“Awesome,” Lee responded.
“Would either of you like to say anything to your new fans?”
“I would.”
Principal Maxoplax handed Jesse the microphone.
“I want to thank my mother and my best friend, Lee. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you and have a great night!”
Principal Maxoplax snatched the microphone back. “I was supposed to say that. Have a great night and thank you for coming to The Battle of the Bands.”
Everyone left and Jesse and Steven bumped into each other backstage.
“Oh, it’s you. Did you change the lyrics to our old song?” Jesse asked Steven.
“No, maybe. — Well, congratulations on winning.”
“Thanks.”
“Enjoy that gift card and Lee.”
“Thanks, I–”
Steven and Derek walked away.
“What was that supposed to mean?” Jesse asked.
“Maybe it’s about how he and I had a crush on you,” Lee replied.
“Oh, yeah. But we’re not dating.”
“Why can’t we be? Let me ask again, will you, Jesse, go on a date with me?”
“I don’t know, we’ve been friends since first grade. I don’t want to ruin that.”
“We won’t ruin it, we could be friends to lovers.”
“What?”
“Don’t you read fanfiction? It’s when people are friends and one asks the other out or confesses their love to the other. They then become lovers.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s one of those situations. This is real life, not one of your fanfiction stories.”
“I know, so it’s a no?”
“It’s a no, but maybe in the future we’ll meet again and reconnect.”
