“I’ve got an idea for a band name,” the drummer said, lifting his weary head off his arms to speak.
And then there was Brandon. Let’s just say every group needed a Shia LaBeouf, and Brandon was ours. Not that he looked like the actor, with his platinum-blond roller-coaster hair, but he sure as hell gave off the same vibes. Narcissistic, defiantly handsome, with just a touch of the creep factor, he was the only fence sitter for me. But out of the three drummers who’d auditioned, one was dogshit, one was Echo, and one was Brandon. We had a winner.
“I think we should be called Shaft,” he said, simultaneously grabbing his own for reference.
“Right, because what could possibly go wrong by naming ourselves after a phallic symbol?” I reasoned.
“What? It’s edgy. Fun. But whatever, man,” he said, shrugging as if it didn’t matter, although clearly it did.
“Sorry, Brandon,” Mike said. “But I’m using my veto power on this one.”
“We have veto power?” Matty asked.
I shrugged. “News to me.”
“I think we should all have one no-go name that we can nix. Shaft is mine,” Mike said. “See, I was once in a band called Defecation, and my poor mom was so embarrassed, she lied and told everyone who asked that our name was Def Vacation. I can’t do that to her again.”
“You were in Defecation?” Matty gushed. “I saw you on the Sewer Tour.Shit Happenswas inspired, man.Loved that album.”
Mike sighed. “We broke up on that tour. Never got to drop our second album,Number Two,or go on to release ourGreatest Shits.”
I grabbed his shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Eh, it was just a shitty band anyway. Nothing like this one. We need a name that will stand out, notup,” he said, eyeing Brandon.
“Okay, you pick a name, then,” he challenged.
“Uh…” Mike scanned the restaurant before adding his suggestion to the mix. “How aboutThe Wrap?”
“As in the spinach wrap on your plate?” I asked.
He flashed me a sheepish grin. “I’m not good under pressure, and you make me nervous.”
“Imake you nervous?” I asked, more than a little surprised.
“You make us all nervous,” Matty agreed.
“He doesn’t make me nervous,” Brandon replied, all blustery Shia confidence.
“Right,” Mike addressed him. “But you were raised by wolves. The rest of us were raised by humans… except for Matty, who was raised by Travelocity trolls.”
“Trolls?” Matty questioned. “Why trolls?”
“I don’t know, weren’t you living in Norway or something?”
“For two years. Not enough time to get adopted by hobgoblins.”
I was still stuck on Mike’s comment. “Why do I make you nervous? Is it because of my brother?”
“Jake might have something to do with it, but it’s more you, man. You’ve got the same star power as him, but you’re still untested. Raw. And then, like a fool, I corner you in the bathroom and talk you into picking a bunch of unknowns to take along for the ride. There’s a lot of pressure. We don’t want you to feel like you’ve wasted your faith in us. So, yeah, we’re all a little nervous.”
Brandon lifted his head off his arm again.
“We know!” Mike stopped him. “You’re not nervous. But Matty and I are.”
“I was gonna say I’m a little nervous.”
The four of us were silent for a second before we burst into laughter.
