Instead, he queued up a song they’d never quite mastered: "Green Grass and High Tides" by The Outlaws. Nine minutes of Southern rock hell.
For an hour, he was terrible. Then, something clicked. His left hand found the high-hat pattern. His right hand learned to hit the snare without thinking. His foot… his foot still lied, but it was a more convincing lie. He felt the sweat on his back. He felt the stupid, wonderful physicality of it. The thwack of the sticks, the stomp of the pedal, the glow of the screen.
He plugged in the mic. He queued up "Green Grass and High Tides." He strapped on the guitar, sat at the drums, and balanced the mic on a stack of books. rock band 4 band-in-a-box bundle
The first chord rang out, and the calibration was off. A half-second lag made every note feel like swimming through honey. He missed the first three phrases, the crowd in the game booing, his own failures echoing in the quiet room. Frustration burned. He yanked the guitar strap over his head and tossed it onto the couch.
Leo leaned forward, breathing hard, and laughed. It was a raw, ugly sound, half sob. In the silence after the song, he picked up the microphone. He didn't plug it in. He just held it. Instead, he queued up a song they’d never
He tried again. And again. And again.
He picked a different song. A simpler one. "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters. Easy tempo. He pressed start. Then, something clicked
He’d been the singer. He never learned drums. But Chloe had. Chloe was the one who could keep the polyrhythm while screaming backup vocals. He remembered her sitting behind this exact kit (or one just like it), hair in her face, laughing as she kicked the bass pedal too hard and it slid across the carpet.
He looked at the three empty spots on the couch where Mark, Sarah, and Chloe used to sit. He looked at the cheap plastic drum kit. He looked at the guitar with the faded stickers.
He was going to need more than nine minutes. And he was going to fail gloriously. But for the first time in a long time, Leo was ready to play.