Chapter 22: Practice

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Someone To You - Acoustic by The Banners> (assigned song)

...

The question left Von in a tight corner, because he couldn’t exactly say, ’I have a magical video game interface floating over my eyes that lists your hidden talents.’ So he had no choice than to lie.

He shrugged nonchalantly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I don’t know. My gut told me, I guess. You have a rhythmic way of... breathing."

Sofie inched her head closer to him, clearly not buying it. They all looked skeptical, But it wasn’t like they could hook him up to a polygraph test right there in the practice room.

"Okay..." Sofie said slowly, deciding to let it slide. She turned back to the group, clapping her hands once to reset the mood. "But now we’ve found out Conor can play drums... how does it help? I mean, the song is still acoustic. It’s a lullaby. Drums might just drown it out."

Sofie’s point was valid. Normally, slamming a rock beat over a folk ballad would sound like a car crash.

Von tapped his chin. "They didn’t say we couldn’t improve the song."

He had already used [Inspect] on the sheet music earlier. The System had given it a [Completion Rate: 52%]. That meant the original arrangement was only half of what it could be. It was leaving points on the table.

And Von knew exactly how to grab them.

"We remix it," Von said, a grin spreading across his face. He turned to Conor. "I’m leaving you with the responsibility of translating those guitar strums into a drum beat. You see where the guitar picks up in the chorus? That’s where I want a kick-drum heartbeat. Make it drive. Make it something people want to run to."

Von said it so casually, as if he were asking Conor to pass the salt.

Conor looked pale. "You think I can do that? I just learned I could play five minutes ago."

"I know you can," Von said with absolute confidence. "Trust your hands, not your head."

By now, other teams were starting to filter into the large music hall. The quiet sanctuary was quickly becoming a mix of warming-up vocalists and tuning instruments.

"It’s getting crowded," Von noted. "Let’s break for now. Tonight, I want us all to memorize the lyrics and the structure. Conor, work on that beat. Tomorrow, we put it all together."

"Where do we meet?" Conor asked, standing up.

"Here?" Sofie suggested.

Aura shook her head. "No it’s too noisy. We won’t be able to hear ourselves, let alone harmonize. They can come over to our room. It’s big enough."

"Works for me," Von agreed, and they all settled on meeting at noon.

***

When Von returned to his room, he realized Julian was still not back yet. It only made sense that he was still practicing.

He didn’t dwell on it, instead spending the rest of the evening with his guitar, playing through the original chords of Someone To You. He stripped the song down, figuring out where he could layer harmonies and where he could let Aura’s voice shine.

He fell asleep with the melody looping in his head.

When he woke up the next morning, the other bed was still empty and the sheets still looked pristine.

Von frowned. ’Did he come home late and leave early? Or was he never back at all?’

It was odd, but Von pushed the worry aside. The competition was fierce; maybe Julian had decided to crash with his new team. He couldn’t care less.

Von quickly completed his Daily Quests in the Gym and got ready.

At 12:00 PM sharp, Von knocked on the door of Room 429.

"Coming!" Sofie’s voice chirped.

The door swung open, revealing a chaotic scene. Sofie was sitting on the floor surrounded by snack wrappers, while Aura sat perfectly poised on her bed, reviewing notes on an iPad. Conor was sitting on a chair in the corner, tapping his knees rhythmically.

"You’re last!" Sofie teased, waving him in.

"It’s only a minute past 12," Von remarked as he closed the door behind him.

They did a quick check up. Aura and Sofie had the lyrics memorized perfectly. Aura had even marked up breathing points on her sheet music.

As for Conor; "Uh... I haven’t memorized all the words yet. I struggle with memorizing stuff quickly. Words just kinda... float away."

"That’s fine," Von assured him. "Your primary instrument is the drums. As long as you know the cues, we’re good."

Sofie crossed her legs, looking up at Von with wide, expectant eyes. "Okay, Captain. What’s the agenda for today?"

Everyone focused their attention on him. Von realized with a start that they were actually waiting for his command. He had somehow become the leader and he didn’t mind it.

"Alright," Von said, stepping into the center of the room. "As we all know, we can’t all sing the melody at once. That’s boring. So we’re gonna split it. I believe if we layer this right, we can create a performance for the ages."

He turned to the drummer. "Conor, were you able to create the beat?"

"I think so," Conor nodded. "I didn’t have a drum kit, obviously, so I downloaded a drum pad app on my phone and recorded my idea. It’s rough, but..."

He pulled out his phone and pressed play.

A beat blasted through the tiny speaker. It wasn’t the slow, plodding rhythm of the original. It was driving. It had a syncopated kick pattern that gave the song a galloping, urgent feel.

Aura’s eyebrows shot up. "That... actually sounds better than the original."

"Yep!" Von grinned, clapping Conor on the shoulder. "All credit to Conor’s amazing work. That beat is our engine. Now, how do we build the car around it?"

Over the course of the next seven hours, Room 429 became a laboratory of sound.

Von took the lead on arrangement. He assigned the lower harmonies to himself to ground the sound. He gave the soaring, high notes to Aura, knowing her vocal range could handle the emotional peaks. Sofie took the mid-range harmonies, acting as the glue between Von and Aura.

"Let’s add more," Von suggested at some point. "Just vocals and drums feels empty. I’ll play acoustic guitar to keep the rhythm tight."

"I can play piano," Aura chimed in, raising a hand. "I saw a grand piano in the music room. If we can use it, I can add the melody line during the verses."

"Perfect," Von said. "Guitar, Piano, Drums, and three-part harmony. We’re a full band."

They practiced relentlessly. Sometimes they made mistakes, but they corrected each other and kept striving for perfection.

Even Conor, who had struggled with the lyrics, started to hum along perfectly in time, his confidence growing with every loop.

By the time the sun began to set, painting the LA skyline in hues of orange and purple outside the window, they were exhausted but exhilarated.

"Let’s stop here," Von breathed, wiping sweat from his forehead. "My voice is toasted."

"Mine too," Sofie groaned, flopping backward onto the bed. "But we sound good."

"We do," Aura agreed. She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But... I feel like it would be better if we could have a live rehearsal. Like, actually play it with the instruments. Right now, we’re just imagining the piano and drums. We need to know how the levels balance before we get on stage."

Von got her point. "I agree. But the music room is kinda packed all day. If we go down there now, we’ll be fighting for space."

"How about we use the room when they’re done?" she suggested.

"They’ll pretty much stay there until the staff kicks them by midnight, so I don’t know if that can work," Von countered.

"Exactly," Aura said. "But by 2:00 AM the staff would have left and staff the contestants will be asleep. The room will be empty."

"You want to sneak in at 2:00 AM?"

"It’s the only way to get a full run-through with the grand piano and the drum kit," Aura reasoned. "Unless you want to wing it on stage?"

Her logic was flawless, but Von groaned internally. Waking up at 2:00 AM sounded like torture. He was already tired.

"It’s a brilliant idea," he had to admit with a sigh. "Okay, let’s do it."

Everyone expressed their agreement before Sofie raised her hands. "Great! Now that the plan is set... who’s hungry? Let’s go grab dinner together!"

___

Merry Christmas, fam!! 🤶🎄🥳

More Chapter are coming soon!