Sit Back, Gotta Catch My Breath

The whole band thing is going amazing! I'm glad I thought of it! Anyway, All Time Low has officially been together for two weeks, now. We've been practicing every day (except for Thursdays, because Rian has drum lessons) after school in Alex's basement. We've all gotten used to playing together, and Alex is doing better with singing in front of people. His parents have watched us a couple times, and Juliet and Cassadee visit quite often to watch us practice. So, that's four fans so far. And there's this 'Battle of the Bands' thing at a coffee shop downtown next Friday. Cassadee told us about it last week, and we've been working our asses off trying to get ready for it.
Zack's friend, Matt, is the person we assigned to be our manager, and, so, he's the one who went downtown to sign us up. And Matt's friend, Vinny, volunteered to make us some t-shirts to sell at the 'Battle of the Bands'. So, I guess you could say that he's our merch guy. Alex helped him out a little bit with the design, but Vinny took care of the rest. And I have to say, they're pretty cool looking.
So, for the 'Battle of the Bands', we're only allowed to perform one song, so we decided to go with the first song we ever played together as a band, which we ended up naming 'Coffee Shop Soundtrack' (for obvious reasons).
Oh! I almost forgot one of the most important parts: 1st place prize.
Whoever wins 'Battle of the Bands' gets a record deal. Which is, like, huge! I mean, who wouldn't want that?
Needless to say, the pressure is on.
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"Alright," Matt said, looking at the email that he just recieved about 'Battle of the Bands', "You guys play at 6:30, right after a band called Simple Plan, who is scheduled to finish no later than 6:20. Meaning, you'll have about ten minutes to set up all of your equipment. It's gonna be rushed. The judges aren't basing your score off of just the song." He looked around the room at us. "They're also basing it off of your stage presense, how the crowd reacts, and how well you work under pressure."
"And there's only a few booths open to sell merch at," Vinny chimed in, reading over Matt's shoulder, "They've assigned each band to a certain time and booth." We watched him as he scanned the email. "We have the Monster Energy booth from 7-7:30." He looked up from the email to meet our gazes. "Since you guys aren't playing then, it would be great if you could help me out in selling t-shirts during that time."
We all nodded as Matt continued.
"Results will be announced at 9, and, as I'm sure you already know, winner gets signed." He closed his laptop and set it down on the coffee table before standing. "There's a lot on the line here, guys, but remember: Even if you don't win, you're still getting your name out there and expanding your fan-base."
We all nodded again. Either way, this experience was a win-win. I, for one, was really excited.
I looked over at Alex, who was looking down at the ground and wringing his fingers, which told me that he was on-edge. I scooted closer, but not too much closer, just in case one of his parents walked in, to him on the couch and rested my hand on his shoulder. He looked over at e and half-smiled. "It'll be fine, Lex," I whispered.
His smile disappeared and he looked back down at the ground. "What if I mess up? What if I forget the words? What if-"
"You know what? If you mess up, you'll have all of us to back you up. No one will know. We're a team, Lex." I softly punched him on the shoulder. "We won't let you down."
He looked over at me again, except, this time, his smile was genuine. "Thanks, Jack."

Notes

By the way, guys, sorry I'm not posting as often as I should. I don't have internet at home and it's still Christmas break. I go back on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be posting more often then.
I love you all for reading this! Thank you all so much! :)

-Ryan