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"Reginald Peters!" The voice from the speakers announced the next contestant with an absolute lack of gusto. Luke feels like he's heard the name before, but his brain seemingly has no face for it. Just as he tries to wrack his memories, a figure appears at the edge of the stage by the curtains. A small boy with a guitar and a petrified expression creeps his way to the middle of the stage and hoists himself onto the stool. "Geez, this kid must be terrified…" Luke whispers as said kid keeps glancing off stage and fidgeting in his seat. There's a quiet "You've got this!" from the front row; presumably the music teacher, and the boy - Reginald - fidgets once more and closes his eyes, positioning his hands on the frets.
A few seconds of silence pass, then a soft melody begins to play. Only a few notes, repeated and repeated, but definitely there. Reginald (Luke decides he doesn't like how old the name makes the kid seem) looks up momentarily before squeezing his eyes shut again and starts playing a little louder. The backing track starts to pick up too and a strange look must have crossed Luke's face because Alex nudges him and gives him a look of confusion. "I know this song!" Luke mutters excitedly, "It's one of my favourite songs ever!" The smaller boy is intently watching the stage now, and the taller just shakes his head with a small smile. The kid (Luke really doesn't like calling him 'Reginald' now) begins to softly sing into the microphone -
I have climbed highest mountains, I have crawled through the fields, only to be with you.
Holy shit his voice is pretty! Luke thinks. He's gotta talk to this kid after the show. After committing the black hair and red flannel to memory, he lets himself get lost in the music. As the song goes on, the boy's voice gets stronger -
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for…
Luke is completely mesmerised by this point. His eyes are fixated on the boy on the stage, playing the slightly-too-big guitar, sitting on the barely-too-tall stool, looking so small in the vastness of the stage but now filling the room with his voice alone -
I believe in the kingdom come, then all the colours will bleed into one, bleed into one. But yes I'm still running.
…
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
The song slowly finishes and Luke is still staring in awe. Everyone claps and cheers and Luke has clearly been staring too long as the boy onstage; who once again looks petrified, catches his gaze. They lock eyes for a moment, and it feels as if an unspoken message has somehow been exchanged, when the two hurriedly look away. Luke finds Alex looking at him, puzzled. He brings his hands up defensively, saying, "What? I told you I really like the song!", answered only with a "That's… okay…".
As soon as the show is finished Luke drags Alex by the sleeve in search of the mysterious Reginald Peters. They search all the surrounding classrooms when all of a sudden Luke collides with another person and goes crashing down, bringing Alex with him. "What the hell man!? Watch where you're going!" he mumbles, picking himself and Alex off the floor. A quiet voice replies, "Sorry I didn't mean to hit you, I'm really sorry!", and Luke has to do a double take when he realises the person he bumped into was the very person he was looking for. Alex mutters something about "You didn't have to drag me with you.", but Luke is too focused on the boy in front of him to register it. He is desperate to make amends; "No it's uh.. it's okay, you didn't hit me! Um.. my name's Luke, what's yours?" he says, then immediately smacks himself mentally. The same quiet voice replies, "R-Reginald, they said on the speakers…". Way to go, man. You've really fucked up now. Luke tells himself. Externally, he says, "Dude, Reginald's such an old man name. What were your parents thinking?". The boy shrugs, a hint of discomfort momentarily flashing in his eyes.
"Oh I know!" Luke suddenly exclaims, "I'll call you Reggie! How's that?". Luke, of course, loves the idea, totally not being biased. A moment of silence passes, followed by a soft "Yeah, I like it. Thank you!" from Reggie (so much better) and a shy smile. Nice save, my guy! Luke congratulates himself on his creativity internally so as to not make himself look weird enough to scare a potential friend off. At that moment, Alex clears his throat and introduces himself, "Hi, my name's Alex. Nice to meet you." he says with a polite smile. He gets a small "hi" and a little wave in return. Then silence…
"So what other instruments do you play?" Luke suddenly says a little too loud, desperate to break the awkward silence. Reggie startles, but quickly regains his composure. "Uh, I guess I kinda play bass? But I'm not very good at it…" he says, looking at his feet. Luke, however, has resumed his staring. It just so happens that Luke has been looking for a bassist, as his band; so far unnamed, doesn't have one. So he decides to seize the opportunity and ask the boy he just met to join his nameless band. Now or never, as they say. "Dude, you gotta join our band! We've been looking for a bassist for ages, I was starting to think we weren't gonna find one." He says with a laugh. Reggie looks surprised, and he slowly says, "A-are you sure? Like I said, I'm not good at it…" "Yet." Luke interjects, "You're not good at it yet. You just gotta practice and you'll be amazing! Also, I won't believe you until I see you perform, cos that performance on the guitar absolutely rocked!" Reggie's cheeks flushed, an adorable sight if Luke says so himself.
The smallest boy stutters a moment, then concedes, "...Yeah, yeah I'd love to join your band!" Luke immediately pulls him into a tight hug, but quickly releases him, because he does know that not everyone likes being constantly hugged and whatnot, he just doesn't entirely care. Except for Reggie, he can't fuck this up. He likes hugs though, so everyone just has to deal with it. The three boys then start walking down the school halls towards the exit, talking animatedly about the band, music, and anything that comes to mind along the way.
Luke clears his throat, "Hey, Reggie? Why did you thank me earlier? When I gave you the nickname, I mean.". Reggie falters a second, then replies, "What do you mean, why did I thank you? That's what you're supposed to do when someone gives you something, isn't it?" "Well yeah, but…" Luke pauses, slightly astounded, "But you don't really thank someone for a nickname, it just kinda happens. What, haven't you had a nickname before?" he asks with a small chuckle. Reggie shakes his head. "No, I mean, I haven't really had friends before either. Except for a mouse I found living outside my window, but my dad killed it when I told him about it." he says nonchalantly. Both Luke and Alex are taken aback at how calmly Reggie mentioned this, but say nothing. Instead, Luke wraps his arm around Reggie's shoulders and says "Well, now you've got two human friends, and a nickname! And Bobby's gonna love you."
Luke feels a sense of accomplishment, that now they have Reggie, they can do anything. They'll be the next big band; stars, shining bright. Forever.