”Next!” Bailey yelled into the hallway. He had rented out a small space in a studio for the afternoon to host the auditions. He had been expecting just a few people to sign up, but the numbers had exceeded his expectations. So, he had spent a bit of cash and gotten a nice space for them, complete with the use of instruments.

The last three people that had auditioned exited the space, much to Bailey’s relief. He slumped back in his chair and blinked at the clipboard. He had arranged people in groups of two or three to make things easier on everyone, but that didn’t stop some of the people from sucking. His ears were still ringing from the out-of-tune singing and too-loud guitar riffs.

”Two guys up next. Ooh! A violin,” Bailey told Victoria excitedly. They were seated at a table at one end of the room, where they could take notes and give feedback. It made him feel super professional.

It was also a great feeling to be sitting next to Victoria again. Bailey had taken quite a liking to the vampire girl, and sitting next to her made his heart beat a little faster. He tried to just focus on listening to the music, though. It would be very bad to pick a horrible band because he was distracted.

”So, Max and Artair, right? You don’t know each other, but we’re doing a group audition to make things easier. You can just pick up an instrument and start playing the song together whenever you’re ready.”

He gestured to the traditional set-up in the middle of the room. There was a drum kit, a base, a few guitars, several mics, and a keyboard. Along the walls, there were several rows over other instruments, like violins, cellos, trumpets, mandolins, banjos, and tons of others. There really wasn’t an instrument that wasn’t accounted for.

There were several stands set up around the instruments with both sheet music and chord sheets for a Radiohead song. The pages were slightly crinkled from being turned by other hopefuls before them.

Artair didn't quite know why he was here. Maybe it was the fact he'd not been able to play music with others for a while. Maybe it was, with everything else in his life going a bit crazy, he needed a little bit of normalcy. Maybe he was just bored. It didn't really matter much now, he was in intrigued and wanted to see it through. Who knows, it could be fun.

Introductions already done to the other guy waiting with him, he settled back into silence, preferring to just sit and wait. When they were finally called through, after a lovely bout of off key singing, he was feeling at least a little hopeful, especially if that was the level of the competition. Sure he wasn't the best player even he'd met, but he pretty confident in his own ability.

Walking in and quickly finding a place to deposit his violin case, they were addressed by one of the pair sitting behind a table. That was probably Bailey, if he was the one arranging everything. "Aye, shouldn't be a problem, I can understand wanting to streamline the process." If every audition was as bad as the one before them, grouping them up and getting through them quicker was necessary for their sanity. "I'm Artair, by the way, nice to meet you."

Nodding at the other man and pulling out his violin, he started tuning it while he read the sheet music. It didn't seem too hard and he was familiar with the song, now they just needed to divvy up roles. "What do you play then? I can grab a guitar if we need it, but I cannae sing. At least not in English." Artair had never liked singing in school, always being called stupid if he stumbled on the English words. Any songs he'd learned on his own had been in his native tongue.

"I'll just need a minute or so to warm up, just give me a heads up when you both want to start." With that he nodded to the pair conducting the audition, moved away from his fellow musician and began a few simple warm ups his father had drilled into him so many years ago. 

From the moment Bailey had asked Victoria about actually, seriously forming a band she couldn’t stop her excitement. Naturally she flashed back to their conversation when they first met at his ice cream shop, but that was just fun talk and this was a real idea for them. She absolutely agreed to be part of it and looked forward to getting things started.

Now they were having auditions and Victoria was still feeling like it was all a dream. There were people showing up to try out for their band and she was geeking out! She naturally kept time with the music when it played and listened to each person’s talents. She could pick out if someone was out of tune singing or playing instruments. Thanks to all the time her mother had spent teaching the girl about music she was able to separate each performer to evaluate them.

Even the bad ones were oddly fun for her to listen to, but that didn’t stop her ears from being grateful when some auditions would stop. She’s just smile and nod at the people for their time and rub her ears once they left.

Bailey’s excitement was mirrored by Victoria’s when one of the next performers had a violin to play. “This could be interesting!” She couldn’t wait to hear how the instrument was going to be utilized.

She listened to the man introduce himself and smiled hearing his accent. It was always a joy for her to hear other accents. Their speech was, for lack of a better term, people music. She loved it!

Victoria wrote down the new performers names and nodded to Artair. “Of course you all can have a little time to warm up. We’d like you all at your best. “

Max sat nervously waiting for his turn to audition. The group before him was loud, and that was about all he could say for the group. His fingers laced in one another he gave a nervous little tick as the groups started to finish.

He was wearing jeans and his fanny pack, complimented by a black button up and his lucky purple tie. The sleeves on the shirt were rolled up and the tie hung loosely with the top button of the shirt ubdone. He had on a black fedora with a stripe of purple running around the brim.

Bailey, he presumed given the ad he had read with the instructions about auditions. Greeted them as he and a red haired man, Artair, walked forward. Artair gave his name and introduced himself, obviously more comfortable than Max.

"Hey there. Max Im...I mean I'm Max. I can play guitar and sing." He said stupidly.

He grabbed am acoustic from the wall, figuring it would compliment the violin best and looked at the music before them as he experimentally plucked a string for tune. "Karma Police" a song by radiohead. Thank God for learning to sight read. He checked the song and lyrics and took a deep calming breath.

"I can sing this." He said simply.

The violinist had moved off to warm up and Max followed suit. Humming a few bars to get himself warmed up and preparing with some breathing exercises. After a moment he returned to the audition space and gave a grin. Fighting down his nerves.

"Ready when you are." He said to the room at large.