Chapter 46: Silver Comets

A week had passed since [Silver Comets] had begun filming.

As one would expect, a plethora of scenes had been shot.

Following up from the restaurant scene where Owen had quit, he had decided, against all reasonable logic to make a band of his own rather than join one for the upcoming competition.

To that effect, he had spent nearly all of the little savings he had printing over two hundred flyers, all of which he rigorously plastered everywhere over the course of three exhausting days.

From music stores, to coffee shops, community colleges, laundromats, bus stops, record stores, rehearsal warehouses, auto-parts stores, public notice boards, telephone poles--nowhere, absolutely nowhere he could lay his hands to paste the flyer was safe.

At some point, he even pasted it directly on the walkways, every bit of his action more maddening with desperation.

In one of those scenes, the members of Red Velvet even ran into him, and yet, Owen chucked a flyer into their hands nonetheless... almost as if to tell them he could hardly give two hoots what they thought of him.

And though the odds of forming a band within the span of a week and a half was nigh impossible, Owen practically manifested it with sheer resilience and determination.

Afterall, despite most people ignoring it, some finding it stupid, and others outright throwing it into the trash, three flyers found their way to three individuals who needed it at exactly that moment.

That, was when the movie’s main supporting cast was introduced.

From Simon, the struggling mechanic whom would be played by Sam, to Alex, the disowned son set to be played by Archie, and last but not the least, Luke, the rebellious drummer whom was to be played by Lucas.

Considering the movie was set to have a two-hour runtime, each of them also had their backstories explored well enough.

Simon who had to drop out of community college to take over the family garage to keep their family afloat, but was once a bass guitarist for an indie band that almost got signed and then eventually drifted apart.

While pinning a receipt to the community board at a local auto-parts store, he noticed a particularly bright flyer wedged between advertisements for tutoring services and apartment rentals that read;

-

BAND MEMBERS WANTED!

Serious musicians only for Battle of the Bands.

No egos. No flakes.

Looking for people willing to bet everything.

Call Owen Winters @...

-

Seeing it as an opportunity for a shot at his dreams, he decided to take the leap.

Alex on the other hand, stumbled across his after performing at a small coffee shop one evening and the wind sent a flyer straight into his face.

As a son of two overbearing parents whom had disowned him, both of whom were immigrants and wanted him to pursue law and not music, the message on the flyer felt like a lifeline as he’d been trying to get into any band that would have him but to no avail.

Then there was Luke, the gifted but misunderstood drummer whom could never stay too long in a band because they felt he was overshining them on purpose, when he was in fact, setting a standard they were supposed to catch up to.

After a heated argument with yet another band he was promptly kicked out off for much the same reason, he happened to step on one of the flyers plastered on the sidewalk pavement.

Ripping it from the ground and staring at the line ’No egos. No flakes’, he scoffed and decided to check it out. To him, that was what all bands said until they eventually kicked him out for being far better than them.

That was how, roughly a week before Battle of the Bands, all three met at Owen’s garage.

With almost a complete lack of coordination initially though, along with their respective differences, it looked almost impossible for them to even get a video to upload to the website that would vet if they would make it to the preliminaries.

However, after butting heads for two days, along with the realization that neither was willing to quit despite how hopeless it all seemed, they soon put aside their differences and actually talked things out.

That bonding session they had, now that was the very scene the crew was currently shooting.

-

{Silver Comets | 23rd, September 2016 | Act 2 | Scene 4 | Take 3}

Four youths were seated on the rooftop of Owen’s apartment, neither having a proper chair to seat on, as they all looked towards the skyline.

Owen sat atop the concrete base of the building’s aging air-conditioning unit, one knee raised to a chin while his other leg dangled loosely.

Then, after a long while of silence, he spoke;

"My Pop’s in a coma,"

Suddenly, all heads snapped in his direction.

"Has been for three years now," he continued.

"Doctors aren’t even sure if he ever will..." Owen’s voice trailed as he let out a sad sigh and then closed his eyes to keep his emotions in check.

Then he breathed out and continued;

"Honestly, if he wakes up and finds out I started a band instead of getting a real job, he might voluntarily go back into the coma." Owen laughed despite himself, one that earned varying reactions from everyone.

Simon stared with widened eyes, clearly stunned by the sudden 180. Alex looked genuinely horrified that he could even make such a joke. Luke on the other hand... well Luke was impressed.

"What?" Owen shrugged off their reactions.

"Dark humor’s cheaper than any therapy I’ve ever known,"

"No scratch that, I haven’t gone to any therapy so I wouldn’t even know if it’s cheaper." he immediately countered himself, a slight frown forming on his features.

"How much is therapy again these days?" he genuinely asked of the trio who couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

How were they supposed to know? They were just as broke as he was!

Raising his head up to the skies though, Simon who sat atop a stack of weathered wooden pallets placed against the wall remarked;

"Well, for what it’s worth, my old man died a year ago so I can at least understand how you must be feeling."

Once again, another heavy silence descended amidst them, only for Alex who sat cross-legged on a broad, rusted utility box to break it this time.

"My own parents are alive but hey, look at me. Disowned like the failure that I am!" he gestured outwardly.

"Woah, woah, woah. Pump the brakes on the self-deprecation there, man." Luke whom was seated on the parapet wall bordering the rooftop immediately chastised...

... only to do the very same thing a second later;

"My parents are gonna be in for a doozy when I get to heaven and tell ’em all the disappointing life updates I’ve been speed-running since high school."

This time, all four cackled in shared trauma, not even bothering to be civil about the kind of jokes they were making.

Then, after a while;

"We should at least come up with a band name if we’re really gonna do this," Owen remarked.

Looking to him and seeing the unwavering belief that they could make the band thing work, Simon spoke first;

"Simon and Co."

"We are not doing that!" Alex countered, earning a laughter from the others as he suggested;

"The Willy Wonkers."

"Where the hell’d that even come from?!" Luke and Simon demanded in sync to which Luke then proposed almost immediately with a cocksure grin;

"Trauma Bonders."

"We’re not taking this seriously, are we?" Simon simply shook his head in amusement, one that once again had all three laughing... only for Owen to finally speak while staring at the stars;

"Silver Comets..."

Instantly, all three stopped playing around, their expressions morphing in contemplation.

Yet, Owen continued;

"Comets are just rocks wandering aimlessly through space, much like our lives right now..."

"But every once in a while, they streak in silver flashes across the night’s sky and everyone stops to look..."

Then, turning to face them, he smiled, more assured than ever;

"Silver Comets..."

"Don’t you think it’s quite fitting for the kind of band we are?"

"Don’t you think it’s quite fitting for the kind of band we could be?"

"Cut!"

-

No sooner had all four heard that--Sam, Archie and Lucas especially--they awaited the director’s verdict.

As this was one of the more emotionally-rich scenes in the movie, Harrison had gone full helicopter mode, nitpicking even the slightest thing that didn’t quite sit right with him.

As a result, they’d done the take five times.

Given his background in filming a lot of dramas and musicals over the years though, it was understandable that he’d suddenly flipped his obsessive switch on as he, more than anyone, knew how important scenes like this were to the audience.

Thankfully, without having to check the cameras this time, he was more than satisfied with the take.

Which was why;

"And that’s a wrap for the day, everyone. Good job." he clasped his palms together, an acknowledging smile on his lips.

Hearing that, everyone on set sagged their shoulders in visible relief.

For the trio though, they were genuinely grateful. Considering the only major acting experience they had was from a couple music videos they’d made, having to actually act in a film was pretty intense.

Thankfully, the next couple scenes they were going to be shooting in the coming days, would be streamlined towards performing the songs they’d worked with Niall on.

In that regard, they were notably excited as they knew they would knock it out of the park without an issue.

As for Niall...

Well, he was really looking forward to finally utilizing his newest gift. To that effect, he was far more excited for the D-day than anyone on the crew could’ve ever been aware of.

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/Caer07