Layan’s motivation to get the band started is super effective. People are meeting up at his house, at parks, and wherever he arranges a place to practice for the talent show. Despite Roxy’s thorny exterior, and comical angry schtick, she really does care about everyone. She meets up with people individually to teach them about rhythm. Layan and Roxy are like an epic unlikely duo, bringing people together and giving them hope. The majority of the band is finally getting it, and their efforts are paying off. 

The problem of not having enough percussionists still remains however, so Roxy and Layan set up a meeting during school to see who'd be interested. And to their surprise, people actually showed up.

“U-uum H-hi… I’m not late or anything am I?-” one stammered.

“GET OUT OF MY FREAKING WAY!” another potential member demanded.

Twin boys follow soon after, eyes wide, and mouths gaping open, like they refused to breathe through their noses. Not a single thought is going on inside either one of their heads.

Batman walks in. Well let me rephrase that-the kid who’s notorious for dressing up as Batman everyday walks in.

As well as Haley and Millie, two best friends who were deaf.

“We've always wanted to be in a band, isn’t this exciting?!” Haley signs to Millie. Roxy and Layan stare at each other blankly. They don’t understand sign language, and they didn’t know how they would be able to teach them music, as they couldn’t hear, but they were determined nonetheless to get this group into the band.

Seven people had arrived, the perfect number they needed! Now I’m not one to usually make assumptions, but by the first impression, this group that they got… was arguably worse than not having any percussionists at all… 

The timid girl was Zoey… and she looked how any introvert did in a room full of strangers. I wonder who forced her to come here? 

The fuming enraged boy was Axel. He was sort of famous around school for only having one emotion. He treated everyone in the world as if they were physical embodiments of pop up ads.

The twin idiots were known as Jake, and Jakeson. Even their names were stupid. They have a remarkable ability to metaphorically survive without a brain, and they've been doing so for 15 years, a ray of hope for some of my colleagues. 

Batman was… well Batman. If he did go by any other name I sure as heck don’t know it…

And then there were the only two sane people; Haley, and Millie. They were an adorable pair of best friends who were kind to everyone they met. The only thing that confused Roxy and Layan was why they wanted to join the band, as both girls were deaf.

“Welcome everyone! I can’t tell you how excited I am that you're all here. To start off, why don’t we do a quick interview clockwise around the room? Just tell us your name, and any music experience you have!”

“H-Hi, my name is Zoey…” She spoke softly. “I’m not like… super good or anything but…” Layan notices how nervous she is and tries to ease her mind.

“It’s okay! Just show us what you can do, no one is judging you here.” He smiles. His last sentence gave her some confidence, so she picked up the mallets, made her way over to the timpani and destroyed it. She freaking shredded on that thing it was ridiculous-Like some kind of veteran heavy metal drummer with 50 years of experience. She plays the most wild solo anyone has ever heard, and everyone is shocked. Zoey is overqualified for this position and Roxy has never been more hopeful. Once the solo was finished, Roxy goes over-still in shock, shakes her hand for an uncomfortable amount of time and just stares at Zoey, trying to find the right words.

“You're hired.”

“Hired?”

“I mean uh-ZOEY, MY GIRL! That was incredible! How’d you even do that?!”

Zoey blushes “Thanks…”

Layan is just as happy as Roxy “Okay!” he announces. “Who’s next?”

“WELL THAT WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE ME, IDIOT!!!” Axel’s voice seems to shake the entire room.

“WEREN'T YOU THE ONE WHO SAID ‘LET’S GO IN A CLOCKWISE ORDER’?! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK THAT?!?!? WHAT A STUPID QUESTION!!!”

Axel breathes heavily, white foam is spilling out of his mouth…Wow. And I thought I had anger issues…yeesh. Looks like Roxy has some competition…

“Woah, Woah, ok buddy just calm down and look at me for a second. I understand that you're angry… you have every right to be-”

“No he doesn’t?!”

“Not now, Roxy. But this is a safe environment for you. Like I’ve said before, no one here is judging you, just tell us who you are, and show us what you got!” Layan is really good at this. He should be a therapist, because he is the only person in the world who has ever come close to getting Axel to calm down.

“FINE!” He picks up the snare sticks and stomps over to the drumset. This man is FERAL-I can't even hear what he’s even playing, because it’s so LOUD. He gets interrupted by Haley and Millie screaming-as the vibrations are too intense. Everyone closed their ears immediately after he started playing.

“Not bad.” Roxy states nonchalantly. Layan just stares.

“I would have to show you how to play a lower volume though… Which really isn’t all that hard.”

“THANKS ROXY.” He somehow manages to say genuinely, but angrily.

“Alright, who’s next? Hey wait a minute I know you two! You guys are twins-Jake and erm… Jakeson, right?” They stare into his soul, eyes tired and mouths gaping open. Like two toddlers hypnotized by an Ipad. If this wasn’t obvious from the start, they share one singular brain cell between the two of them. “Would you-um… mind coming up real quick?” Layan is uncomfortable, but doesn't show it. They blink slowly, and turn to face each other even slower.

“What do we do, Jake?”

“I don’t know Jakeson…”

They speak in a deep and exhausted tone.

“Oh have you guys never played before?” Layan is trying really hard here. They continue staring. They were interrupted by Roxy snoring loudly. She wasn’t actually asleep, she was just doing this to show how annoyed she was, because they were taking so long.

“Jake how come she’s sleeping, it’s not even night.”

“I don’t know Jakeson…” Even Layan is getting impatient.

“Why don’t you just freestyle for us, do you think you could do that?” They stare.

“HEY, IDIOT ONE AND IDIOT TWO! PICK UP ANY STICK, AND BANG ON A FREAKING DRUM HEAD ALREADY!!! DO WE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?! ARE YOU CAVEMEN OR SOMETHING?! PICK UP STICK. STICK GO BANG. I’M SO TIRED OF THE PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH!!!”

“Hey, that makes perfect sense!”

“I think I get it too, Jakeson!”

“How- HOW did you DO that?!” Layan is dumbfounded.

“IT’S EASY.” yells Axel.

“I HAVE 16 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN TALKING TO IDIOTS. I’M EVEN TALKING TO ONE RIGHT NOW! IT’S JUST SECOND NATURE TO ME!” His face is so red. He needs therapy… I almost feel bad for him… They each pick up some snare sticks and head over to tom-toms and bongos. They bang relentlessly. It sounds like…something… It’s hard to describe… 20 seconds in and Layan yells “OK! You know what? Roxy here is gonna give you guys some free lessons in rhythm!”

“I’m going to what?! You know what Layan? Fine. I will this time, but next time, you have to consult with me!” Layan doesn’t even feel threatened by her anymore, he’s already tired from dealing with so much anger from so many different people… “Next…” He’s getting more exhausted as the process goes on. Haley and Millie walk up together.

“Hi everyone!” says Millie cheerfully.

“It’s nice to meet you! My name is Haley, and this is Millie, we're so excited to be here!” Layan and Roxy feel refreshed. I do too, wow. Finally, Some normal freaking people. They join each other for a snare and bass drum duet. It was a simple comforting call and response type rhythm in 4/4. Everyone felt at ease. They bow, and everyone, even Batman applauds… I almost forgot he was here.

Roxy hesitates “If you don’t mind me asking, um… how did you two learn to do that?”

“Well we were just free-styling, really…” replied Haley. “We feel vibrations in the ground from each other and respond to them in similar or different ways. We've always loved doing this, but we could never find a band that would let us join!” said Millie.

“Well Haley, Millie, that ends today, because we need you in ours!” Everyone is happy about this… except for Batman I guess… He’s just standing there menacingly… with a stoic expression. “My turn.” he growled, in a voice that was ridiculously deep for someone his age. Everyone sits down politely for his performance. He gets the triangle, and plays a slow, and quiet rhythm on it… The audience looks at each other in confusion. After about one minute of quiet triangle playing, he bows.

“...I heard the song you were playing.” He states.

“Oh, you mean the one were practicing in band?-”

“Yes.” Batman interrupts. “I know it well. I can’t help but notice that the very crucial triangle part has not been included in your performance…”

“Oh! See that’s my bad man… I can only play six percussion instruments at once, and I just didn’t have room for the triangle. Sorry Batman…” said Roxy.

“It’s okay… I would like to cover that part…”

“You got it, Batman!” Layan replied. “Okay, everyone! That was pretty good! I’m feeling very confident in this group.” Layan's way of speaking is kind of like a campfire that warms other people's souls. The whole group feels more at ease to have him as one of their leaders. “So not all of us are in the same spot, but that’s okay! We’ll all help each other out, and be more than ready for the talent show!”