Chapter 1 - Practise Makes Perfect

 "That is an amazing idea!" Lucy squeals, making hand gestures to show everyone what she was thinking as usual. It's usually when she's hyper or excited: her hands are all over the place and people generally move out the way so they don't get smacked across the face or whatever is nearest. I also can't help but notice the way her face lights up like he's just announced that he's invented a time machine. Stupidly excited. "You've actually given us something worth thinking about as a useful thing!"
 Pax tries to twist his face into fake sadness, but the only thing that changes is that his smile becomes a little eerie and his eyebrows droop slightly. "You say that like my ideas aren't fantastic," he attempts to make it sarcastic, but I'm sure he knows it's true. "OK, fine, but this was a good idea, right?"
  "Absolutely!"  Lucy's reply is immediate and octaves higher than her usual voice, but I'm still thinking.

 "Lightning?"
  "Sunnie?"
  "Oh come on, my idea was great!" So modest.
  I swallow a little bit, feeling a little weird. This never happens: I'm usually all up for the idea, no matter how risky, and anytime I'm not too keen I make myself heard. But this time it's different. They sound like they really want to do this band thing, but I'm not sure it'll work. All I really do is sing and play a bit of piano, and that's not too much. Pax is great at the drums - seriously, he's better than most of the drummers in the concerts I go to - but I know him: he'll get stage fright and have to hyperventilate into a bag ten seconds after we get on stage. He's also a good singer, but I know he won't be doing that in front of people he doesn't know. Lot's of people don't know that Lucy is quite skilled at the guitar and she can play the bass too, but she doesn't really seem like the kind of person to play on a stage.
  "You here, arseface?" A polite (not) remark from Pax interrupts my thoughts, waving his hand in front of my face.
  I stutter, "Yeah... I, er, don't know. It seems a little, you know, OTT. Like, perform and stuff?"
  "What else?" Lucy says, rolling her eyes.
  "Sorry, but I'm not so sure... it'll get us what we want, but it'll also get us what we really don't want, right? I mean, come on Pax - you won't speak in front of people you don't know, let alone play an instrument. It's a little... you know..." I can't seem to find the right words to say (again, unlike me).

 
 "I'll be fine, Sunnie! Just... let's try it out at least. We'll know if it doesn't work out, and then we'll get other jobs," Pax is pleading me now, making me sort of want to do it. But I still have to think. What if it only ends in tragedy, like alcoholism or drug addiction?
  In the end though, I have to compromise. "Fine. But we'll need to practise our instruments beforehand. If we look at this, I need to pick up bass because it's an important instrument. I know you can play it Dino," I add when Lucy gives me a look, "but we need the guitar and you're great at that. Same goes for you Pax, only with drums. And bass is more important than piano, right? I can also sing while playing the bass, by the way - it won't be too hard." They all nod.
  We stand quietly for a minute before Pax asks," Since when did you boss us around?"
  I smile. "Since just now, I guess."

 ***

  "You know Ham, you could at least get a shirt on before eating breakfast," I say purposely loudly, listening out for the childish, high-pitched giggle that only Lucy can make. Sure enough, her laughter is soon ringing in my ears, and I giggle a little bit with her - her laugh is bloody infectious!
 Again I am teasing Pax. Teasing people is one of the more enjoyable things in life (for me anyway) and in anyone's view no-one is more fun to irritate than Pax. Touchy little bastard. Get's embarrassed at the smallest of things, such as hugging him in public or talking about revealing himself in private (or public). Nevertheless, that's one of the reasons why we sort of love him like a brother - just one of his few many good qualities that come out once you get to know him.

 "You're not so covered yourself," He retorted, pulling the die, bitch! face I've seen and laughed at so many times before. To be fair he's telling the truth, but I'm less nervous about doing that in front of my friends while he hates it when we talk about it. However, he really hates sleeping in pyjamas (please don't ask - I have no idea either), so I guess that's that.
  "There are two things you already know. One is that I don't give a shit," I tell him, and his look changes into a face that clearly reads I guess.

 "The other?" Lucy asks, smiling a little bit but clearly fairly calm after her little giggling fit earlier. Seriously, not much is taken to make her laugh.
  I grin. "I'm off to have a bath before you guys. See ya!" I can faintly hear Pax yelling something (about not knowing that before, if you're interested) before the sound of rushing water flowing into the bath drowns out his deep voice.

 Once I put my clothes back on, I go downstairs only to find my roommates having an Call of Duty marathon, to which I immeditately grab a controller and join in. Although I don't actually agree with it in real life, games like this - blood, fighting, war - are my favourite because they're fun and I'm good at them. Me and Pax are the best at it, so we generally try and kill each other, while Lucy is awful and just runs around shooting anything before asking Pax what the button for reloading the gun is. Slaughtering her is quite fun as well, but both Lucy and Pax say I'm worth slaughtering from behind because I end up gasping in real life as well, and they find it hilarious.
  We play for practically the whole day, stopping for pizza and lemonade, or coffee for Pax, before continuing. Days like these are pretty amazing, I'll be honest, even though it's a pretty lazy thing to do. Then again, days with just the two of them having a good time are usually the best unless Pax has a hissy fit, Lucy trips and hurts her leg (so accident prone, that woman) or I insult everyone. But that's rare, so we're OK.
  At about seven in the evening, after we've had dinner (pasta and butter and a Twix), Lucy suddenly says, "Er, guys?"
 "What?" Pax and I say simultaneously.
  "Aren't we supposed to be playing out instruments?"
  Me and Pax look at each other before he announces, "Shit!" and we run outside to our instruments.

 For the next three months we spend a hell of a lot of time practisingour instruments. Lucy teaches me the basics over the course of about six weeks (she's a great teacher) before saying that it'd be better if I practised on my own, so I can make my own riffs up. After teaching me bass she hits the guitar, practising some tunes she made up and perfecting the ones she already knows, and Pax did the same with his drums. They truly are musical geniuses, and when I start adding some lyrics we decide that we've practised enough.

 The day after we hit the park after dragging Lucy out of bed (literally - Pax one foot, me the other foot and pull) to discuss the band and what songs we're going to play. Spending about an hour talking about that, we decide on playing some of our own songs and some songs from different bands that we love, such as Incubus, U2, Evanescence, My Chemical Romance, the All American Rejects... you get the drift.
  Then the name of the band comes up and Lucy looks down, pondering what to call the band. "Dino?" Pax asks her. "Do you have an idea?"

 "Yes... I was thinking something like Friendly Vampires? It's just that, I sort of look at you and Pax and I sort of think of vampires, no offence, and then there's me who's friendly - don't diss, I just thought of it - and I linked them together. Is that OK?" She says, her arms flailing around all over the place. Like I said before, she does that all the time - she's expressive.
  Me and Pax look at one another. "Hell yeah, that's fantastic!" Pax says, a rare smile on his face.
 "You really hit the jackpot with that, Dino!" I agree, but it's only for Lucy as Pax has already run in the direction of the swings. Me and Lucy sigh and follow.

  When we finally arrive at the swings, Pax is already on a swing at a 50 degree angle, screaming in delight. It's impossible to make conversation with Lucy, who's just chilling out on the swing to my right, but we try anyway, talking random shit to each other and changing the subject every couple of minutes so we always have something to talk about. A few inside jokes are released, making us both laugh out loud, Lucy's laugh making me laugh even more. What did I tell you - infectious. However, nothing seems to be working, and Lucy soon gives up.

  She is a very fickle lady.

 The thing is, watching Pax go on the swing made Lucy's childish side come out, but even with both of them begging me to join in I don't feel like it. It's nothing to do with the pressure of the band or anything, it's just that I've always hated doing things like this since my older brother broke his leg falling from a tree. I won't go into the details - I miss my brother like crazy and talking about him breaking his leg doesn't help that - but I was three years old and that means I've just never liked anything like that for fear of dying. Pain doesn't scare me. Death terrifies me.

 ***

  For the next two weeks or so Pax and Lucy and I don't do much other than eat pizza, play Call of Duty, practise for the band and going to see an Incubus concert (Pax really wanted to go - he loves Incubus - and we had nothing to do. Plus, we do like that band - it's pretty good), waiting for a certain call: the call that tells us we're playing our first gig. Our bills got payed due to the money that Lucy had aquired and saved during her previous job, but that's rapidly disappearing and we need to make some money. Pax suggested playing for money but I stamped on that one, saying that we didn't need people coming to our concerts recognise us from playing in the park for some spare change. Lucy said that we could sell some of our old clothes and stuff, but me and Lucy didn't want to let go of our stuff and only Pax made any money. The thing is, £30 won't help us pay the rent. I suggested selling something too, but Pax didn't want to let go of any of his video games and we didn't have any furtiture that we didn't really use.
  All we can do is wait.

 We give up after a bit and I start selling some of my dead mother's old jewellery, making me weep uncontrollably for about a day when I realise I have nothing left to remember her by, but it was worth quite a bit so we have money settled for a couple of months now. Still, stopping my crying was something only Lucy could do by promising we'd visit her old house and taking her suicide note or something. Not the best thing to remember her by, but it'd be better than nothing, right? Pax, of course, was no help at all by saying that it was the best for everyone and being generally unsensitive about the whole thing.
 Then, a mobile ringing from Pax's pocket made me turn around mid way through getting my eighth cup of coffee of the day, and I smiled for the first time since I sold my mother's rememberance jewellery (which felt like I had lost her all over again).

 He closes the bathroom door for some reason, speaking quite low so me and Lucy can't hear it even when I listen through the keyhole and she listens through the crack  at the bottom of the door. Finally we give up and go downstairs, praying, hoping...
  It feels quite nice when he runs down the stairs screaming "We get to play at a party! Sound out the bells of fucking England, we're finally doing something!"
  How will it go?

  Hey, it's me! It's finally finsished. Sorry for it taking so long - real life, writers block and the pictures failing to load got in the way of things, but here's the first chapter. It's probably quite boring, but it'll get better. 
 By the way, this has to be one of the best households I have ever played. They're just so fun to play with, and cute little Sunnie and, er, topless Pax helps somewhat. Still, all is good.
 Hope you enjoyed!
 Please comment either here: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/426451.page
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 At the bottom of the page. Or both, whatever. 

Prologue

 I watch as one of my best friends - Pax Lawson (Melodicspike21) - clings onto the chain, his face wincing slightly as his warm hands hit the cold metal. All I'm doing is sitting on the swing, occasionally shifting my feet so I swing forwards and backwards a little bit, but I'm not really one for things like swings, slides and climbing up trees. Never have, never will. However, I'm positive that the moment Pax was introduced to the outdoorsy children's 'adventures' he's been begging to go on the 'pwaygwound pwease daddy' and, to tell you the truth, only the cute four year old voice has changed. It's one of the few things that will get him to grin broadly, and everyone smiles when he's happy. That's not often though. He's been through some deep shit and he expects everything else to be shit. It's such a shame - his smile is beautiful and it really brings out his startling golden-yellow eyes. Anyway, I'm rambling. I tend to do that - when I start I can't stop. I'd like to say sorry, but my nature is to say 'Get used to it.'

 For about three seconds I'm embracing the smell of the first bluebells springing up on Emerald Park, the feeling of the cold early-spring breeze rushing through my rough hair (it's rough because I dye it so much), but all that is ruined by Pax's childish screams in delight as he tries - and fails - to touch the leaves of the tree in front by going as high up as possible. I look over and, sure enough, his smile is natural - unlike when he's smiling at his boss: that's more like grimacing, for God's sake - and his white teeth are showing. It's lovely seeing him like this - not plagued by the anger or misfortune that used to follow him wherever he went. I like to think that it's his roomates' fault that he's happier, but that could just be me. I'll also never know because it's hard to get him to admit that he likes us.
  Five minutes later and I have to disturb him. "Ham, you need to get off. That boy wants to get on." He rolls his eyes at the nickname (don't ask - it's pretty weird) and jumps expertly off - well, expertly until he crashes into the tree. I laugh, not really helping him up as such.

 He gets up, rubbing his head. "Shit that hurts. And you weren't helping either, giggling your ass off like that!"
 I slowly get up from the swing, still laughing, and walk over to him. "You know me. I'd rather watch you fly into a tree than help you get your twenty-year old body off the swing any day," I say between giggles. He sighs as I give him a quick hug - not really friendly as such, as he seems to hate human contact. It's weird.
 "So glad Dino isn't here." He's referring to our roommate, Lucy Taylor (Ilovetaylorlatner), who's a little bit like me in the can't-be-arsed-to-help-friends department, except that she'll help strangers when I'll still laugh. It's not mean, it's just... OK, it's mean, but that's who I am. Deal with it.
 My expression turns puzzled. "Why? You know I'll tell her everything that happened, and she'll either tease you or feel sympathetic and kiss you." I'm teasing him properly now - he's kissed one person before and he hated it. Like I said, he hates human contact.
 "If she does, I'll push the whore into a bin. Now... oh my God, you have another tattoo!"

 I point to new skull tattoo I had done this morning. The freak who did it was a pervert, but he got the job done and done well. Anyway, if he tried to grope me or anything I'll just punch him in the face. "Fuck yeah! You like it?"
 "It's awesome, but when are you planning on stopping having someone put drawings on you with a needle?"
  "Well, I'm twenty now, so..." I pretend to count up years on my fingers before saying, "never. Why - you have a problem?"
  "No, it's just... you know... weird. You're twenty and you have a million tattoos," He frowns.

  "I know. It's great, right?" I draw a line with my fingers to illustrate my point. My late mum and dad used to do it and now I do too, so no questions.
  He does his 'thinking face' - ie, he screws up his nose a little - and says, "Can I have one?"
  "Why the fuck not?" I pull out the 'Toby's Tattoos' (I know - so cheesy) card and give it to him. "That's the number used to book an appointment. The place is on 72 - "
 "Oh my God, there you are. I've been looking for you guys!"

 We turn around and, sure enough, Lucy is stomping over to us, and anger written all over her bright red face. I giggle. "You look like a tomato."
 She gives me a death stare, and even though it's not quite as scary as the look Pax gives you when he's annoyed, it still shuts me up. "Not funny Sunshine," she says, and this time it's my turn to give her the look, although I'm not great at it. My actual name is Sunnie - Sunnie Edison - and I'm also known as Lightning, but she knows how much I hate being called Sunshine. It doesn't suit me at all.
 "Don't call me that, bitch. What's your problem anyway?" I'm moody and she knows it.
 Normally she'd apologise but it seems that today she's in no such mood. Instead she just goes, "I got fired today, thanks for asking, so leave me the fuck alone."

 She's expecting someone to give her a hug, but she's turned all moody at me now so I look at Pax. He rolls his eyes and awkwardly wraps his arms around her. "It's OK, you'll, you know, find a new job. I mean, it might suck, but..." Lucy glares at Pax and he stutters, "I mean, it might be kinda shitty to start off with, but you'll get better, depending on the job... oh God, I can't do this. Lightning, take over!"
  He runs behind me. Poor thing - anything to do with emotions he just can't deal with.

 I give her one of my famous (I wish!) hugs, my tattooed arms slowly wrapping around her, rubbing my hands and pressing her coat into the flesh on her back. "You will get another job, and me and Pax will get one too. The thing is, I simply can't think of a job me and Pax might be good at. You're pretty and talented, but we're really dumb and you know us - I'll be rude to the interviewer and Pax'll be all awkward. You saw a fantastic demonstration when he hugged you." She giggled, and I could sense that Pax was glaring at me. Death glares are one of the two things he's amazing at. The other is drums. "What can we do to get some extra money in?"

 We broke away from the hug and looked at Pax. Unusually for him, he was smiling broadly (second time this day - I'll have to make him some sort of award) and he had a look in his eyes like he had an idea. Me and Lucy sighed simultaneously - his ideas were often dirty, random or stupid. Often all three, come to think of it.
  "What is it?" I say.
  "Well, we all really like each other right? I mean, we live together and stuff."
  I gasp overdramtically. "Holy shit! That's the second time you've blown my mind - you are showing emotion on your face and telling us how awesome we are! Are you ill?" Lucy laughs loudly, only to be shut up by Pax's expression, which had turned into the I'm-going-to-kill-you look. "Sorry, continue."
  "And if it's a porno movie, then no," Lucy says. You might think that was a joke, but he has come up with that idea on numerous occasions. We never said yes, by the way. Just want to clear that up.
  "No, Dino. I was just thinking that we could start a band."


 So there - that was the prologue. The chapters will have titles, but this is just a prologue so it doesn't. I've tried to write it like it's Sunnie's thoughts, and she's a bit of a different character than the quiet, shy ones I usually make, so let me know if you liked it. 
 Big thanks to Melodicspike21 and Ilovetaylorlatner for giving Sunnie her friends!  
 Please comment and let me know how I did!