Bucket List

I was sitting in the Smilesville playground with Sempai, Koda, Evelyn, Iapmes, Annatier, and Nyleve, Iapmes holding a note pad and pen. We all sat in a circle on the grass, Koda holding his black acoustic guitar in his lap and strumming idly. Nyleve was happily petting Iapmes' pretty wings, and Annatier was having one of her pouty fits, her arms crossed as she watched the rest of us quietly.

"You sure you'd rather play bass than drums?" I asked Sempai, and she nodded.

"I like drums, but there's just something about playing a bass that makes you feel..."

"Awesome?" suggested Koda. "I feel that way with my guitars."

"Yeah," Sempai agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

"DRUMS ARE TAKEN!" Evelyn squealed, making most of us jump.

"I just said I wanted to play base!" exclaimed Sempai exasperatedly.

"Oh," said Evelyn with a blush. "I wasn't listening. There's a snail on that tree trunk!"

"Of course there is," Sempai sighed, rolling her eyes. Iapmes scribbled something on her note pad.

"Alright," she drawled, ignoring Nyleve nuzzling her nose into her wings obnoxiously. "Koda is on the guitar, Evelyn is on the drums, Sempai is on the bass... Reitanna, what was yours? Keyboard?"

"Keytar!" I replied happily. "Eighties style, bitches!" Iapmes took note of this, but deliberately left out the word "bitches." "Then I control the lights. Who is going to be in charge of sound and effects?"

"I WANNA DO EFFECTS!!" shrieked Nyleve, pulling away from Iapmes, a feather stuck in her bangs. "I WANNA DO PYRO AND EXPLOSIONS AND BUBBLES AND SPARKLIES AND MORE EXPLOSIONS!"

"Should we really trust Nyleve with special effects?" asked Koda, raising a brow. "I mean... I don't wanna, ya know, die."

"Oh, she's great with stuff like that!" Evelyn assured us. "She totes knows what she's doing with stuff like that. Stuff like that!"

"How do you know?" I asked.

"She backs up a few minor performances in the city," said Evelyn.

"It's fun fun fun!" added Nyleve.

"Okay," said Iapmes, taking another note. "That leaves Annatier for sound control. Do you agree, Annatier?"

"Hmph," she huffed in response, her nose scrunched up.

"What, don't you want to play a part in our band?" I asked.

"I wanna play an instrument..." Anna grumbled, and I sighed.

"We all agreed that the band wouldn't have Others!" I said. "It was even your idea!"

"You said that you, Iapmes, and Nyleve would be better off on the sidelines because you'd have better control over what happens outside of the stage! We even voted, and the only one who voted 'no' was Nyleve!" Sempai elaborated.

"That's what we were voting for?" asked Nyleve. "I thought we were voting on hats!" I stared at her, and then looked back to Anna, gesturing to Nyleve desperately.

"Fine!" she shouted, throwing up her hands. A few people playing a bit further away eyed her tentatively; the presence of three Others had attracted quite a bit of negative attention.

"Well, if you want to do affects instead," said Sempai, trying not to get annoyed, "I'm sure Nyleve would be more than happy to--"

"NO!" Annatier interrupted. "I want to be in charge of sound!" Koda was the only one who showed his frustration, letting out a loud "uuuuuugh!" to the magenta sky.

"You know what we're missing...?" said Sempai suddenly, gently taking Ippy's notes to look over them. "A singer..."

"Oh crap!" I said, slapping my palm to my head.

"Yo, s'not me, I'm good with mah geetar," said Koda smoothly, giving his acoustic a small hug.

"I like to sing..." Sempai muttered.

"So do I..." I concurred. This was a conflict since both Sempai and I had been in Choir together in high school, and we loved singing.

"I PLAY THE DRUMS!!" said Evelyn again.

"Thank you, Evelyn!" Sempai snapped, and Evelyn sucked in her lips, eyes wide, going silent.

"We don't have bassist or keytarist replacements," I thought aloud. "So we can't like... switch off..."

"There's got to be a solution to this," said Sempai firmly, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Maybe... do we know anyone else who can sing so we don't have to compete for the position...?" Every one of us exchanged looks, and then Evelyn gasped.

"TENJI!" she squeaked.

"Oh, duh!!" I said. "How could we forget him!"

"We're really gonna let Tenji sing in our band?" Koda asked emotionlessly.

"Well, yeah," Sempai replied. "He's a great singer and a natural performer."

"Alright," said Koda with a shrug. "But don't come cryin to me when he changes one of our songs to be about cheeseburgers..." After that, the seven of us stood and quickly left the park, crossing Cotton Street to get to Tenji's house.

"Well how-diddly-ho friends!" Tenji said when he opened the door.

"Shut up, Flanders," I joked. "We have a proposition for you."

"Well, by the looks of it..." he said, scratching his chin. "I'd say you're asking for an orgy? Sorry, not interested."

"Oh just let us in!" Sempai exclaimed impatiently, and Tenji chuckled, stepping aside to allow us to enter.

"So, what can I do ya fer?" he asked, flopping on his fabulous, sparkly purple couch. Evelyn and Nyleve sat on either side of him, Sempai, Ippy, Anna, and I sat on the opposite couch, which was sparkly blue, and Koda sank into a giant cupcake shaped chair.

"You're so gay," he sneered, setting his guitar aside.

"Well, technically I'm not, but whatever flies your zeppelin, Koda boy," replied Tenji with a smooth laugh.

"Anyway," I pressed, shooting Koda a look to keep him from retorting. "We've made a band, but we're missing one of the most important pieces."

"A half naked Lindsey Lohan?" Tenji suggested, and we all snorted, except for Iapmes and Annatier.

"Maybe about ten years ago," I said with a chuckle. "No, we need a singer." Tenji gasped and leapt to his feet, hands clasped to his chest.

"Oh my god, really?!" he exclaimed rather girlishly.

"I mean, if you really want to... it doesn't look like you're too excited about it," Sempai said with sarcasm.

"Of course I want to!" Tenji actually looked like he was about to start hopping with joy. "Oh! This is awesome! I'm so happy!!" He suddenly lifted his hand and pressed the back of his wrist to his forehead. "Evelyn, catch me," he hissed, and as soon as Evelyn bounced up from the couch, Tenji mock fainted in a very prissy way, letting out a dreamy sigh. Sempai and I were dying from laughter.

"So you'll do it?" asked Koda, and Tenji, still in Evelyn's arms, opened one eye to peer at him.

"What part of--" he dreamily sighed again, "--don't you understand?"

"Perfect," said Iapmes emotionlessly, writing on her note pad again. "Oh, but you're still lacking a name..."

"How about 'the Super Awesome Koda Experience?'" said Koda, "this was my idea, after all."

"We're not naming the band after you," I shot at him, and he shrugged apathetically.

"Let's call it 'Tenjipalooza,'" suggested Tenji, and I placed my face into my palm.

"We can't name it after one of us! That's not fair!"

"OOH!" squeaked Nyleve, and we all glanced at her. "How about 'Tenjkodevesemrei?'" A very awkward silence followed this, and we chose to ignore the suggestion.

"I'm almost positive there's a 'Regurgitated Rainbow' somewhere out there," I went on. "That was always my go-to band name when I was a teenager."

"Okay wait, what if we're called 'Koda and the Chicks?'" said Koda.

"I'm a guy," said Tenji.

"You look like a girl to me."

"Koda, we're still not naming the band after you," I repeated.

"But you're the chicks! That includes you!"

"'Semtenjevereiko!'"

"Shut up, Nyleve!"

"Wait..." said Tenji suddenly, putting out his hands and looking off into space as if he was blind. "What about... 'Bucket List?'"

"... Why...?" asked Sempai, bemused.

"Because it's obscure!" Tenji replied excitedly. "Come on, think about it... we're what everyone should see before they die!"

"We're what everybody should do before they die..." Koda mumbled.

"We're everything that everybody needs before anybody dies!" cheered Evelyn, and even though this didn't make sense, we responded with sounds of approval. On the front cover of Ippy's note pad, she wrote "BUCKET LIST" in big, capital letters.

"I think being part of a band is what most people want to do before they die," I said with a laugh, and then, out of nowhere, Nyleve pulled out a party favor and blew it as hard as she could.

"HOORAY FOR DYING AFTER ACCOMPLISHING STUFF!!" she sang.

After pitching some ideas, Tenji went to his kitchen and baked us a batch of fire cupcakes in celebration of our kick off as a brand new band. This was going to be one of the funnest things we've ever done!