The Hush Society Presents... by Izzy Matias (best desktop ebook reader .txt) 📕

she finishes her first song, the audience bursts into applause. She follows it up with a song called "Sidelines"—the one she sang at Tokyo Drift.

The audience is eating up her performance. So far they’ve been giving positive feedback. There really is something special about this community. How you can meet someone for the first time, or be at your first ever Hush Society gig, and feel right at home.

I gulp. Amber has two more songs and then it’s time for The Fortunate Only to unveil itself to the public.

I excuse myself and head towards my mates. They’re off in one corner. For anyone who doesn’t know them, it looks like they’re on looney pills, jumping and dancing to Amber’s quirky, sometimes melancholic music.

When I reach them, Eric pulls me and Benji into a huddle. I’ve seen him do this countless times with his previous bands, but it feels different now that I’m a part of their huddle, like I’ve always belonged here. It has always been the three of us, growing up and mucking about together. Now we’re creating a different kind of carry-on. As The Fortunate Only.

"No going back now, ey?" I say as our heads bump against each other inside the huddle.

"I’m so pumped!" Eric half whispers, half shouts.

Benji stays quiet, but has a fat grin on his face.

"Whatever happens, happens," I say, finally feeling the pre-show excitement.

Some musicians feel that wave of terror right before going on stage, but the same cannot be said for me. First, I get that feeling when I down two shots of expresso, like my nerves are shot and I can do anything, be anything. After the riot has passed, I get this sense of peacefulness, as if this is the only thing I’m meant to be doing in this moment.

I zone out everything around me—I close my eyes and somehow manage to tune out the sounds around me.

When I open my eyes, Benji and Eric grin. I nod and grab our instruments stashed on the side, ready for what comes next.

"Thank you! I’m Amber Skye. Up next is an exclusive: we’ve got a musical debut right here on The Hush Society stage." Amber beams and bows before walking off the stage, taking her stool with her.

The tech crew sets up our gear as we approach the imaginary line that divides performer from listener. We pass Amber, who wishes us luck. Cassie gives us a hug each.

We set up a tripod from the back and Cassie’s tiny Fujifilm camera, which we borrowed to capture our performance, particularly our first song "Electrified," which will also be our debut single on the website. It’s going live in a few days if everything goes as planned, meaning we record a good performance and Benji is able to polish the video with his editing skills.

I take the centre stage and sling my electric guitar around my neck. Eric sits on his throne and Benji, with his electric guitar, positions himself behind the piano synthesiser to my left.

I move right as Lily approaches us and stops in front of the microphone. Up close, I can see traces of nervousness—the way her weight shifts from left to right and her tight grip on the stand. "I’m one with you guys when I say that this is going to be my first time hearing a full set. From what I heard during sound check earlier, you’ll want to keep this next act on your radar."

We plug our cords into the amplifiers and nod at Lily.

She looks at me, smiling, and says, "I’ll keep this short. Please welcome The Fortunate Only from Beverley, East Yorkshire!"

I wink at her as she returns the microphone on the stand.

"What’s up, Brighton?" I say.

A couple of people answer me back with whistles and cheers.

"So you may have heard, this is our debut gig. I’m so grateful to have my best mates with me on stage: Benji Stone on rhythm guitar and keys, and Eric Baker on the drums. The Hush Society is such a special community. Welcome to the tribe, Brighton!"

At my last word, Eric counts down with his bass pedal and clicks his sticks together. Benji and I simultaneously enter—me with funky electric guitar strumming to accompany his keys. After one stanza of this, Eric enters with his powerful percussions, tying our elements together to give it that indie-rock feel.

Originally Benji was the bassist, what with his love for the instrument, but with the sound we’re going for, we wanted to try something different. Being the virtuoso that he is, he’s doing both rhythm guitar and piano synthesising. He can even play the harmonica and almost learned how to play the saxophone. A musical beast!

I’m still debating if I want a fuller sound when we record, but we would need a bassist for the live performances, so right now we’re seeing how this goes.

I close my eyes. The energy vibrates around me. It’s in my hands, my fingers…flowing from my body to my guitar.

The crowd claps along to the beat and my eyes flash open to observe their smiling faces. I smile back and sing the intro.

I jump up and down, almost wanting to shout the lyrics of this angsty, anthemic chorus. I punch my fist in the air as we sing a line repeatedly before entering the bridge.

Doubt and fear threaten the spark

Don’t let them keep you in the dark

They say magic isn’t real, but right here on this stage, it’s as if every bit of magic is alive—it’s in the energy of this room.

The music is the magic.

We are the magic.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

We play two cover songs—The Gramophones’ "Explode" and The Kook’s "Naïve." I would have preferred to have our whole set with originals, but alas, three songs were all we could churn out in the few weeks we had. We’re still figuring out what genre we want our sound to be and if it’s possible to have a mix of R&B and indie rock.

"Wow," I