The lads sat in the band room, tuning instruments and listening to Felix and Eric argue.
"But I really ought to be studying," Felix complained.
"But we really need to practice. I am not losing to LolRock," Eric answered.
"If I'm forced to go to the Academy next week, I won't even be able to play with you," Felix muttered. "And then Jasper will become a banker, and stop drinking coffee, and..."
"What?" Jasper looked stricken. "But—my coffee maker! I just got it!"
"Sorry. Nightmare," Felix apologized, blushing. The other three lads gave him a few strange looks, and he shrugged and finished tuning his bass.
"Okay, Jasper, what we need is... I dunno... A kind of bouncy beat. Something cheerful," Cal explained.
"I can do that!" Jasper grinned, bouncing in place, sitting at the drumset. He looked mildly uncomfortable, but the other lads assumed he was nervous.
Cal looked at Felix and Eric, who nodded, and he began to play. Felix and Eric joined him a moment later, while Jasper listened intently for the beat, but before he could start, Cal had stopped. "Um. Do you think we could maybe come in together?" he suggested mildly.
Felix shrugged, and Eric scowled. "Hey, Jasper, why don't you try... Say... Counting us in?" Cal added.
Jasper nodded eagerly, bounced on his stool a little bit, and "One - two - one-two-three-four!" and the song started.
The addition of Jasper on the drums to the previous trio brought in a lot more than a steady beat. He'd taken the instructions of "bouncy and cheerful" to an entirely new level, and the energy in the song skyrocketed. For the first time since they'd practiced together that year, the lads were all going at the same tempo; it was a good deal quicker than usual, but sounded excellent.
When Eric started singing after a few measures