Chapter 17: The Queens of Summer IV

Summer Madness was a type of Battle of the Bands event that I had never heard of. Rather than all of the participates play during one weekend, the performances were spread out over the course of a week with judges compiling the scores of a band’s performance throughout the seven days.

Bands were tasked with performing at both small venues and large venues and sometimes even the streets to see if they could attract a crowd with just their music alone.

Winners were typically determined by the bands that could consistently fire up a crowd, no matter the setting of the performance or the size of the audience.  Styles and looks also played a part in too but the judges for the most part and also the crowd, mostly cared about the music.

Despite telling them that I thought they could win it all, Haruka thought I was just being biased. So while April was spending the day getting her hair done and getting a manicure, Haruka showed me old footage of the previous year’s Summer Madness.

And she was right. The type of people performing there were out of this world and it seemed unthinkable that none of these bands were signed artists or had any mainstream buzz.

“So will you talk some sense into April and tell her we’re not ready for this? She never listens to me but she might listen to you.”

I didn’t know what to tell her. So I decided to just tell her the truth.

“I think you’re right. The other bands participating in this are probably going to make the bands around here seem like a joke. But even still……I would bet all my chips on you two.  Because they don’t have your sound. They don’t have your looks. And they don’t have your drive. The only thing that separates them from you is your confidence. You should trust your abilities more. And maybe have a little more faith in April. I really think you two got this in the bag.” 

Haruka didn’t like my words. She never did when it came to compliments. But even still…

“Fine. But if we get embarrassed you’re taking responsibility for this, Mr. Manager”

She always listened to me in the end.

Haruka still grumbled about it later. But when Summer Madness actually began, she became a new person. It was as if she didn’t have a single doubt, a single fear in her body. It was as if she had finally decided to go all in. It was exactly what April had been waiting to see. And I admit, it was something that I had been waiting to see as well. Because, I wanted them to win the summer crown.

And prove that they were the true queens of summer.