More Than Music (8 page)

Q
uitting my internship was harder than I’d expected. Let’s just say the LA Philharmonic wasn’t pleased to have their carefully selected intern back out at the last minute. I’d definitely burned some bridges there, not to mention with the professor who’d sponsored me. I came pretty close to calling the guys to tell them I couldn’t join the band after all, but Carla and Julie assured me I was doing the right thing. God, I hoped they were right.

On Monday, I met the band at the high-rise hotel in LA Live where we’d be staying as long as we were on the show. We were only allowed two rooms¸ and the guys decided it would be best if they shared one, giving me a room all to myself. I think they just didn’t want to argue over who would have to share with me.

I dropped my luggage off in my nice big room and ran into the guys again in the elevator—their room was a few floors up. As the door closed, a voice said, “Going down,” and immediately the Fall Out Boy song “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” popped into my head. As if on cue, Jared started singing the chorus of that exact song.

“I heard that, too," I said, and he grinned at me.

“I thought of Aerosmith’s ‘Love In An Elevator,’” Kyle said.

“Also a good one,” Jared said, and belted out the lyrics.

Hector shook his head. “Not me. I heard that Nelly song ‘Country Grammar.’”

“What?” Kyle gaped at him. “I think we might have to kick you out of the band.”

“No kidding,” Jared said. “I’m not sure our relationship can survive such fundamental differences in musical taste.”

“Please, we all know you’d be lost without me,” Hector said.

“True.” Jared grabbed him, and they wrestled until the elevator door opened. I rolled my eyes.
Guys
.

The lobby was all smooth bamboo and stainless steel trim, and my shoes squeaked loudly as we walked across the shiny floors. Some of the people checking in or sitting on the couches were business people or tourists, but the rest had to be musicians on the show, with their dyed hair, faded band T-shirts, and guitar cases. Many of them were sizing us up, too.

“What do you think the other bands on Angel’s team are like?” I asked the guys.

Kyle shrugged. “Who knows? Last season she had all kinds of music.”

“Yeah, but she tends to go for harder stuff usually,” Jared said. “Punk, emo, heavy metal.”

“Last season she had one pop band that almost won though,” I said.

“True. I just hope she picks a good song for us to play in the battle.”

After the auditions, the next step was
The Sound
’s Battle of the Bands. Basically, the mentors paired off the six bands on their team and had them compete against each other by performing the same song. The mentors chose the winners and also got one rescue that they could use on any band eliminated from one of the other teams—leaving four bands on each team for the next show.

Usually there were two battle rounds, but this season had been shortened to only six weeks and moved to the summer instead of the spring, probably because ratings had been dropping steadily. Maybe they hoped a shorter season would keep everyone on the edge of their seats the entire time, or maybe they thought the show would have less competition in the summer since there was nothing else on TV.

We found the meeting room for Team Angel just as four guys with skinny jeans and identical shaggy haircuts walked over. They had that combo of nerd-meets-hipster down, and two of them even had black-rimmed glasses to complete the look.

“Are you on Angel’s team, too?” one of the guys asked. He had a boy-next-door kind of face, with broad shoulders and sandy blond hair. Definitely the best-looking one in the group.

“Yeah, we’re Villain Complex,” Jared said, and we all made our introductions.

“Sweet name,” the cute guy—whose name was Sean—said. “Wish we’d thought of it. We’re The Static Klingons.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the
Star Trek
pun. “That’s awesome.”

Sean grinned at me. “Yeah? I think you’re the only person who’s gotten it so far.”

“We probably should go in now,” their bassist said, scowling at us like we were the enemy. Technically we were, even though we were on the same team.

Sean opened the door and stepped back, waving me inside. “After you.”

I smiled at him and entered. The room had identical chairs lined up in rows, facing a podium at the front. A camera crew was already set up so they could film clips for next week’s episode. Judging by the clusters of people in the chairs, three bands had already arrived. That meant one more had to show, and Angel was nowhere to be found either.

I picked a spot in the fourth row, and Kyle and Hector filed in next to me, with Jared going around to sit on my other side. The Static Klingons sat two rows in front of us, and Sean turned around and grinned at me before saying something to his band.

Jared leaned closer to me. “He likes you.”

“What?” I said it a little too loud, then blushed and lowered my voice. “Why do you say that?”

“I saw the way he looked at you.”

“This is the real reason why having Maddie in the band is a bad idea,” Hector said, smirking. “Now we’re going to have to fight off hordes of horny guys going after her.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll be okay,” I said, but I was secretly pleased Hector thought I would attract so much attention. Or that he would actually fight them off for me. Not that he’d need to because one boy smiling at me one time did not equal “hordes of horny guys.” Nor did it mean that this one guy was interested in me that way. Sean just seemed friendly.

Jared didn’t seem to think Hector’s comment was amusing at all. “You said it was a bad idea to let Maddie join because I’d—how’d you put it?—‘bone her and then break her heart?’”

“Oh, god, you said that?” I asked Hector.

His face turned almost purple. “You have to admit that is your style.”

“Give me a break,” Jared said. “One time with Becca and—”

“Knock it off, you two,” Kyle interrupted, giving them each a warning look. “This is so not the time for this.”

“I wouldn’t do that to Maddie anyway,” Jared muttered.

“We’ll see,” Hector said, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Jared turned away but didn’t say anything else. Tension created a concrete wall between them, with me and Kyle stuck in the middle. I was relieved Jared wouldn’t do that to me, but also a tiny bit disappointed he didn’t see me that way, even though I knew it was for the best. I didn’t want to mess up anything with the band, and getting involved with Jared would do exactly that.

The last band arrived, with hair spiked into mohawks and chains hanging from their leather jackets. Definitely Angel’s type. The one girl in the band wore a chainmail bikini and very short shorts, and I recognized her as one of the people Jared had talked to before our audition. She caught his eye and winked, and I almost threw up in my mouth a little. The rest of her band glared at everyone and sat down.

While we waited, Kyle and I quietly discussed the other bands and tried to figure out what kind of music they played. I started to wonder if Angel would ever show or if we’d all been given the wrong time or what.

Hector was lost in his sketchbook, and I leaned over to ask, “What are you drawing?”

“Just working on ideas for my next graphic novel.”

“Can I see?” Kyle had once mentioned Hector went to art school, but I didn’t know much else.

“Sure.” He passed me the sketchbook, and I flipped through it. There were lots of random doodles, but also rough sketches of comic panels with lots of action. He was good—like professional-level good.

“Wow, this is awesome,” I said. “What’s your graphic novel about?”

“It’s called Misfit Squad, and it’s about a group of teens who have really uncool superpowers, so they band together after the other superhero groups won’t let them in. Like the main character accidentally breaks things, and at first it seems like a curse, but then she learns to control it.” As he talked, Hector’s face lit up in a way I’d never seen before, even when he was drumming. “The first one just came out, and we’re planning to do two more.”

“Okay, I definitely need to read that.”

“I’ll give you a copy later.”

“Hector designed the Villain Complex logo, too,” Kyle added. “And did the quote wall in our studio. He’s amazing.”

Angel finally walked in, nearly an hour after our scheduled time, with her stringy blonde hair and caked-on makeup trying to cover up her wrinkles. Back in the day, she’d had a voice that could go from screaming to sweet to sexy in an instant. But after one of the band members committed suicide, Dark Embrace had broken up, and she’d started bouncing in and out of rehab. Now she was just a washed-up celebrity trying to relive her former glory days. Still, my mom had played her songs all the time, and I’d grown up with her raspy voice and scratchy guitar, so I was a bit star-struck being in the same room with her. Almost enough to forgive her very late arrival.

“Good, you’re all here,” she said, like she hadn’t made
us
wait. “Let’s get this over with.” She gestured to the two assistants who had walked in with her, and they began passing papers out to all of us. “Here’s your schedule, blah blah blah. Read it, whatever.”

She leaned against the podium and started playing on her phone. Jared and Kyle exchanged a look, the kind siblings give each other that say an entire sentence without a word, and I got the feeling they were not impressed. I had to admit it was odd how the Angel at our audition had been so excited while this one seemed like she couldn’t wait to get out of here.

We spent a few moments looking over our band’s schedule for the week. After this meeting, we had to take photos together, but then we were free for the rest of the night. Starting tomorrow we had a six-hour rehearsal slot every day at a local studio. On Friday, we’d record the song so people could buy it on the show’s website, and on Sunday, we’d be filming the actual battle round, which would air Monday night.

Angel finally put her phone away and stood up straight. “Are we rolling now?” One of the camera guys nodded, and she tossed her hair and put on a big smile. “Welcome to Team Angel. I’m so thrilled you’re all here!”

Silence from all of us. Maybe we were supposed to cheer or applaud or something, but none of us could be bothered. She looked annoyed for an instant and then continued. “All six of your bands were chosen because I believe you can win this thing. I’m confident that this year I have the most talented group of musicians on the show, and I know Team Angel is going all the way!” This got a tiny bit of forced applause. “Unfortunately, only one of you will make it to the final four. You all have talent or you wouldn’t be here, but to make it to the end, you need to work hard and want it more than anything. I want you all to ask yourselves: How bad do you want this? What are you willing to do to win?”

Angel had been doing this show for four years, and she gave the same speech every season. I wondered if she knew from the very beginning who had the best shot at winning, if she could tell, just by looking in our eyes now, who wanted it the most. As I glanced around the room, it hit me that we might not be on the show after this week. Out of six bands, only three of us would be staying with Angel. Any band she eliminated might be picked by the other mentors, but there was no guarantee that would happen.

Beside me, Jared’s eyes took on a fiery determination I’d never seen before. Jared was in this thing to win it, no doubt. He’d do anything for that chance, but would I? How much did I want it? Or was I only doing this for Kyle? For Jared?

No, I wanted to win, too. Maybe not as much as Jared did, but after hearing that roar of the crowd, feeling the music blasting from the giant speakers, and playing with the band at my side, I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I wanted that record deal and the tour and the future as a part of Villain Complex. To get that, we had to win
The Sound
.

After an appropriate pause for her words to sink in, Angel continued. “This week we have the battle round, which will be fun.” I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. She waved at her assistant, and he passed her a sheet of paper, which she squinted at while he disappeared against the wall again. “Okay, let’s see here… First up, The Static Klingons will compete against Villain Complex.”

I groaned softly. Why couldn’t we have been up against any of the other bands on the team? Of course we would be paired with the one band that seemed sort of nice. Now there was a strong chance one of us would be going home next week.

“You’re both going to perform ‘Somebody Told Me’ by The Killers,” Angel said. “I think it’ll be a good song for your different sounds.”

An interesting choice. I liked the song, but I worried it was a bit too peppy for our usual vibe. Maybe that was more of The Static Klingons’ thing.

She paired off the other bands and then said, “I’ll see you all at your rehearsals.” She flicked a hand at her assistants, and they left the room.

“I haven’t played this song before,” I said to the guys. “Have you?”

“No,” Jared said, as the other two shook their heads. “Which means we need to work our asses off this week.”