More than Music

23

“Before we do anything else, we need to figure out a way to differentiate our version from whatever The Static Klingons do.”

“Good idea,” I said. “They already have a similar sound to The Killers, so they probably won’t change the song very much.”

“What if we made the song darker?” Kyle asked. “Drop the tuning, make it almost an emo cover of the song.”

Jared rubbed the stubble along his chin as he considered. “That could work, and it would sound more like our own stuff, too. Let’s try it.”

For the next three hours, we worked on getting our version of the song figured out, experimenting with different ways to make it our own. The guitar on the song wasn’t hard, but the bass was trickier and Jared had a tougher time with it.

After a particularly bad play-through, we decided to take a break and stretch our limbs before the next three-hour block. I headed to the kitchen to grab lunch and found Sean in there, pouring some coffee.

“Hi,” he said. “Crazy day, huh?”

“Very. I’m still trying to catch my breath.”

“Me too.” He watched as I grabbed a plate and piled on some salad. “I hate that our bands are competing against each other.”

“I know, it really sucks.” I examined the mini-sandwiches, trying to figure out what they were, and then grabbed two turkey ones and a soda. I was just thrilled the show wasn’t starving us today.

“So how’s it going for you?” Sean asked, resting his hip against the counter in front of me. “With the song?”

“We’ve got it figured out I think. Just need to practice more. How about you?”

“We’ve done covers of ‘Somebody Told Me’ before at shows, so we feel pretty good about it. What kind of spin are you putting on it?”

“Um…” I wasn’t sure what to tell him, and then I was distracted by the sight of Jared in the lounge, talking to a girl with long copper hair. Was this Michelle? She gave him a flirty smile and put her hand on his elbow, and I wanted to dump my plate of food on her head. Jared flashed her his devilish grin, but when he looked at me and Sean, something crossed his face. He ditched the girl and walked over to us.

“Hey,” he said, standing close to me and glaring at Sean. “What do you think of the song choice?”

“We’re happy with it. It’s a good song for us. You?” Sean’s sunny disposition had vanished, and he eyed Jared with an openly hostile look. I wasn’t really sure what was going on between them.

“We’ll make it work.”

“Cool.” They stared each other down for a long, painful moment, and then Sean turned back to me. “Hey, it was great to see you, Maddie.”

“You too.” I pulled my shirt down to better cover my leggings, suddenly self-conscious. The mood had turned frosty ever since Jared had arrived, like they both wanted to stake their claim on me or something, which was ridiculous.

“What was that about?” I asked Jared once Sean had left.

Jared turned to make himself some tea with honey. “He’s trying to work you to get info on what we’re doing.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s just a nice guy, and you’re being paranoid.”

“Okay, then he wants to get in your pants.”

“I highly doubt that.” Yes, Sean was the sort of guy I usually dated, but he was also our competition. He lived in Nebraska anyway. “And if he does, what do you care?”

It was a loaded question and Jared’s eyes widened for second, but then his cool exterior took over again. “I don’t. Just be careful what you say to him.”

“God, Jared, I’m not going to tell him anything.”

I walked away before he could reply. Did he actually think I would betray the band just because some cute guy smiled at me? And why did it sting so much that Jared didn’t care if Sean wanted me? Like the other guys, he only saw me as a little sister. While I found this charming in Kyle and amusing in Hector, when Jared acted like an overprotective big brother, I kind of wanted to kick something.

According to our schedule, Angel was supposed to show up during our final two hours of practice, but she never did.

That night I told the guys I was tired and watched the second group of auditions alone in my hotel room. I couldn’t handle another night of awkwardness next to Jared, especially after our conversation earlier.

For the next few days, we spent most of our time in rehearsal, and Angel still never appeared. I was starting to think she was a mentor in name only. Were the other bands on her team being ignored, too, or was it just us? I thought about asking Sean, but Jared’s warning echoed in my head. I didn’t think Sean was using me for info, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful either.

In the evenings, many of the bands hung out in the lobby of the hotel, mingling and gossiping and flirting, but I didn’t join them. I had zero interest in seeing Jared slipping off to some hotel room with another girl. Besides, I felt like an imposter around the other bands, like as soon as I opened my mouth they’d realize I wasn’t really one of them. I didn’t want them to think, Why are you on this show, you hack?

Instead, I retreated to my room and ate alone every night. Being around the guys all day was exhausting anyway, and I needed some alone time to recharge. I sent updates to Carla, who was in New York on some fashion shoot, and Julie, who had returned to the town in Northern California where we’d grown up to see her parents.

On Thursday night, she called me while I was watching TV and painting my nails a dark burgundy. “Hey, Julie, what’s up?”