I’m lost in my excitement when I hear the doorbell ring. Colt lets Rob in and I turn to face Dad.

“Holy shit, Dad, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you would have freaked out. Am I right?”

I nod as nerves start to encompass me. My stomach is suddenly churning and at the same time it feels like butterflies are smashing against my stomach wall. The sensation is odd, but I like it. I can’t wait for Rob to hear us play. We’re good, I know we are, and honestly this is just the thing I needed to take my mind off Indi. Even though I wish she were here, she always loved it when I sang to her, it would be great to make this milestone with her. But that isn’t going to happen, so what’s the point in thinking that way?

I can’t help but notice Annie and Aston avoiding each other. There’s definite tension there and I hope that they sort it out before Rob comes in.

Colt rounds the corner and Rob walks in behind him. I stand a little taller trying to ooze confidence. I want Rob to know I am a performer and I will always act like one.

“Hi guys, has Colt told you all why I’m here?” Rob asks.

“Sure has, Mr. Luxley,” I say trying to charm him. My appeal seems to work on men as well as women. I have an aura about me when I am switched on and everyone loves my charisma.

“Please just relax everyone, call me Rob like you normally do. Think of me as just a family friend coming to hear you rehearse. I want you to play like you normally would and don’t get too hung up on why I’m here. Just play, and then we can talk a bit more,” he says and we all nod.

I can’t believe this is actually happening!

“Okay, well, I’m just going to pop out and make a phone call and then I’ll be ready when I come back, sound good?”

He walks out and I turn to face the rest of the band if ever they needed a pep talk, now is the moment!

“Okay guys, group huddle,” I say and Annie, Aston, Ella and Chad, all position themselves into a group huddle.

“This could be it for us. We need to put all nervous energy, all outside issues, and problems aside because this is huge guys. We need to get this right because if we do, in a few months we could have our album on the shelves. So think about that when you’re playing tonight, okay?” They are all grinning as widely as me and nodding.

“Chad, I want you to amp up your bass kicks tonight, make the drum beat as loud as you can.”

Chad nods. “Got it,” he says.

“Annie and Ella, let it rip. You both know your parts, stick to them and everything will be fine. Ella if you get lost without the music in front of you, fake it, okay?”

“I’ll do my best, Caleb. I’ve been rehearsing without the music sheets in front of me for the last three weeks. So I should be okay,” she replies and I can hear the nervousness undertone in her shaky voice.

“Aston, fat beats, okay?” I smirk at him because I know Aston doesn’t really need a pep talk, he’s great and will always do his best.

“Hell yeah,” Aston replies.

“And you, Caleb, sing like you’re singing to Indi, okay?” Annie says and it knocks me for a second. I swallow hard and nod my head. Maybe that will work. If I pretend to sing to her, perhaps it will improve my voice. I always sang my heart out to her because I wanted to impress her. Annie’s right, I need to sing to Indi tonight.

“Yeah, good idea, Annie,” I say and she smirks. “We’re all good? We know the order of the songs?” I ask and they all nod.

“Don’t worry cuz we got this shit. We totally rock!” Annie says and we all chuckle.

“Yeah, we do. Let’s rock his socks off!” Chad says and I shake my head.

That guy’s obsession with socks is ridiculous!

“Okay, guys hands in,” I say and we all put our right hand in ready to say our mantra.

 

The music flows for all to hear,

You cannot help, but stop and cheer,

The walls will tremble, shudder and break,

‘Cause no one can handle the sound of Staked.

One, two, three…Staked!

 

We all say it together and then throw our right hand in the air. All the parents laugh, but they know this is something we need to do to gain focus. Performing for Rob is the biggest thing to ever happen to me music wise, and there’s no way I’m going to stuff this up. We all move to our respective positions, we always play in the exact same way. Me in the middle, Annie and Aston to my right, and Ella to my left. It’s the way it’s always been and it’s how it should stay. This is how we mesh, and really we are unstoppable as a team. I just hope Annie remembers that.

Rob walks back in and claps his hands together. “Right Staked, let’s hear you rock this house.”

I nod and count the guys in. I’m nervous as hell, but more than that I’m excited. Music is my life and Indi was the reason for that, so it’s fitting that the first song I’m going to sing is the one I wrote about her. It’s called ‘Saving Grace’ and she’s never heard it, but I’ll sing it now as if I was singing it to her for the first time. The melody flows through me and the soft but meaningful chords of Annie’s guitar reverb through me. This song is electric and I visualise the atoms in my blood turning into musical notes so that music is literally vibrating through my veins. I live music. I breathe music, and right now combining my love of music and my undeniable love of performing for Indi is making this a stand-out performance. I know I’m rocking this, and as I close my eyes, I get lost in the lyrics and feel all the emotion of the words. Indi was my saving grace and she left leaving a hole in her place. Nothing can repair the damage she’s caused. So I put all that emotion into the song and perform my heart out for Rob.

I sing the last line of the song and I must admit I feel a little emotional, but I won’t let on. I’m going to be the utmost professional right now.

I look back at the guys and nod letting Chad know to start our next song. I’m getting lost in the lyrics again even though this is a much more upbeat song and has a faster more rock and roll vibe. I imagine Indi here with me, sitting in front of me on a stool, and I’m singing just to her. I pause for Annie’s solo and as I do, I flick back into the present and remember I’m here for Rob too.

Looking directly at him, I notice he’s smiling and I can feel his excitement from here. I look over at Annie and she’s ripping it up on her guitar. Colt really has taught her well, she’s doing great. It’s coming to the end of her solo and I move back into position against the mic to start to sing again, but Annie amps up her solo even more. I furrow my brows and listen to the rest of the band to make sure they’re keeping up with her mid-song change.

My heart starts to race frantically, I’m so pissed. Yes, she’s playing well and it sounds fantastic, but she could have warned us. It nearly tripped me up, so I can’t imagine what Ella is feeling right now. Luckily Chad and Aston are professionals and they’re following on without any issues. I look over at Colt as Annie continues her solo and he’s frowning just as much as I am. If she’s stuffed this up for us, I’m going to be beyond angry.

She’s such a fucking show off!

She looks back at me with a grin on her face that even makes me feel happy for a brief second and then I remember she’s fucking this up for us. I scowl at her and she frowns and then turns back to Rob ending her solo.

Thank God!

We continue on with the song as I try to not let what just happened affect my sound. My heart is still racing, so fast I feel a little queasy. This is such a big thing for us and if Annie fucked it up…well, I don’t know how I will feel about it. We finish the song and Rob starts clapping straight away which I guess is a good sign. Annie takes a bow and I roll my eyes at her as he walks up to us and our parents start to clap along with Rob.

“Well, I’ve seen enough,” he says and proceeds over to Colt. They start to talk in a quiet voice so we can’t hear.

I look over to Annie and she’s still really excited. She thinks she did well I can tell. Chad walks up to me from behind his drum kit and we both look over to see Annie cuddling into Aston. She then takes a step back and looks at Aston like she wants to kill him, then she storms from the room. I huff and Chad chuckles.

“Do you think they will ever sort their shit out?” he asks and I shrug.

“They better, or it might fuck this up.”

“Tell me about it. Poor Aston is so pussy-whipped it’s not funny, and Annie is just leading him on. I mean don’t get me wrong I love the girl and everything, but how she’s playing with Aston’s feelings isn’t right, let alone taking on a solo like that without letting us know. Poor Ella, I watched her trying to think about what to do, but at least she got through it okay. She’s getting better because she was, like us, totally ad-libbing,” he says and I nod.

“Yeah, I was worried about Ella too, but she pulled it off. As for Annie…I don’t know what she’s thinking, about the band or Aston. All I hope is that she sorts her shit out soon or lets him move on without her. She needs to figure out what she wants ‘cause it could tear us apart before we’ve even begun, you know?”

“Well, all I know is I’m starving. When do you think we can eat?” Chad says and I chuckle.

“Always thinking of your guts kid.”

He feigns shock. “I’m not a kid, I’m fifteen, dude.”

“Yeah sorry. Even though you only think about your guts and your filthy socks, you’re more grown up than Annie and she’s a year older than you.”

“Yeah, I was totally about to tell you to get rocked!” he says and I chuckle at his weird phrase.

“Get rocked?”

“Well, it felt right at the time considering we just rocked it out and thought it was more polite than saying get fucked,” he says and I laugh out loud.

This kid is hilarious. I slap his shoulder and shake my head.

“You know I’m going to steal that, right?”

“As long as I get the credit.”

I look over at Ella. “I’ll be right back.” Moving across I pull Ella in for a hug.

“Well done, cuz. You did so well to keep up when Annie went off the tracks like that.”

“I know, I can’t believe I knew what to do to keep going. I’m getting better, Caleb. I really am.”

“Yeah, you are! Hey, I just saw Annie and Aston have a bit of an argument and she walked out. Do you think you could go find her before Rob notices she’s left?”

“Yeah, I saw that too. Okay, I’ll go get her. Don’t worry, leave the job to me! If I can keep up through that solo I can do anything,” she says and even though Annie went off track, it’s nice that it has given Ella a boost in confidence. Poor thing, music doesn’t come naturally to her like it does the rest of us. She has to work that little bit harder than us all.

She walks out and I huff looking over at Rob hoping he hasn’t noticed the absence of our lead guitarist. I don’t want him to think she isn’t taking this seriously.

Colt looks up and I tense as he gazes around the room. “Where are the girls?” he asks and I look down at the floor because now Rob knows not only Annie left, but Ella did too.

This can’t look good for us!

“I think they left a little bit ago, I saw them both walk out,” Chad says and Colt looks annoyed. He’s pursing his lips together and shaking his head slightly while his nostrils flare.

“Okay Chad, can you go get them for us?” Colt asks and Chad twirls his drumsticks in his hand and nods walking out of the room. I look over to Aston and he’s leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and looking down at the floor, obviously upset. I shake my head – this is all going so terribly wrong. My dreams of being the rock star Indi wanted me to be is going up in flames.

Chad walks back in and the girls follow soon after. I breathe a sigh of relief that he found them so quickly.

“Oh good, girls you’re back. Come and have a seat, I want to talk to you all together,” Rob says and actually doesn’t seem like he’s fazed at all. Which fills me with a new hope.

“Okay, so let’s talk Staked. I only heard two songs and that was enough for me to make my decision. Annie, your guitar solo obviously didn’t go as the rest of the band expected. It was obvious in the way they reacted that maybe you went on longer than you were supposed to.” I tense up waiting for bad news. “But in saying that, what you did Annie was electric. The solo was at a standard of some of the great rock bands out there. Your dad has taught you well. But you have to let your band members know if you are going to change something up. It could’ve stopped the rest of them from knowing where to come in. It’s just lucky that you know each other so well, and that’s what makes Staked amazing. You know how to work the room and each other. Annie and Aston the way you two move together…it’s like you’re twins. You feed off each other and that’s an incredible thing to watch and work with. You guys need to keep that up because the connection you two share when rocking it out is what makes this band as special as it is…” he says and then looks at Colt. Colt nods and smiles like he knows what Rob is about to say next. “Okay, so I’ve made my decision. I’m going to sign you,” he says.

I gasp as my heart jumps into my throat. Ella and Annie are jumping around and Chad comes up to me and high five’s me as we all start to laugh.

“I’m going to get a small promotion kick-started for you guys and we’ll look at improving your demo album so we can make it into an actual album to go on sale. Then we can start thinking about a tour if your parents agree? Well, except for you Caleb. You don’t need permission obviously.”

“God, I hope not,” I say looking at Dad as Rob pats me on the shoulder and laughs.

“Right, well, leave it with me and I’m going to organise with Colt and Hux on how to get this all started for you guys. This is the beginning of something that I think is going to be tremendous for you all. You’re young and I hope you can handle the pressure that comes with being rock and roll stars? That’s why we’re starting small and going from there. I’ll be in contact soon,” he says putting his hand out for me to shake, which, of course, I do.

“Thank you so much, Rob. We won’t let you down. Will we guys?”

“No way, Rob. We’re committed to this band, one hundred percent!” Annie says

“That’s great to hear. Well, I need to get home, seems I’ll have a lot more to handle from now on,” Rob says.

“Thanks, Rob, for everything. I’ll walk you out,” Colt says.

When they walk out of the room, we all cheer and jump around like mad idiots and our parents laugh at us. I’m seven years older than Annie, but right now you wouldn’t know it ‘cause I’m acting as stupid as she is. I’m on such a high right now that I had no idea I could ever feel this way. All thoughts of depression are washed away and I’m here with my family and my band and we’re going to make it huge. Of that I am sure. And I couldn’t be happier!

The parents all left us in the music room to celebrate. But I really need to celebrate. I’m going to go home and celebrate with one of my speed-dial ladies. I just have to decide which one.