better.
I was able to go to the studio, where I stared at the back of Reed’s head while we all recorded the new FILTHY LINE song.
Then Reed took off.
I made an ass of myself as I ran from the studio to go after him.
Of course, he sped away, leaving me feeling stupid and embarrassed.
I ended up getting into my car and leaving, texting Toby that I was feeling under the weather.
All of those thoughts raced through my head as I opened the back of Sasha’s SUV and ripped the red hair wig off my head. I reached back and unclasped the baby blue dress and wiggled out of it.
“That wasn’t bad,” Rae said. “The dad was kind of hot too.”
“Is that all you think about?” I asked Rae.
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
Maybe you should be in the studio with FILTHY LINE then.
That only made me feel jealousy.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jess whispered to me as she put a cigarette between her lips.
“No smoking near the costumes,” Sasha said.
“Oh, fuck off,” Jess snapped.
“You fuck off,” Sasha yelled.
I grabbed for Jess’s wig. “Both of you fuck off.” I threw the wig into the back of the SUV. “Jess, go over there and smoke.”
“Whatever,” Jess said.
She walked away, mad at Sasha.
Sasha went to the front of the SUV and got behind the wheel and started the vehicle. Rae was face down in her phone, probably staring at dick pics.
I wandered away from the SUV and went to talk to Jess.
She stood on the sidewalk, smoking.
“Bitch,” she said to me.
“Stop. Everyone is emotional today. Must be that time of the month.”
“No. It’s just Sasha. Sometimes she gets on my nerves.”
“Well, get her off your nerves. We have a busy week.”
“Yeah. I know. And what’s your interest? I thought you’d be off fucking some rock stars by now.”
“Not even close,” I said. “It’s…”
My phone started to ring.
When I saw Toby’s name, I gasped.
“That’s… I have to take this.” I turned and started to jog. I took the call. “Toby, hey.”
“Abby,” he said. “We need you to get into the studio. Right now.”
“Now?”
“Yes. We need to re-record your vocals.”
“Just me?”
“You and the other two,” he said.
“What about the band?”
“No band today,” he said. “We want to focus on your vocals. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all,” I said in a cheery voice.
No band equals no Reed.
“Do you need a ride?” Toby asked.
“No. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I ended the call and Jess came up from behind me.
“Booty call?”
“Booth call.”
“What?”
“Vocal booth call,” I said. “I have to go to the studio right now.”
“Well, look at you… fucking fancy…”
“Thanks for that,” I said.
I hurried back to the SUV and told Sasha I needed to get to the studio.
“We have a call for later,” she said as she drove. “Can you make it?”
“I’ll do my best,” I said. “You can wait outside the studio for me if you want. It’s just my vocals. Well, our vocals. The backup singers.”
“We get it,” Rae said. “You’re fucking famous.”
She looked at me and winked.
I didn’t say another word after that.
Joking aside, it still felt weird being in a studio.
But this time there was no band.
No band meant no Reed.
I smiled.
It was really different being in the studio without the band.
All of their stuff was there.
Just no cursing, drinking, drugs, and wildness.
It was calm and cool in there.
The guy who was doing the recording had us sing the part together twice.
Then he had each of us sing the part alone.
I got to stand in the vocal booth on my own and sing.
That was really fun.
When Dawn went to sing her part, I caught myself walking around, casually staring at Reed’s bass. I paused and plucked at one of the thick strings. It didn’t make much of a sound. It amazed me that these instruments were so quiet yet in the hands of the band and on stage, they were so loud.
It was so cliché to think of music as magic, but it kind of was.
Music always meant so much to me.
My mother never appreciated it. She always played it safe in life. Which I understood to a point. She was a single mother. Raising my brother and I. Her only goal was to keep us fed and sheltered. My brother Joe tried to push my mother out of her box but she still refused. Now she claimed she was too old to do anything crazy.
I crouched down in front of Reed’s bass.
There was a childish part of me that wanted me to