Chapter Nine #2
“I’m not dressed for this!” She huffs, smoothing down her dress, while I glance down at my joggers and shrug.
“You’ve met Rob a million times,” Dad says. “You don’t need to impress him with how you look. It’s your music that matters.” Then the doorbell rings. “Well… that’s him,” Dad says, heading out.
Ella groans and runs her hands through her hair.
I glance at Aston, who’s smiling. Then he catches me looking, and his smile falters, slipping into something more uncertain. I bite my bottom lip and give him a small, tentative smile. He exhales, then returns it.
And just like that, something shifts between us.
Not fixed.
But… manageable.
We both know what this means. Whatever’s going on between us has to be put aside—for the band.
“Holy shit, Dad,” Caleb mutters. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
“Because you would’ve freaked out,” Hux says with a smirk.
Caleb nods, and for the first time, I see real nerves on his face.
This matters to him.
A lot.
Dad walks back in with Rob right behind him, and even though I’ve known Rob my entire life, I straighten up automatically, standing a little taller.
“Hey, guys,” Rob says easily. “Has Colt told you why I’m here?”
We all nod.
“He has,” Caleb answers smoothly. “Mr. Luxley.”
Rob chuckles. “Relax. Call me Rob. Just think of me as a friend sitting in on rehearsal. I want you to play how you usually would. Don’t overthink why I’m here.
Just play, then afterward we’ll talk.” We all nod again.
“Okay, I’m just going to step outside and make a quick call, then I’ll come back in, and you guys can start.
Sound good?” He leaves, and the weight of what’s about to happen crashes down on me.
This could change everything.
Caleb claps his hands. “Okay guys, group huddle.” We all gather, arms around each other.
“This could literally be it for us,” he says.
“So whatever nerves you’ve got, whatever bullshit is happening outside this room, leave it there because this is huge.
If we nail this, we could have an album on shelves in a few months. So bring it. Everything you’ve got.”
We all nod, grinning now.
“Chad, I want your bass kicks harder tonight. Make those drums hit like a fucking heartbeat.”
“Got it.”
“Annie and Ella, you already know your parts, so trust yourselves and just let it rip. Ella, if you lose your place without the music sheets, fake it and keep moving, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” Ella says nervously. “I’ve been practicing without the sheets for weeks now, so hopefully I’ll be okay.”
I can hear the nerves shaking her voice.
“You will be.”
Then I look over at Aston and smirk. “Fat beats tonight, yeah?”
“Hell yeah,” he replies.
“And you, Caleb,” I say, looking at him, “… sing like you’re singing to Indi.”
He swallows, then nods. “Yeah… good call, Annie.”
I smirk. Knew it.
“We good? Everyone remember the song order?” he asks. We all nod. “Then let’s do this.”
“Don’t worry, cuz,” I say, gripping my guitar. “We will totally rock this shit.”
They all laugh, and just like that… we’re ready.
“Yeah, we will. We’re gonna rock his socks off!
” Chad says, and we all laugh because Chad is weird and will only play the drums in his favorite crusty, holey old socks, with no shoes on.
It’s one of his things. For some reason, he swears he plays better that way, and honestly, maybe he does.
I can’t explain it, but whatever works is fine by me, as long as those disgusting things stay far away from me. They stink.
“Okay, guys, hands in,” Caleb says, and we all throw our right hands into the middle. It’s our thing, the little ritual we do before we play, the one that always gets us fired up.
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 shout the last word together and throw our fists into the air.
The whole room laughs, but we don’t care. It brings us together, settles our nerves, reminds us who we are. Caleb and I wrote it years ago, and we’ve done it ever since.
We break apart and move to our positions.
Dad comes over to me, smiling.
“Thanks for this, Dad. I know you organized it.”
“I might have given him your demo,” he says. “But you made the music. This is your hard work paying off.” Then he fixes me with a look. “Just one thing.”
I roll my eyes, already bracing for whatever lecture is coming. “Go on, then.”
“Play what you’re supposed to play. Don’t disappear off into one of your little tangents and throw everyone else out. Especially your sister.”
I nod, even though I’m already over it. “Sure, Dad.” The flatness in my voice says exactly how boring I find the warning. This is my band, not his. He needs to trust me to do my thing.
He just smiles. “Good girl. Now go kill it.” He leans in and kisses my forehead, and I swat at him immediately, trying to shove him away before Rob comes back in and sees it. Dad only laughs and heads over to the desk to sit down.
As I tune my guitar, I can feel Aston watching me. I glance over and smile, letting him know I’m all in, that whatever weirdness is still hanging between us gets put aside right now.
He smiles back, and instantly, my knees go weak. The sight of those white teeth, those stupidly gorgeous lips, sends a flutter through my chest that I absolutely do not need right now. I look away before I do something insane, like run over and launch myself at him.
At this point, I’m so keyed up I probably would.
So I grip my guitar instead and force myself to focus.
Rob walks back in and claps his hands together, drawing all eyes to him. “Right, Staked,” he says. “Let’s hear you rock this shit.”
A grin spreads across my face before I can stop it.
Energy is already surging through me, hot and electric, and knowing this performance could change everything only makes it stronger.
I can feel it pulsing in my veins, filling every part of me, as if music itself is alive inside my body, fighting to get out.
I glance down at my hand on the neck of the guitar and swear I can feel every beat of my pulse in my fingertips.
Music has always lived inside me.
It runs through my veins, pumps through my heart, fills every space with something bigger than myself. It’s the one thing that has never let me down, the one thing that has always made sense, no matter how messy everything else gets.
Music is life.
It’s hope.
It’s love.
It’s the thing that makes me feel most alive.
And right now, standing here with my family, my friends, my band, and the future hanging in the air in front of us…
Life has never felt more real.