The Rockstar Chronicles

The Fifth Bandmate

I knew when I saw him. The second he walked through the door, my stomach dropped. It wasn’t that I disliked him. It was the shock of seeing him there. A piece of our old lives suddenly there with us, like a ghost long buried.

My head snapped around to stare at Mom. I wanted to see what her reaction would be. I noticed Grady swallow hard, acting as if he didn’t care. But I saw him peeking at Mom, too.

“Tom?” Mom asked, her lips frozen in a tight smile. “Are you…?” She turned puzzled eyes to Mr. Kane and he smiled at her. It looked like a nice, jovial, genuine smile everywhere but his eyes.

“Yes, well, Tom is going to be our last member of the band. It looks like you already know each other, but boys,” he turned to the other three, “I’d like you to meet your fifth and final bandmate. This is Tom Dawson.” He clapped his hand on Tom’s shoulder and Tom winced.

Bridge grinned at Tom, waving hello before turning back to his guitar. Ryder hesitated, wiping his hand on his pants before shaking Tom’s hand while Hardyn nodded at him.

I felt sorry for Tom. It must have been hard for him, walking into the room mid-rehearsal. It was late afternoon and the boys had been in the middle of a fifteen minute break after choreography when Tom had walked in. The huge room with the long windows overlooking Nashville seemed suddenly very small. I sensed Tom’s shyness and I felt for him.

Tom Dawson was around Grady’s age. He had always been Grady’s biggest competition when it came to music as he was considered gifted in that area. He had an ear for it and once his voice changed, he started winning everything. He had an unnaturally deep voice that didn’t quite match his long and skinny frame. Dark hair worn shaggy helped hide Tom from the world when he ducked his head, like he was doing now.

“Hey, Tom,” Grady said, smiling at him and walking up to shake his hand. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’m sorry,” Mom said. She seemed a bit dazed and she grasped the back of a nearby chair for support. “How… What… How did you come to be here, Tom?”

“Umm,” Tom mumbled, brushing his hair back. He looked up at my Mom, his gaze worried and a bit timid. “I guess Mr. Kane saw one of my videos and he asked me to be a part of this new band.” He refocused his gaze on his worn sneakers.

Pity stabbed my heart. He shouldn’t be here, I thought desperately. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to have a chance. It was that Tom was too nice for this business. He just was.

I watched Mom open and shut her mouth, her face turning red. Mr. Kane sighed. “Maybe we should call it a day.”

“I would like to talk to you,” Mom finally spit out and Mr. Kane nodded, holding the door for her as they left the room.

“Me, too,” Hardyn’s Uncle Grant called after them and he hurried from the room.

“Hey, Tom,” I said, waving at him as the door swung shut behind the adults.

He brightened, smiling at me. “Hey, Lindy.”

“How’s your family?” It was painfully obvious that everyone in the room was eavesdropping on our conversation, but Tom didn’t mind.

“They’re good.” Tom’s family was extremely poor. He lived with his grandmother while his father traveled for work. His mother had left long ago, leaving Tom and several younger brothers and sisters behind. Music, I believed, was his escape.

He sidled over to me, lowering his voice. “Granny’s been sick. She didn’t want me to come, but we need the money.” He was honest by nature and had always gotten along well with both Grady and me. We saw him outside school and made a point to be friendly to him. It was something that had been drilled into us by our father and something Mom never noticed.

“Um, Tom?” Grady joined us, glancing nervously at the door. “That’s why I put you up for this, but,” he raised one hand to stop Tom’s thanks, “don’t tell anyone.”

“What?” Tom asked, confused. “But why not?”

“Well, Mom…,” Grady began.

“Oh,” Tom nodded. “I understand. I won’t tell a soul.”

“Good,” Grady nodded. I glanced at Ryder, who quickly looked away. I wondered if he had heard them, but I pretended I hadn’t noticed.

“That storm sure did a lot of damage,” Bridge said from his spot by the windows. He stared out over Nashville with his hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans. Tom joined him, looking out over the same scene with a much different reaction. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide as he gazed before him in wonder. Bridge’s relaxed nature was even more apparent next to Tom’s nervous posture.

“You did it?” I murmured to Grady and he nodded.

“I heard his Granny doesn’t have much longer. I feel,” Grady shrugged, “uncomfortable. Honestly, Lindy, he’s so much better than me. He deserves it.”

“I don’t know,” I said, carefully avoiding his eyes. “Sometimes you can be pretty great.” I walked away without looking at him, but I think I heard me.

I hope he did anyway.