The Only Girl in the Band

The Only Girl in the Band...[Part 5]

"Wow, you're a fast learner," he commented when I sang it for him. Liam and Camron had left already. Ian never showed up. So it was just me and Caleb. "How about taking a break?" he suggested.

"Gosh, that sounds awesome right now," I said, tired from all the singing.

"Let's go for a walk," he said. I nodded in agreement. We walked out into Caleb's neighborhood, which looked like a typical Beverly Hills neighborhood with large homes and overly manicured green lawns. It was dark out already. The days were short and the nights were long now that it was autumn.

"It's only my first day and this seems like a lot of work," I said, to start a conversation.

"Yeah, and we've been at this for almost 4 years now," Caleb said. He pulled the hood to his navy blue hoodie up over his crazy brown hair.

"That must be frustrating. Waiting for so long to get discovered and then finally getting the chance, only to have it taken away from you again," I said. "I guess I understand now what the big deal about this is. You guys are serious about this."

"Making it big is our dream. It's every band's dream. We love making music and we want to share our talent with the world. And the only way we can do that is by getting a record deal to help us make our music," Caleb told me.

"Do you guys have a Youtube account?" I asked. He nodded.

"We did. Then Ian shut it down because we never uploaded any videos," he replied. I pursed my lips.

"Well open it up again. I think we should make videos of us practicing. I love watching videos of my favorite bands goofing around while making music. And those videos tend to be the popular ones," I said. "And even if we do get a record deal, the only way to make it big is to get popular. The internet, Youtube, is perfect for that. Right now you guys are local. We need to spread the word about the band," I said. He laughed.

"Look at you; so full of good ideas," he said, smiling down at me, his blue eyes twinkling. I felt my cheeks go a little red.

"I feel like I owe it to you. I don't think I've been very enthusiastic about this. For me, it's just an opportunity to sing. But for you guys it's so much more," I said after a moment.

"An opportunity to sing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. We had walked up to a Starbucks. He held open the door for me and we walked inside.

"Well, after I auditioned, I fainted. I don't know if the guys told you or not. I have terrible stage fright. I just though I'd be auditioning for a small, local band. But you guys keep saying how you want to go big. I don't know if I can handle performing in front of large crowds," I explained. We ordered some coffee and waited while they made our drinks.

"Well, obviously we'd start out slow. We're not going to get a crowd of over a thousand people overnight. So you'll have time to practice," he told me. I still felt unsure. They gave us our drinks and we sat down at a table next to the window.

"I don't know; it's a lot. And I feel like you guys are moving really fast," I said.

"Well, yeah. You would feel like that. You jumped in while we're at the end of our process. Being together for 4 years, we've been moving pretty slow. And this is still slow for us," he said.

"I guess you're right," I agreed, sighing and swirling my coffee in its cup. When I looked up, Caleb was smiling at me. "What?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Did I have something on my face? The whipped cream from the coffee?

"Nothing; it's just..." he paused, still smiling. "You remind me of my girlfriend," he told me. I let out an awkward laugh.

"What?" I asked again.

"My girlfriend. You even look like her. Except her hair is a little lighter than yours. Her name's Emma," he told me.

"How do I remind you of her?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, you look like her, like I said. For another, she was always unsure of herself, too. She's a great writer. She writes stories and poems all the time and has me read them for her. Given, they're a little girly for me, but they're really awesome. Sometimes, she lets us use her poems and incorporate them into our songs. I told her to find a publisher and try to get published, but she doesn't think she's good enough," he explained. He took a sip of his coffee.

"How does that make her like me, though?" I questioned.

"Because you don't think you can sing in front of a lot of people. But you sang in front of that crowd in TFP when you auditioned. That means you have it in you," he answered.

"Yeah, but that was different. I really only auditioned because my friend was angry at me for being such a wuss," I told him. "So I had, like, a driving force or something," I added.

"So your love of singing isn't good enough? That seems like a pretty big motivation factor to me," he said.

"Why are you asking me this?" I asked him.

"Because I can see that you have a lot of potential. And maybe it's because I miss my girlfriend and I want to take you under my wing like I did for her," he replied. I smiled a little.

"What do you mean you miss her?" I asked after a few moments.

"She's in France right now. She's studying abroad," he answered.

"That's awesome. Is she a junior, too?" I asked. He nodded.

"She's studying abroad for a year. She said she'd fly back for the winter holidays, but now she's not sure. She said she wants to experience Christmas in France," he told me.

"Do you guys talk everyday?" I asked. He shook his head.

"At first we used to. But it's been 3 months now. There's only so much to talk about. So now we talk or Skype three times a week," he answered.

"Well, thank God for Skype, then, right? At least you get to see her face," I said. He shrugged.

"It's different talking to someone in person, though," he said.

"Good point," I agreed, nodding. A silence fell over us as we sipped our coffee and were lost in our own thoughts. I checked my phone. "I should probably get going. I still have some homework to do for tomorrow," I said, breaking the silence. He blinked.

"Oh, right. I forgot it's a school night," he said, checking his phone, too. We got up, threw our cups away, and walked back to his house. I grabbed my things and he walked me outside. I turned before I walked out to my car.

"It was nice talking to you, Caleb. I mean it," I said. He smiled.

"It was nice talking to you, too. It's nice to talk to a girl. The boys are only so helpful," he told me.

"Well, glad I can be of service," I said. He laughed.

"Good night, Vanessa," he told me.

"Good night," I replied, waving my hand and getting into my car. I drove home with a small smile on my face. Maybe this band idea wasn't so bad, after all.

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Songs used:

"I'm Not One for Complaining, but..." -The Best Week Ever