It's been tough since Peter left the band. Everybody was stressed out about who's gonna replace him. We held about ten auditions, each one in a different city. A lot of them were horrible in my opinion. Some of them were okay but didn't fit in the band. After the fifth they were going crazy.
'I can't believe noone is good enough.' Ace stormed into his room where I've been taking a nap. 'Sorry.' He looked at me. 'Did I wake you?' He sat down on the edge of the bed.
'Nah.' I shook my head. 'Have you found the one?' I asked rubbing the sleepiness away from my eyes.
'No. Not yet, and the guys are so nervous. Especially Bill.' He sighed.
'You'll find it. Believe me. He will walk through that door one day.' I patted his shoulder as a reassurance.
'Thanks Babe.' He smiled.
After this we left the room to make something to eat. But he couldn't, so instead he pulled out a can of beer.
'Do you have another audition today?' I asked cutting slices of ham.
'I don't know. And right now I don't care.' He shrugged and I could understand.
It wasn't easy to find someone to fill in Peter's place. I loved him regardless of his behaviour in the past two years. Well some of his actions I didn't fully approved nor did I understand. But it already happened and all they could do was finding a new member.
The last day of the auditions came by faster than expected. We were in the studio, when Bill came in with an orange letter.
'Here. Read it.' He dropped it onto the table in front of the guys. Paul read it out loud. The guy's name was also Paul.
'Is he here?' Gene asked rubbing his chin.
'Yeah.' Bill said and with that he disappeared and a few minutes later a - compared to the boys - short guy came in with a cassette tape in one hand.
He had short but fluffy hair and an uptight smile on. He looked a little terrified at first.
'Hello.' He waived shyly.
'Hi!' We greeted him as I got up from my chair and walked over to him. 'I'm Babe.' I smiled. 'This is Paul, Gene and Ace. The members.' I pointed at them in order. 'Nice to meet ya.' I smiled even bigger.
'Nice to meet you too.' He said fidgeting with the cassette in his hands.
'Don't be nervous.' I whispered as we approached the others.
They shook hands and asked for his name.
'My name is Paul Caravello. I'm here for the part of the drums.' He said.
I was in awe anytime I looked at him or heard him talk which Ace didn't like that much.
'Okay. Show us what you got.' Gene said crossing his arms.
The new guy put the cassette down and walked behind the drums.
'What's on this?' I asked holding up curiously the item.
'What does it matter?' Ace said in a harsh tone.
'Don't bite my head off. I just asked something.' I rolled my eyes dropping the item back on the table.
'Shut it, you two!' Paul looked at us, his eyes filled with angry sparks.
I let out a faint 'Sorry.'
Now everyone was focused on the entrant guy. He began slowly and after half a minute he killed that drumset. I couldn't believe my ears. He was a professional. If I wasn't there I wouldn't have believed it.
He hit the pieces if it was the easiest thing to do in the world. Even the boys were impressed. You could read it on their faces. Their jaws dropped. Paul was that awesome. But then he stopped. I was still in awe and clapped hard which made him blush a little.
'Shut it.' Ace held my hand and put them down in my lap. I rolled my eyes as I did earlier.
'So, what do you think?' He walked toward us.
'It was very impressive.' Paul said.
'But we will announce the chosen one tomorrow.' Gene added and that put a little sadness into that beautiful smile of his.
'O-okay.' He said. 'And also -' He trotted out a piece of paper. 'can I ask you to sign this paper for me?' He smiled, hope in his eyes.
The boys nodded and gave him their autographs. He thanked it and left the room.
'We should listen to this.' I grabbed it again and didn't stop until I found a tape player.
I placed the cassette into it and pushed the play button. It didn't take too much for me to realise that he was singing Shandi. His voice was dreamy. It was unique.
'I think he's the one.' I said taking out the tape.
'She's not wrong.' Gene said standing up. 'But we need to talk to Bill first.' He continued and walked out.
I sighed. I really wanted Paul to be the band's new drummer. He was the best, and I've listened to a lot of guys in the past one and a half week. He has the style, he's a great drummer and his hair is so fluffy looking. He fit into the band.
Later that day after I finished in the shower I went into Ace's room as usually.
'Sorry about earlier.' He sat on the bed, leaning against the back-rest.
'It's okay.' I closed the door.
'No, it isn't. You were right. He has a lot on the ball. And I think we're hiring him.' He said, almost whispered.
'You do?' I asked a little bit too excited. 'I mean, that's cool. He deserves the place.' I put myself under the covers.
'I know you like him.' He said in a low voice.
'You're imagining things.' I huffed. 'Goodnight Ace.' I covered myself with the blanket.
'Yeah..' Was all he said.
The next day Bill called Paul to tell him the news. And now we were waiting for him to arrive. The band didn't have too much time as they had a concert in New York a few days later. The deadline was close and they had to find a stage persona for him. Also he had to change his name because we already had a Paul.
'Hi guys.' He entered the studio.
'Thank you so much for choosing me from all those people. It means a lot.' He ranted.
'It's okay. Actually you are the one giving us a huge favour.' Bill said. 'But there are some things we need to talk about. Like that you need a persona and make-up. Also you have to choose a new name, like I said on the phone yesterday.' Bill continued.
Paul nodded his head. 'I already thought of a name.'
'Which is?' Gene asked.
'Rusty Blades.' He said proudly and I giggled. It sounded adorable coming from his mouth. 'But I don't have any idea about the make-up concept.' He sounded a little disappointed.
'Don't worry, we'll help you.' I said and he smiled.
Even though Gene and I didn't talk that much with each other, we were the ones who tried to come up with different ideas. We both agreed on The Hawk make-up concept, and they ordered a costume for it. It arrived two days later and they went to try it on. But it didn't earned their love so they dropped the idea. Meanwhile Paul came up with a new stage name - Eric Carr. He said his girlfriend choose it for him, and like Ace did with my last name, Paul did the same with his. From now on everyone called him Eric.
'Hey, Babe.' He waived at me. 'Come here I have to show you something.' He continued doodling on a piece of paper.
I came over and sat down next to him.
'What do you think of it?' He asked excited.
'It looks like a fox.' I twirled a curl of my hair. 'It's amazing.' I turned to him smiling ear to eat. 'You should show the guys.' I said and he did as told. He walked up to the boys and they approved of the idea.
'We have a show to attend lady and gentlemen.' Bill entered the room unannounced. He always did that. Showed up out of nowhere.
'What show?' Paul asked.
'Kids Are People Too! That way we can introduce Eric to the fans.' He handed Paul some papers.
The programme for the next days was to finish up Eric's costume and make-up design. He looked hella cute in it to be honest. The Palladium concert's day came and it was Eric's first time. Within a month we went to Europe and started the Unmasked tour.