Stay Still

A little while later Matt, Eric, Mike and I went over to Mike’s to meet Beau. I wasn’t going to go, but the guys had insisted since they wanted me to be their band manager. How I was going to do that, with everything else I had going on, I didn’t know, but I went anyway. Besides I was a little curious about this Beau. He was from California and had just recently broken up with his girlfriend. Apparently they had been together for a long time and he was pretty upset about it. I wanted to make sure that wasn’t going to affect his music. There were enough songs about heartbreak out there. We wanted something new, something fresh.

“What if this guy isn’t as good as you say he is?” Matt asked suddenly as we walked through the woods separating Mike’s house from my street.

“Would you guys stop worrying? He’s amazing.” Mike said. “God, you act like I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“It’s not that we don’t think you know what your doing, we just don’t know if he’s gonna be exactly what we’re looking for.” Eric said, trying to make Mike feel better.

"Yeah, and we don't want to get our hopes up." Matt added.

“I still don’t think we should be doing this without Jared.” I said.

“Hey, he said it was fine, and that he would just meet him when he got back.” Mike said defensively.

“I know, I know.” I still thought Jared should be there. He was the oldest and we all usually looked to him to make the decisions. Well, him and Matt since Matt was the most mature. It was too late now though, we had reached Mike’s house and Beau was there, waiting on the front porch.

“Well, I guess I can tell Brittany he’s hot.” I whispered, chuckling at Matt and Eric’s expressions. “Now, now boys. No need to be jealous. I have enough to deal with, with the two of you. I don’t need any other men in my life.” I assured them. Eric shook his head at me and smiled. Matt looked down guiltily. Since there was nothing I could do or say about that I let it go.

Mike went up the front steps and hugged Beau all gay like. Turning to us he said, “This is Matt, Eric, and Rachel. Jared is on his honeymoon so he can’t be here but he’ll be back in a few days. Rachel is our manager, Matt is on drums and Eric is guitar like me. Jared will be doing the screams and bass.” He explained in detail. When Mike got really excited about something he tended to ramble.

“It’s nice to meet you guys.” Beau said, grinning.

“So can you sing or what?” I asked.

He laughed, “I think I’ll leave that up to you.” he answered. I liked his smile. Mentally shaking myself, I turned my attention to something else.

“Well, lets get practicing then shall we?” I turned and walked to the garage where the guys usually rehearsed. The guys followed and all took their places. Beau picked up the microphone and swung it around a few times.

“What songs do you know?” Eric asked him.

“All of them.” he answered.

“Alright then, lets start at the top and work our way down.” Matt said and started playing. They started with Rise Up and went from there, leaving blank spots where the screaming would be. I had to sit down after the first verse. He was amazing just like Mike had said. The only other person I could think of that had vocals like that was Craig and that was really saying something. They went through a few more songs and then stopped. Eric and Matt were both staring at Beau, mouths hanging open.

“I told you.” Mike said smugly.

“Was that okay?” Beau asked, looking around at all of us. He looked at me last and stopped there.

I nodded slowly. “You’re great.” I told him sincerely.

“Does that mean I’m in?” he asked excitedly.

“Well, we all have to talk about it and Jared should really meet you before we make anything official but I’m pretty sure it won’t be bad news.” Matt answered him and we all agreed.

“Okay great. Well I guess I’ll head back to the hotel now. Thanks for listening guys.” he said and started to leave.

“Wait!” I said. “You’re staying at a hotel?”

“Yeah, the Motel 6 out on the highway.” He stood there looking at me questioningly.

“Ugh, that place is a dump. You should come stay with one of us.”

“Really? None of your parents would mind?” he asked.

“Oh. Well. You could stay with me. My parents aren’t there.” I suggested. Matt and Eric each grabbed me by the arm and dragged me outside.

“What do you mean, he can stay with you?!” Eric demanded.

“Yeah, you don’t even know him. He could be some psycho killer or rapist or something.” Matt added. Great, they were agreeing now.

“Guys, please. He needs a place to stay and I have an extra room and no parents. Nothing is going to happen to me. Besides Eric, I want you to stay with me anyway.” I grinned at him. Matt made a face and looked away. “Matt, if it’ll make you feel better you can have my couch.” I told him.

He looked back to me. “Really?” I nodded. “Alright, it would make me feel better.”

“Okay then. It’s settled. I’ll go tell Beau to go get his stuff.” I said and walked away.