Rum and Coke

Ellie jumped up and began doing scales. The guys, as well as Kay and Val, were utterly amazed. Sure, they had listened to her sing for the past week, but they were still in awe of how such a powerful voice could exist. She finished off her very last “doe” and looked excitedly over at Ryan. He rolled his eyes and held up his hand like he was holding a remote.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the wonderful stylings of Ellie Marie Patterson. Click,” he said in a bored tone.

“I'm waitin' on the sun to set cause yesterday ain’t over yet
I started smoking cigarettes there's nothing else to do I guess
Dusty roads aint made for walking, spinning tires ain’t made for stoppin'
I'm giving up on love cause love's given up on me

I gave it everything I had and everything I got was bad
Life aint hard but it's too long to live it like some country song
Trade the truth in for a lie, cheating really aint a-”

“Click.”

“-and that's what you get for falling again;
you can never get him out of your head.

it's the way that he makes you feel.
it's the way that he kisses you.
it's the way that he makes you fall in love.”

Brian leaned over to Mark. “What the fuck is going on?” He asked in a whisper.

“It’s the game click. One of Ellie’s vocal coaches told her to do it for warm up once and it just stuck.”

“Ok…why?”

“It makes her think on her feet. As you can see, whenever Ryan says the word click she has to immediately stop what she was singing, pick up a new song and sing it her way. With the new song, she can start anywhere she wants. The songs are supposed to get a little harder. When Ellie sings Astonishing, the game is over and she’s ready to take the stage.”

“Oh, I think I got it.”

“Yea, there are other commands, but they're pretty self-explanatory. Just watch, it’ll get entertaining in a little bit.”

I smiled as she started jumping around.

“If you just realize what I just realized,
Then we'd be perfect for each other
And will never find another
Just realize what I just realized
We'd never have to wonder if
We missed out on each other now”

“Click.”

“It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm taking
I ain't never gonna shut you out!

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away”

“Click.”

“I'm desperate for changing
Starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started-

“Julie Andrews.”

The guys looked over to Mark in confusion.

“You heard him, Ellie, pick a song in your register.”

Ellie sighed. "I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come”

Bailey’s eyes lit up as she jumped up and joined in.

“Well I believe it all is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,” she sung.

Ellie laughed a little before continuing her singing alongside her friend. “Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

And I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come”

“Ry, let them sing this one out,” Mark said.

Ryan nodded and sat back in the couch.

“These memories keep playing like a film without sound

Oooh, you’re my best friend

let’s see how far we’ve come

“As we go on(and as we go on)
We remember(always remember)
All the times we (Oh, All the times, all the times we had together)
Had together
And as our lives change(Oh, they’re gonna change)
Come Whatever(Come whatever!)
We will still be(still be, oh, we’ll still be)friends forever

Smiling, Bailey returned to her seat.

“What the hell was that?” Brian asked.

“Senior. Act 2, scene 5.” Ellie said with an ear-splitting grin.

“Ok, let’s wrap this up.” Ryan said, ending all conversation.

“Here I go
And there's no turning back
My great adventure has begun
I may be small
But I've got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun

I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless,
Surrendering modesty and grace
I will not disappear without a trace
I'll shout and start a riot
Be anything but quiet
Christopher Columbus
I'll be Astonishing
Astonishing
Astonishing

At Last”

“Alright, let’s go!” Ellie cheered as she grabbed her guitar and ran out to the stage. Wearing identical smiles, her band mates followed her.

“Dad, maybe you should warm up like that sometime. It looks like fun!” Kay said, looking at her father.

Matt smiled at his daughter and ruffled her hair. “Maybe some other time. And Ellie has to tell me the rules before I even try it.” He looked over at Brian. "You okay, Gates?"

Brian shook his head. "I'm fine. I was just trying to figure out where she pulled that set of lungs out from. That is nothing like how she sounded in the studio."

Matt shrugged.

"Who knows. Maybe the songs that they were recording didn't need that kind of range. I think she's saving her true talents for the really personal songs." Val voiced.

"Yea, but I still want to know who she got her voice from. It's incredible, and no offense, but Danni sounded like shit when she sang." Zacky said from his spot on the recliner.

Brian nodded. "None taken. Danni told me herself that she knew that she was shit, but she would keep on singing because, and I quote, she fucking wanted to." Brian laughed at the memory. "God, she's great."

"Danni or Ellie?" Johnny asked, his eyebrows raised.

Brian blinked. "Ellie, of course. I'm proud of her. I can see her getting very far...that's if she keeps her anger at bay."

Everyone laughed and agreed to get out of the room and watch the younger band perform.