Catastrophic Happenings

Azalea was overcome with joy when Rick called her back down to the basement to share the good news. She went around and hugged each and every band member in thanks, even managing to snake her arms around Cade.

Rick, with Azalea’s help, managed to convince Mrs. Under to allow them to use her basement to practice. This was under the conditions that practice did not extend past nine o’clock and this arrangement was temporary. After hearing the good news, the band agreed to meet there at three the next day. Both parties needed to have separate discussions first: Azalea with her mom, and the four men with each other.

They drove back to Austin’s house, and gathered around the kitchen table. They had picked up pizza on their way back and the four were starving.

“So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? Is it a meeting? Is it practice?” Austin asked as he set down four cans of soda on the table.

“A little bit of both,” Rick replied after grabbing a slice of cheese pizza. “I think we first should get to know each other, and how we’ll work together as a band. Since she is still in school, you know. And then hopefully just work on our sound.”

“Sammy, chew.” Austin said once he saw that he was trying to speak with his mouth full.

Sammy rolled his eyes but listened. “How is this going to work out, with her being in school and everything?”

Rick nodded, “I thought about that. I told Azalea that that was one of the things that she had to discuss with her mom before tomorrow.”

While Sammy nodded at his response, he noticed that his best friend hadn’t said a single word. “You’re very quiet,” he told Cade.

For the entire conversation, Cade had appeared to be very concentrated on how he was chewing his pizza.

“Not in the mood to chat,” he replied.

The three understood and went on talking about Azalea and the band as Cade sat there in silence. Even though Cade knew that Azalea could really add to the band, he couldn’t help but hate her. It was all that he could feel for the girl as he thought about what she had just taken from him.


Azalea was already there when Austin, Sammy, Cade, and Rick arrived at Mrs. Under’s. She was in the kitchen helping her frost cup cakes.

The five of them proceeded down the stairs of the basement, Azalea in the front.

“What did your mom say?” Rick asked when they had reached the bottom.

“Well, she’s pretty excited that I’m in a band,” Azalea said with a grin. “But she’s concerned about how this will affect my school. She’s totally fine with it for summer, but she’s worried about me doing this during the school year. And you guys haven’t really told me how much you guys practice or how much we’ll be touring, when, or if we even will be. She definitely wants more details.”

Rick nodded and thoroughly thought about his answers before he replied. “Well, we generally practice four days a week. More if we have a gig coming up. And touring depends on how much we’ve progressed, and if it can even be set up. But we personally haven’t toured for more than a couple months at a time. And this is just every so often.”

“And you’re forgetting that we don’t even have a label,” Austin added.

Azalea slowly nodded. “But I can’t take a couple months off from school ‘every so often.’”

“This band is our full time job,” Cade began speaking. “We aren’t in college, and all of us except Rick still live with our parents. If you’re gonna be a part of it we have to have your full commitment.”

“I know,” Azalea agreed. “But you have to understand that my mom isn’t going to let me throw away my high school diploma for something that isn’t a sure thing. I mean, sure, I could always get my GED, but both my mom and I would rather see me graduate from high school. It’s my last year.”

“This can’t just be a hobby for you,” Austin replied. “If making it big isn’t your dream. If this is not the career that you want in life, say so now so that you don’t waste our time.”

Rick jumped in, “Austin’s completely right. I know that it’s a big sacrifice now. You probably planned on going to college, maybe even graduate school. But if you are not completely passionate about being a musician, if this is not your dream, you can back out now. I’ll understand.”

Azalea placed her hands on her head, “This is a lot to think about.”

“When you auditioned you probably just thought it’d be cool to be in a band, didn’t you?” asked Cade smartly.

She nodded, “I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t think about the seriousness of all of this.” She looked at all of them, “Did you guys all graduate?”

“Yep. We didn’t get signed until last summer, so Cade and I graduated before we started touring. Austin graduated the year before and stopped going to community college. And Rick actually graduated from college with some fancy degree,” Sam relayed.

“A major in business and a minor in music management studies.”

“How did you all meet?” The tone in the room became more relaxed as the conversation became more casual. Azalea allowed herself to forget about the situation she was facing.

“Sammy and I have been friends since before high school.”

“Cade and I wanted to start a band our junior year,” Sammy added.

“And that’s how they met me,” Austin continued. “They heard that I play bass.”

“And Jason?”

The gap between the question and the response wasn’t too long, but definitely noticeable. Azalea noticed that all eyes quickly glanced at Austin. Who, to her surprise, actually answered the question.

“He was my friend. He went to a different high school and was a couple of years older than me. But I got to know him through mutual friends my sophomore year.”

Azalea tilted her head to the side as she scrutinized Austin’s tone of voice as well as the appearance on his face.

“Austin and Jason were pretty close,” Rick added.

Azalea nodded, but that hardly answered why so much tension arose when she brought up Jason’s name. However, she knew that was a topic for another time.

“And how did Rick get thrown into this picture?” she asked instead. “Ah, lemme guess. He heard you guys playing outside of someone’s house and creeped outside your window?”

Rick glared at her.

“What?!” Cade exclaimed. “This is how you met her?”

Rick shook his head and groaned, “She’s over exaggerating.”

“Tell the story! Tell the story!” Sammy demanded.

Azalea told them how she first met Rick in precise detail, much to his chagrin.

All three boys were doubled over in laughter.

“I think that might be considered pedophilia,” Austin spoke. “With her being underage and everything.”

Cade and Sammy’s round of laughter was renewed.

“Very funny,” Rick replied dryly.

When the room quieted down again, Cade asked coolly, “And what about you? Tell us about yourself.”

“Alright” Azalea said. “Fair is fair. What do you want to know?”

“Where do you go to school?” Sammy asked.

“Grace Hill Academy.”

All three boys’ eyebrows rose.

“What?” Azalea asked.

“Nothing,” Cade responded.

“Good,” she agreed. Though she could clearly see the judgment in their eyes. It was normal for kids to get strange looks when they told other kids their age that they went to private school. However, the strange looks quickly became full on judgment when Azalea told others that she went to Grace Hill.

Although it wasn’t too out of the ordinary to hear about kids that attended private school, most of them being Catholic, Grace Hill was in a completely different league. It was the classic, rich, college preparatory school. The tuition there was at the same caliber of most private colleges, so the only kids there either had parents with deep pockets or were highly intelligent with a hefty financial aid package.

For the next hour the group just got to know each other. They shared their favorite bands, activities they liked to do, and even a few secrets. Rick breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they got along well, even Cade managed to relax and go along with the conversation.

“Come on, it’s time to actually practice,” Rick announced.

Now, all he hoped was that their harmony as friends translated to their music.