FicWad

Chapter 10



It was time for the band to record their first single. They'd all been counting down the days, so looking forward to recording it. They'd had to take a day off school. They had taken so much time off recently, and I had begun to worry about how they were going to pass the final exams, which were so close. However, sitting in the recording studio as they recorded their first single Irealized I had no reason to worry about that at all. As I watched them it became clear that this was what they were going to do, it was what they were good at. And unless one day they changed their mind, this would be their career.

They had all been so excited to have this experience, doing this would really make them feel like a proper band, getting their music out to the world. They had spent a lot of time discussing which song would be best to release first with Adam and in the end they had decided on one called /Fading Memories/. It was one of their first songs they'd written, they had gotten help to fine tune it and now it sounded amazing. It was, coincidentally, my favourite song out of all of them. Besides the song Quinn had written for me, of course, and Quinn had told me they were going to ask to put it on the album as a bonus track.

Adam picked me up from school at lunch, because I didn't want to miss out on too much of the recording experience. He took me to the recording studio, where they would later record their album if the single sold well. If the single wasn't received well by the public on the radio and digital downloads they would probably pull the album. On the other hand, if it did well then they would make a music video to go along with it and release the single for sale and then record their album. I was hopeful in the song being received well, but it was hard to tell what the public would feel about it, with so much other music being released all the time.

I was really interested in the process of recording, it wasn't just they all played and then it was done. It was a long process. They recorded everything separately and then after they checked that it sounded alright they would lay all the tracks together and fine tune them so they sounded really good together.

After the end of a long day they had finished and the final product was ready to be listened to. I had watched the record producer, Simon, closely over the day and he never brought up anything that wasn't to do with recording the single and album. I was pleased about that, and he was nothing but kind to me and the band. I was still weary of him though, I felt like he would try and bring it up, at some stage throughout the day.

"Are you guys ready to hear your first single, then?" Simon asked.

They nodded and everyone sat in silence listening to the song. I listened too, but Iwas more interested in watching their faces as the song played. As he pressed play their expressions were nervous and anxious, but I could tell as the song started they were all really impressed with what they were hearing. The song finished and everyone clapped.

"Wow, I love what you've done with it, it sounds so good!" Blake said enthusiastically.

"So you all like it?" Simon asked. He also looked happy with the final product.

"It's amazing. Better than I was expecting," Aaron said, his eyes glistening with excitement.

"Good, same here. It'll be sent to a few radio stations tomorrow. It will take them afew days before they start playing it. Then I'll get back to you in a weeks time and tell you how it's going and if you guys should start recording your album," he continued smiling, noticing how happy they were with the single and the thought of recording their album.

We all walked out of the studio, buzzing. We went back home and had a couple of drinks. Quinn said he didn't feel like drinking, and he went out to go and get some cigarettes from Sam. I still hadn't called my parents since I moved out. Iknew how angry they were at me for leaving like that, but I was seventeen now. We'd all gone into town and got our welfare benefits, it wasn't much but I had my job, and it seemed that the boys would be making money soon from their single. It seemed like we were going to manage fine money-wise, and I was relieved because it was something that I had been stressing about. I had to start making my own decisions in life, do what I felt was best for me. I was planning on going to talk to my parents soon, but right now I was enjoying my freedom, my independence.



"Hey guys! It's on!" Kyle called from the living room, turning the stereo up. We all crowded around and listened, it was sort of strange to hear it playing on the radio, but it was a great feeling too. When the song finished we heard the radio announcer speak.

"That was from a new band, /Your Only Addiction/, and that's their first single,/Fading Memories/. I asked you to call in and tell me what you thought of it. It seems that a lot of you loved it. Katie's called up, Katie what did you think of the song?"

The guys couldn't believe their song was being discussed on one of the biggest radio stations in the state.

"I loved it, and I was wondering if you could tell me when I'll be able to buy it?"

Quinn and Blake shared a high-five.

"I'm not sure yet. But as soon as I find out I'll let you know. Judging by all the phone calls we've gotten over the last three and a half minutes this song is pretty popular and is going to go a long way. So watch out for, Your Only Addiction, in the future, they may just be the next big thing."

Blake turned the dial on the stereo down, "Our song just got played on the radio, I thought this day would never come."

"It's so unreal," Quinn agreed.

That had been one of the best things they could have heard, the feedback had been so positive. People had really liked their music. It looked likely they would be recording their album within a few weeks.

The band weren't expecting to hear back about their single for at least a week, but four days later Quinn got the call from Adam.

"Really, that's great," Quinn said into the phone.

I could tell it was good news. And I guessed it was about the single.

"Yeah, sure. Okay, you can come round now if you like," Quinn said and hung up the phone after saying good bye.

"The single was so well received that they said we can get started recording the album right away. And we need to make a music video for the single as soon as possible," Quinn told Aaron and I excitedly. We had been waiting patiently to hear about the phone call.

"Wow, that's great. So what's happening now?" Aaron asked.

"Adam's coming round now so we can decide when to do everything," Quinn said walking out of the room to tell the other guys.

"I'm quitting school," Blake said an hour later when everyone had sat down to plan out what to do at the kitchen table.

"Me too," said Quinn.

I had been expecting this. He had been falling behind in his work again and Iunderstood that he needed to focus on the band now. Now things were definite and he could afford to let go of his education, although it was still a big risk.

"Are you sure about this?" Adam asked, he always wanted what was best for the guys and I liked the way he handled things like that. It took the pressure off me having to worry about it so much anyway.

"Quinn's been thinking about it for ages," I said, backing him up.

"Well, what about you other guys, are you going to stay at school?" Adam asked looking at Aaron, Kyle and Connor.

They all said they wanted some time to decide, but it was quite obvious that none of them planned on staying for much longer, if at all. So now I would be the only one at school. /Only for a few months/, I reminded myself.

"Okay, well if you guys sort that out and come to a decision by say, Thursday. Then we can decide on when to start recording you're album, because it will depend whether we have to do it after school hours or not. Then, I think we'll record the music video for the single this weekend. Does that suit you all?" Adam said, looking round at everyone.

They all agreed that would be perfect and Adam left.



Connor, Aaron and Kyle had made the decision to leave school. They had signed out and Imissed them being at school already. I understood why they had done it though, it was important for them to focus on the album, and it's what they wanted to do. My worry was that since the band had been signed I had drifted away from the people who I had considered friends at school, not that there were many to begin with. I couldn't blame the guys for leaving school I would have jumped at the chance to leave too. It had been hard enough for me to get used to Quinn not being at school. School had never been my favourite place in the world, but now it was going to be even worse. But if I ever wanted my parents to speak to me again I was going to have to stay at school, just until the end of the year. I had to, for the sake of my future anyway. I didn't have any musical talents to rely on. I was pleased that I still had Lydia, I would have been miserable without her there.

I had to work on the Saturday, so I was disappointed that I would miss out on the first part of the video shoot. It was going to be split into two parts, as alot of music videos were. There was going to be a storyline with actors to go with the song and then there was going to be the other shoot with the band playing on stage in an intimate venue. The second part was being shot on the Sunday, and I was glad that I would be able to be there for that. As soon as Igot home I asked the guys how the filming had gone. They were all impressed by how it had gone so far, they had looked over a lot of the footage and liked it. It had been the perfect day for filming, which had all been done outdoors. It hadn't even been necessary for the band to be there, but they had all wanted to, to be part of as much of it as possible.

We arrived at the small venue on the Sunday and the band set up on stage, they were really excited about doing this shoot. They were all plugged in, so it was going to be just like doing a real show, they were getting about two hundred people from the public to come in and be the audience. I was surprised to see they were all already there when we got there, and they all looked really hyped for it. Twenty minutes later the director yelled action and the band started to play. They did a really good performance, and they all put a lot of energy and effort into it. When Quinn came off the stage he was still buzzing from it. The band would have to perform the song afew more times so they could get different camera angles and make the shots more interesting and it gave the editors more footage to work with. So we hung around for a while and they got everything set up for the next performance. When it was time to play again I noticed that the band had just as much energy as before, it was great to see that. There's no way I could have done that, Iwould have gotten tired during the first verse, but I guess I didn't have quite the same passion and enthusiasm as they did. Also, I knew the crowd were helping with that, they were all really into it. Either they were really good actors, or they really did love the music. I hoped it was because they were enjoying the music, although I guessed either way it didn't matter. The music video was going to look great, and I couldn't wait to see it when it was all done.

It was almost dinnertime by the time we got home from the video shoot. It had been a long day, but everyone had a lot of fun.

"I'm going to take a shower," Quinn told me as soon as soon as we stepped in the door.

"Okay, I'll make some dinner," I said, feeling like aproperly cooked meal was what we all needed, we hadn't had one in at least two weeks. We lived on take-out mostly.

I rummaged through the freezer trying to find something I felt like, and in the end I settled for packet pasta because it was easy to make. I wasn't the most talented cook around but I could make a decent meal without starting a fire, and I felt that was good enough.

We had all sat in the living room to eat our tea, when Quinn finally came downstairs from his shower.

"That was a long shower," I commented, pointing to his plate on the bench.

"It's been a big day," he reminded me, grabbing the plate and sitting down beside me.

We spent the rest of dinner talking about the video shoot and they all said they'd had a fantastic time but they couldn't wait until they were performing in front of real crowds, at a real concert.

"I'll help with the dishes," Kyle said once everyone had finished.

I heard the exhaustion in his voice and told him not to worry, that I could do them. Connor and Kyle were the only ones that ever offered to help with the housework, and that was rare enough. Of course, Ihadn't expected any more than that, and I was grateful that they did offer at all. I got up to collect the plates and Quinn followed me, for a moment Ithought he was going to insist on helping me.

"I'm going to bed," Quinn murmured as I rinsed the plates and put them in the dishwasher.

"Really, it's only eight o'clock," I said, looking at the clock above the fridge.

"I know, I'm just so tired," he said, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Okay, well done today. Love you," I smiled and leaned forward for a kiss. He stumbled off to bed. He was right, it had been a long day, but the other guys showed no intentions of going to bed that early.

"Where's Quinn?" Blake asked after I had finished with the dishes.

"He's gone to bed already," I said.

I thought he would have said goodnight before going to bed. He must have been really tired.

"It's a bit early isn't it? Mind you, today was pretty tiring, fun though," Aaron said, keeping his eyes glued to the comedy re-run on TV.

"He's going to have to learn to pace himself, how will he cope when you go on tour and have concerts every night?" I asked.

It was definitely something I wondered about lately, putting this much effort into everything wasn't a good idea at the beginning, when he wasn't used to it. He looked like he had been ready to collapse in the kitchen.

"Yeah, well he'll figure that out when the time comes I guess," Blake said, trying to reassure me. They clearly weren't as bothered about this as I was, maybe they were right though. it was silly to get myself worked up over the small things. He would learn quick enough to pull back on the performances, just a little bit.



The next afternoon the editors were putting the finishing touches on the video, and we were going to see it for the first time. We went into the small room and crowded around the computer screen. The director of the video and Adam were also there. We watched the video through. It had been even better than I had been expecting, and judging by everyone's expression they felt the same way.

"You did an awesome job," exclaimed Blake after insisting we watch it a second time.

"Yeah it's great, thanks so much," Quinn said sincerely, and then he pulled me in for a hug.

"Can you believe any of this?" I whispered in his ear.

Everything seemed so surreal, it had all happened so quickly, within a matter of months.

"Not a thing," Quinn whispered back, I could hear a smile in his voice.

"You should see it on the music channels by the end of the week and the single will be officially released, for sale, tomorrow," Adam informed the band.

At that moment I made the decision I had been putting off. I had to go and see my parents, everything was going well, and it had inspired me to try and make this right too. Even if they couldn't forgive me yet, at least I would have the comfort of knowing I tried.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the wooden front door of my parent's house only an hour later. I had to go while I was still in this state of mind, ready to deal with it. If I'd had any more time I would have lost my nerve to go around and backed out. I had gone through the conversation a hundred times in my head, but I could only wish it would go well. I had no idea how they were feeling right now. It had only been just over two weeks since the horrible argument that I cringed at every time it replayed in my head. I heard footsteps coming from inside, getting louder, and the door slowly opened. My mom stood there, looking tired, yet relieved to see me.

"Hi Mom," I said trying to sound confident and cheerful.

"Hi love," she said in the same tone, and stepped back to let me inside.

I followed her to the living room, my heart beating rapidly. Her greeting had been better than I was expecting and I had hope that she was ready to forgive me, but I couldn't be certain just yet. I sat down in one of the armchairs and Mom sat down on the sofa.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean anything I said, I was just so angry," I tried to explain, remembering how I felt that night. It felt like forever ago now.

"It's okay, I know. It was just a big shock to hear you speak to us like that. You've always been a sweet, kind girl, and lets just say what you said was very unexpected," she said, almost amused.

I was so thrilled that she had let it go, I had worried it wouldn't be so easy.

"Sorry,"I said again, I just wanted to forget the argument, "Where's Dad?"

Before Mom could answer Dad walked through the door and into the room, "Oh hello, Kate."

"Dad, I'm so sorry," I stood up thinking dad would take longer to come around than mom had.

"It's fine Kate. I've been trying to forget it ever happened. It gave me and your mother a bit of a fright actually," he laughed seeing the guilty look on my face, "we're fine now."

I smiled. I was pleased they had both been able to forgive me without me having to beg. I sat back down and told them all about the apartment and everything else going on. I was glad to leave after dinner, on a happy note.



"Put the music channel back on!" Aaron yelled to Blake who was sitting on the couch watching a children's after school program.

I had just gotten home from school, and the music video was going to be premiering at four o'clock. It was three-thirty, but I understood they were anxious to see their video for the first time on TV. They'd had the radio on constantly for the last three days, listening to everything the radio announcers had to say about the song. Most of the feedback had been really positive, which was a good sign. I had to admit, the song was getting a lot of airplay, but we were always listening out for it.

It was five to four and now all the guys were gathered in the living room, texting everyone they knew to remind them to watch the premiere on the music channel in five minutes. None of them were sitting down. Quinn came to stand by me and put his nervous hand in mine. The TV notified us that an exclusive music video was about to be played. I squeezed his hand and the video started. I was nervous though we had already seen it before it was just so different seeing it on national TV. Hundreds and thousands of people would be able to see it right at this very moment, and that was an intimidating thought.

The video faded out and I smiled, "Well there you go. Your video has been played on TV and it will be on the internet in a matter of minutes."

The guys laughed, knowing I was right. Albums and singles were still important but touring was now the most vital thing for aband. You could find almost anything on the internet for free, so touring was where a lot of the money lay in the industry. I knew the band would have no problems with that, they were good live and they couldn't wait to start touring and playing shows. It was the most exciting thing for them, having their own gigs where they could play their music to people. While they were recording their album over the next couple of weeks Adam was going to set to work putting together a promotional tour for their album so people could get to know the band. It would probably be only for a few weeks. Which I was secretly pleased about because I couldn't even begin to imagine how lonely I would be in this apartment all by myself. I winced at the thought of them going away for months at a time in the future, when they went on nationwide tours. I would have to work myself up for that. But whatever happened, I couldn't let Quinn even suspect a hint of how I felt about him leaving. If he knew for a second that Iwas /dreading /the day he left he would just start worrying and I didn't want him to do that. So I would just have to deal with it. I could do that, no worries.

The day of the chart release the boys were very nervous and their impatient mood had begun to rub off on me. The tension grew as it neared ten o'clock, when Adam would be ringing with the news.

"It's ringing," Quinn jumped, hearing the phone ring from somewhere in the couch. "I can't find it!"

"Well, look!" Aaron panicked, throwing the cushions on the floor along with the cellphone.

Quinn picked it up from the floor and answered it, standing up and pacing around the room as he listened. I held my breath listening to every word Quinn said, and the guys around me did the same.