Page 267 of Hot Mess
Summer and I had wanted to hear a few full songs rocked right out, with Matt on bass, and Dylan and Jesse seemed more than happy to help out because of their love for Matt. Apparently, they hoped Summer and I would love him just as much.
Didn’t seem like that was gonna be a problem.
I was at Zane’s mic, plugged into Seth’s amps, with one of my own guitars. There was no one else in the room but the five of us. Jude, who’d come with Jesse, had been hanging out, but he was now outside on his phone.
Pretty sure he could hear us out there anyway.
I looked back at Dylan. He tussled his sweaty hair and grinned at me.
It was easy enough to read that look on my best friend’s face.
He loved the idea of Matt in a band with me and Summer. He’d already told me, several times, that he thought the three of us were a great fit, and I knew he wanted this thing to be a huge success for us.
For me.
I took a breath and just tried to absorb the enormity of this moment.
I was really hoping all this adrenalin and the tingles running up my back meant we were experiencing history in the making, right now. That one day my band would be able to tell the story of how we came together.
It definitely wasn’t happening overnight.
The best things in life often didn’t.
But at least things felt like they were really moving forward now.
For one, we’d officially contracted Brody as our manager.
Summer and I had met with him a few times now to discuss. Wined and dined him, really. In the end, he’d told us straight-up that if he was ever going to take on another band besides Dirty, it would have to be musicians he knew as well as he knew us, and trusted like he trusted us. Musicians he knew what he could expect from, in terms of dedication and talent.
So, while he wasn’t looking to take on another band, he said, he was happy to work with us.
When something presents and it feels right, you move,he’d told us.And I’m a guy who’ll wait years to make the right move.
Well, that was fucking true, if you knew how long he’d waited for Jessa Mayes.
He told us that he’d need some time to figure out a team, which was fine with us. He’d also told us that we couldn’t be second fiddle to Dirty. That he wouldn’t be going on the road with us, but he wanted to make sure we’d have the representation we deserved, in the office, in the studio, on tour, wherever it was needed. That he’d want the right people on the ground with us whenever he couldn’t be.
Already, we had a better working relationship with him than I’d ever had with my previous managers.
He’d also had a contract written up between Summer and me. So everything was starting to feelreal.
We were officially a band now.
Summer and I had both been in touch with Matt these last few weeks, and we’d talked more about him joining the band. He’d seemed pretty keen the more we spoke about it, and today, since we’d all be together in the same room, we’d planned to solidify things.
We’d chosen five songs, by bands we all liked, and practiced them in advance. Even Dylan and Jesse had the songs nailed. Besides Muse, we played a song from my vortex playlist, Thirty Seconds to Mars’ “The Kill (Bury Me).” We did a song from Summer’s playlist, Highly Suspect’s “My Name is Human,” and one from Matt’s, The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done.” And we even did one from Danica’s playlist, by one of her favorite bands, Panic! At the Disco’s “Golden Days.”
Five songs that headed in the direction of what we thought we’d be creating together as a band. It was still early days, but the vision Summer and I had for the band and the music was gradually coming together.
And today, the vibe we’d struck with Matt while we jammed together was nothing short of magical. Like I got tingles from the first few lines of the first song, and they just never went away. The energy was so good, kinda felt like we were playing a show. All we needed was a damn audience.
It was something like what I’d always felt with Danica.
Chemistry.
The natural, undeniable kind you couldn’t even ignore if you tried. It was just there.
We fit.
