Connection -- A Ross Lynch Story

First Meeting

Mike quickly called up the other band to confirm a meeting and let us know that they would be there within the next hour, smirking at me as he left the room once again. I threw him a little smirk back, secretly enjoying the little tiff we had. It kept things interesting. I seemed to get into tiffs with everyone. "I don't know about you guys," I said, pushing my chair back and getting up. "But I'm not hanging around this dump for an hour."

Carson and Asher both laughed and Piper smiled slightly. "This is a dump?" Asher asked incredulously. "Just this wood floor must have costed a fortune. Hell, those chairs we were sitting on were probably a hundred a pop."

"Then they're stupid," I chuckled. "Don't they know that they can get office chairs for like twenty bucks at Target? Just because you have the money doesn't mean you should spend it like there's no tomorrow. One hundred dollar chairs? Really?"

"It's classy," Piper argued as we walked as a group past the reception desk and to the elevator. She pressed the down button with her thumb a couple of times before stepping back and stuffing her hands into the pocket of her skin tight black jeans. I was surprised she could even fit her hands into them.

"You always find little things to pick apart," Carson joined into the conversation. "If it weren't for the amount of money a multimillion dollar company spends on their conference room furniture, you'd be critiquing the damn art that hangs on the wall."

I shrugged as the elevator bell dinged and the door slid open. "Speaking of the art," I joked, placing my hands on my hips. Everyone groaned and the doors shut behind us. "I'm just kidding!" I laughed wholeheartedly, pressing the button for the ground floor.

We passed the hour at the local coffee shop a block away before heading back up to the conference room. The entire time, I had to listen to Asher talk about the new drumheads that he wanted to order. It was a dry subject, but there wasn't really anything else I wanted to discuss. My stomach was churning as I thought about the meeting we were about to walk into.

Though the glass wall that partitioned the waiting area from the conference room, we saw that a group of people had already arrived. I checked my watch to make sure we weren't 3late before pushing the door open. "Hope we didn't miss anything," I joked quietly as all eyes turned to me and my friends.

"Nope!" one of the blond boys said, pushing back his chair and making his way over to us. "I'm Riker," he introduced himself, extending a hand. My hand met his firm grasp.. "I play bass guitar and do some vocals for the band."

"Trina," I said with a polite smile as we shook. "Lead vocals and rhythm guitar." When he let go of my hand and went to greet the rest of my band, I took a moment to tuck a strand of my lilac streaked hair back behind my ear. By the time I had finished shaking Riker's hand, the rest of the band had lined up to meet us.

"Rocky," a tall man with long brown hair said, looking down at me and held out his large hand. "Lead guitar and vocals." A quick shake of the hand.

"Ellington," the next one said. Our hands met with another quick shake. "Drums."

The next person in line was a girl with long blonde hair and a wide smile. "I'm Rydel," she said warmly. She enveloped me into a small hug instead of shaking my hand. "I play keyboard and I also do some vocal work." I smiled and introduced myself as I had to the rest.

It came down to the last boy in the line. "You're the Disney boy," I joked as I shook his hand.

"I guess so," he chuckled. "I'm Ross, lead vocals and guitar. Just like you."

We all shuffled into our seats, each band occupying the opposite sides of the table. I had to admit that Ross looked a lot more mature than I remembered him looking in his show. He had definitely grown up. "So," Carson broke the silence. "I don't really know how to start this thing."

Everyone laughed at the obvious awkward situation they were in, breaking the ice just a bit. "I guess what we want to know is your thoughts on this whole tour plan," Riker got down to business. "We've listened to the singles you have released and we really liked them."

"Thanks," I grinned. As hesitant as I was about the idea of touring with this band, it was always nice to hear that people enjoyed the work we did. "If I'm being honest, I'm not sure our bands are a good fit to tour together." Suddenly self conscious of my body language, I uncrossed my legs and struggled to find a new position. I glanced over at Ross, whose arms were extended onto the table. His eyes were fixed on his rings and it really didn't look like he was paying attention to anything.

Riker shrugged and started to speak again. It was clear that he often took lead in these sorts of situations, and I wondered why. I also couldn't ignore the fact that the Disney boy seemed completely uninterested. "I think you're rushing to judgment," Riker observed.

"Oh, she is," Carson nodded. "She does that a lot. She is very closed minded." As he spoke the last words, he turned to me and leaned in, enunciating each syllable. "I've heard some of your early work, and it is a bit... I don't know, I want to say it is soft."

"Soft?" Rocky laughed. "I don't know about that."

"We're having a party tonight," Ross finally spoke up. When I looked up at him, he was looking directly at me. "It's sort of an album release party slash tour kick off party. Come over and we'll play our new album for you." He smirked slightly at me. "Then you can judge. But don't judge us before you get to know us and our music. That isn't fair."

I nodded slowly, taking in the words that he was saying. I was impressed that the Disney boy defended his band so strongly. I exchanged a few glances with my bandmates before turning back to face him. "We'll be there."