Out of Tune

Chapter Twenty-One

Music is love in search of a word—Sidney Lanier

The backstage of the studio for The Diane Furley Show smelled like sawdust and burnt coffee.

They'd arrived at quarter-to-nine and had been greeted by a studio intern who – Lennon was surprised to note – actually knew all of their names. She and the rest of her band were ushered through the network of long hallways and random doors until they'd arrived in a green room.

From there it had been a whirlwind. They'd tuned their instruments and done a soundcheck on the stage. Then they'd been rushed back to the dressing room where people from the show came to approve their outfits – wanting to make sure that they looked put together and professional, and so that what they were wearing would look okay on camera.

Lennon had been irritated when the boys passed through quickly. For her, they'd wanted to see numerous options. All of which had been carefully selected by Taylor before they'd event left California. She'd brought dresses and skirts, jeans and leggings and trendy and t-shirts. Her favourite faux leather jacket and a variety of shoes including converse, ankle boots, and heels.

In the end, she hadn't cared that they'd stuffed her into a pair of black leggings, a white t-shirt beneath her black faux leather jacket and little ankle boots. Not when they'd shoved her into a chair and ordered in hair and makeup to do an overhaul.

She had no idea where Spencer, Miles, Zeke, and Charlie had disappeared off to. Last she'd seen Taylor, the other girl had been hounding the interns for information about what it was like to work in the entertainment business. Lennon was sure that by the time they left the studio, Taylor was going to have a stack of business cards to contact.

Lennon could say this much – Taylor certainly knew how to network. She had a natural knack for it and had taken to managing the band expertly. Though Taylor had appointed herself to the role and had made it clear to the band that they should find someone with more experience to take over, Lennon knew that Imagine Reality was in good hands.

Maybe it was because Taylor knew them so well. Or maybe it was just because in the weeks that they'd been planning this trip, Taylor had hit the books. She'd gone to a local bookstore and purchased everything she could find on band managing and business. Lennon had caught Taylor reading them before and after class, in the cafeteria during lunch, and as the band rehearsed.

Taylor had continued with managing their social media as well, though had been talking about bringing in someone else to take over the role if the band was certain that they wanted her to be their manager. It was hard, Taylor had admitted to Lennon one day as they'd walked to Spencer's, for her to balance school, the job at Quincy's, her relationship with Miles, and the band.

But as much as Lennon urged her to cutback, Taylor refused. It didn't help matters that Taylor had been accepted to all of the colleges she'd applied for and was now faced with a hard decision. She was standing at a cross-roads, trying to decipher where it was that her future was heading.

Zeke and Charlie were faced with a similar challenge. Like Taylor, they'd each been accepted to the colleges they'd submitted applications for. If the band didn't work out, Zeke was destined for a life of computer science. Charlie had chosen physics for his route.

Both of their parents were more accepting of the band than they had been in September. It helped that they were about to perform on national television. Yet there was still hesitance and lack of support – mostly out of fear about what would happen to their kids if the career in music didn't pan out.