“I wouldn’t do that to Maddie anyway,” Jared muttered.

“We’ll see,” Hector said, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Jared turned away but didn’t say anything else. Tension created a concrete wall between them, with me and Kyle stuck in the middle. I was relieved Jared wouldn’t do that to me, but also a tiny bit disappointed he didn’t see me that way, even though I knew it was for the best. I didn’t want to mess up anything with the band, and getting involved with Jared would do exactly that.

The last band arrived, with hair spiked into mohawks and chains hanging from their leather jackets. Definitely Angel’s type. The one girl in the band wore a chainmail bikini and very short shorts, and I recognized her as one of the people Jared had talked to before our audition. She caught his eye and winked, and I almost threw up in my mouth a little. The rest of her band glared at everyone and sat down.

While we waited, Kyle and I quietly discussed the other bands and tried to figure out what kind of music they played. I started to wonder if Angel would ever show or if we’d all been given the wrong time or what.

Hector was lost in his sketchbook, and I leaned over to ask, “What are you drawing?”

“Just working on ideas for my next graphic novel.”

“Can I see?” Kyle had once mentioned Hector went to art school, but I didn’t know much else.

“Sure.” He passed me the sketchbook, and I flipped through it. There were lots of random doodles, but also rough sketches of comic panels with lots of action. He was good—like professional-level good.

“Wow, this is awesome,” I said. “What’s your graphic novel about?”

“It’s called Misfit Squad, and it’s about a group of teens who have really uncool superpowers, so they band together after the other superhero groups won’t let them in. Like the main character accidentally breaks things, and at first it seems like a curse, but then she learns to control it.” As he talked, Hector’s face lit up in a way I’d never seen before, even when he was drumming. “The first one just came out, and we’re planning to do two more.”

“Okay, I definitely need to read that.”

“I’ll give you a copy later.”

“Hector designed the Villain Complex logo, too,” Kyle added. “And did the quote wall in our studio. He’s amazing.”