“You’re both going to perform ‘Somebody Told Me’ by The Killers,” Angel said. “I think it’ll be a good song for your different sounds.”

An interesting choice. I liked the song, but I worried it was a bit too peppy for our usual vibe. Maybe that was more of The Static Klingons’ thing.

She paired off the other bands and then said, “I’ll see you all at your rehearsals.” She flicked a hand at her assistants, and they left the room.

“I haven’t played this song before,” I said to the guys. “Have you?”

“No,” Jared said, as the other two shook their heads. “Which means we need to work our asses off this week.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

We spent the next couple hours having photos taken of us, both individually and as a band. After that, another camera crew had us walk down a long red carpet outside while they filmed us. Like in the interview the other day, they had me and Jared up front, and the other two guys behind us. We did this multiple times, walking toward the camera and trying to look cool with the wind blowing our hair back, like we were a Serious Band Doing Serious Music. Mostly, I felt ridiculous.

When I returned to my room, my phone was flashing with a bunch of texts from Julie and Carla asking how my first day was and another from Jared telling me to come to their room to watch the show in an hour. I’d forgotten that the first episode of The Sound was tonight, and there was a good chance we’d be on it. Even if we weren’t on until tomorrow’s show, we needed to check out the other bands and see what we were up against.

I wrote the girls and told them my day was crazy but exciting and that I would update them more later. After a quick shower, I pulled on some yoga pants and a tank top, but one glance in the mirror told me that wouldn’t work. The tank top was too tight on its own, and this wasn’t like hanging out with my roommates in my apartment. I barely knew these guys—other than Kyle anyway. I switched to jeans and threw a flannel shirt on over my tank top. Much better.

When I got to the guys’ room, they already had two pizzas sitting on the desk, and my stomach growled. Hector was hogging an entire bed, Jared was on the other, and Kyle took up the only chair, leaving me no place to sit. I hesitated just inside the door, trying to figure out a way to solve the seating problem without it being super awkward.

“Grab some pizza and come sit,” Jared said, patting the bed next to him. None of the other guys said anything, so I guessed that was my spot then. Thanks a lot, guys.