Echoes of Us (18 page)

“If….” Maggie stressed the word loudly. “If Jade and Rylan need us, we will be there for them.”

Andy stared at us for a few long minutes. He pushed a button on his phone and the red-haired guard lady came inside and took the marked-up contracts. She returned in a few minutes with a fresh pile of papers.

The room was quiet except for the scratching of Andy Tremaine’s pen. When he finished, he pushed the stack of papers toward the edge of his desk and set a pen down on top of the pile.

“Are you ready?” Jade whispered in my ear. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I laced my fingers with his and pulled him toward the desk. A tiny smirk spread across his face as he looked at our hands.

I quickly signed and initialed all the pages. Jade took the pen next and did the same thing.

There were also contracts for Maggie and Kelli and Dave and Brent. They all signed them. I glanced at Jade and tried to remind myself this was a great thing for us. I plastered a bright smile on my face and silenced that little voice in my head shrieking about Andy Tremaine owning me for one year. Maggie had refused to back off and let him have two years. If the girlfriend clause stayed, then we were only signing for a year. I guess Andy figured a year was better than none.

The red-haired lady came back in carrying a tray of glasses and a bottle of champagne. Drinks were poured and after several toasts, Andy Tremaine leaned back in his chair, dismissed everyone except Jade and me, and we got down to business.

“We want to get started as soon as possible. We’re fast-tracking your first album release so we can get you out on tour. You’re going to be an opening act for a few months, and hopefully, if all goes as planned, you’ll move forward to headlining your own tour.”

Jade glanced at me and bounced around in his chair.

“You should go back to Chicago, pack, and tie up any loose ends before you get back here at the end of the week. You’ll be meeting with a stylist and a vocal coach. Most of your time will be spent in the studio. Trevor is getting his team ready to start work on the single and album.”

We both nodded.

“The girls don’t have to come out unless you want them here, but it would probably be a good idea for them to hang out with you. You’ll be staying in a house close to the recording studio.”

“Okay,” we both said.

As we walked out of his office, I suddenly thought about my parents. I wondered what they would think of me now. I was pretty sure Kelli would pass on all the news about my new career. I wondered if she would tell them about her new career as a fake girlfriend.

“Hey,” Jade said. “You okay?”

“I’m good,” I said. “Just worried about what my parents will think when they find out what my sister is doing.”

He never asked me much about my family. I think he could tell it was a sore subject for me.

Thankfully, I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on these problems.

We went back to Chicago and played one more show. Andy and Trevor came to the show and made the announcement that we had been signed and to watch for the single and album to come out soon. We hadn’t even discussed what song we would be releasing as our first single.

The crowd went crazy, and we spent two hours after the show signing autographs. My cheeks hurt from smiling, and there were spots flashing in front of my eyes from all the pictures.

The next day we were back on the morning show that gave me the birthday cake to make the big announcement.

“That was incredibly fast,” the interviewer said.

We grinned like idiots and let Andy Tremaine answer all the questions about the signing. We kept repeating how excited we were to be signed.

We also did a couple of radio shows over the phone. We put the phone on speaker and shouted out thank-yous to the fans in Chicago. Finally, we were packed and ready to go to Los Angeles. Mrs. Morgan had us all over for Sunday dinner.

“Now, don’t you let them bully you into doing things you don’t want to do,” Mrs. Morgan said sternly. “I know you’re not thrilled with the girlfriend clause, but you’ll have to make the best of it.”

“I know,” I said.

“I am so proud of you,” Mrs. Morgan said. “If you need me, you can always call.”

She hugged me and wiped a few stray tears off her wrinkled cheeks.

“Bring Jade over here,” she said to me. I waved at him, and he sauntered over with a lazy smile plastered on his face. He kissed me on the cheek.

Mrs. Morgan shooed me away so she could have a few words in private with Jade.

I was going to miss Mrs. Morgan.

T
HE
MOMENT
the plane touched down in Los Angeles we hit the ground running. A driver met us by the baggage claim and barked orders at some scrawny kid who helped us with our luggage. The driver led us to a giant SUV and hustled everyone into the vehicle. All he told us was we were heading to our new home.

The house was in a gated community surrounded by palm trees and pretty gardens. The driver pulled up to the house, unloaded our luggage, and sped away. Trevor Vance was sitting by the front door. The first thing he did was give us our own keys to the palace.

Maggie and Kelli couldn’t stop squealing.

“This will be your home for the next few months,” Trevor said. We exchanged guy hugs and Trevor gave us the grand tour. The house had everything a person could possibly need. Even the fridge was stocked.

“Everything in this house is for you to use,” Trevor said. “I wouldn’t advise any wild parties, but it’s your place.”

“Thanks, man,” Jade said.

“Here’s your schedule for tomorrow. Andy actually gave you the day off to get settled. You should feel honored,” he said. The sarcasm dripped from his voice. I immediately liked this guy even more.

We asked Trevor to hang for lunch, but he said, unlike us, he did not have the day off.

Trevor pulled me aside. “If you need to talk, I’m here. I know this whole hiding thing is going to be tough on you guys.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it, Trevor.”

“Don’t let it destroy you,” he said.

When Trevor left, Maggie and Kelli claimed their rooms. Jade and I got the master suite. I’d secretly been worrying about the sleeping situation. I’d gotten used to waking up next to him. I didn’t want that to change. In here, we were safe from prying eyes. This was our space where we were allowed to be ourselves. I was quickly learning those spaces were precious and needed to be protected.

We spent the afternoon investigating the house, staking out our territory, and hanging by the pool. It was a good day, but the night was even better. Jade fucked me into the mattress. Walking was going to be an interesting adventure tomorrow.

The next day dawned bright and early when Andy’s assistant called Jade and shouted at him to get moving. Time was money or some shit. We found out the woman’s name was Ms. Loe. Jade immediately started calling her Ms. Blow.

By the time we were dressed and ready to go, our driver was leaning on the horn. The first item on our to-do list was to meet our vocal coach. Ms. Diaz was very nice but a little on the eccentric side. She answered the door wearing a plastic tiara and a long dress with parrots and flowers splashed all over the place. The plastic jewels in the tiara matched the jewels embedded in her long, pointy nails.

We spent the next hour making weird noises. At one point, she made me lie flat on my back, tilt my head back, and grunt. I thought she was going to step on me, but she poked the toe of her sneaker into my diaphragm and frowned. In the middle of a loud grunt, she dismissed us and told us she would see us both next week.

“Do not be late,” she said, shaking her finger at us. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“We’ll be here,” I promised.

“Fuck,” Jade said, when we got into the car.

“Agreed,” I said. She made me feel like I couldn’t sing a note. It made me more nervous to meet with our team at the studio.

The studio was much larger than Mrs. Morgan’s recording space. I missed the intimacy of the little room in her basement.

“Hi.” Trevor waved us inside. It was nice to see one familiar face. “How did you like Madame Diaz?”

“She was interesting,” Jade said.

“Interesting is an understatement,” Trevor said, laughing. “What was she wearing?”

“A plastic tiara and a wild dress with parrots and flowers.”

“Yo, LD,” Trevor yelled at a bald guy across the room. “You owe me twenty. She had on the tiara.”

The guy flipped him off, but then dug a crumpled bill out of his front pocket and tossed it at Trevor’s head.

“LD, Mike,” Trevor said. “This is Jade and this is Rylan,” he said, patting me on the head.

We exchanged hellos and sat down.

“We’re just going to hang out and play some tunes this morning,” Trevor said. “Andy is really pushing to get a single laid down and released, so we need to hear what you’ve got.”

I frowned and poked at my throat and diaphragm.

“What’s wrong?” Jade asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Rylan, you can sing. Ignore Ms. Diaz.”

I stared at him. “You’re turning into Maggie.”

He laughed and handed me a guitar. “Sing, Rylan.”

“Will you sit next to me?”

“Always,” he said and pulled his chair closer to me. Trevor rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

The session went great. Mike and LD got really excited when we sang “Dreamin’ Out Loud” and “From the Beginning
.
”

“Would you consider working on lyrics with me?” Trevor asked. “I have a few ideas for you guys I’d like you to look at.”

“Of course,” I said.

We left Jade, Mike, and LD hunched over a computer watching our YouTube videos and talking about the arrangement of the songs.

Trevor and I wrote two songs in the next few hours. He was pleased with our work and made me promise to show the stuff to Jade as soon as possible.

“Let’s break and get something to eat,” Trevor said.

“Do you guys know a good tattoo parlor?” I asked.

Jade looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“What? I just signed a fucking record deal. I want a tattoo to commemorate the moment.”

The boys all snickered and decided it would be a good bonding experience for us all to get tattoos. I was going to get a heart with music notes on my hip for Jade.

Jade decided to get the same heart on his arm, weaving it into his tribal band. There would be small hearts with music notes dripping from the band, with the larger heart in the center of his bicep.

It was a great afternoon. Mike flat-out refused to get a tattoo, stating he didn’t want to mar his perfect skin. LD called him out.

“All right,” Mike said. “I hate needles. They make me woozy.”

“Woozy? What the hell does that mean?” LD asked.

We found out what woozy meant when I had to have the fan turned on me so I wouldn’t pass out. They all teased me for being a wuss. Jade came to my defense, telling them this was my first time.

The tattoo artist snickered, and the conversation turned to stories of losing your virginity. I didn’t want to get in on this conversation. I was pretty sure none of the guys wanted to hear about my first time. I sighed and turned my face away from them, concentrating on the hum of the needle.

The tattoo artist gave me instructions on how to care for my new tattoo. Trevor reminded me to listen closely. If anything got infected, Andy would freak out. Jade promised he would keep an eye on my tattoo and report any redness or swelling immediately.

We parted company and headed off to the next stop on our list. We were meeting with a stylist. I had no idea what to expect from that meeting. Our driver dropped us in front of a building and gave us the suite number of some woman named Ella.

“I can’t believe all this shit is happening,” Jade said.

“Me neither.”

The elevator binged, and Jade bumped me inside and pulled me into a quick hug as soon as the doors closed. “I love you,” he whispered. “And your new tattoo.”

We broke apart before the elevator doors opened and walked down the hall, knocking shoulders until we were standing in front of Ella’s suite. Before Jade could open the door, a woman bolted out, almost knocking us over and bawling her eyes out. Someone from inside the office called her a stupid bitch and told her to never come back again.

“Holy shit,” Jade said.

I was absolutely positive I didn’t want to meet this woman.

“Oh, hello,” a woman said. “Are you my next appointment?”

“I’m Jade Marin, and this is Rylan Blake,” Jade said as he pulled me by my sleeve into the woman’s office.

“Come in, come in. Oh, you two are fabulous,” she said. “I’m Ella K, as in the letter K.”

Ella was a tall, slender woman with long brown hair and dark piercing eyes. Her entire outfit was coordinated, from her earrings to the tips of her shoes. She dropped the bundle of skirts she was carrying on a cart and stared at us. I was pretty sure the woman had X-ray vision.

“I’ll start with you,” she said to Jade. She pointed at a chair and told me to sit, while she whisked Jade through a curtain.

I sat down in the chair and took in my surroundings. There were racks and racks of clothing lined up against one wall. Piles of shoes, purses, and hats covered another wall. Most of the clothing looked like it was for women. I shot a text off to Maggie. She sent me Ella K’s Wikipedia entry.