Chapter 20:
The Bands Meet
It had been a few weeks since the gig that had happened and the band had been getting bombed by record labels. Granted, they were the indie ones but it was still stressful to both Emma and Raye.
Raye and Emma where visited by talent scouts from almost every indie record company in North Carolina. Raye had given up answering the door or reading any mail.
Emma hadn't stopped reading the mail yet but she didn't really open the door anymore. She spent most of her time either in her room playing with her guitar while her kitten Shadow curled up next to her or in Raye's room hanging out with her.
Raye was either playing with Rayne, tuning and playing her bass, or hanging out with Emma. While they had been in hiding, Jeff and Shannon had decided to confront the indie labels.
Neither one of the sisters knew this though. Right at that moment, Emma was in her room editing a video. She had made a youtube channel a while back but she only had a couple of videos so she was working on one now and it was of her singing White Horse by Taylor Swift.
Raye calls up to her sister. "Hey Emma, can you come down here?" She said with a confused tone in her voice.
"Uh, yeah." Emma yells as she gets up from her computer desk. Then she walks out of her room and down the stairs.
Raye had several letters in her lap. "Did you know our drummer and second bass where talking to the indie labels."
"What? Why?" Emma asks in anger. Neither her or her sister wanted them to.
Raye hands over the letters. They state that Shannon and Jeff had been threatening to sue the small companies for harassment if they didn't leave Raye and Emma alone.
"Oh my god!" Emma exclaims in anger before getting up and storming out of the room.
Raye wheels herself as fast as she can after Emma. Raye is trying to calm her down.
"Guys!" She shouts as she walks into the living room with the letter still in her hand where Jeff and Shannon were sitting. Matt was out doing something.
The guys look up."What?" They ask at the same time.
"Really guys?" Emma asks them angrily as she throws the letter on the table in front of the couch.
Jeff and Shannon quickly look over the letters. " We are only trying to protect you guys." Jeff said.
"Really?" Emma asks as she laughs humorlessly. "Well guess what, you just made it worse."
"How did we make it worse? They are leaving you alone." Said Jeff.
"Yeah because you threatened them!" Emma exclaimed. "I'm a little kid anymore Jeff! I can't take care of myself!"
"You and Raye aye my kid sisters. Its my job to take care of both of you. " Shannon nods, backing up Jeff. Raye is trying to make peace.
"You didn't even know you existed until a year ago so I don't want to here it! You weren't there when we were little kids!" Emma yells as she glares at Jeff and Shannon.
Jeff glares at Emma. "We still love you and care for you Em." Shannon looks close to being fed up with Raye trying to play peace keeper.
Emma glares at him and shakes her head before turning on her heel so she can go back upstairs to her bedroom.
Raye is trying to calm her brother and friend down. Shannon had had enough of what Raye was doing.
Emma is almost to the stairs when she hears a thump. She spins around quickly and saw that Shannon had pushed Raye so hard that her wheelchair had hit the back of the couch.
Raye sits there for a few moments,stunned. She then wheels herself out the house and towards a local park. She was scared and running was her first reaction.
"Look what you did!" Emma shouts at Shannon. She was glaring at him and it was taking all her might not to punch him in the face.
Shannon stood there is shock. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident. She made me angry." He shot out excuse after excuse.
"Screw you Shannon." Emma glares before turning around and literally stomping to her room. When she got into her bedroom, she slammed her door shut, making sure it was loud enough that Shannon and Jeff heard it downstairs.
Meanwhile, Raye had gotten far from the house. She left her chair by the jungle gym of the playground and climbed up to the highest point, using only her arms. She stares at the moon silently.
Emma stood in her room glaring at her door. Then she turned around and went to her bed before blasting her music, hoping it would piss Shannon and Jeff off.
Jeff and Shannon where talking amongst themselves as the music goes up to try to calm Emma down.
Emma throws her arm over her eyes. She was laying on her bed. Her kitten Shadow must have know something was wrong with her because he jumped up on her bed and curled up next to her purring.
Jeff does everything he can to calm Emma down, from promising her everything to bribing her. About midway through, Shannon joins in.
Emma heard them through the door, but she was trying to ignore them. That didn't work so she started thinking about ways to mutilate Shannon because she was still pissed at him for what he did to Raye.
Shannon and Jeff keep at it. They have moved on to begging for Emma to forgive them.
Emma just shook her head and glared at the ceiling. Of course, they couldn't see her shaking her head because they couldn't get in her room because she had locked her door.
Jeff and Shannon wont stop begging.
Emma finally sighs in frustration before she gets up off the bed. She keeps the music blasting as she opens her window. She looks back at her bed and see's Shadow sleeping so she turns her head back towards the window and climbs out silently.
Jeff finally gets tired of begging and picks the lock. He swears when he sees Emma is gone. Raye is crying quietly at the jungle gym
Emma runs over to the park hoping that Jeff didn't look out the window and see her. Since it was dark outside, she couldn't see that well but she manages to get to the park without falling on anything.
Raye's chair sat next to the jungle gym and a soft humming sound is heard.
Emma was sitting on the park bench, humming an Avril Lavigne song, hoping that it would calm her down. So far it wasn't working.
When Emma got under the jungle gym, she would feel something wet and cold hit her head, followed by two more.
Startled, she looks up and see's Raye sitting there. She silently curses under her breath before going up on the playground thing so she could get on it as well.
Raye does not notice her sister. Raye was staring at the full moon with a mixture of awe and sadness.
"Raye." Emma says softly as she climbs on top of the jungle gym with her.
Raye blinks and looks at her sister. "Hi Emma." She said softly and returned her gaze to the moon.
Emma goes over to sit next to her sister. "Hey, I can punch Shannon really hard if you want." She jokes, trying to lighten the mood, but not really succeeding.
Raye just nods absentmindedly. "Do you think it was a bad idea to become a band?" Raye asked.
"I don't know." Emma says as she shrugs.
"We made the band to make people happy, right? Then why are we not happy?" Asked Raye.
"I have no clue." Emma tells her as she shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders at the same time. She had started looking at the moon like Raye, hoping Jeff and Shannon didn't come looking for them.
"I think we should sign with an indie label. It would get our name out there and may be if we work hard enough, we will make it big."
"I don't know Raye." Emma says shaking her head. "I mean look at what happened tonight with us. What if that happens again?"
"We have each other, friends, family and the whole WWE watching our backs."
"But what if Shannon pushes you like that again. It took all my strength not to kill him right then and there."
"I got on his nerves. I could have stopped and I didn't. I don't blame Shannon for what happened."
Emma just shakes her head and puts it on Raye's shoulder. "Maybe we should go home. I'm tired and I kinda snuck out my window." She comments sheepishly.
"You what?" Raye says in an awed voice. "You will have to carry me down somehow sister."
"I snuck out of my window." Emma says as she gets off the jungle gym. "Now come here." She says as she tries to get Raye over to her so she can carry her to her wheelchair.
Raye drags her legs over to her sister.
Emma grabs her when she gets close enough and gets her off so they can get to Raye's wheelchair. Once they do, Emma puts her in it.
Raye adjusts herself in her chair and looks around. "Push me Em?"
"Yeah." Emma says as she begins to push her.
"Do they think they have called a manhunt on us by now?"
"I don't know Raye. I really don't know."
Raye fidgets abit. "I think we should sign a deal."
"I don't know Raye." Emma says uncertainly.
"Why should we not?"
"Are you sure we're ready for all that pressure? I mean, there is going to be a lot of stress if we do this." Emma tells her as she pushes her towards the house. They still had a few minutes to go before they actually go there.
"If we sign to the right label, then everything should be fine."
Emma nods her head and neither one of them notice that Jeff is near the house with a look of worry on his face.
Jeff spots them and runs over. "Emma, Raye! Where have you to been?"
"At the park." Emma says as she tries to get past him. She really didn't want to talk to him.
Jeff kept apologizing to Emma as they walked.
For the most part, she ignored him. After that got to be too much, she started singing softly so she could focus on something.
Raye listens to her sisters singing. "Emma, stay with me tonight?" She asks softly.
Emma nods her head and keeps singing until they get to the house.
Jeff had given up by then. He left them alone. He went up to his room to sulk.
Raye and Emma go into Raye's room. "I'll be right back." Emma tells her.
Raye nods and wheels herself inside and sets the brake. She slowly makes her way onto her bed.
Emma runs upstairs and goes into her room. She was already in her pjs, so she grabbed her laptop, the charger and Shadow before turning around to head back downstairs.
Raye was petting Rayne and messing with her own laptop. She was looking up indie labels in the area.
Emma came into the room and put her stuff down. "Oh crap." She says.
"Whats wrong?" Asked Raye.
"I forgot my acoustic guitar in my room. I'm going to go get it."
Raye nods and picks up her bass. She runs a hand over the crimson finish and smiles. She plays a few notes as she waits.
Emma had got her guitar and when she was heading back out of her room, she nearly ran right into Jeff.
Jeff looks at Emma and gives a small smile. "I am sorry for what me and Shannon did. We thought it was for the best."
"Yeah well it wasn't." Emma told him with a calm expression on her face.
"Can't you forgive us?" Jeff asked.
"Not yet." Emma says as she shakes her head before walking past him and back downstairs.
Jeff nods and lets her go downstairs. Raye continues to play on her bass.
Emma walks in and smiles. Then she looks over and sees the kittens, Shadow and Rayne, playing with each other.
Raye watched them too and smiles. "So cute."
"Yeah." Emma says smiling as well. "Hey, I'm doing a cover of one of Carrie Underwood's songs for my Youtube. Which one do you think I should do?"
"Jesus take the wheel, Temporary Home, Before he Cheats and Don't forget to remember me." Raye said.
"Okay, I'll do Temporary Home first." Emma says as she hits record on her web cam. Then she starts strumming on her guitar.
Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone.
Another new mom and dad, another school,
another house that'll never be home.
When people ask him how he likes this place...
He looks up and says, with a smile upon his face,
"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong.
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."
Raye listens happily. She hums gently to the guitar.
Young mom on her own.
She needs a little help, got nowhere to go.
She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out,
because a half-way house will never be a home.
At night she whispers to her baby girl,
"Someday we'll find our place here in this world."
"This is our temporary home.
It's not where we belong.
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through.
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going.
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."
Raye stays out of the way of the camera. Shadow and Rayne are the opposite and try to get on Emma's lap.
Emma keeps singing and strumming the guitar, not stopping them.
Old man, hospital bed,
the room is filled with people he loves.
And he whispers don't cry for me,
I'll see you all someday.
He looks up and says, "I can see God's face."
"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong.
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.
This was just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.
I'm not afraid because I know... this was
my temporary home."
This is our temporary home.
After she got done, she pressed the button and the video stopped. She would put it on youtube after she got done with the other songs.
Raye is crying softly. She had buried her face in her pillow.
Emma wipes some tears off of her cheeks. "Do you want me to do another?" She asks her sister.
Raye nods quietly.
Emma nodded her head and started strumming her guitar, but not before she hit record on her web cam again.
She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was going way to fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was sooo scared
She threw her hands up in the air
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Raye kept the kitten away from Emma and listens.
Emma keeps strumming her guitar.
It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Raye gives a small smile as Emma plays. She loved to hear her sister play.
Oh, Jesus take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh
Emma ended the video there. Neither one of the sister's noticed that Matt, Jeff and Shannon were standing in the doorway listening to Emma.
Raye hugs her sister. "That was good Em."
"Thanks." She says as she hugs back.
Raye nudges Em and points to the door.
Emma looks and then she puts her head in her hands. She was red with embarrassment.
"You're good Emma." Said Matt. Shannon and Jeff nod in agreement.
Emma looks at them and then leans towards Raye. "Do you think I should sing Before He Cheats?" She whispers in her ear.
Raye nods and smiles.
Emma grins at her before once again presses record on her web cam.
Right now
he's probably slow dancing with a bleach blond tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky...
right now,
he's probably buying her some fruity little drink
cause she can't shoot whiskey...
Right now,
he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick,
showing her how to shoot a combo...
And he don't know...
That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.
Raye starts to think about Kaval. Right then, in the kitchen her phone goes off. She gets back in her chair and answers it.
Back in the other room, Emma kept on singing.
Right now, she's probably up singing some
white-trash version of Shania karaoke..
Right now, she's probably saying "I'm drunk"
and he's a thinking that he's gonna get lucky,
Right now,
he's probably dabbing on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom polo...
And he don't know...
That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats,
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.
I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl,
Cause the next time that he cheats...
Oh, you know it won't be on me!
No...not on me
'Cause I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.
Oh.. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats...
Ohh... before he cheats...
Emma finished the song and stopped the recording. Then she let Shadow jump up on her lap so he could curl up.
Raye can be heard in the kitchen, talking happily.
Emma looks confused, so she leans her guitar up against the bed and gets up. She makes her way past the guys with the kittens following her.
Everyone follows Emma towards the kitchen. Raye is on her cell and looks so happy.
"Who is it?" Emma mouths to Raye when she gets into the kitchen.
Raye finishes her call and giggles. "It was Kaval. He invited me to have dinner tomorrow night since he will be in town." Raye can't seem to keep calm.
Emma gives her a thumbs up as Rayne jumps up on Raye's lap.
Raye pets her kitten and looks to her brothers and friend for their response.
"See, I told you he liked you." Jeff laughed while Matt and Shannon smile.
Raye blushes and smiles. "I forgive you and Shannon Jeffro."
They both smiled and went over to hug her.
Raye hugs them back. She then looks at Emma. "Its you turn to forgive."
"I forgive Jeff." Emma says as she bends down to pick Shadow up off the ground.
"What about Shan?" Asked Raye,Matt and Jeff all at once.
"No." She says as she shakes her head. Shadow then climbed up on her shoulders and onto her head.
Rayne was already on Raye's head. "Why wont you forgive Shannon, Emmy?" Raye asked.
"Because he pushed you." Emma tells her as she gets Shadow off her head. His claws hurt.
"I was getting on his nerves. Its my fault, not his." Said Ray and she moved Rayne to her shoulder.
"I don't care." Emma says shaking her head as she held Shadow in her arms. "I'm not forgiving him Raye."
Raye looks sad. "Come on Em, it was an accident. " Raye looks near tears.
"No Raye. " Emma says again. Then she turns around and heads back to Raye's room with Shadow still in her arms.
Raye lets tears fall. "Why won't she forgive Shannon? It was an accident."
Everyone shrugs, not really knowing why she wouldn't.
Raye moves Rayne to her lap and wheels herself into her room. "Why?" she asked Emma.
"Why what?" Emma asks from where she was sitting on the bed.
"Why won't you forgive him for pushing me?"
"Because I don't trust him anymore." Emma tells her as flings herself back on the bed.
Raye wheels herself all the way in and closes the door. "Why not?"
"Because if he was mad enough to put his hands on you, then I don't know what he would do if he was pissed off beyond belief." Emma says as she looks up at the ceiling.
Raye sighs. "Shannon would never hurt either of us on purpose. It was my fault because I got on his nerves. You know how pushy I can be."
"That's not an excuse Raye. And I don't know that he wouldn't." Emma shakes her head and both Shadow and Rayne jump on her chest.
"How long have we known him Emma? Has he even once layed a hand on us in a harmful way? Please give him another chance."
"We've known him for a year. And none that I know of but you know that I have trust issues when it comes to guys. I've been that way ever since the Seth Matthews incident."
"I know. But he is not Seth. He is Shannon Moore. Our friend and band mate. Without him, we are not a full Holy Omega."
"Yeah, I guess." Emma says as she watches the kittens sleeping on her chest.
"I bet if you let him, he would apologize for what he did." Said Raye.
Emma nods her head slightly and yawns.
"Sleepy?" Raye says with a yawn herself.
"Yeah. What time is it?" She asks as she sits up. While she did that, the kittens woke up and ended up sliding all the way down to her lap.
"Its midnight Emma. You going up to your room or crashing in mine?"
"All my stuff is here so I'm just going to crash in here."
Raye gets into bed and hugs her bear. She doesn't fall asleep till Emma does. Their kittens sleep on a pile of Raye's dirty clothes.
**************************The Next Day**********************************
Emma was the first one to wake up the next morning.
Raye was still asleep. She looks really happy and peaceful in her sleep.
Emma turns her head and watches her sister. She was afraid that if she got up off the bed then Raye would wake up.
Raye wraps her arms around her sisters waist her her sleep. She mumbles something about cupcakes in her sleep.
Emma giggles slightly.
Matt gently knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah." Emma says, not wanting to wake Raye up.
Matt walks in with a letter in his hands. "You guys got a contract in the mail from North Swamp Records. Is she still asleep?"
"Yeah. She keeps mumbling about cupcakes." Emma laughs.
Matt chuckles and hands over the contract." You, Shannon, Jeff and Raye need to go over this. The deal sounds very promising."
"Kay." She says as she takes it. "Raye, wake up." She tells her sister.
"In a minute. I want the cuppycake." She said sleepily.
Emma laughs at her sister.
Raye opens her eyes. "What do you want Em?" She is abit of a grouch when she doesn't have coffee.
"Look what we got." Emma says in a sing-song voice as waves the letter in front of her face.
"Its a letter, what about it?" Raye grunted. She wanted coffee.
"Just read it." Emma commands as she pushes the letter towards Raye.
Raye takes the letter and read over the pages. "North Swamp wants to sign us?"
"Yeah." Emma says excitedly as she nods her head.
"Where are Shannon, Jeff and my coffee?" Asked Raye to Matt.
"In the kitchen." Matt laughs.
"Help me with the chair Emma. We need a band meeting."
Emma laughs and helps her.
Raye wheels herself to the kitchen and gets her coffee. "Everyone in the dining room, band meeting."
Emma smiles and follows her sister. She didn't need coffee because she was already wide awake.
Raye waits for Jeff and Shannon to join them. She is looking over the contract.
Emma laughs at the look on her sister's face. She had a look of concentration while she looked at the contract.
Raye smiles as Jeff and Shannon join them. "We have a contract from North Swamp Records guys."
"Awesome." Jeff says as him and Shannon high five each other from across the table. Emma laughed at them.
"They are wanting to give us a four record deal. We would tour after each record. They are promising a lot of money for us. What do we know of this company Emma?" Raye says and asks.
"Before My Chemical Romance and Three Days Grace got popular, they were signed onto North Swamp Records." Emma smiles.
"That gives the some credibility." Said Raye after a sip of coffee. "What do you guys think?"
"We should go for it." Shannon tells them.
" What do you think Jeff? You have band experience. I want your input too Matt. Your our manager."
"I agree with Shannon." Jeff tells them.
"Yeah, me too." Matt says.
"Then are we all agreed to do this deal?" Raye said as she looked around for a pen.
"Yeah." Emma says as she hands her one.
Raye takes the pen and signs her name. She slides it to Em to sign and so on.
Once they finally got finished with that, Emma was nearly bursting with excitement.
"Matt, send it back to the label." Raye said with a smirk.
Matt nods his head with a smile and goes to mail it.
Raye does a doughnut in her chair and laughs. "We finally got signed to a deal!"
Emma laughs at her sister. "Yeah we did." She laughs.
Raye sips her coffee. "I love coffee."
"We know you do." Emma, Jeff and Shannon say at the same time. Then they exchange looks with each other and grin.
"Give me coffee or give me death." Said Raye, not knowing they where out after this pot.
Emma gives her a confused look.
"What?"
"Nothing." Emma laughs as she gets up from the table.
"Tell me." Raye said as she went after her sister.
"Nothing Raye." She laughs again. It really was nothing, she just was being her weird self.
Raye rolls her eyes and goes into the living room with her coffee. She flips on the history channel.
Emma walks back into the living room with her laptop in her arms. Then she plops down on the couch.
Raye sips her coffee as she watches a show called Top Shot. "You think I could be that good with a gun Emma?" Raye asks as a guy shoots a nail into a board.
Emma shrugs her shoulders as she looks at her laptop screen. She was on Youtube and she was uploading one of her videos from last night.
Raye finishes her coffee. She stares at the tv with a blank look.
"What?" Emma asks her.
"I have no idea. I am really bored." Raye says.
Emma giggles slightly.
"Whats so funny?" Raye asked as she moved her chair back and forth.
"You're a dork." Emma smiles as she shakes her head.
"I am?" Raye asks as she pets Rayne.
"Yeah." Emma laughs.
"How so?"
"I don't know." Emma laughs. "You just are."
Raye sticks her tongue out at Emma and throws a pillow.
TO BE CONTINUED!