Chapter Twenty-One: Amalia

1/11

MARCH 10TH! That's when Vanish's CD is coming out. It won't be sold at Target or anything, but we'll sell it at shows and Rainah has a guy setting up a website and we can sell it on there. Rainah is setting up a photoshoot with the band later this week so there will be pictures of them for the lining. Which won't have lyrics in it or anything. It'll be a little one sheet flip open thing with some pictures and a song list. Rainah showed me the design of it.

It's really exciting.

In other news, I'm starting to feel like I'm moving on from the whole Brendan thing. Because of breaking up (or being dumped), I should have more time, right? Like all that time I spent at Brendan's should now be lumped into me having lots of time on my hands, right?

No. All that time got spread out into everything else. Plus I'm spending about half an hour a day looking through bridal magazines for Isabel. Long engagement my ass. Does it take a year to plan a wedding? Screw all of this, when that time comes, I'm eloping.

Today was normal. School, then work at the bookstore. Work is getting interesting as our numbers grow.

I'm shelving books with Alex and Ducky is taking care of customers. Mr. W comes in, does some stuff in the back and he starts to leave when he pauses. He looks at Alex.

"Do you work here?"

"No," Alex says.

"So why are you working?"

"I like it here. I'm friends with Ducky."

"And you come here to work?" Mr. W asks.

"Pretty much. No sense standing around uselessly."

"Okay. And why aren't I paying you?"

"Um," Alex says, "because I don't work here?"

"Let's go fix that."

Alex is official member of the Winslow Books staff.

"Are you going to quit your job at Starburst's?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Probably not right away. I have enough time to hang out here and work there and get all my homework done. Why should I bother quitting when I have that much time?"

It must be nice, I think.

Wait, Mami's calling for me.

Later, 1/11

That was Rainah on the phone. Vanish's photoshoot is set for the 15th, this Saturday. Now I just have to keep things together until then.

I'm glad the recording drama is over. The first issue was that we couldn't use any of the songs that James worked on because we didn't have his permission, and none of us really cared enough to get it. Or at least, no one wanted to deal with James for something he'd surely say no to.

The bad part was that James had written MOST of the songs they do. They had the four that Maggie wrote (and Rico and/or Bruce did music to), but all except Hollywood Lies (Maggie hates the title, but I think it covers the song well) are slow songs. Vanish is a rock band and we want a variety music on it. We had This is War which Rico wrote and that wasn't a problem. Solution? Write new songs.

Maggie, Rico and Bruce argue for days over lyrics and music. Finally, a song comes out of it. Rico does most of the lyrics, and I'm pretty sure it's about Claudia. Maggie changes it into a gender neutral song because she refuses to sing that she loves a girl.

Bruce is the only one who's really happy with it. He writes another song on his own without them, and I approve it right away because it's good and it because I don't want to deal with the drama of that again.

I hadn't written about that. Now it's pretty funny, especially since we have a great lineup of songs. This is War, Hollywood Lies, Hey Down There, Water Runs Dry (Bruce's song), Midnight Eyes (Rico's song) and Fallen Angel.

Record, record, CD made.

However, things are tense around the Chavez's garage. Rico, Bruce, and Maggie seem to always be at each other's throats and I'm playing referee. Justin and Patti are trying to stay out of it, and I don't blame them. I'd stay out of it if I could.

But that's all in the past now. Now I just have to worry about getting them to the photoshoot without any bloodshed, and then waiting it out until the CD is released.

Homework is getting out of control, but I think I can handle it.

1/15

So much for handling it, huh, Nbook? I'm averaging a D in Math, but I brought both English and Bio up to B's. Bio is only because Sunny lent me her terribly extensive notes. Report cards came out Friday.

Yuck. I have an A in World History, though. I have no idea how I pulled that out.

Today I accompany the band to their photoshoot. On the outside, it was fun. They dress up in a ton of different outfits. At the end of the month we'll get to see all the prints and pick out the images we want.

Maggie freaks out about all the outfits she tries on, Patti is having a blast being a fashion model. Bruce complains about wearing a tie. Rico says his shoes look stupid. Justin is the only one of them who isn't complaining. I think he actually likes the matching black suits the guys are in.

For the most part, the guys stay in the same thing, changing ties occasionally. Maggie and Patti probably wore twenty outfits each. I guess girls are more fun to dress than boys? My favorite is the outdoor beachy shot with Maggie and Patti in white dresses (different styles, Maggie's is very classic, loose and flowy and Patti's is strapless with a multi-colored scarf around her waist) and it's all windy. Well, a wind machine is blowing on them.

"I like this look," I say when they all changed into this crazy 80's looking outfits. Even the guys changed out of the suits (I guess they wanted a totally different look just in case "formal" isn't the feel they're going for).

"Oh, yeah," Maggie says, looking at her teased, hairsprayed hair in the mirror. She looks like she stepped out of Flashdance. "I like the other outfits better. Those at least felt like me. This... isn't me."

"I'm a gutter punk!" Bruce says, running into the makeup room. He holds his hands out to me. His nails are painted black. "This is completely fake. Suits and ties were better than this."

"I think it's funny," I say.

"Well, do something about it, because this... this is too far."

"Amalia, I'm not too sure about this." Justin walks into the room. His hair has been spiked and spray painted green. "I'm trying to be easy going, but... what the hell?"

"I'll go talk to Rainah," I say. I run down the hall and find Rainah. "Um... everyone is a little concerned about this..." I explain the situation.

"They're just trying to get an idea of what they want," Rainah says. Chances are, if the bands is this uncomfortable, the pictures will turn out that way and they won't get used. Just let the photographers do their job. They have an idea of what they want from this, but it will be the band's choice in the end."

I report back to Maggie and everyone, feeling like a messenger service. They get their pictures taken in these outfits in front of a (fake) brick wall. Even though they all did look pretty uncomfortable, I thought the pictures were cool.

I'm totally going to have to buy a print just for the sake of having it. Maggie will hate me, but I think it may be worth it.

Another dress change, this time it's finally relaxing. Okay, the studio had closets and racks covered in clothes. This time, the last one, they tell them to pick out whatever they want to wear.

I really think that these pictures are the ones that are best. Everyone is in jeans and nice (regular) shirts. They looks happy, joking with each other and laughing. Bruce's nails are still painted black, though.

"When I'm not in a leather jacket and jeans with holes in the knees, the nail polish is kind of cool," he admits. He looks over at Justin. "Now if I could just get Justin to do my hair and give me a facial, I'd be set."

Justin, with good nature, throws a bottle of hairspray at Bruce's head. "Hair's done. Do you really want that facial, now?"

I laugh. Finally, the band seems to be back like themselves. I was actually kind of worried there. I think I might still be. But a couple of fights, a few tense moments, that doesn't mean anything. It's a stressful time right now. And it's almost over.

Things are looking up. In less than two months, we'll have a CD, things will be set, and life will be good. Right?

I'm glad to be this busy for once. It keeps my mind off of everything else.