Chapter 584: Punk'd and Disorderly Studios

Friday, March 3rd, Afternoon

She came into the Scott Building, went to the security desk, and talked to the security guard on duty when he got off the phone. He pulled out a visitor's pass and put it into the computer slot a moment later. After a few moments on the computer, the security guard pulled out the pass and handed it to her.

Alix passed through the security point and walked down a side hall. She entered a door with a sign that read Punk'd and Disorderly Studios. Alix smiled and opened the door entering the lobby. Alix looked at the receptionist, who nodded and allowed her to pass through the inner door.

As she walked down to the studio at the end, she looked at the various pictures and smiled. Alix checked into the booth, and Chris Keller nodded and talked to the people in the studio. Alix left the booth and entered the studio. The three people in the studio looked at Alix and smiled.

"Welcome home, Alix," Mags said.

"Thanks, it's nice to be home," Alix said.

"Welcome back, Alix," Evan said.

"Thanks," Alix said.

Jen popped up from behind the drum kit. "Hey, Alix," Jen said.

"Jen," Alix said.

Mags nodded and looked to Alix. "So, what brings you down to my little piece of heaven?" Mags asked.

"The guys are on vacation, and I'm feeling cooped up at my Opa's," Alix said.

"I figure you would've hopped a plane to New York once you got in," Mags said.

"Had some band stuff and wanted to spend time with Opa," Alix said, "Anyway, Katrina doesn't want little sis hanging around too much."

"But don't you want to see Tucker?" Jen asked.

"I would; we're going to see each other. I fly out Sunday," Alix said.

"I knew you couldn't resist," Jen said.

"Yeah, I come home with them and have two weeks with Tucker," Alix said.

"Life of a touring musician and a filmmaker," Evan said.

"Yeah," Alix said.

"Do you play bass?" Evan asked.

"Why?" Alix asked.

"We've been jamming, but, well, I'm barely serviceable on bass," Evan said.

"Unfortunately, no, it was never my thing; that was always Katrina's thing," Alix said.

"So, what do you play?" Evan asked.

"Guitar and keys," Alix said.

"That sucks," Evan said.

"Why did you come over here then?" Mags asked.

"To play and hang out," Alix said.

"Okay, what did you bring?" Mags asked.

"I brought my Ibanez," Alix said and shrugged.

"Always liked the Japanese guitars," Mags said.

"Not everyone likes a Gibson," Alix said.

"True," Mags said, "But not everyone is right."

"Not everyone is a snob," Alix said.

Mags chuckled, "Go ahead, hook up, and maybe you can play rhythm," she said.

Alix walked over to one of the amps and pulled out her guitar. She plugged it in and started to play some notes to check the tuning and the amp's settings. She walked over to the rest of them as they set up.

"I have a question," Jen asked from behind the drum kit.

"What question is that?" Alix asked.

"Alix and Katrina, while verbally spoken, is not strange, but they are spelled uniquely," Jen said.

"Yes, yes, they are," Alix said.

"How or why do you have such spellings?" Jen asked.

"Bear in mind I was very young, so this is all second and third hand," Alix said.

"Okay," Jen said.

"My mom had a unique name and wanted her daughters to be unique also, but not off the wall; that's why we have basic names with unique spellings," Alix said.

"What was your mom's name?" Jen asked.

"Mom," Alix said.

"Seriously," Jen said.

"That's what I called her," Alix said.

"It can't be that bad," Jen said.

"Her name was Heulwen," Alix said.

"Heulwen?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, it's a Welsh name, but according to my Opa, they always called her Wen," Alix said.

"Wen Hartmann?" Jen asked.

"She never took my dad's name," Alix said, "She always went by her maiden name, Pryce."

"What was your dad's name?" Jen asked.

"So many questions," Mags said.

"Last one, Mags," Jen said.

"Eduard, only because it was one of the few names the same in German and Russian," Alix said.

"Interesting name," Jen said.

"Again, this is all second and third-hand stories," Alix said.

Mags lined up on her side, "Alix, you feel like singing?" she asked.

"Yeah, I can sing; what are you thinking?" Alix asked.

"Well, when Haley comes down, we do slower stuff, but we've been working on Cowboys from Hell," Mags said.

"One guitar on Cowboys to Hell," Alix said.

"But you know I need help, Dime was crazy," Mags said.

"I'll give it a shot," Alix said.

Mags smiled and turned to Jen. "Do you think you could do it at full speed?" Mags asked.

Jen twirled her drumstick, "I've been waiting for this," she said.

"Okay," Mags said, "Chris, run tape on this."

"First time, are you sure?" Chris asked from the booth.

"I have a feeling about this," Mags said.

"Okay," Chris said.

"Count us off, Jen," Mags said.

"One…two…three…four," Jen said and counted off.

The count-off ended. Mags started to play. Alix started to help with the guitar parts. As the cues hit, everyone came into place. As the vocal cue came, Alix started towards the microphone and stopped playing guitar.

Chris in the booth looked over to see Haley. She nodded to him and held a finger to her lips. She walked to the window, watched, and nodded.