"Ha! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaah!" I mockingly laughed while finishing my solo on Guitar Hero against my brother. "In yo' face!" I continued to sit on my knees while finishing the rest of Everlong.

"Eeeeh, I went easy on you," Travis said, focusing on the screen but not quite upset about the challenge. "Star Powaaaa!" He jerked the plastic guitar to the side.

I sang along with the words while trying to keep a streak and it was easy, although my guitar experience was nothing on my brother's. He started playing at ten, whereas I only started at fifteen. I was only nineteen and my brother twenty one, but we had a career of sorts going for us. I captured the attention of an agent for a record company when I used to play little gigs at restaurants in my small hometown in Oklahoma. It was my senior year in which the agent noticed me, and said I would make a big hit.

"I think people are gonna like you," he said while dialing a number on his iPhone and putting it to his ear. He had pulled me aside and told me all about his company and how much money I could make and blah blah. I never had an interest in the monetary benefits; I just liked to sing.

"Yeah, she's right here, and she's great. She could play a gig and..." He paused, listening to the person on the other end. I could faintly hear the voice. He must have his volume turned up loud. It sounded like a woman; very professional. I cast my gaze over to the makeshift stage where Travis and our bass player, David, were moving all the instruments and amps back to the van in and out of the restaurant.

"Who is that?" Travis mouthed to me, holding an amp in his hand. He glanced at the guy, Robert, I think his name was.

"Agent," I mouthed back.

"All right, I'll book the flight as soon as possible. Yes, I won't forget first class. Okay. Bye now," Robert said, clearly used to her banter, and hung up. "So, kid. How about it?" he said.

I turned to him again. "How about what, sir?" I asked politely.

"You want a gig? Free plane ride, free transportation. Lots of sightseeing, lots of cash. Only if you're interested," he offered, thinking I would be buttered up with the free stuff. I blinked.

"Um...where would I travel to? I'm still in school. It's only January," I said. "I'd like to finish school first."

Robert seemed a little perturbed by that, but if it showed, he didn't let it. He rubbed the goatee on his chin and looked up at the ceiling with his brown eyes.

"All right, how about this: you finish school this year, graduate, all that stuff. Then come September, you go on the road with your band. In Italy. That sound good? Cassie is itching to see you for herself. Hear your sound, hear your band," he said gruffly. I looked to Travis.

"Wanna go to Italy?" I asked with a little smile.

And...well, here we were. Volterra, Italy, playing Guitar Hero, acting like a bunch of kids. Travis had agreed and David said he was "game", and couldn't stop talking about all the hot girls that would be there.

Our mom wasn't around much these days, ever since Travis and I finished our high school careers, so we were a grand trio all on our own. My mother was never really around in my younger days, leaving my father to raise us. It was a tough thing, to live with the trauma of it, but I knew my dad wouldn't want me to hold a grudge. Forgiving someone at nineteen is such a huge feat, but I was working on it. My dad raised us, up until I was fifteen. The summer following my eighth grade year, we received news that no one ever wants to hear.

He had cancer.

He fought for eight months before the terminal illness won over.

We finished the song and went back through the list of songs.

"What song now?" I asked, looking to my brother, who was plucking the plastic guitar bar through the list. My giant of a brother, standing at a ripe six-foot-four, while I stopped at five-foot-nine.

"Hold on," he said, trying to pick a song. I moved back onto the long L-shaped leather couch and looked at the list as he went down.

"What about Misery Business? Or Hotel California?" I asked, pointing at the screen as the names passed by. Just as he picked it though, the speaker set up at the back of the buss emitted David's voice.

"Guys, we're coming up on Volterra. Might wanna start getting ready for the show. We have about half an hour left until we reach the city. And don't eat my Doritos again, Travis!" he yelled the last part with half-hearted anger and clicked the walkie-talkie back on its stand.

"Sorryyyy!" my brother yelled, throwing his head back and putting the plastic guitar up against the couch. He stood and stretched. My brother was a bottomless pit when it came to food. When our grandma spoiled us, he stayed a stick while I was the fat kid. I lost a lot of weight after my dad passed, and decided to tone myself up.

I copied Travis' motions, and prepared myself to head into the small bathroom that this bus supplied.

"I'm getting ready," I said, disappearing through the curtain. I plopped down in front of the mirror, unzipped my makeup bag and fished through it, retrieving the needed items. While my free time was spent practicing our music, the other part of my time was spent practicing makeup from YouTube. I liked experimenting with it and seeing what looks I could pull off for shows.

I had curled my hair earlier so I didn't have to worry about doing it later. Once I was finished, I came out of the curtain and my brother was tuning my guitar. We liked to stay in our gig clothes prior to, because my brother had been a Boy Scout, and he always stuck to their motto of, "Always be prepared."

"Can we practice one more time?" I asked, watching him tune. He was turning the knob at the top of the neck, tilting his head next to it.

"Yeaaaaah, hold on. Got it," he said. "Okay, here."

He handed me the guitar. I took it and positioned it on my lap, playing the beginning of the last song we were to perform.

The song I would be dedicating to my dad. We always did that at the end of each gig. He was the reason we were even together in this little band.

I wouldn't be playing it on guitar, but my keyboard was packed away in the trailer, so this would have to do. Travis drummed on his thighs while I sang and strummed. Soon, we could hear David belting out the lyrics from the curtain leading to the driver's section, purposely off-key. He was always a goof ball. He didn't do so well with serious, which is why the three of us were so hilarious.

As I got to the second verse, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful blue sky reflecting the tan cobblestone of Volterra, Italy.

Here we go.

So, I cleaned up this chapter and changed a few details. My former character, Kelly, will no longer have that name and her description will be changed as well. Due to personal reasons, I'm changing the character completely and just introducing a new one. The end game of the story will be the same, though. Sabrina is now the woman that they will meet, but I'm still coming up with her description.