AN: OMG! You guys totally rock! I never expected such a great response from all of you! Thank you so, so much! It took me a long time to come up with this chapter, since I didn't know where to take it. So I hope you like it. As always, please review. Even if you have nothing good to say about it, let me know. I can take it.

Special ANs:

Tanya, thank you for your suggestions. Although I wouldn't want to see Patsy that way. I think I'd be very afraid. Lol.

Rachel, I don't know about that, but I would like to see that. Although Liam seems to be a bigger pain in the you-know-what than Darius seems to be. Or is it just me?

Chloe, you're awesome! Thanks for reviewing!

Seleana, is there anything bad you could say about my writing? Lol. Thanks for letting me know that you love it. I just hope I can keep cranking it out for you.

judetomfan101, I know it's been awhile, but I hope you think it's worth the wait.

Ally, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I didn't know where to take this, but I think this chapter works.

Jess, I think you'll like this chapter. I guess I'll just have to wait and see, won't I?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except Tim. He's mine! OK, maybe only in my world, but a girl can dream, can't she? Lol.

Chapter 2

The next day, Jude and the guys went around and talked to everyone they knew who played in band or at least the guitar. They also went out on the streets and approached people who were carrying guitars or other recording equipment. Sadie and Kwest went around to all the local clubs, and Jude and the guys trooped into the studio before Sadie and Kwest did.

"Hey," I said, hugging Jude. I would've kissed her, but the guys would've made gagging noises or kissy faces, and I didn't want to have to smack them.

"Hey," Jude said, a little sad that I didn't greet her with my usual push-my-tongue-into-her-mouth. I motioned that the guys were there, and Jude understood.

"So, any luck?" I said, mentally crossing my fingers.

"Yeah dude, there were these girls…" Speed said, getting all excited.

"Yeah, and they were hot," Wally added.

"Dude, keep your pants on," Kyle said to Wally.

Wally narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kyle, and rolled his eyes. "Come on, dude. You gotta admit, they were hot."

He stared Kyle down until Kyle broke into a smile. "OK, dude. You have a point there."

"But can they play?" I said anxiously. I had no time to mess around.

The guys' smiles were frozen in place. Then they shook their heads and said, "Nope, sorry dude. They're tone deaf."

"What about you?" I turned to Jude. "Is there anyone?"

"There were, but Darius already got to them. If they want to perform, he said it'd be for him. Anyone else, and he'd make sure they'd never go anywhere in the music business."

"OK," I let out my breath slowly, seething with anger. Darius had us down, but we weren't out of the game just yet. There was still Sadie and Kwest.

"Hey," Sadie came in, followed by Kwest. She was carrying several shopping bags.

"It's nice to see you're serious about this," I said, a little more harshly than I'd wanted to.

"Tommy!" Jude looked at me, and I backed down. I knew she wanted to beat Darius and Liam just as much as I did.

"Sorry, Mr. Liam, Jr. Or should I make that Mr. Bond Jr.?" Sadie brushed off my comment as she set her bags down.

Kwest just shook his head, and didn't say a word.

"So, Kwest man, did you get anyone?" I asked Kwest hopefully.

"Yup," Kwest answered proudly.

"Who?" I wondered.

"His name's Mason Fox, and he's more like Jude, only he doesn't play as much rock, he's more ballad-y" Kwest said. "And he doesn't care about labels or making it big, he just wants to make music."

"Kinda like me," Jude added. "I can't wait to meet this Mason guy."

As we were standing around wondering what Mason would be like, this girl with long dark brown hair, a black halter and black stretch pants, multiple piercings and tattoos all over her body that any of our parents would drop dead at the sight of, flung the door wide open and barged inside.

"You lookin' for an artist?" she said, a guitar case slung over her shoulder.

"That depends, can you play?" I asked.

The girl took off her guitar case, set it down on the table, and took out her guitar. She started strumming so violently that I thought she'd break the strings. Then she started singing at the top of her lungs, rocking out like she was on stage or something. The guys started dancing around, air guitaring along with her and cheering.

When she was done, we were all speechless, except for the guys, who were too busy high-fiving each other and whooping.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Speed yelled, still deaf from her playing.

"Yeah dude, you rock!" Kyle bellowed. He high-fived the girl, who looked at me for my verdict.

Sadie and Kwest were standing there, still speechless about her performance. As always, Sadie was the first to speak up.

"If your clothes are any indication of the way you just played, please go ahead and shoot me," Sadie said.

"I'd be glad to, Barbie," the girl said, without missing a beat. "Or is it Kelly? Doesn't matter what your name is, I can still snap your anorexic neck with two fingers."

"Come near me, and I'll make sure you won't have any fingers left," Sadie countered.

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots," the girl taunted. Sadie came closer to her, but the girl didn't flinch.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jude said, stepping between them as they stood glaring at each other. "Sadie, calm down, OK? And you. I don't know who you are, but you don't go around picking on my sister and fighting with her. That's my job."

"Yeah," Sadie said, as the girl rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"What's your name, dude?" Wally said, still eying her closely.

"I'm Patsy," the girl said. Sadie laughed aloud, and said, "That figures."

"What are you saying?" Patsy narrowed her eyes at Sadie.

"Only that your name is Patsy because you dress so that guys…" Sadie didn't have a chance to finish her statement before Kwest clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Good idea," Patsy told Kwest, who nodded mutely.

"So, boss man, am I in or not?" Patsy looked at me. I looked at the guys' hopeful expressions, and Sadie frantically shaking her head no, and Jude looking torn between them.

"Let me think about it," I said. I didn't want to send the wrong message to Darius that the only artist I could find could be responsible for the next statistic, but the only other artist I was able to snatch from Darius' grasp was an unknown artist, and I didn't even know if he was any good.

Kwest motioned for me to follow him, and I did.

"Kwest, what do you think? Should we hire her?" I was doubtful. Either way, it'd be a gamble.

"I don't know, man. I say we try her out for a bit, see if she'd get any better," Kwest said, leaving out any disadvantages.

"From what I heard, she can't possibly get any worse," I said. Kwest nodded.

I turned back to Patsy and said, "You're in. For now. But we've got a lot of work to do before you're anywhere near where I want you to be. So we'll try you out for a while. See how you do. Any questions? Good." I walked out of there, not waiting for Patsy's response. "Call me when Mason gets in," I told Sadie, who reluctantly took her desk while keeping her eyes glued on Patsy.

Jude followed me, and said, "I knew you'd hire her."

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to look at her. "How'd you know if I would or not?"

"I know you better than you think, Quincy," Jude said. "Inside and out." She smiled flirtatiously at me, glancing first at my face, then down to my chest. Her eyes traveled down my body, making my heart beat a little faster.

"We'll see about that," I said, as I took her hand and we went to our room.

AN: Soooo, what'd you think? Please review!