Chapter 2
"Well, here we are." Ralphie said. "Mom's out on call, so I have the whole house to myself." He tossed his backpack on the stairs and headed upstairs. "Well, come on." He said. Carlos and DA discarded their bags and followed him to his room. Ralphie pushed a pile of dirty laundry aside and sat down on the rug with a note pad. "Okay, first, we need to come up with a band name." The three of them sat down in silence, throwing out the odd name like 'Child Prodogy' or 'Red Scorpions' until Carlos snapped his fingers. "Drug-X" He cried out. "No way!" DA snapped. "Why not?" Ralphie asked. "According to my research, Drug-X is another term for ecstasy." "So?" "So, I don't feel comfortable performing in a band with a sexual name." Carlos smirked. "DA," He began, "do you like anyone?" DA narrowed her eyes. "What does my love life have to do with this?" "I bet you do." Carlos continued, ignoring her comment. "You like someone." DA shrugged. "I guess... but he perfers... other types of women." Carlos swung his arm around her shoulder. "Well, DA." He countered. "Imagine, you're singing in Drug-X, he sees you onstage and he realizes he absolutely has to have you." Dorothy Ann shrugged. "I guess... It's probably not going to work, but..." "Drug-X it is." Ralphie interrupted, writing it down. "Now, what instruments should we play? I know we agreed on me on drums, and Carlos on guitar, but what about you, DA?" he asked. DA shrugged, I can still play piano, so I guess, keyboard." "And you are a great singer." Ralphie added, writing down some more things. Now, the final question: What are we going to sing?" The three paused again, "Well, it has to be something all three of us agree on, and it has to be something we can all play..." "Remember when we all went through that Vertical Horizon phase?" Dorothy Ann asked, dreamily. Ralphie nodded. "Hey, why not?" He asked. "We certainly know all the lyrics and chords, so we could easily play." "One problem." Dorothy Ann countered. "My voice is too high, I can't hit all the low notes." Ralphie lowered his head. "And after that nodes incident, I can't sing either. We need a fourth member." "Hey!" Carlos snapped. "What am I? A back-up dancer?" Ralphie and Doroty Ann looked at him in shock. "You can sing?" Ralphie asked. Carlos nodded. "I'd been singing since grade five." Dorothy Ann and Ralphie looked at each other. "Sing AND play guitar, simoultaniously?" Dorothy Ann asked. Carlos nodded. "Okay... What should our opening song be, then?" Ralphie asked. DA went onto the computer and Googled 'Vertical Horizon'. "According to my research, Vertical Horizon dosn't have alot of singles, but it looks like one of their best albums is 'Everything you Want', with four singles. So, therefor, if we want a good hit, we should pick something from that album." "Way to make music boring, DA." Carlos remarked. DA turned and shot him a look. "Okay, then, you're going to be singing one of these, pick one." Carlos looked over his choices for what seemed like half an hour until he had an idea. "Okay, this song looks like it's in my vocal range..." He went and downloaded a karaoke track. While it was playing, Carlos began to sing
We are
We are
We are
We are
Take a listen through the window
Take a lover on the radio
Ask her if she's got an answer
Do you know
Time enough to get a good one
Though they never seem to get done
I am standing for a reason
Do you know
'Cause I don't know how
And I don't know where
We are we are
And I don't know why
I don't know if
We are we are
Seven days and not a return
Seven lives and not a thing learned
Take a lover on the highway
Do you know?
'Cause I am sleeping on a time bomb
And I am waiting for the light to come
You and I could get away now
Do you know
'Cause I don't know how
And I don't know where
We are we are
And I don't know why
I don't know if
We are we are
I get up sometimes
Like somebody else
Am I just wasting time
For somebody else
Take a listen through the window
Another lover on the radio
Ask her if she's got an answer
Do you know?
'Cause I don't know how
And I don't know where
We are we are
And I don't know why
I don't know if
We are we are
When he finished the song, Ralphie and Dorothy Ann were staring at him, jaws dropped. "What?" Carlos asked in surprise. "That was amazing!" Dorothy Ann squealed. "Yeah, why didn't you tell us about your awesome singing voice?" Carlos shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "It didn't seem that important." "Whatever." DA continued. "You are definately singing that for the first round." "But what about you?" "I can do keyboard for this round." "And hey," Ralphie continued. "you two can alternate during rounds, and when we make it to the finals, you two sing a duet!" "Deal!" The two said, and slapped each other five. "Drug-X is well under way."