The Rockstar Chronicles

The Meeting

They came for us right after that. The room Kandee led us to was at the other end of the hall on the floor above and it looked out over Nashville.

It was easily the biggest room I had ever been in and I chose the chair closest to the door, trying to remain unnoticed.

As soon as I snagged my seat, I scanned the members present, my jaw dropping in shock. A lot of men and women I didn't recognize sat at the far end. Their manner gave them away, they were obviously employees of Mr. Kane.

But in the middle, the adult representatives of each of the boys jockeyed for position. Mom had somehow gotten the center seat, with Grant on one side and Shayna Sparkes on the other! Her husband and Bridge's father, Nate Berkeley, sat across from her. I couldn't see who sat next to him.

Sarah was on the edge of the group, sitting next to Shayna with Hardyn on her left. Bridge pulled out the chair next to me, plopping down in his seat as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Stole the best seat, didn't you?" he whispered, sending me a secret grin.

I smiled. "Every time!"

As soon as everyone was seated, the meeting began. I can say now that I definitely did not know what to expect. I had never seen anything like it.

Mr. Kane took the lead, clearing his throat and shuffling the papers in front of him before greeting us all with a toothy grin. "I'm sure you're all anxious to know the name of the band at this point."

Name of the band?!? This was important. Butterflies filled my stomach and my palms began to sweat. Calm down, I told myself. It's not like you're a member. But I felt like an honorary member and like I was witnessing something... important.

Bridge shifted in his seat next to me, leaning forward with his eyebrows raised expectantly. Hardyn froze, his eyes trained on Mr. Kane. I leaned back and stared at Grady, but he was looking the other way, glancing nervously between Mom and Mr. Kane, who was hesitating, his brow furrowed while he pretended to search for the winning name.

I leaned back in my chair, breathing through my nose with my eyes closed. Whatever he said would haunt me for the rest of my life. I could see it clearly in my mind's eye. Oh, you're Lindy Madison? Wasn't your brother in that band? I imagined t-shirts, posters, concert tickets, and memorabilia. My hands shook. Please don't let it be something stupid.

And then I felt something nudge my foot and I opened my eyes. Ryder stared at me from across the table and I smiled at him without thinking. Slowly, he grinned back at me. On his right, in the last seat on the opposite side of the table, Tom swallowed hard, glancing at me and then staring at the table, his hands clenched across his stomach as if it hurt.

I wished he would look up, even for a second so I could send him some type of unspoken reassurance, but he refused to meet my eyes.

"Hmmph," Mr. Kane cleared his throat and I realized with a start that I was the one he was waiting. He wanted all attention on him before he proceeded.

"Lindy!" Grady hissed. "Pay attention." I stared down the long table as if I were intently focused on Mr. Kane and his announcement, noticing Mom glaring at me from the corner of my eye.

"As I was saying," Mr. Kane said. "The band's name is Kiss Goodbye." He smiled jovially, slapping his large hands on the table.

Silence fell over the room and I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't mind the name, in fact I liked it, but I wasn't sure what the reaction of Mom and her cohorts would be.

"Kiss Goodbye," Grant muttered, tapping his fingers on the table in thought. "I like it."

Mom, as usual, was hedging her bets. Usually she spoke her mind without a second thought, but she knew when she was outclassed.

"Shayna," she said, "you have experience in this industry. What do you think?" She tried to do her schmoozing in a low tone, but everyone at the table heard it. Mr. Kane raised his eyebrows, his eyes glittering dangerously. Even Shayna seemed embarrassed.

"I think it's really good. Striking," Shayna said.

Agreements slowly began to echo around the table, rising in tone as everyone realized there was no opposition. Mom, realizing her blunder, winked at Mr. Kane and nodded at the group as if she had helped win support for his name.

He nodded at her, smiling thinly and she sighed with audible relief. She didn't seem to see, as I did, the expression on his face as she looked away.

As the discussions about the cleverness of the name and the marketing ability attached to it grew, I began to relax. That wasn't so bad, I thought as my stiff fingers relaxed. The Madison's had survived their first important meeting.

"Now," Mr. Kane said. "On to other business. Shall we discuss rehearsals so far?"

I gulped. Uh oh.