Battle of the Bands Read Free Page A

gives a little sniff, goes over to the door, kicks it and screams, “Bastard!” Then she spins around, marches past me again and she’s gone.
    This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for celebrating our win today, but all things considered, I don’t think it turned out too bad.

Chapter Five
    Things seem okay with Cia. I don’t know what Kel said to her, but when we meet for our next practice she grabs her sticks and starts drumming the way she always has—totally excellent. I have to admit that when it comes to sheer skill on an instrument, Cia is the best in our group. I watch her for a minute. Sometimes you get so comfortable with a person you don’t really look at them anymore. They’re justthere. Cia isn’t what I’d call pretty or cute, but she is sharp. She has a certain style of her own that goes beyond punk. Maybe it’s the way her big brown eyes study the world and don’t get hard or bored. Or maybe it’s that grace she has in her body, probably from drumming. I think the job of keeping the beat has worked its way right inside her. She’s not my type for a girlfriend, but I really care about her.
    â€œWhat are you staring at?” she snaps. She’s still a tough chick.
    â€œYou,” I say. “You’re damn good, you know.”
    â€œShut up,” she says, but she’s smiling.
    â€œAll right,” I say. “Game on.” And we go. And go. No Amy delays, no smokes, no Mrs. Stanton kicking us out. It’s amazing. We push on and sweat starts running down my back and still we play. The tips of my fingers are numb when we reach a point that feels like a wall. I lean into my guitar, feel Kel practically vibrating beside me, look across to see Cia biting down on her lip. A feedback loop I’venever heard before comes sliding out of the amp and we all snap our heads up, meet each other’s surprised faces, keep going. We’re all grinning like fiends now, and then there’s one more riff, a low line of bass from Kel, a fade-out roll from Cia and we’re done.
    Silence. No, not quite. There’s us breathing like we just ran a mile. It’s as if we’re all afraid to speak and break the spell. What we just did was magic.
    Kel’s the first to comment. He puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles, sharp and loud.
    â€œToo right,” I say and slap him on the shoulder.
    â€œCool,” Cia adds.
    â€œYou know what?” I ask. I don’t wait for an answer. “We’re going to win that battle next week. We’re finally gonna be on our way.”
    Cia wrinkles her nose. “You think?”
    â€œYeah, I think.”
    â€œWhat about Indigo Daze?” Kel asks.
    â€œThey’ll be there.”
    â€œDon’t worry about them. They’re not going to beat us this time.”
    Kel shakes his head. “How can you be so sure?”
    â€œCuz I am,” I say quietly. “If we can play like this...”
    â€œYou don’t think this was a fluke?”
    â€œKel, my man, you have to believe me. Tell you what, though. I happen to know that Indigo Daze is playing in their school battle tomorrow. Want to go check them out?”
    â€œHow are we going to do that? “ Cia asks.
    â€œWe go to their school at lunchtime and we just mingle with the crowd and that’s it. Simple.”
    Cia looks doubtful. “We’ll miss class. If I get caught skipping again, my mom will ground me for life.”
    â€œSo we won’t miss class, okay? I’ll get us a ride and we’ll leave the minute lunch starts and be back by the time lunch is over. It’s only five minutes away by car.”
    â€œWho’s going to give us a ride?” Kel asks.
    â€œDon. I figure he still owes us. He won’t mind driving.”
    Kel grins, but Cia keeps frowning. “Isn’t there some rule about how many passengers he can take with a new license?”
    â€œYeah,