The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes: 1 (The Lillys) by Xio Axelrod

Author:Xio Axelrod [Axelrod, Xio]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2021-05-03T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 18.

This was hell. After three days, Toni had thought she’d figured out how the band worked. Everything had gone pretty smoothly thus far.

Too smoothly, as it turned out. The honeymoon phase was definitely over.

“Fuck you, it’s not me,” Kayla shouted from behind a gleaming set of Ludwig drums. “I counted it off. You come in on one-and-two-AND.”

Tiff shook her head. “No, I don’t. I come in on the second one-and.”

“Um, she’s right. The intro is all drums,” Toni agreed. “I don’t think the bass drops in until right before the backing vocals.”

“You’re both wrong,” Kayla grumbled. “Am I the only one in the room with ears?”

“Back at Lilly’s, didn’t you say you liked having a drum intro?” Toni asked. “Maybe if you listened to it—”

“Who’s got the track?” Kayla demanded, cutting Toni off. “Can someone pull up the goddamned track so we can hear the goddamned thing? I’m sick of this shit.”

Kayla’s face was so red, Toni worried she might burst a blood vessel.

Toni had zero experience playing in a band, outside of impromptu jams at the Unicorn. She wondered if these sorts of outbursts were common.

Lilly appeared nonplussed and merely sat in a chair, tipping her head over the back with her eyes closed. Her waist-length blond hair nearly brushed the floor.

They’d been at SAGA for hours and hadn’t gotten through more than two songs. It was coming up on three o’clock, and they hadn’t shown any signs of stopping for lunch. Toni made a mental note to pack some granola bars or something for next time—she was starving.

Kayla used her phone to pull up the song in question. The tiny speakers were no match for the size of the room, which could have fit a full orchestra.

The bleached hardwood and bright floor-to-ceiling windows made the space seem suited to something more tranquil than the scene currently unfolding.

“See?” Kayla pointed a finger at Tiff. “I told you, one-and-two-AND.”

“How the hell am I supposed to hear anything from over here? Point your phone at a mic or something.”

“Who do I look like, a friggin’ sound guy?” Kayla scoffed. “Pull it up on your own damn phone if you’re too lazy to haul your ass five feet and listen to mine.”

Tiff turned to Toni. “You hear it, don’t you? I come in later than she thinks.”

“I…”

“Don’t kowtow to her, Toni. She knows I’m right and doesn’t want to admit it.”

“Fuck you, Emily Dickinson,” Tiff snapped.

“Jesus, enough!” Lilly’s voice cracked the air like a whip, silencing everyone.

Toni stood gaping as the others slinked back to their figurative corners.

“We have less than three weeks to sound like a real unit,” Lilly stated more calmly than Toni thought she would after that outburst. “And you two are sitting here wasting my time with your petty bickering.”

“Your time?” Tiff countered.

Lilly leveled her with a glare. “Our time, then. Happy?”

“Just making sure you didn’t kick me out too when I wasn’t looking,” Tiff mumbled loudly as she turned away.

Toni recoiled from the low blow, but Lilly only nodded, smiling.

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