Road Trip (6 page)

“Some performers get details about dressing rooms written right into their contracts,” Brett continued. “Like they have to get nice furniture and fresh flowers and specific kinds of food and all kinds of stuff.”

“You're kidding,” I said. “Do they really get it?”

“If they've got big enough names.”

“Well—” I rolled my eyes—“we won't have to worry about that.”

“Oh, I don't know,” said Allie, getting that dreamy diva look in her eyes.

I firmly shook my head. “No way. Besides, even if we ever did get to be a big name like, say, Iron Gross, I think it would be really lame to act that demanding.”

Jeremy nodded. “That's how we feel too.”

“Yeah,” agreed Isaiah. “It's fun having folks cater to you, but we try to remember that we're here to serve.”

“That's been a big part of our ministry,” said Michael. He'd been pretty quiet most of the evening. He has extremely curly reddish hair that's cut short. He plays bass but, with his lanky arms and legs, looks as if he'd be more comfortable on a basketball court. That is, until, you seeing him getting down on his bass. Then he totally looks like a musician.

“The thing is,” continued Jeremy. “Like Isaiah said, we really do believe that God gave us our gifts to serve others. And that helps keep everything else in perspective.”

“Not that some people don't forget sometimes.” Isaiah glanced over at Brett.

“Yeah, yeah.” Brett shrugged. “I'm only human, you know. Sometimes it's fun to enjoy the stardom a little.”

Allie nodded. “That's how I feel…sometimes anyway.”

“I'm sure God doesn't mind if we enjoy our little perks.” Isaiah held up a cheese curl with yellowed fingers. “Like this fine cuisine they provide for us.”

We all laughed.

Then Jeremy made this sweet little speech about how they really thought we had talent and
they wanted to do anything possible to help us.

“We really mean it,” he finished up. “Whether it's music-related or your own spiritual walk, we're here for you.”

The other guys nodded, then Michael looked at his watch. “Well, we're here for you for a few more minutes. Then we gotta split to catch our flight.”

“You guys are flying to Phoenix?” asked Allie with wide eyes.

Jeremy shrugged a bit sheepishly. “We used to have to travel by bus too. But things change, you know?”

“Hey,” I waved my hand, “we understand. You guys have paid your dues. It's only fair.”

“And sometimes we go in our bus,” said Jeremy.

“Yeah, especially with the way security is getting,” Brett added. “You practically get strip-searched every time you try to board a plane.”

Allie grinned. “Kaybe they just think you guys are cute.”

“Seriously?” said Laura. “They even make celebrities go through all that security?”

Isaiah laughed. “Yeah, that's one place where there are no respecters of persons.”

“It's a good way to bring you back to earth,” said Jeremy. “Just in case you're getting a big head.” He jabbed Isaiah with his elbow.

“Anyway, we'll probably ride.on our bus from Albuquerque to Santa i'e, right, Jeremy?”

“That's the plan.”

“Cool.” Allie had two stars shining in her eyes as she waved good-bye to Brett. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. That 'girl has absolutely no sense of subtlety. I originally thought she had it bad for Isaiah, but as it turns out, she's smitten with Brett the drummer. Guess it takes one to know one. Still, I'm guessing these guys already have girlfriends. I know they have plenty of girl fans who would be perfectly willing to volunteer if they don't.

Now, as I sit here writing in the privacy of my diary as our bus rolls up the highway toward Phoenix, I will admit which guy (in Iron Gross) most intrigues me. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by this since I've always considered him to be the best looking in a dark, serious way. Of course, all I had to go by was their album covers before. But anyway, it's Jeremy Baxter. Okay, Allie might not think he's such a hottee—at least not in her book—but I happen to think he is totally gorgeous. Although I will probably keep this to myself.

Because of course, I know he's way too old for me. Sheesh, he's even older than my brother Josh. But I can't help but think he's pretty cool. And mature. I really like the way he talks about his relationship with God. I guess I just really respect him. It's not as if I'm having a crush or
anything. That would be childishly stupid. Besides, I'm still sort of involved with Cesar. Or at least I think I am.

To be honest, I'm beginning to think it's a little weird having this long-distance relationship with a guy who I probably don't know all that well. I realize, especially by his e-mails, that Cesar considers me his girlfriend. And I suppose I felt like that last summer. But I'm not so sure anymore. So much else is going on now. I guess it's not really important to figure this out tonight. But just the same, I'd feel awful to think I've been disloyal to him. Cesar is one of the coolest, most grounded guys I know. Which reminds me, I need to e-mail him tomorrow.

(COOKING IN PHOENIX)

Man, is it hot down here. And crowded. I am seriously wondering what makes all these people want to live in a hot desert spot like this. It's not that the landscape isn't beautiful—in that stark desert sort of way. But according to what I've heard, most people seem to stay inside with their air conditioners cranked up all the time. I suppose the heat could take its toll. There will definitely be no sleeping on the bus down here. Too stuffy.

We've done three concerts with Iron Gross so far. I'm almost beginning to feel comfortable with the whole thing. And fortunately,. Laura is hanging in there just fine. Oh, she still has her slumps and gets grumpy sometimes, but when it's time for a concert, she really comes to life. In fact, she's been great every night we've performed. So it seems we're over some sort of hump here.

And from now on our schedule'will be a little less demanding than it was when we were doing the church and fair circuit, but the expectation level is much higher. We've got to be in tip-top
form every time we open for Iron Gross. Willy and Elise keep reminding us to pace-ourselves. I'm sure they're worried that we could easily become burnt-out before our tour is up.

Willy finally got our laptops hooked up to some kind of wireless service so we can use the Internet while we're on the road. So now we have no excuse not to stay in touch with everyone—as well as getting our homework done. Already I've hinted to Cesar that this long-term relationship might not be the best thing. I told him that I'll always want to be close friends with him, but that I'm not sure about the rest of it. I could tell by his response that he was a little hurt. But he said he understood. I hope so.

(HANGIN' IN ALBUQUERQUE)

We've had a pretty quiet week, all things considered. It's been a good chance to get caught up on things like schoolwork and rest and also e-mail. It's funny to think that of all the e-mail I get— and it's really quite a lot these days since everyone I know seems to want to write to a “rock star”—I've discovered that I look forward to the ones from ray dad the most.

This has taken me completely by surprise. I mean, I realize I'm only sixteen, and by all rights I should still be living at home and begging to stay out later than my ten o'clock curfew. But I also know that I think of myself as older somehow—like I'm ready to be independent and on ray own. And I am, sort of. It's also true that I hadn't felt terribly close to ray parents during
the past few years, which was mostly my fault. I was so consumed with being a rebel that I thought my parents were hopelessly lame, and I went out of my way to avoid having a relationship with them at all.

Now I'm finding that I feel bad for the time I wasted, and it makes me miss my parents. I can tell my dad really misses me, and that feels kind of cool. He says my mom misses me too, and I don't think he'd lie about something like that. But she doesn't do e-mail, and I've only talked to her a couple of times on the phone. So it's hard to say. But that's okay. I accept that Mom and I are just. two very different people. I love her anyway, and I know she loves me.

Speaking of parents and families, we all just got this great idea. We've decided to see if we can fly our parents out to Dallas on October 23. We're having a pretty big concert that night, and we thought it'd be fun to have them come and see us and stay a couple nights at the hotel. We asked Willy to check into this—and see if we can afford it. Because despite what people may think, we do live within a budget. Oh, sure,'we all have more money than we could make working at the coffeehouse or, McDonald's, but we're certainly not millionaires.

Anyway, it's fun to think of having them all come out. Ifot so much that I want to impress them
with our new status of “stardom,” which is really an overstatement, but I would like them to see us opening for Iron Cross. That, I feel, is quite an accomplishment. And I want them to meet the guys in the band.

(SEEING SANTA FE)

Somehow we got our schedules a bit confused (my fault I'm sure), and both Iron Gross and Redemption showed up at the same time to practice this afternoon. We're sharing the same practice room at the hotel, getting ready for our
concert tomorrow night. Anyway, the guys were real sweet about it and actually invited us to a little jam session with them.

It was so cool. Just jamming with Iron Gross. Talk about stoked. And our combined sound wasn't half bad either. Mot that we'll be taking it to the stage anytime soon. Or ever, for that matter. But it was fun.

After we finished up, we hung in the practice room for a while. We were trying to think of something fun to do but were having a hard time agreeing on anything. Some of us wanted to do something outdoors, and others (like Allie and Laura and Brett) seemed content to go mall hopping. Finally, we decided to split up, and I ended up going with Jeremy and Isaiah. Our plan was to drive up to Santa 3fe, which we figured would take about an hour.

We got into the rental car, this black Mustang convertible that the guys had been sharing, and we headed up the highway. Jeremy was the driver, and I offered to sit in back since I'm shorter and the legroom's a little cramped back there— besides, it seemed right. The plan was to just stop wherever we wanted along the way.

Well, the country was drop-dead gorgeous and we stopped a lot. The rugged mountains and pine trees were stunning, the air was clean and clear, and the sky was this amazing jewel-tone shade of
blue. It became quite obvious that Jeremy was a real nature freak. Anyway, that's what Isaiah calls him.

“Jeremy just goes nuts over things like trees and birds and stuff,” Isaiah said after Jeremy had pulled over to better investigate what he thought was an eagle.

“I think that's cool,” I admitted. “Nature can be pretty inspiring.”

Jeremy smiled. “Yeah, we poets need to stick together.”

I think that's one of the nicest compliments I've ever had. But I'm not sure if I even said thank you or not.

We finally made it to Santa i'e and went to this cool Mexican restaurant for dinner. The building was made out of adobe and looked like it was about a hundred years old. We sat outside on a terra-cotta patio, under lots of festive, colorful lanterns. They even had live music (a marimba band), and I honestly felt like I was in some old cheesy Hollywood movie. Only it was totally fun. And surprisingly, I found myself really opening up to these guys.

“I'm just not that comfortable with the one-on-one stuff,” I told them as we started our dessert. “You know, signing autographs and talking with strangers who act like you're some kind of superstar.”

“Man, that's the best part…' Isaiah laughed then pointed his finger at Jeremy. “Although not everyone thinks so.”

Jeremy smiled. “I'm not that comfortable with it either.”

“Really?” I studied this confident-looking young man and wondered how that could possibly be true.

He nodded. “I'm fine up there onstage, Chloe, but when I'm face-to-face with a fan, I get a little unnerved.”

“Yes!” Relief washed over me. “That's exactly how I feel. But Allie and Laura seem perfectly fine with it. I thought I was just weird.”

“Well, welcome to the club,” said Jeremy.

“Does it get any better?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Sometimes I think it does. After all, we've been doing this for five years. But then there are times when I'd like to go climb in a hole too.”

“Yeah,” said Isaiah. “We have to keep our eye on him.”

“Do you have any suggestions?” I looked at Jeremy hopefully. “Any magical answers?”

He laughed. “I wish. Mostly I try to put the whole thing into God's hands and trust Him. But I also think it's therapeutic to just keep thrusting yourself out there. It's like facing your fears.”

I sighed. “I suppose. But sometimes it's overwhelming.”