Free Sound Bites: A Rock & Roll Love Story by Rachel K. Burke Page B

playing.” He took a long swig of his beer and then peered down the hallway. “You like the digs?”
    “Yeah. This place is a gem, huh?”
    Dylan nodded, keeping a straight face. “Yeah. I can’t even believe they rent it out so cheap. What a steal.”
    He turned around and led me into the rehearsal room to meet the crew. I waved to Justin. “Hey, guys, this is Renee. Renee, you already know Justin. This is Christian and Jeff. Christian plays drums, Jeff plays bass.” He reached into a dorm-sized fridge in the corner of the room and handed me a beer without asking.
    I surveyed the room as the guy sucked back their brews, tallying up my first impressions. Christian’s spiky hair and high cheekbones made him look more like a poster boy for Abercrombie than a guy who was supposed to be the next John Bonham, and Jeff reminded me of the surfer stoners who always hit on Justine and me every time we shopped on Venice Beach. His wavy hair hung limp around his shoulders, and the only words his vocabulary consisted of were “whatever” and “right on.”
    Justin filled me in on the fact that Dylan was “quite the song writer” as he put it, something I had zero knowledge of, and told me they were going to start off with one of the songs he’d written. As the first verse kicked in, I couldn’t believe how much more confident Dylan had become compared to the first time I watched him sing. They had only been practicing for a few weeks, but I could already sense a huge improvement. His voice had smoothed out and he wasn’t fidgeting with his hands like he normally did when he was nervous. I felt like a proud mom.
    Once the boys were about halfway through their set, I decided to head home so I could give them some privacy. Dylan offered to walk me out, so I waved goodbye to the boys and followed him down the graffiti infested hallway towards the elevator from hell. 
    “Um, do you know if there is a set of stairs in here?” I had to ask. I didn’t want him to think I was a chickenshit, but there was no way in hell that I was going to set foot in that death trap again. I’d rather tie sheets together and fling myself out the window like Rapunzel.
    “Stairs?” Dylan cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
    “Because that elevator is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”
    He nodded as though he completely understood and led me to a back hallway that contained a big metal door, and behind it was – low and behold – a staircase.
    Dylan held the door open for a minute, looking at me in that steady, unwavering way that made my stomach hurt. “Thanks for coming tonight. Did you have fun?”
    “I did. That song you wrote was incredible.”
    “Thanks. We’re actually practicing a few that I wrote, too. I just hope I man up and get through this first show so you can hear them.”
    I couldn’t have agreed more, but opted to change the subject for the sake of argument. “Do you guys have a name for the band?”
    “Well, they booked this gig under the band’s old name, Electric Wreck, but I kind of like it, so I’m thinking we should keep it.”
    I nodded. I thought it was a pretty cool name, too. “Your lyrics were great, too. I had no idea you even wrote your own stuff.”
    “Thanks. I try to write them so they come from the heart. I want them to be meaningful, you know?”
    “You’re telling me,” I agreed. “Half of the songs on the radio today are awful . Avril Lavigne is a millionaire, and she quite possibly has the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard.”
    His eyes gleamed like I’d just hit the jackpot. “They’re terrible! He was a skater boy …”
    “ I said see you later boy ,” I chimed in. 
    Dylan threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. I always felt proud when I made him laugh because it happened so infrequently. “I’ll see you later,” he whispered before turning around and heading back down the corridor.
    I watched him as he walked away, analyzing the steady way he moved. And even though he never