Free More Than Music by Elizabeth Briggs Page A

room.
    “I haven’t played this song before,” I said to the guys. “Have you?”
    “No,” Jared said, as the other two shook their heads. “Which means we need to work our asses off this week.”

W e spent the next couple hours having photos taken of us, both individually and as a band. After that, another camera crew had us walk down a long red carpet outside while they filmed us. Like in the interview the other day, they had me and Jared up front, and the other two guys behind us. We did this multiple times, walking toward the camera and trying to look cool with the wind blowing our hair back, like we were a Serious Band Doing Serious Music. Mostly, I felt ridiculous.
    When I returned to my room, my phone was flashing with a bunch of texts from Julie and Carla asking how my first day was and another from Jared telling me to come to their room to watch the show in an hour. I’d forgotten that the first episode of The Sound was tonight, and there was a good chance we’d be on it. Even if we weren’t on until tomorrow’s show, we needed to check out the other bands and see what we were up against.
    I wrote the girls and told them my day was crazy but exciting and that I would update them more later. After a quick shower, I pulled on some yoga pants and a tank top, but one glance in the mirror told me that wouldn’t work. The tank top was too tight on its own, and this wasn’t like hanging out with my roommates in my apartment. I barely knew these guys—other than Kyle anyway. I switched to jeans and threw a flannel shirt on over my tank top. Much better.
    When I got to the guys’ room, they already had two pizzas sitting on the desk, and my stomach growled. Hector was hogging an entire bed, Jared was on the other, and Kyle took up the only chair, leaving me no place to sit. I hesitated just inside the door, trying to figure out a way to solve the seating problem without it being super awkward.
    “Grab some pizza and come sit,” Jared said, patting the bed next to him. None of the other guys said anything, so I guessed that was my spot then. Thanks a lot, guys.
    I got some food and a beer and sat next to Jared, careful to stick to my side of the bed so we didn’t touch. With my luck, I’d probably drop pizza all over his white sheets. Why couldn’t they have ordered something less messy to eat? But soon the warm smell of cheese and pepperoni hit me, and I was digging in, too.
    “Oh my god, this pizza is the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten.”
    “I know. I thought I was going to chew my arm off earlier,” Jared said.
    “Maybe the show is starving us so we’ll lose those ten pounds the camera adds.”
    He laughed, and I loved the sound of it, how honest and real it was. “That must be it. Though I think you look perfect the way you are.” His voice dropped so the other guys couldn’t hear the last part, and I swear the room temperature jumped by at least ten degrees.
    “Quiet, it’s starting,” Kyle said and used the remote to raise the volume.
    For the first few minutes, the show explained the premise and how it worked and then introduced the mentors. They made a big deal about how Lance had won the last three years in a row and then showed a quick preview of the bands performing tonight, including a one-second shot of us, before it cut away to commercials. I nearly dropped my pizza when I saw it. I knew our audition would be aired one of the nights, but it was still a total shock to actually see us on TV.
    “That was us!” Kyle said, slapping his hand on the desk.
    “We must be on tonight’s show,” Jared said.
    He got up and dropped his empty plate in the trash and then sank back on the bed. His elbows brushed against my side as he opened his laptop, making me tense up, but when I tried to look at him without actually looking at him, he didn’t seem to notice. Had he purposefully sat a little closer to me this time? Or was I imagining it?
    The show returned with the first audition from an