Free Totally Unrelated by Tom; Ryan

doesn’t hate me. I apologize to her so many times that she eventually has to tell me to stop.
    â€œI wish you hadn’t done it,” she says, “but I’m happy that everything’s out in the open now.”
    â€œSo what’s going to happen?” I ask.
    She shrugs. “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to see how things play out when I get back to school. The important thing to remember is that the band will still go on, even if I’m not around next year. It’ll just be a bit different. Mom and Dad realize that, and they aren’t pressuring me either way, which is good.”
    I can’t help wondering why they haven’t taken it that easy on me, but that’s just how it is, I guess. I can’t be in two places at one time, so I do my best to forget about the talent show. It isn’t easy, especially when I close my eyes and imagine kissing Sandy and realize that will probably never happen again.
    Mom starts banging on our bedroom doors at five o’clock on Thursday morning. We line up outside the bathroom and wait our turn to take a five-minute shower, then wolf down breakfast and load the bus. By six thirty we’re on the road for the four-hour drive to Halifax.
    After we cross the causeway to the mainland, Dad pulls the bus over so we can grab some coffee and doughnuts. By this time we’re starting to wake up, so when we get back on the road, he starts running through his plan for our set.
    â€œThree songs doesn’t give us a huge chance to make an impression,” he says, “so we have to make the most of the time we have. We should definitely start with ‘Off to the Dance.’ It gives everyone a chance to do their thing, and it’ll get the crowd riled up.”
    â€œDo you think Vince Beach is going to like us?” asks Maura.
    â€œHow could he not?” says Mom, turning in her seat and smiling back at us.
    â€œMaybe he’ll come out and do a song with us!” says Molly.
    â€œI wouldn’t count on that, girls,” says Dad. “I’m sure he’ll have a lot of preparing to do backstage. But you never know. Maybe he’ll find a minute to hang out in the wings and watch us do our thing.”
    When we’re an hour away from Halifax, Mom pops the latest Vince Beach CD, American Saloon , into the stereo and jacks the volume.
    Even though I really don’t like country music, it’s hard not to get a little bit excited when everyone else in the bus starts singing along.
    â€œ I bought a big old ring, and if you tell me yes, I’ll rent a big ol’ tux, you’ll buy a big white dress. ”
    By the time we spot the first sign for Halifax, I’m laughing and belting it out along with them.
    â€œ We’ll get a big old crowd, and have a big old night. We’ve got a future together, and it’s big and bright. ”
    The concert is on the Halifax Common, a large park in the middle of the city. Dad drives slowly past the fences that have been erected around the perimeter, looking for the talent and personnel entrance. It’s slow going, and we’re forced several times to stop in the middle of the road as steady streams of people move toward the concert grounds.
    â€œThis is nuts,” says Johnny. “The show doesn’t even start for three hours.”
    â€œI can’t believe we’re going to be playing for a crowd this big,” says Kathy.
    â€œThey came to see Vince Beach,” says Gran, “but they’ll leave talking about the Family McClintock.”
    She sounds so sure of this that I start to think about what this concert could mean for us. We’ve been slowly building a name for ourselves over the years, but exposure like this doesn’t come along very often. Although part of me still wishes more than anything that I could be in Deep Cove to play my debut show with Sandy and Bert, I’m happy for the first time in days, knowing