Free Rules to Rock By by Josh Farrar Page B

whoa-she-could-be-nuts look, but I was stoked. I clapped my hands together, let out an embarrassingly girly squeal, and jumped in the air.
    “Cool!” I said. “A band member! One down, a couple to go. Can you get together to practice this Saturday at my place?”
    “Sure.”
    “Excellent. Thank you so much, Cr— Oops, sorry.”
    “It’s okay,” Christine said. “You can call me Crackers once in a while. Just don’t do it in the halls. And leave off the ‘ ’n’ cheese,’ please.”

    I returned from school, and yet again there was no party in honor of my coming home. My parents barely looked up from the soundboard, where supposedly they were in the final stages of mixing. But they’d been saying that for weeks. X wasn’t there. My mom said Jake had taken him over to Don’s, so apparently his violent outburst hadn’t gotten him banned for life.
    I found Ronaldo on IM.
    Bassinyrface: so do u think everyone in a band has to be cool?
    EggMtnRckr: what do you mean?
    Bassinyrface: I mean, I found a girl today who’s a pretty amazing musician. But she’s kind of strange.
    EggMtnRckr: Strange how? Funny looking?
    Bassinyrface: No, more … funny acting.
    EggMtnRckr: yeah?
    Bassinyrface: Like, she eats constantly, and she’s always got crumbs all over her shirt, and people call her Crackers n Cheese!
    EggMtnRckr: no way, seriously?
    Bassinyrface: word.
    EggMtnRckr: Well first of all, image is definitely a big deal. People arent just listening to you. Theyre WATCHING you.
    Bassinyrface: I know. That kinda freaks me out.
    EggMtnRckr: like at SummerStage that time.
    Bassinyrface: yeah, exactly!
    EggMtnRckr: But you got over that. And you always had good stage presence.
    Bassinyrface: Thanks … but does my whole band need to have that? Stage presence?
    EggMtnRckr: Well it does help. But it’s not everything. As long as at least you and one other person in the band have it, you’ll be all right.
    Bassinyrface: And do they need to dress all rock? Because Jonny kind of does, but this girl dresses like a super dork.
    EggMtnRckr: Mmmm, well maybe THAT will be your image.
    Bassinyrface: ?
    EggMtnRckr: like, maybe NOT having an image is your image.
    Bassinyrface: Not following you. At all.
    EggMtnRckr: Here’s what I mean. It’s back to the “Be Yourself” thing. Some bands who have a really intense image look really cool, and other bands look like theyre trying way too hard. Animal Collective had their animal mask thing going for a while, but now they just get up and play in T-shirts and jeans. You know?
    Bassinyrface: yep.
    EggMtnRckr: And take somebody like Bono. He’s got the crazy big sunglasses that he wears like all the time.
    Bassinyrface: Seriously, ALL the time! Weird.
    EggMtnRckr: But it fits somehow. He’s a big, loud guy and he wears big, loud shades.
    Bassinyrface: And he’s saving the world. One child at a time.
    EggMtnRckr: Heh.
    Bassinyrface: But yeah, I do get it. So we just have to sort of figure out who we are as a band, ya?
    EggMtnRckr: Right. Then the image stuff can come later. And it’ll make sense.
    Bassinyrface: Gotcha. Thx.

    “Hey, Abuela, it’s me, Annabelle, again.” Here I was, leaving another message. “I’m sure you’re busy as usual, but can you give me a call sometime?”
    Did I sound mean? I didn’t want to sound mean. I just really wanted her to call me back!
    I went for more of an upbeat tone: “Today I think I found the first member of my new band. Or I might have two band members, if this one boy would just get it together and join already.
    “He’s a little nerdy, and she’s addicted to snack food. But they’re cool.” Sort of. Cool enough to want to be in a band, anyway.
    “X is still acting weird and begging for attention. But I’m the only one who’ll give any to him, and I’ve got my own stuff to worry about, too. I don’t mean to make you feel guilty, but will you call us? We miss you, Abuela … Bye.”
    Sometimes rock stars just need to hear from