In a red room

Sunlight coming in

Music dancing around

People in here

Waltz about gaily

Their crystal laughs

Stroking my senses

I move to the back

Where shadows lie

Stretched before me

A rather large painting

Entitled: The End

My black eyes

Solemnly watch it

Skin vibrates emotion

The painting screams at me

I close my eyes

Turn away from the painting

Merge back with the people

Leaving the end behind

--The song The Room, lyrics by Orion Bauwes

"You guys really should do some merch."

"...In order to do merch, we would need to have money. We don't really have any of that."

"You'd have money if you signed with us."

It's the next weekend at our next gig. We're floored when Paul shows up again.

"Look," Orion says, running a hand through his hair, "we talked about it since last week, and the answer is still no." He moves to leave but then stops briefly in front of Paul, glancing him up and down. "Thank you."

It was true. We talked about it. And we all had arrived at the same answer. Ben's parents had already paid for his college. My parents had already paid for college. We didn't think there was anyway to devote the amount of hours it takes to make a record and go to school full time.

So, unfortunately, the answer was no.

"You kept my card, right?" Paul asks me with a wink before he walks away.

It's the same thing at the following gig.

"Are you stalking us?" Orion asks with a slight chuckle, shaking his head.

Paul grins. "Maybe."

"We're still not signing. You know, parents and all that jazz."

"Fuck 'em."

We all stare at Paul with EMI, a bit taken aback.

"Do you have a demo at least?"

"Nope."

"Make me one."

It's not a question. We all watch him, stunned, as he walks away.

So when Paul from EMI shows up to our next concert, we came prepared.

"Here," Orion tells him, shoving a CD jewel case into his hand before Paul can even say Bob's your uncle.

"What's this?" Paul asks, dramatically feigning surprise, putting a hand to his chest.

"We talked our music teacher into letting us use one of the private practice rooms as a recording studio, so here. Here's your damn demo."

Paul smiles wolfishly. He salutes with the CD case, gives a wink, and starts to walk away.

"Hey!" Ben calls after him. "What're you gonna do with that?"

Paul turns around and walks backwards, a devilish grin still plastered on his face. "I d'no, we'll see, won't we?"

~

"H--"

"TURN ON THE RADIO RIGHT NOW!"

I hold the phone away from my ear. "Fuck, Orion."

But he doesn't hear because he's still screaming at the top of his lungs. "TURN ON 204.5! THEY'RE PLAYING AERIAL VIEW! THEY'RE FUCKING PLAYING OUR SONG ON THE RADIO!"

"WHAT?!"

I immediately run downstairs. We don't have a stereo in the house, so I run out to the garage. My parents look at me funny.

"I HAVE TO GO," Orion continues shrieking, "I HAVE TO CALL BEN--"

The call ends. I turn on the radio, immediately turning it to the station he said.

And I'm floored. He wasn't lying. Orion's voice is coming over the radio. Orion's voice is coming over a well known radio station! And, what do my ears hear? Me. Playing the guitar.

I start giggling. Then I'm laughing. Then I'm laughing hysterically. I crank the volume up as loud as it will go, fling myself out of the car, and barrel into the house.

"MOM! DAD! CHARLOTTE! COME QUICK! YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS! WE'RE ON THE RADIO! WE'RE ON THE FUCKING RADIO!"

I'm already running back. They're running after me. I'm jumping up and down, laughing hysterically, doing circles with my arms outspread. For a moment they all look at me in disbelief. Then slowly they smile. Then before I know it, we're all jumping up and down, gripping each other by the forearms, laughing and squealing and shouting.

~

Overnight we become rockstars. Well, not literally (yet). Walking into school the next day was...surreal. People had heard our song on the radio, and the news spread like wildfire. We ended up even getting a shout out over the intercom during daily announcements first period. Make no mistake, it was really hard to concentrate at school that day.

It was a Friday. We're at Ben's house (for once). We're in his basement. We have the radio going in the background, just in case they play our song again.

We're not practicing, even though we have a gig tomorrow. No--now we're having a serious discussion. Or trying to, anyway.

We all know what has to be discussed, but we're all too chicken shit to start. Orion is sitting there, gnawing on his fingers, bouncing his knee up and down. Ben is sitting there looking like he'd jump if you told him "boo!". And me? Well, I don't know what I look like, but I know my stomach has become a nauseated sea.

We all freeze when we hear Aerial View come on. We listen to the entire thing in silence.

"And that was from an up and coming band called Saturn Mutants. We were sent their demo and asked to play it, so we obliged. It's one of the freshest things we've heard in awhile. We hope you like it, and we wish you the best, Orion and co.!"

Orion leans forward and shuts it off. He then starts picking at his cuticles, viciously ripping them off.

"They just said your name on the radio," Ben says, sounding dazed. I look over and he is dazed. I snap my fingers in his face.

Orion gets to his feet then and begins to pace back and forth. He's crossed his arms, still biting away at his finger. "What're we gonna do guys?"

Ben and I don't reply. Orion looks at us. "Seriously, what're we gonna do? They just said my fucking name on the radio!" He gives his nervous laugh.

"We need to do this."

Orion and I look at Ben. He looks between us seriously.

"We need to do this," Ben reiterates.

"Your parents will be pissed," Orion tells us.

"Let them be pissed?"

I laugh. "Wow, Ben, I d'no when you grew a pair, but I like it."

Ben grins at me.

Orion takes out his phone, still serious. "If we call Paul back, there's no turning back. We can't do this and then be like, 'oh, just kidding, Mommy and Daddy said we can't play today, sorry.'"

"I know," Ben says, and he looks a little scared.

Orion looks at me. "Jake?"

I don't know what to do. This is my dream. This is our dream. I'm not going to become a nurse like my mom. I'm not made for the nine-to-five grind, and doing a blue collared job is about as appealing to me as licking a cactus.

In the back of my head I've always pictured myself up on a stage. I used to conspire with Stacy about it. She was my main source of encouragement when I first started the guitar. She wouldn't let me get discouraged, telling me to keep trying, that I'd be great some day. She would joke about becoming my roadie, and her and I could travel the world together...

Stacy.

What would Stacy tell me to do?

I narrow my eyes in determination. "Let's do this."

Orion breaks out into a grin. "Really?"

"Fuck yeah."

Orion pulls out the business card and puts the phone on speaker. One ring. Two rings. A third. I start sweating, thinking he's not going to pick up. But then--

"This is Paul, how can I help you?"

"Hey Paul," Orion greets, sounding way more relaxed than he looks. "This is Orion Bauwens--of Saturn Mutants."

"Orion!" the other voice says cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks. And you?"

"Wonderful."

Orion glances at us and then back at the phone. "Er, I'm here with Jake and Ben..."

"Hi guys."

"Hey," I say, while Ben says "Hi," simultaneously.

"Have you guys listened to the radio recently?" Paul with EMI asks, and I can picture the wide, cocky grin on his face.

"Yeah, actually," Orion says, breaking out into a wide smile. He looks at Ben and I with his sexy dark eyes. "So--where do we sign up?"