Chapter 23

       Major Vocal hadn't been in the recording studio since Agatha was fired since we wanted to take our time working on our album now that we didn't have that witch trying to make us do things her way.

       She was only our manager. She wasn't supposed to be interfering with our songwriting yet for some reason, she still did anyway. The songs that she did interfere with weren't our best.

       I was happy she was out of our lives for good.

       Well, as best as she would be. With her now being the manager of our rival band, I knew she would pop up in our lives every once in a while.

       And since she wasn't Major Vocal's manager, I actually couldn't wait. I could flip her off and be the biggest pest I could without getting in trouble.

       Not that it stopped me before.

       I thought having Alistair as our manager would make things feel a lot less stressed but apparently, that wasn't the case.

       I was in the recording booth right now, recording my part of the song with my guitar. And I kept getting cut off many times by the owner of the record label, telling me that something didn't sound right.

       "I'm playing the notes correctly," I said after I was cut off for the sixth time. "I don't get how it doesn't sound right."

       "It just doesn't," Kevin said. "Something sounds off."

       "Maybe it's your hearing and not my actual guitar playing," I said without meaning to. That happened a lot. When I was frustrated or annoyed, I said things I didn't mean to.

       Kevin didn't seem to appreciate what I just said, crossing his arms over his chest and giving me a raised eyebrow.

       "I am so sorry," I said. "I didn't mean that."

       "Why don't we take a ten minute break?" Kevin asked.

       "No, I promise I'll get it right," I said.

       Kevin didn't want to take no for an answer. He just turned off the recording booth and got up from his chair before walking out of the room.

       I sighed and took off my headphones, hooking it around the microphone stand before placing my guitar down and walking out of the booth where the rest of my band mates and Alistair were.

       "You didn't have to be so rude to the guy that basically controls your career," Alistair said.

       I flopped down on the couch Aviva was sitting on. "I really didn't mean to say that. I'm just stressed right now. Why can't I get the recording right? I'm playing it properly."

       "Obviously you're not if Kevin keeps cutting you off," Ricky said.

       "Yes, thank you for the reminder," I said.

       Aviva rested her hand on my shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

       "Yeah, everything's fine," I said. "There isn't anything on my mind. I thought it would be easy recording today but I guess not. I just don't get what's wrong with me."

       "There a lot of things wrong with you," Ricky said. "Your sense of style, your diet, your accent..."

       "I'm sorry, what's wrong with my accent?" I asked.

       "Well, you're British but you're kind of losing your accent," Ricky said. "I hear you speak Canadian a few times."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Do you mean speak in a Canadian accent? Because Canadian isn't a language. And it's not my fault I've been living in Canada for ten years so of course my accent may not be as strong."

       "Okay, all insulting aside, are you sure there isn't anything wrong, Malachi?" Alistair asked. "Because you're my little brother and I know you. I know something is up."

       "Nothing is, I swear," I said. "I think if something was up, I think I would know considering I'm, you know, me."

       "A lot of people don't realize when there's something bothering them," Alistair said. "Are you sure there's nothing bothering you."

       "Yes, I'm sure," I said. "I'm fine. I've been fine since Agatha finally quit. I just don't understand why I can't get the recording right."

       "We can always get Junior to do the recording for the guitar part if we have to," Otis said. "It's not like we're performing it or anything so we don't really need you."

       "Thanks," I said sarcastically.

       "You know I didn't mean it like that," Otis said. "It would be the same thing if Ricky couldn't do the drum recording and we had to get you to do it instead. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a recording. So are you fine with Junior doing the guitar part?"

       "Yeah, whatever," I said.

       "Malachi..." Aviva said. 

       I stood up from the couch. "I'm going to get some fresh air. Someone might as well get Kevin so we could continue with the recording."

       Before anyone could even stop me, I left the room and walked outside of the building, sitting down on the front steps as I took a deep breath of fresh air. I had never been able to not get a recording right before. I was playing the notes properly so why was it sounding so off?

       Aviva walked outside and sat down beside me, hooking her arm around mine and resting her head on my shoulder. "Malachi, are you sure there's nothing bothering you?" she asked. "You're usually a carefree person. I've never seen you so stressed before."

       "If there was something wrong, you know I'd tell you," I said. "I really don't know what's wrong."

       "Maybe you're just burned out," Aviva said. "It happens to the best of us."

       "Yeah, maybe," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I really hope this doesn't last long. We've got a lot more songs to write and record. I don't want to sit out on all the song recordings."

       "You won't," Aviva said. "We could try rescheduling the next one if you're still feeling this way. After all, we don't have a set date for the album to be completed by yet so we can take our time with the recordings."

       "Well, I hope Kevin is okay with that," I said.

       "He's going to have to," Aviva said. "We can't record without our lead guitarist."

       "That's exactly what's happening right now."

       "Okay, but we can't record every song without you. We're a band and if you need to take a break to get through whatever it is you're going through, then we'll all take a break."

       I sighed. "I don't want to slow down the process of making this album."

       "Malachi, seriously, if you really do need a break, we will all take the break," Aviva said. "We're a band. We're not solo artists. We do things together."

       "Do you really think everyone will be okay with it?" I asked.

       "Yeah, of course they will," Aviva said. "Just let Junior do the recording today and we'll see how you feel during the next recording session."

_______________

oof there are only two chapters left.

and i'll try writing them both this week so we could get book 3 of the series which will have a different member of the band as the narrator

(and i apologize in advance for what's going to happen in the final two chapters OOF)