Crazy

Kyle smiles at Alice, his eye sparking just a little. It meant a lot to him that she was proud. "Thanks."

Leading them to the stage, Erik makes the introductions. Theo was a dark man on drums, and the blonde with the bass guitar was Kip- nobody really knew why, since his real name was Reginald, but he'd gone by Kip for as long as anyone could remember. Twila played the electric violin, or a variety of wind instruments. Russ was on acoustic rhythm, and Erik usually played lead electric guitar, though he and Russ often switched. And today, there was also a keyboard set up.

"So yeah, this is Kyle," Erik concludes, "and this lovely young woman is his girlfriend, Alice."

Twila smiles and gives her a little wave, thankful for once that she wasn't the only female present.

Kyle takes a moment, trying to get everybody straight. "Alright, so... you lost you lead guy?"

"Right. And..." Erik pauses. "He ditched right before I got word back from a buddy who has connections to connections and..."

"Basically we got a record contract," Kip interrupts, tired of the wait. "Once in a lifetime sponsored label, but we don't have a stellar singer anymore and if we go and suck, that's basically it."

Erik smirks. "Thanks for that positive slant there."

Kip grins. "You're welcome."

Kyle folds his arms. "So... you woulda just scrapped the whole thing?"

"Pretty much." Erik nods. "Then I heard you were in town so... it was worth a try."

Kyle finds everything a little unbelievable. "You're telling me that your band landed a record label and none of you can sing well enough to pull it through?"

"Kip and I can sing," Twila admits.

Kyle waits.

Erik shrugs. "You were here... we didn't want to pass up the opportunity."

Kyle shakes his head. "Well... okay. Where do we start?"

For the next hour, the room was filled with music.The genre was rock, but with a little twist, sometimes it felt like pop, and Twila's instruments added a very unique flavor. Some songs were softer as well, quiet and soothing. Kyle was able to read the music well, adding skillfully both voice and keyboard. Some songs he mostly listened, and the band wound up even trying one of his songs. They were a rock band. They had a hard edge, but also a softer ability. All lyrics were clean, and some mentioned God.

As the last song dies away, sweat was on brows, and water bottles were empty. But for having a new guy, they'd sounded good.

"Wow." Kip laughs an looks out at Alice. "I hope you love this guy - he is awesome!"

"Here here!" Twila agrees.

Theo gives a drumbeat as his support too. Erik grins and sets down his guitar. "You don't disappoint, Kyle."

Kyle grins. It had felt good to really play and sing again... real good. "Neither do you guys. You're great."

"We've been together a few years," Ross explains. "Took us a while but I think we got our act together."

"I'll say." Kyle eyes Alice, then looks back to the band. "Still don't know what you call yourselves though."

"Well..." Erik thinks. "We were Righteous Bullet for a while but... well, do you think you're interested in this?"

Kyle's eye find Alice once more. But as he gazed at her, he knew this had to be his own decision and he knew he'd have her support no matter which road he chose. He finally looks back to Erik. "I got nothing here... no vehicle, hardly any clothes, and my money's gonna run out soon."

"No problem. Consider it taken care of."

"Wha... well Alice, she-"

"That'll be taken care of too."

Kyle blinks. "I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but...I don't understand what's going on."

He shakes his head. "You come looking for me, tou're hesitant to even tell me the name of your band, you're already saying that Alice and I are taken care of... I don't get it."

Erik bites his lip. "Well, Kyle... I believe... that this isn't a coincidence. My family is well-off and has a lot of connections. And well... when my brother left the band, we all had this strange conviction to wait.. and not go ahead on our own Then when you showed up, all of us just felt... we felt... God," he concludes. "We all prayed and thought and prayed and thought abd it was like we had this big neon arrow pointing to you. And ...and the band name if you sign on with us, we don't want the band name anymore... we want yours."

Kyle's eyes are wide. "I don't... understand."

"Kyle Mitts... we want to be your band."

Kyle turns to Alice again, his expression one of confused amazement.

"Not good?" Kip asks.

"No...no, I just..." Kyle stammers. "Why do you guys want my name? Why do you want to promote me instead of your band name?"

"We're all team players," Theo answers. "And we all just like to play. None of us want the spotlight. We all just feel like our place is to back somebody up... to be their blessing."

Kyle puts his hands on his hips, at a loss for words. This band wanted to take him on as their leader... give him the opportunity to shine... Let him have the spotlight. And they obviously meant it. They weren't just desperate - they all really felt like this was what they should do.

"Think about it," Erik prompts. "Pray about it. You got my number."

Kyle swallows hard. "How much time do I have?"

"The record company wants to hear us in two weeks."

It wasn't much time at all to get their act together. Kyle nods. "Okay... I'll call you."

Farewells are handed out, and finally, Kyle is out in the fresh air again with Alice. He stuffs his hands in his denim jacket pockets and leans back against her jeep, not getting in yet."I... it... I don't know what to think... what just happened?"


Back inside, Erik turns to the others. "Well... what do you think?"

"He definitely thinks we're crazy," Kip concludes. "But we knew that would happen."

Erik chuckles.. "Yeah... but I feel better doing it this way. I know we made the right move. Now it's just up to God."


Jade looks quickly to Dan, not having seen him approach. She gives him a wry grin. "Oh, I suppose everything is fine. Just having a little pity party I guess."

She shrugs. "Not used to feeling out of place around here... I'm too chicken to ask my dad if I can stay... I don't know."

She sighs and leans her head back again. "And I thought this stahe of life was going to be easy. All it's done is bite me in the butt instead."

Turning to look at Dan, she giggles. "I sound pitiful, don't I?"


"I think you cooking tonight is a fantastic idea." Ryder was thrilled to see any form of confidence shining through. Th road with Thirteen was still a long one, but little by little, she was becoming her own woman.

He tosses her a wink instead of giving her a kiss like he wanted to, since they were in public. Some things still needed to be kept quiet.

"As long as we don't burn the kitchen down, I think we'll be fine," he teases.


Rick glances up from his work and rolls his eyes. "I just got back from Texas last night, I hardly slept a wink... I'm too tired to care today."

He smirks a little and points his pencil at them. "Just stay out of trouble - we've had enough excitement around here lately."

"Mm..." Carson moves around and swings Misty up into his arms. '"'d say we haven't had enough."

Rick waves to the door. "Get out of here before I throw you and your romantic selves out."


A smile creases Eli's lips and he takes Ryan's hand as she reaches for his. "Of course I stayed. I couldn't leave you yet."

He shifts his weight a little to look at her face. "Doc says she thinks you're gonna be okay... that so far, your body isn't rejecting the blood."

He grins. "I knew you wouldn't let this thing get you down."