DANNY Chapter 24 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. But life for Danny got more complicated after they and Mrs. Piper ironed out the details for the upcoming concert that he and his band will be participating in. It's confusing, to say the least. The question now was, will they be able to pull it off without things blowing up in their faces? Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang.

 
Chapter Twenty-Four: A "Professional" Band

***** (Danny) *****

The following day, we had gone on to school in the clothes Tracey got us.

Tracey's mom was still asleep when we woke up, and we decided we wouldn't bother her. Tracey said she got in at around five, so she was obviously beat.

We were all able to take showers without taking turns - the Pipers had six bathrooms in their condo. And after quick showers, we had a quick breakfast of cereal, milk and fruits. Not exactly what Danielle and I were used to - usually, mom would have something more, I guess substantial is the word - so Danielle and I decided to heat some of the leftover pizza, and have a couple of slices. Or five. I guess that'll have to do, and just have a quick snack at school later.

I had some trouble picking the right clothes at the mall last night (the fact I knew I was having trouble picking clothes showed I was spending too much time with Danielle and her friends, and wearing girls' clothes). Men's fashions are so close-fitting nowadays, so with my little babies, I didn't know what to pick for a shirt. No trouble with the pants - I just picked the first pair of Levi's I found in my size - but for shirts, I had to pick one which was a couple of sizes larger, on account of my boobies. But I didn't account for the sleeves. The sleeve cuffs hung lower than my wrists. And, besides, they didn't fit right - it was like I was wearing a clown shirt.

So Danielle gave me one of the tops she picked for herself - a nice "untuck" button-front blouse. This one didn't have any darts so it didn't unduly emphasize my boobies. And if you didn't know, I looked like I was just wearing a regular loose shirt, aside from the fact that I looked extra ripped, with a very buffed-out chest. So long as you didn't touch, of course lol. I could have used one of the padded muscle shirts mom got me before.

In any case, with my jacket on, I think I looked pretty normal.

Danielle insisted I wear the sneakers she got - they looked like regular indigo-colored rubber-soled canvas shoes - so I just shrugged and put them on.

I lucked out this morning - Danielle usually didn't do well picking guys clothes.

As for Tracey and Danielle, they wore extremely similar outfits, differing only in the choice of colors.

Danielle had on a blouse with a vivid floral pattern, ruffles at the neckline that wrapped around the arms and continued on the back. It had a v-neck with wide straps that gave the impression of capped sleeves except the shoulders were bare.

She matched it with skinny jeans in the traditional medium blue wash, with patched details and a whiskered faded finish.

Over the blouse, she put on a vintage double knit Amelia Jacket in a rosy, tweed-like fabric. With elastic and shirring at the small of the back, it gave the jacket a sleek, bomber silhouette which went well with the classic collar and the gold and silver buttons.

She then sat on the bed and put on a pair of high-heeled cork sandals with dark-brown straps.

Turning around, I noted Tracey wearing the same outfit, but in different colors. Immediately, I thought of the kind of razzing the girls would get in school, but then I remembered that Tracey didn't go to my school, so it wasn't a problem.

I was a bit dismayed by this internal monologue of mine. There was a time I wouldn't know about Amelia Jackets or what shirring was, and I wouldn't have cared.

I definitely needed more bro time with the guys…

Anyway, we went to school - Danielle and I to our school and Tracey to her fancy private one.

Tracey said someone should take down the minutes of the meeting, but I said neither Danielle nor I were good at taking down notes, so Tracey went to her room and got us a pen-like device - she explained it was a high-tech voice recorder. I pocketed it and we went on our way.

For whatever reason, Danielle and I were not too tired but I think it was more because we were worried about what my bandmates would say in our meeting later.

When we got to school and met up with the gang, the girls were all praises for Danielle's outfit. As for me, I didn't get much reaction from the guys. In fact they were oddly quiet. That made me worry.

During lunch, we gave the gang a blow-by-blow of our meeting last night, and everyone was excited about the upcoming event. For Betsy, looking at her expression, she was clearly torn between excitement and worry. I could identify with that. But I told them we had a meeting scheduled with the band, and so she didn't comment one way or the other until the band could weigh in.

Most of the gang couldn't figure out how the issue of being a "professional band" was important, but they did understand the repercussions - that, depending on what Rockrgrrl said, it could mean that UB (I'm starting to like calling the band "UB" as well) might not be able to be part of the Evolution Concert finals if they participated in the radio station's launch.

It all hinged on what Katie Hargraves decides. Therefore, the band had to decide whether to risk it or not.

"Which we'll find out later in the meeting," Danielle said.

"Can we join you guys?" Jerome said.

Mike elbowed him. "'Course not," Mike said. "It's just for the band." He turned to me. "But you guys'll tell us what happens, right?"

I nodded.

"Where will the meeting be?" Nikki asked.

"Remember that Italian place where I first told you guys about Danielle and me?"

"Why there?"

"It's one of the places where Mrs. Piper has an open tab. She called ahead and made a reservation, and arranged for one of the function rooms for us."

Mike and Jerry had that look, and I had to laugh. Clearly, they remembered the tasty food from that place.

"I'll get you guys some takeout, okay?" And this was greeted by loud protests from the others. It ended with Danielle and I promising takeout for everyone. Well, I guess I can put it on my company credit card. Betsy suggested for all of us to meet at her place afterwards.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

After school, Danielle, Betsy and I went straight to Mrs. Piper's favorite bistro.

"Buon pomeriggio, signorina," the maitre d' said to me as we stepped in.

"Ummm… good afternoon," I said. It seemed my guy-mode wasn't running. "We have a reservation? Under Mrs…"

"Ovviamente," he nodded. "Signora Piper's secretary called ahead, and we have one of our small function rooms ready. Perfavore sequimi..."

And with that, he led us to a small closed dining room with ten place-settings already laid out.

"Would le signorine like something to drink while they wait for their party?"

I ordered diet coke for the three of us, and asked him to make selections from the day's specials, good enough for ten people, and have them on the side so we could dish them up ourselves - I told him we wanted to be alone.

"Ten people?" Betsy Asked. "Why ten people?" And than she looked at us. "Ahhh…" She giggled.

"Ti capisco, signorina," The maitre d' answered, and he snapped his finger. The waiters around us pulled our chairs for us and we sat down. Another waiter put cokes in front of us brimming with ice.

I felt something in my pants pocket and brought out Tracey's recorder pen. I thought it would be muffled in my pocket and thought a bit. I decided on putting the thing in the breast pocket of Danielle's girly new jacket. For good measure, I turned it on so I wouldn't forget. I doubt Danielle noticed because she was totally engrossed in chatting with Betsy while we waited.

But we didn't have long to wait - the others started coming in one at a time. The first to arrive was Mongo. Among the four, he was the most available since he wasn't working. Actually, all four of them had agreed to take off at least a year while they tried to see if our musical careers would take off.

So, as UB did their gigs and Janet did her thing to try and get the band signed and stuff, and Mongo helped his mom around the house and took care of their little mom & pop stationery shop when he could. Dale and June, the next to arrive, were taking some classes at the junior college while they did the band thing - just accumulating a few college credits that they could put in their transcripts and use when they eventually left for "real" college. At worst, if things didn't improve, though, they were thinking of going to the college in the next town - it had a nationally well-regarded music program.

As for Janet, she was also taking some classes, but mostly singing and acting classes, and did her little meetings to push her own career. And the band's, too, of course. Nothing much had come of her efforts, though, except for the gig at Mario's, and, truth be told, she hadn't had any meetings with anyone for months now - at least nothing she's told us. Actually, the biggest break we've gotten so far was the Rockrgrrl thing - a fact that irritated Janet greatly. That and, I suspect, my increasing influence on the band was causing her to resent me more and more. That's probably why she's been harder and harder to get along with.

Anyway, now that she's arrived, I guess we could start with the meeting.

- - - - -

***** (Janet) *****

I finally got to the restaurant. Betcha everyone's there already. Can't be helped - I didn't have any clean clothes. Mom wasn't done washing our clothes yet. I had to get some from the new pile and had to wait while she ironed them. Didn't she know I had a meeting?

Anyway, I dropped Danny's name and followed the waiter to a little dining room separate from the main restaurant area, and the entire band was there. Including her.

She was seated between her sister and Betsy, and, as usual, she overshadowed everyone in the room, even her lookalike sister. I never understood that, really, but it's something we've come to expect. She's so beautiful. I mean "he!"

But I tried to play it cool.

"Hi, guys!" I said, and hi-fived Dale and Mongo. I then hugged the girls perfunctorily, but was able to sneak a kiss on Danny's cheek at least.

"Whoa! Fast service!" I said as a waiter put a small plate of pasta in front of me while I sat down.

"There are other selections, if you prefer," he said, and pointed to a side-table piled with several other kinds of dishes.

"No, this is fine. Thanks."

He nodded and the wait-staff left us alone.

As I dug in and made some small talk, I looked at my friends. They were all enjoying themselves, and talking excitedly, as per usual.

And Danny at the center of it all… As per usual.

I remembered the time when I used to be the center. But when Danny came along… Used to be I was the one who called meetings. And what's her sister doing here? She's not part of the band. And we didn't used to be so hoity-toity, having a fancy dinner while we "meet." But… I needed to find out what this was all about.

The girls were giggling at something Mongo said. That's unusual - Mongo never did talk much before, but over the months, Danny had taken him out of his shell. Nothing short of a miracle, really. He was even making jokes. OMG.

"So, let me in on the funny," I said as they giggled.

"Go ahead, dude," Danny said to Mongo. "Tell her what happened."

"I was telling the guys," Mongo said, "that I bought a guitar last night…"

"You bought a guitar!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah," he answered. "Dale and June convinced me to try playing the guitar, too I've always wanted to try, and since I had some money from my account now, I got myself a guitar."

"Well, that's cool. Good for you."

"So I asked the guy in the music store to show me their selection and I picked the one that I liked best. Cool matt-black finish, a super-wide strap in psychedelic colors. The clerk asked me if I was sure, and given how nice the guitar looked, I said I was sure.

"So he strung it up for me, tuned it, and I brought it home. I brought out my chordbook, and was excited to try playing some chords. I first tried a simple E and it sounded terrible!

"I then tried a C, but it sounded worse. And I tried all the chords and riffs you guys showed me but it was no use. I tried to tune it but that didn't work either. I decided that the guitar must be defective so I returned it to the store. And it turned out that it wasn't defective. It was just a left-handed guitar! You know - for left-handed people? With the strings in reverse order?"

Everyone laughed at that. Me included. It wasn't particularly funny, but when Danny's around, everything seemed better.

"Guess that was why he asked if I was sure…"

"So," I said, getting down to brass tacks right away, "what's up, Danny?" I knew I was being a bit of a buzzkill but I thought it best to skip all the nonsense that Danny encourages, and get to the important stuff right away.

Danny gave me a look but didn't make any comment.

"Well, okay," she said. I mean he. "Down to business. So Danielle and I were called to a meeting with Mrs. Piper last night…"

And she told us about what Mrs. Piper wanted, and what the problem was. She was very thorough and gave us all the details from their meeting last night, including what they asked her, her sister Danielle and her new friend Tracey, and the things that they asked Mrs. Piper and her people.

When she was through, I summarized.

"So," I said, "you're saying we can do this gig with KRPQ, but if we did, we could be taken out of the running for the Evolution Concert finals? On acount of our new standing as a 'professional band?'"

"In a nutshell, yeah. And that's what we need to decide on - do we take the risk and do the KRPQ launch, or do we pass on it?"

"When will Ms Hargraves let us know again?" Dale asked. "On whether it would be allowable for us to do this, I mean."

Danny shrugged. "I got the impression that she'd let us know at the end of the week. And by that time, we need to be committed one way or another."

"What do you think we should do, Danny?" Dale asked.

Danny looked uncomfortable. "Ummm, I don't know, Dale. I think I shouldn't say anything yet, until everyone has had their say."

"Why?"

She looked in my direction. I mean 'he' looked in my direction.

"Well," he said, "I currently have that DJ job at the station - so you might say I'm biased. I'd feel better if you guys go first."

"Well," June said, "we all know that. I think we can forgive you if you are, but I don't think you'll be biased. So. What do you think?"

Danny shook her head… his head.

June sighed. "How 'bout you, Bets?"

Betsy shrugged. "However Danny decides, I'll follow."

"I think that's Danny's point, Betsy," I said. "Sh… he doesn't want to influence us so he wants us to have our say first."

"I get that, Janet," she said. "But it's not that. For me, I'm not really into the whole band thing. The only reason I joined was because of Danny." She looked my way. "It's been fun, of course, and I like you guys. But I'm not in it for the long haul. You guys accepted me, and I'm grateful. I'm also grateful to be your friend. But I'm only sticking around so long as Danny's in."

She looked at me a little worriedly. "No offense, of course. I hope we're still friends?"

I was a bit disgusted by that, but she was just being honest. I couldn't fault her for it.

"I think I'd go with Danny, too," June said. She looked at me. "It was she that got us this far, and she hasn't steered us wrong yet. And I trust her. I mean him."

"You've always been a follower," I said with a bit of contempt. "Can't you think for yourself, June?" I said.

Clearly, my words were hurtful. I could see tears brimming in her eyes. But I couldn't seem to stop my words.

I turned to Dale and Mongo. "How about you two?"

"I want to go for the concert finals," Mongo said.

"… And?"

"And that's it."

We had to laugh at that. Classic Mongo.

I then turned to Dale.

"I don't know," Dale said. "Janet, we agreed to postpone things until we can make a genuine try at being a real band. It's been over a while now, with eight more months to go, and, aside from the Evolution concert, nothing has really happened. I don't know if I can keep on postponing things. So unless our situation changes a lot, I'm inclined to do this radio thing instead of waiting eight months to a year. I need to get on with my life."

"But, Dale, if we get to go to the Evolution finals, we're guaranteed a recording contract!"

"No, we aren't, Janet. Even if we win, all they're guaranteeing is that we get to have an audition. Again."

I looked away. Talk about frustrating…

"You!" I pointed at Danielle. "What about you? What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well… I'm supposed to be the band's manager? I'm here to find out what you guys decide, and I'll go to bat for you with Mrs. Piper and the Rockrgrrl people."

"Go to bat for us? Ha! That's a laugh! Obviously you're here for Danny, too!"

Danielle's eyes went round with fury. It's the first time I saw that expression on her. I felt a shiver run up my spine, and wanted to step back instinctively. But Danny put her hand on Danielle's shoulder, and she stopped herself from saying anything further.

I looked at Danny and felt her anger, too. The blank emotionless mask of hers that she used to cover her anger was even scarier than Danielle's mad look. I could feel the emotion, and it made me want to run away and hide. Why was Danny this scary?

"Janet," Danny said, in a very controlled, icy voice. "I don't know where this is coming from. You've been like this for weeks now. Something's going on with you."

"Nothing's going on with me!"

"Danielle's been nothing but supportive, Janet. You know that."

"Never mind."

"Janet…"

"Never mind, I said! Now, it's your turn: tell us what you think we should do."

She took a deep breath. She was clearly mad and was doing her best to control herself. Oh, how I wish I could take back my words. But I couldn't seem to stop myself.

"Here's the thing," she began, "it all goes to what we want at the end of all this. All of you have taken the year out to see if you can make it as a band. But I guess it doesn't matter if we get there via the Evolution contest or some other path, right?

"So, what if I talk to Mrs. Piper? She owns PiperCorp. Maybe she can pull some strings for us and get us an audition with one of the music companies, so winning the contest would be academic. Will that make you agree to doing the radio launch?"

Rebelliously, I looked at Danny. I couldn't help but think she was tricking me into agreeing.

"Can you guarantee that?" I asked.

"Well, no, but Mrs. P knows a lot of people, and it wouldn't cost her anything."

"But why would she do it?"

"Because she's a good lady. And maybe we can say we'll forgo any payment for doing the gig so long as she agrees to get us an audition with a recording company."

"I won't stand for us doing a concert and not getting paid!" I said. "We work hard, so we deserve to be paid! We're profess…" I suddenly realized what I was saying and I trailed off.

She looked at me ironically. "Yep. Isn't that exactly the problem?" she said. "But then, you were willing to not do the gig at all just to remain eligible for the contest. So not getting paid isn't the issue, if there's a chance at a recording contract. Right?"

But I still had a stubborn streak in me that didn't want to give in, and it must have shown.

"If that doesn't pan out," she continued, "well, we're starting to get hits on Youtube. Did you know our Paul McCartney song has gotten about fifty thousand hits, and that's just over the weekend? I'm sure, with your connections, you can parlay that into a recording contract."

"What! I told everyone not to put any videos on the net!"

"Simmer down, Janet! No one posted anything. The people who watched the concert and the TV shows did it - not us."

I knew I was acting like a diva, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

"And besides," Danny continued, "our dad's best friend is a lawyer. I'm sure he can make a case out of us not getting gigs for eight months just so we can keep our amateur status. That's totally unreasonable."

"You're tricking me. You just want your way…"

"Janet!"

I looked up at the sharpness in her voice and saw her eyes. I couldn't stand her looking at me like that. But I couldn't stop. I looked away.

"No one's tricking anyone," she said. "I'm just laying out my point of view." The deliberate lack of emotion in her voice made me feel cold. I mean "his." What have I done?

"You can decide whatever you want, Janet," she said. "I just think the right move is to do the radio launch.

"What if I say I don't want to do it."

She shrugged. "You're allowed, of course."

I looked to the girls.

"So, Betsy? June?"

"Sorry, Janet," June sadly said to me, and Betsy looked at me and shrugged apologetically.

I turned to the boys. "Dale?"

"You heard my decision already, Janet," he said, "so I guess it's a four-to-two majority."

I stood up and got my purse. "Fine! You people do what you want! Let's go, Mongo."

I started walking to the door, but Mongo wasn't following.

"Mongo? What're you doing? Let's go!"

Mongo remained seated. "But, it's a majority, Janet."

"Screw the majority! We don't want to do it, and they can't make us!"

Mongo looked at me and folded his arms. "No."

"What do you mean 'no!'"

"I'm not leaving. Danny's right. You've been acting weird for a while now. Everyone's had their say, and the majority wins. So we do the radio launch."

"I don't care! This is my band, and you guys do as I say!"

"Your band! It's not 'your' band! We're here 'coz we choose to be here. We're not your puppets!"

I went to him. "Dude - no one can force you to do anything," I whispered to him. "You said no to the radio thing coz you want to be part of the Evolution concert. So, let's go!"

He pushed back from the table and away from me. He looked at me, arms folded.

"Then I change my mind," he said. "I say we do the radio thing."

I looked at him, aghast. "What did you say?"

"You heard me."

I couldn't believe it.

After what felt like a long time, I straightened up and looked at all of them

"All right! Fine! Do the radio thing! You're all sellouts! Where's your artistic integrity?"

I leaned down, put my knuckles on the table and and leaned forward towards Danny.

"But you can do it without me," I whispered savagely.

I stood up and started walking towards the door. "No one takes my band from me and gets away with it!"

I turned around again and looked directly towards Danny. "No one."

I saw the table to the side laden with all sorts of food and other things. I reached out and yanked the tablecloth, and everything crashed to the floor.

Plates broke and cutlery scattered, and the food splattered on the floor.

I then walked out.

- - - - -

***** (Danielle) *****

The silence was thick in the room, and we looked at each other in shock. Slowly, June crumbled into tears, and Betsy hugged her.

Dale stepped out and fetched some waiters to clean up the mess.

"What's happened to Janet?" Mongo said sorrowfully. "What…"

"I don't know, Mongo…" Danny said.

But Betsy and I shared a look. I think we have an idea. In school, we were doing the classics, and I got some reading assignments. From all that reading, I remembered a quote from Oscar Wilde that went, "plain women are always jealous of their husbands. Beautiful women never are. They are always so occupied with being jealous of other women's husbands."

Someone's clearly jealous.

I looked at Danny, and I prayed I don't become like Janet.

"What'll happen to the band now?" June mumbled into Betsy's neck.

"I don't know, honey," Betsy said. "We'll figure this out."

Mongo got up and walked to our side of the table. He put a commiserating hand on Betsy's shoulder.

"So," Mongo said to Danny, "is that it for Unlimited Bandwidth? Are we disbanding?"

"Why do you say that?" Danny asked.

"Well, I guess now that Janet's gone…"

"Yeah, but we can still go on."

"Danny - it's Janet's band."

"We all heard what you said to Janet, and you're right. We're here because we choose to. So we can still go on if we want to."

"Danny's right," Dale said, having come back. "We should push on. We'll only be short one vocalist and guitarist. That's all."

"Yeah…"

One of the waiters came over. "Excuse me…"

I gestured him over. "At least this one's not Italian," I giggled.

"Thanks so much for cleaning up the mess," I said to him. "We had a bit of an accident."

"It's not a problem, Miss. We'll manage. I just wanted to ask if you want us to…"

"I don't think anyone's in the mood to eat anymore."

He nodded. "But maybe we can freshen your drinks and maybe set you up with some desserts or snacks?"

"That may be a good idea." I took the menu from the waiter and picked a bunch of things that looked nice, and he went away to take care of it.

I then went back to the guys' conversation. It seemed that they did want to go on with the gig, Janet or no Janet. But could they even continue playing on without her?

"What would Mrs. Piper do if we decided not to go on?" Mongo asked.

"They would go with a little vocal group they know that sings in that café at the college," I said. "I think the place is called the Juke Joint."

"Juke Joint?" Dale said. "Hey, I think I know that place! They have great nachos, though they don't serve anything alcoholic. And I think I know the girls you're talking about. They're good, actually, though a little older than us. But they're just a singing group." Not surprising Dale knew them. He had some classes at the college, after all (our junior college sometimes send students there for some pre-req classes).

"I know the place, too," June said. "And you're wrong - they do serve alcoholic drinks there."

"I've tried ordering there before, and they…"

"College bars don't serve minors liquor, unless you insist on being carded. And you, dude, definitely look underage."

Dale laughed. "Tell me if I should give you the finger or to thank you."

June stuck her tongue out at him.

"So," Dale said, "did you ever catch the group?"

"That's the band with the tall blonde lead, right? The girl named Jenna? I'm not sure but she might be a waitress there, too."

"She is? Cool!" No doubt he was thinking of passing by the Juke Joint now.

"Okay, Dale," Danny said. "Enough. Let's keep our eyes on the prize. Stop talking about the replacement band and let's think up a way of doing this. That is if we still want to do it."

"Of course we do," Betsy said, and Dale and June said "yes." As for Mongo, he sighed. "This has to go through, Danny," he said. "Otherwise, losing Janet will all be for nothing."

Danny reached out lightly punched Mongo's shoulder in a gesture of sympathy.

"I'm sorry about all this, Mongo. Are you okay?"

"I'm cool. But we have to make this work. And you have to push through with all the things that you promised."

"Promised?"

"Talking to Mrs. Piper and setting up an audition with a recording company for one, talking to your dad's lawyer-friend about making sure we don't get booted from the contest for another, and since Janet's not gonna do it anymore, you and Danielle need to be the ones to work on getting us a recording contract."

"Of course we were gonna do all those things, Mongo…"

"Mongo," I said and echoed Danny, "we're gonna do all of that. I promise."

"That's more than good enough for us," Dale said. "Right, Mongo? June?"

They nodded.

"But can UB even play with just one rhythm guitar and one vocalist?" Danny asked.

"'UB?'"

"That's what we're calling the band."

"Ah. That's cool."

"So. Can… UB still do it without Janet?"

Mongo shook his head. "No. We need two rhythm guitars. But I'm assuming you guys can get us a temporary replacement. And I do mean temporary - I'm going along with this only if we will try and get Janet back."

"Mongo…"

"I'm serious, Danny. Unlimited Bandwidth is Janet's band - she started it and got us together and got us going. She has to be part of the band."

She looked at me, and she, I mean he, was nodding to that. Okay. So I gotta get her back somehow.

But for now, we need a temporary replacement asap. Besides… the fifty percent rule of the Evolution contest is still in effect. If Danny's disguise remains intact, then they're fine. But if we can get another girl in… even if they count Danny as a boy, UB will still be in compliance. I think Danny's disguise is perfect, actually, and I didn't think anyone can break it, but it's in my nature to want to make sure.

I looked to Danny and nodded.

"Mongo," she (I mean he) said, "I'm not scheming to take over the band. Please believe me. I'm just a late addition. I got no right, much less any interest, in taking away the band from anyone."

"We believe you, Danny," June said. "So who will lead the band for now, while Janet's, ummm, away?"

"Let's go by seniority," Danny said. "After Janet, who's been with the band the longest?"

"June. Well, in that case, does that mean June is our band's leader now?"

June shook her head. "Nuh-uh! No way am I gonna be the leader!"

"Simmer down, girl!" Danny made a patting-down motion. "Who's next in line, then, after June?"

"That would be Dale."

"Then, are you guys okay with him ?" I asked.

June and Mongo nodded.

"How about you, Danny?" I asked.

"Fine by me. Betsy?"

"Whatever you say, Danny."

"Why are you asking her?" Mongo asked.

"Dude, she's as legitimate a member as me. Besides, she's officially listed with the Evolution contest people as being part of the band."

Mongo looked at Betsy guiltily. "You're right Danny. Sorry Bets - I just had to ask."

"That's okay, Mongo. No offense taken. I know I'm just a member in name only."

Dale cleared his throat. "You're wrong, Betsy" he said. "You're a real member. But, anyway, we still have the problem of a replacement. Ideas?"

After a minute or so, Danny cleared his throat. "I think I know someone. Her name's Fallon. She's from my school's glee club. She's a decent guitarist and has a nice set of pipes. Plus she knows about me and the band already." Everyone reacted to that but she waved us down. "I know, I know, but she's okay - I promise. I'll talk to her and you guys can audition her tomorrow if you want."

I looked at Danny. "You're kidding, Dan. The redhead goth girl? From that thing with Tom Hennessy?"

"She's a good kid, Danielle. And she plays real good. I know that for a fact."

Dale groaned and gently banged his forehead on the table over and over.

"What's wrong, Dale," June asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, June."

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just that… it's another redhead. Oh. My. God."

All of us laughed, and Danny just gave us an exasperated look.

to be continued...

 

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