:: chapter six ::

I wandered downstairs one Thursday morning in mid-September. It had been over three weeks since we’d sent out the CDs, with no result as yet. We’d kept reminding each other that it took time, and that record executives got hundreds of demo tapes every day. But still…it was getting a little discouraging.

The answering machine was blinking furiously when I checked it; I hit the play button and listened to the message.

“Taylor, you get your skinny arse over here right now.” It was Cassie. “Matt got a letter in the mail yesterday that he very conveniently forgot to tell us about, from Sony Records. He hasn’t opened it yet, so I have no idea whether they want to take this further or not. But you had better get yourself dressed and over here to Matt’s place, or I’m out. Got it? Remember, Matt’s place.” The recording ended.

I stood there for about ten minutes, staring at the answering machine in shock. A letter, from a record company…something finally clicked, and I practically flew upstairs. I dressed in record time (jeans, plain black T-shirt, sneakers) and shot back downstairs, snagging my wallet, phone and keys off of the kitchen bench. I scrawled a quick note on the notepad left on the bench precisely for that purpose before I left the house.

Mum, Dad,

I’ve gone over to Matt’s place; we got a letter from a record company. Wish us luck!

Taylor

Cassie was waiting impatiently at the front door of the Shelton house when I pulled up in the driveway. She bolted out of the house and practically dragged me out of the car, pulling me one handed up the driveway.

“Hey, hey, watch the arm!” I protested. “It’s still sore!”

“Sorry, Tay,” she giggled. “But I’m just so excited about this!”

“You changed your tune awfully fast,” I commented as I settled down on the Sheltons’ living room floor. “Matt, open the freaking letter, I want to see what they’ve got to say about us.”

“Hold your horses Taylor, I’m getting there.” Matthew sat down on the coffee table and used a plain old kitchen knife to slit the envelope open. He skimmed the sheet of paper that he extracted from the envelope, a smile working its way onto his face as he finished reading.

“What’s it say?” Cassie asked, bouncing excitedly on the lounge.

“In a nutshell, it says that they were more than impressed by our recording, but they want to see us in action first. They’re willing to send a talent scout up here to see us perform, after which they will reserve final judgment. If they like what they see” he paused for dramatic effect “we have ourselves a recording contract.”

“You’re shitting me,” I said. “That’s all we have to do? Play one show, and if they like us we’re signed?”

Matthew shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah. So, what do we tell them?”

I leaned back against the lounge. “How fast can we get a show organised?”

“A few days, maybe a bit more than that.”

“Say a week then. We’ll need to scrounge up some money to book Central Coast Leagues Club for a night, unless we can get Max to do us a favour…” I looked to Matthew, who frowned.

“I told Max about us going in for a record contract, and he told me that if we had someone coming up to suss us out, he’d let us have the club free of charge for an evening. So we have a venue, we just need to get the word out.”

I looked to Cassie. “Can you get us some flyers run up?”

She nodded. “Sure can.”

“Do you eat, sleep, do you breathe me anymore…do you sleep, do you count sheep anymore…do you sleep anymore…do you take plight on my tongue like lead…do you fall gracefully into bed anymore…”

We were nearing the end of our showcase concert, the final song being a cover of Lisa Loeb’s Do You Sleep with Cassie on lead. It had been an exercise in futility trying to discern who was here to judge our performance, and who was here simply to have a good time, so we had been giving it our all ever since we took the stage at nine. It was now very close to eleven-thirty, and all three of us were exhausted. It was all I could do to keep playing my guitar, let alone sing.

“I saw you as you walked across my room…you looked out the window, you looked at the moon…and you sat on the corner of my bed…and you smoked with the ghost in the back of my head…

“Now I don’t know and I don’t care if I ever will see you again…I don’t know and I don’t care if I ever will be there…

“Do you eat, sleep, do you breathe me anymore…do you sleep, do you keep me anymore…

“You kick my foot under the table, I kick you back…I can’t say I’m able…to stand for you or fall for you ever again…wish for a perfect setting…wishing that I am letting you take me where you want me all over again…you can’t give yourself absolutely to someone else…

“Now I don’t know, and I don’t care if I ever will see you again…I don’t know, and I don’t care if I ever will be there…

“I saw you as you walked across my room…you looked out the window, you looked at the moon…and you sat on the corner of my bed…and you smoked with the ghost in the back of my head…

“Do you eat, sleep, do you breathe me anymore…do you sleep, do you count sheep anymore…do you sleep anymore…

“I don’t know, and I don’t care if I ever will be there…will be there…”

The song ended, and the audience exploded in cheers and applause. There were shouts for an encore as we gave ourselves a moment to rest up before leaving the club.

“What d’you say to giving them what they’re asking for?” I suggested. “We’ve never done an encore performance before, and I know the perfect song.” I told them the song I wanted to play as the encore, and Cassie and Matthew agreed. “Okay, let’s do it.”

We went back out onstage and got back behind our instruments. I nodded to Matthew, and he counted in; I had the lead on this one.

“Cigars in the summertime under the sky by the light…I can feel you read my mind…I can see it in your eyes under the moon…as it plays like music every line…there’s a rug with bleeding dye under the fan…in the room where the passion’s burning high…by the chair with the leopard skin under the light…it’s always Penny and me tonight…I said oh oh…

“On the plane step up with both my feet…riding in seat number 3 on a flight to NYC…got my bean in a coffee cup next to my seat…catch the view and another good book to read…sending me home on the friendly skies…missing her eyes…it’s always Penny and me tonight…

“‘Cause Penny and me like to roll the windows down…turn the radio up, push the pedal to the ground…and Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies…close our eyes, pretend to fly…it’s always Penny and me tonight…I said oh oh, yeah…oh no no no…

“Staring at a million city lights…but it’s still Penny and I all alone beneath the sky…feel the wind brushing slowly by…if I could soar I’d try to take these wings and fly…away to where the leaves turn red…but no matter where I am instead…singing along she’s feeling alright…we’re making it by in the pink moonlight…it’s always Penny and me tonight…

“‘Cause Penny and me like to roll the windows down…turn the radio up, push the pedal to the ground…and Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies…close our eyes, pretend to fly…I said oh, oh…close our eyes pretend to fly…it’s always Penny and me tonight…

“Penny likes to get away and drown her pain in lemonade…Penny dreams of rainy days and nights up late by the fireplace…and aimless conversations about the better days, yeah…

“Singing along she’s feeling alright, yeah…we’re making it by in the pink moonlight…it’s always Penny and me tonight…

“‘Cause Penny and me like to roll the windows down…turn the radio up, push the pedal to the ground…and Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies…close our eyes pretend to fly…yeah said oh, oh, close our eyes pretend to fly…it’s always Penny and me tonight…said oh oh…Penny and me tonight…Penny and me tonight…Penny and me tonight…”

The crowd erupted once more. Cassie, Matthew and I exchanged exhausted smiles before returning backstage.

“My God, that was amazing,” Cassie said, catching the water bottle that Matthew tossed her.

“Well, if we manage to get signed, that’s what’ll be waiting for us,” I said, catching a second bottle of water.

“Excuse me.”

We turned in our seats. A diminutive young woman with flaming red hair stood framed in the doorway; she came further in at Matthew’s nod. “My name is Rachael Whalan; I represent the Sydney offices of Sony Music Australia,” she introduced herself.

“You watched the show?” Cassie asked.

“I did,” Rachael confirmed. “And I have to say, it’s nice to finally be able to put faces to the names and the music. Now, I know that it’s late, and you probably want to get home.” We all nodded. “I’ll make this quick then. To be honest, that was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen played. How old are the three of you?”

“Matt’s twenty, and Cassie and I are both nineteen,” I replied.

“And you’ve been doing the club circuit for two years?”

“Yes,” Matthew confirmed. “We’ve released six independent CDs, and we’re making plans to go back into the studio before Christmas.”

“Well, what would the three of you say to moving your base of operations to Sydney for, say, six to eight months?”

“You’re…you’re willing to sign us?” Cassie squeaked.

“I still need to consult my colleagues, but I think I can safely say that I am. Would the three of you be able to come to Sydney next Friday?”

“Definitely,” Matthew agreed.

“Right then!” Rachael said cheerfully. “I will see the three of you next week.”

Cassie, Matthew and I nodded our assent; Rachael smiled (a little too happily for pushing eleven forty-five at night I felt) and left us to our own devices.

“Well…” Cassie said, still in shock.

“What did I tell you, Cass?” Matthew said.

“Yeah, yeah…” Cassie yawned and rubbed her eyes. “God, I am so tired…”

“We all are, Cass,” I said. “Jesus, how are we gonna drive home? We’ll be running our cars off the road.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage somehow,” Matthew said.

We did manage it. Against all odds, I made it home in one piece; Mum was sitting in the dining room when I made it in the door.

“How was the show?” she asked me as I collapsed in one of the dining table chairs and finally let a massive yawn burst forth.

“Amazing,” I said with a tired smile. “We’re this close to getting signed.” I held up my right hand, with my thumb and pointer finger barely a millimetre apart.

Mum smiled. “I’m proud of you, Taylor.”

I returned the smile and hauled myself up out of my seat. “I think I better get to bed; I’m so tired it’s not funny.”

I watched as Matthew’s brother Casey got up on the milk crate that someone had dragged out of the garage and called for our attention. “Hey you lot, shut up would you?” He waited for everyone to stop talking before he continued. “Now, there are three people in this room who are set to become the most famous trio that Gosford has ever seen. They managed to get themselves signed to Sony Music Australia yesterday.”

Excited murmuring spread itself through the crowd. Casey smiled, then called Cassie, Matthew and I up to the front of the room. “You all know and love my brother and his friends as independent band Renegade; the next six months will see them living it up in Sydney as they record their debut album.” He turned to the three of us. “How’d you like to give us a performance right now? Just a capella, to show us what convinced the record execs to sign you.”

Matthew shrugged. “Sure, why not?” Cassie and I agreed, and after a short discussion we picked the song Cassie had written over six months earlier.

“I heard you crying…somebody stole my soul…how could I be dying…I turned twenty 5 days ago…we’re all on the ground just crying out…would somebody save me please…I won’t sit around just thinking about…the troubles that tomorrow brings…

“I’m dying to be alive, yeah…I’m dying to be alive, yeah…let’s not go through our lives…without just dying to be alive…

“The people you’ve touched…the way you touched them…I hope they touched you too…‘cause in this life it’s hard to tell…what’s false and what is true…we’re all on the ground just crying out…would somebody save me please…I won’t sit around just thinking about…the troubles that tomorrow brings, yeah…

“I’m dying to be alive, yeah…not trying to just survive…let’s not go through our lives…without just dying to be alive…

“And we all come tumbling down…no matter how strong…we all return to the ground…another day gone…a day closer to fate…and soon we’ll find it’s a little bit too late…

“The things you see…the way you see them…will never be seen again…let’s go through life living on luck…betting ten thousand to ten…mistakes I’ve made in this life…I can’t say why or when…but the thing that’s strange is you only live once…I’ll never look back again…

“I’m dying to be alive, yeah…not trying to just survive…let’s not go through our lives…without just dying to be alive, yeah…I’m dying to be alive, yeah…not trying to just survive…let’s not go through our lives…without just dying to be alive, yeah…

“And we all come tumbling down…no matter how strong…we all return to the ground…in the days to come you’ll say why did I wait…you can’t just leave your life up to fate…you got to turn it around before it’s too late…”

Applause and cheering echoed around the room at the conclusion of our impromptu performance. Cassie, Matthew and I high-fived one another and turned our attention back to what Casey was saying.

“If I’m not in any way mistaken, Renegade leaves for Sydney on Saturday morning, and will be living and working in the big city until March, May at the most. Am I right?” Casey glanced over at us, and we nodded. “All right then. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now take my leave.” He stepped down off of the milk crate.

I ducked over to the drinks cooler that had been shoved up against a wall, digging around in the ice for a chocolate Mudslide; I found one and pulled it out, then wandered back over to where Matthew and Cassie were talking.

“So how exactly are we supposed to get to Sydney with everything we’re gonna need for the next six months?” Cassie was asking.

“I could probably con Dale into letting us borrow his van, in return for him borrowing my Lancer.” Matthew snorted. “Not much contest there; I’d rather drive the van than my old bomb of a car.”

“That’s all well and good, but what if we want to go out somewhere one night?”

“I’ll drive down in my car,” I volunteered.

“Sure, if you like,” Matthew said. “Well, I guess it’s settled then.”

Cassie sighed. “I can hardly believe that we’re not going to be coming back home until March,” she said.

“There’s Christmas, dimwit; as if they’d make us work on a public holiday,” Matthew reminded her. “But yeah, it’s slightly daunting.”

“Didn’t we plan on yanking Riders On The Storm out of the tracklist, adding in a few more songs and that would be our album?” I said. “That’s what I thought anyway. That shouldn’t take us very long at all.”

“I think they want us to record the album over,” Matthew said. “Y’know, make it that little bit more professional.”

“Something like that,” I shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out when we start work.”

I climbed up on the pool table and cracked open my drink. “Well, here’s to the next six months,” I said.

I stood in the middle of my bedroom, taking in everything that surrounded me. I wanted to fix this image in my head before I left for Sydney – I wouldn’t be home until December at the earliest, something I wasn’t exactly prepared for. I’d never been away from home for this long before.

“Taylor?”

I turned around to see Mum standing in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Time to go.”

I nodded and picked up the backpack that sat at my feet, slinging it over my shoulder. Goodbye Gosford, hello Sydney. The record company had rented out a house for the three of us to live in while we worked on the album – we hadn’t been there yet, but I hoped to high heaven that it was a nice place. Otherwise I’d be out of there quick smart and fucking off back home. I took one last look at my room as I walked out. “I’ll be back,” I whispered.

Dad, Emma, Lila and Oliver were waiting in the living room; they stood up as Mum and I came downstairs. “Have fun in Sydney,” Dad said as we embraced. “Don’t work too hard.”

I nodded and crouched down to Lila’s level once I’d been released. “You be a good girl for Mum and Dad, okay?” I told her; she nodded. “And Oliver, you behave yourself.”

I straightened up and beckoned to Emma. “I’ll miss you,” she said softly, hugging me tightly.

“I’ll miss you too, Ems. I think I’ll miss you most of all.”

“Can I come visit sometimes?” Emma asked shyly.

“Of course you can; I’ll be back for Christmas, don’t forget. You know my email address, right?” Emma nodded. “Well, anytime you want to come down for a visit you email me, and I’ll see when we’ve got a night off. I’ll take you to see a movie or something like that. I promise.”

I looked at my family as I got into my car, tossing my backpack into the back seat – they stood in a little group of five on the front porch. I fixed that image in my mind as I reversed down the driveway and drove down the street.

Two hours later I pulled up in the driveway of a two-story house in Darlinghurst; I recognised Dale Shelton’s van immediately, and pulled in behind it. A curtain at one of the upstairs windows was pulled aside, a curly ginger head popped out and the curtain was closed again. Cassie had seen me.

“You’ve got to see this place!” Cassie insisted, dragging me inside. “It’s fuckin’ huge! And get this, we don’t even have to lift a finger; the record company’s hired a housekeeper.”

“That’s bloody brilliant.”

The house was enormous. We had a bedroom each; there were two bathrooms, a massive practice room, our bedrooms and a study upstairs, while downstairs were the kitchen, dining area, living room, laundry and a smaller bathroom. We had broadband Internet access and pay TV as well. It was heaven on earth.

“Hey, wanna try out the spa bath later on?” I whispered in Cassie’s ear. She giggled and blushed. “We’ll have bubbles, candles, Ronan Keating playing on that CD player of yours, everything.”

“And alcohol too; don’t forget the alcohol,” Cassie reminded me. “Can’t have a Dale-Kennedy sandwich without alcohol.”

I chuckled. “I’ll duck out and pick up some Mudslides and Ruskis after dinner,” I promised.

“Sounds good to me,” Cassie agreed. I leaned over and kissed her ear, and she giggled again.

For all Cassie’s tough and self sufficient exterior, inside she was just another girl. Growing up as one of only two daughters in a family of six kids will invariably do that to you – her sister was three years old and therefore not really worth worrying about. We’d known each other practically all our lives, and had liked each other since Year 10, but we had only recently made our feelings known to one another.

We got all our belongings moved into our rooms and unpacked in record time, settling down in the living room with our dinner by the time six o’clock rolled around. And we spent the first night in our new home switching back and forth between Austar and free-to-air TV, shooting the breeze and just having fun.

Lyric credits:

Do You Sleep – Lisa Loeb
Penny And Me – Hanson
Dying To Be Alive – Hanson