A/N: Hey guys! Ok, so I wanted to make this clear right now before I get into the story. I like writing lyrics, but the problem is, you guys wouldn't know how the lyrics sound to music. So for the purposes of this story, I'm going to use the songs of real life bands and musicians and make them the songs that The Velocity sings. Now, don't yell at me for stealing other people's material. I am giving credit where credit is due. The majority of the songs in this story, if not all, are songs sung by legitimate artists. Whenever I use a song, I will put the real artist's name at the end of the part. But in my story, I will say that the song is The Velocity's (even though it isn't). Get it? So each time The Velocity sings a song, I can post the corresponding Youtube video. With that said, enjoy!!!

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"This is our recording studio," Caleb said, opening the door to a large, nicely built studio in the basement of his home.

"This is where all the magic happens," Liam told me.

"It looks awesome," I commented.

"Did you get a chance to listen to our songs?" Camron asked. I nodded.

"I like them. A lot. They're really catchy," I replied.

"Bryan and Ian used to write the songs together. We only have the four that we gave you. But we're going to have to do them over again, and put your vocals in. I spent the week rewriting the music for your range. You can read sheet music, right?" Caleb asked me.

"Yeah, I was a choir nerd in high school," I answered. He laughed.

"Awesome. Here's the music," he said, handing me a stack of papers. "We'll work on a song a week, to fit your schedule and give us time to mess with the sound and stuff," he explained.

"Sounds good to me," I said. I looked around. "Where's Ian?" I asked.

"He's in full writing mode right now. We're not going to disturb him. He got an idea at 3 am last night and has been up since," Camron told me.

"He's really serious about this," I said.

"We all are, Vanessa. This band is really important for us. We've been together since high school and we've worked so hard on it, perfecting our sound. Now we finally feel like we're ready," Caleb told me, his blue eyes soft.

"We want to be discovered. And we were. But Bryan took the label and ran away. Now we have to get another one. That's our main goal right now," Liam explained. I nodded. I knew what they wanted. I just thought they had really high expectations. We were in Beverly Hills, after all. Everyone here was an aspiring musician or performer waiting to be discovered. We had to really stand out. But I guess that's why they had me.

"So, let's get working, shall we?" Caleb suggested. I stepped into the studio and looked at the sheet music for the first song, titled 'I'm Not One for Complaining, But..."

I read through the lyrics a few times, trying to get a feel for them, and then listened their original version.

"We wanted it to be a song with both the girl's and guy's vocals. So I'm going to be singing with you," Caleb said.

"You sing, too?" I asked.

"I used to be the main back-up for Bryan," he said. I nodded. "Let's do like a cold read first, without the music. And then we'll move to just guitar. What we really need to do is just take out Bryan's vocals in the demo and replace them with our's," Caleb told me.

"Ok," I said. So we started. I read through the lyrics, marking the ones that I was going to sing. Then we went through it again a few times and sang them together. Then Caleb left to take care of a few things and I sat and sang my parts, practicing and getting used to really using my voice. When Caleb came back after a few hours, I had the song and my part completely memorized.

"Wow, you're a fast learner," he commented when I sang it for him. Liam and Camron had left already. Ian never showed up. So it was just me and Caleb. "How about taking a break?" he suggested.

"Gosh, that sounds awesome right now," I said, tired from all the singing.

"Let's go for a walk," he said. I nodded in agreement. We walked out into Caleb's neighborhood, which looked like a typical Beverly Hills neighborhood with large homes and overly manicured green lawns. It was dark out already. The days were short and the nights were long now that it was autumn.

"It's only my first day and this seems like a lot of work," I said, to start a conversation.

"Yeah, and we've been at this for almost 4 years now," Caleb said. He pulled the hood to his navy blue hoodie up over his crazy brown hair.

"That must be frustrating. Waiting for so long to get discovered and then finally getting the chance, only to have it taken away from you again," I said. "I guess I understand now what the big deal about this is. You guys are serious about this."

"Making it big is our dream. It's every band's dream. We love making music and we want to share our talent with the world. And the only way we can do that is by getting a record deal to help us make our music," Caleb told me.

"Do you guys have a Youtube account?" I asked. He nodded.

"We did. Then Ian shut it down because we never uploaded any videos," he replied. I pursed my lips.

"Well open it up again. I think we should make videos of us practicing. I love watching videos of my favorite bands goofing around while making music. And those videos tend to be the popular ones," I said. "And even if we do get a record deal, the only way to make it big is to get popular. The internet, Youtube, is perfect for that. Right now you guys are local. We need to spread the word about the band," I said. He laughed.

"Look at you; so full of good ideas," he said, smiling down at me, his blue eyes twinkling. I felt my cheeks go a little red.

"I feel like I owe it to you. I don't think I've been very enthusiastic about this. For me, it's just an opportunity to sing. But for you guys it's so much more," I said after a moment.

"An opportunity to sing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. We had walked up to a Starbucks. He held open the door for me and we walked inside.

"Well, after I auditioned, I fainted. I don't know if the guys told you or not. I have terrible stage fright. I just though I'd be auditioning for a small, local band. But you guys keep saying how you want to go big. I don't know if I can handle performing in front of large crowds," I explained. We ordered some coffee and waited while they made our drinks.

"Well, obviously we'd start out slow. We're not going to get a crowd of over a thousand people overnight. So you'll have time to practice," he told me. I still felt unsure. They gave us our drinks and we sat down at a table next to the window.

"I don't know; it's a lot. And I feel like you guys are moving really fast," I said.

"Well, yeah. You would feel like that. You jumped in while we're at the end of our process. Being together for 4 years, we've been moving pretty slow. And this is still slow for us," he said.

"I guess you're right," I agreed, sighing and swirling my coffee in its cup. When I looked up, Caleb was smiling at me. "What?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Did I have something on my face? The whipped cream from the coffee?

"Nothing; it's just..." he paused, still smiling. "You remind me of my girlfriend," he told me. I let out an awkward laugh.

"What?" I asked again.

"My girlfriend. You even look like her. Except her hair is a little lighter than yours. Her name's Emma," he told me.

"How do I remind you of her?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, you look like her, like I said. For another, she was always unsure of herself, too. She's a great writer. She writes stories and poems all the time and has me read them for her. Given, they're a little girly for me, but they're really awesome. Sometimes, she lets us use her poems and incorporate them into our songs. I told her to find a publisher and try to get published, but she doesn't think she's good enough," he explained. He took a sip of his coffee.

"How does that make her like me, though?" I questioned.

"Because you don't think you can sing in front of a lot of people. But you sang in front of that crowd in TFP when you auditioned. That means you have it in you," he answered.

"Yeah, but that was different. I really only auditioned because my friend was angry at me for being such a wuss," I told him. "So I had, like, a driving force or something," I added.

"So your love of singing isn't good enough? That seems like a pretty big motivation factor to me," he said.

"Why are you asking me this?" I asked him.

"Because I can see that you have a lot of potential. And maybe it's because I miss my girlfriend and I want to take you under my wing like I did for her," he replied. I smiled a little.

"What do you mean you miss her?" I asked after a few moments.

"She's in France right now. She's studying abroad," he answered.

"That's awesome. Is she a junior, too?" I asked. He nodded.

"She's studying abroad for a year. She said she'd fly back for the winter holidays, but now she's not sure. She said she wants to experience Christmas in France," he told me.

"Do you guys talk everyday?" I asked. He shook his head.

"At first we used to. But it's been 3 months now. There's only so much to talk about. So now we talk or Skype three times a week," he answered.

"Well, thank God for Skype, then, right? At least you get to see her face," I said. He shrugged.

"It's different talking to someone in person, though," he said.

"Good point," I agreed, nodding. A silence fell over us as we sipped our coffee and were lost in our own thoughts. I checked my phone. "I should probably get going. I still have some homework to do for tomorrow," I said, breaking the silence. He blinked.

"Oh, right. I forgot it's a school night," he said, checking his phone, too. We got up, threw our cups away, and walked back to his house. I grabbed my things and he walked me outside. I turned before I walked out to my car.

"It was nice talking to you, Caleb. I mean it," I said. He smiled.

"It was nice talking to you, too. It's nice to talk to a girl. The boys are only so helpful," he told me.

"Well, glad I can be of service," I said. He laughed.

"Good night, Vanessa," he told me.

"Good night," I replied, waving my hand and getting into my car. I drove home with a small smile on my face. Maybe this band idea wasn't so bad, after all.

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Songs used:

"I'm Not One for Complaining, but..." -The Best Week Ever