The Boy Next Door

Fortunately, that’s exactly what our brand-new agent was doing for us. It was still hard to believe we even had an agent. Of course, this type of success was what we’d always wanted. We hadn’t just thrown together a band because we thought it would be fun to jam together, or even for the attention from local fans. Though the dedicated groupies we picked up rather quickly were a nice perk while we built up. All of us came together over a love of music and a true drive to really make something out of ourselves. We looked ahead to the days when we would have huge audiences and be able to walk into any music store and see our album. Now it seemed like it was actually happening. We had a real agent, and he was getting copies of our album into the hands of some of the most powerful people in the industry.

I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next, and it turned out, I didn’t have to. When we wrapped up our practice, Luke looked at us with a grin.

“Hold on, guys. I need to talk to you,” he said.

“What’s up?” Mark asked.

Luke held out his arms dramatically, directing us to sit down on the gray-blue couch that occupied the edge of our practice space. We rolled our eyes but went along with it. Luke looked like he was going to bounce out of his skin as Carter, Mark, and I dropped down on the couch and stared at him. Finally, he grinned.

“I have an announcement to make. As manager, you know I’ve been working closely with Greg to get our album out there in front of people,” he said.

“And by that you mean he’s been doing all the work and you’ve been telling us about it?” Mark teased.

Luke gave him a look but continued.

“We’ve been making progress, but this morning I got word that something big is happening. Who here has heard of a little band called The Monsters?”

It was purely for dramatic effect. The Monsters had gotten pretty successful recently and were about to go on a major tour.

“Yes,” I said to push Luke forward. I really wasn’t feeling like sitting around the practice space for the rest of the day waiting for him to continue regaling us.

“Well, it just so happens they were looking for a band to open for them while they’re on the road. Greg got them a copy of our album, and they called to offer us the spot,” Luke concluded.

The three of us sat silently for a beat, not really believing him. When he didn’t say he was joking, we exchanged glances and I looked back at him.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Luke answered. “They’re starting their North American tour soon, and they want us to come along. It’s a huge opportunity. At least a year of shows, a per diem, the whole thing. We could seriously catch on while we’re going and end up with another tour.”

Excitement bubbled up and soon we were all talking over each other, giving high fives, and making plans. I couldn’t believe this was finally happening. It was everything we wanted.

The reality didn’t sink in until after I left the practice space and headed home. As I drove toward the apartments, I thought of Leah. I couldn’t wait to tell her about the tour and how excited I was to get on the road and start really touring. She was going to be so proud and excited for us. As soon as that thought went through my mind, it hit me. This wasn’t just about me going on tour with the band and what that could mean for the future of my career.

It also forced me to think about the future of the rest of my life, including my relationship with Leah. Things had been going well since that day at the beach and I was truly happy. But accepting the tour offer meant we’d be on the road for a year. There would be shows several days a week, and when we weren’t performing, we’d be traveling or trying to find time to grab a little bit of sleep to fuel us through the next show. It wouldn’t give us any time to come back home or take days off. Things were just getting serious with Leah. If I left for a year, who knew what would happen? Leaving for so long at this point in our relationship could mean losing everything we’d built up between us.

There was no way I could ask her to come with us. Some guys brought their girls along with them on tours, but they were the ones who had lives they could easily leave behind or jobs they could take with them. It wasn’t like that with Leah. She was very focused on getting promoted at her dream job and achieving everything she set out for herself. It was just like me working hard to get further in my music career. It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to come along and leave all that behind. It would be like her asking me to stop playing music.