Snake Bandit - YA Rockstar Read online

  The four young faces all looked at him and nodded, they looked so damn young and a little bit shell-shocked—except for Rocco—that he wondered if they were doing the right thing.

  It was a lot of responsibility and pressure opening up for anyone, never mind your parents, who happened to be one of the greatest and most successful bands in the world.

  “Also,” Jake added. “If the sound isn’t right or you don’t put the hours in, we’ll pull the plug. It may be a charity gig but it’s still important. We’re putting our name to it, it’s our charity, so we won’t accept anything but the best.”

  Ethan let out a long breath and whipped his head to stare at Rocco who was lazing back in his chair, spinning his mobile between his thumb and forefinger.

  “You’re not chickening out on me are you, son?” Skins asked with a deep chuckle.

  Ethan shook his head but looked anything but confident. He was a good drummer, he knew he was, he’d been taught by the best, but it had never been his ambition to be in a band. It had certainly never been his ambition to put himself under so much fucking pressure to perform in front of thousands of people.

  “I don’t want us to come across as some poxy family group like Hanson or that band Nan likes,” Hendrix said, a frown furrowing his brow.

  Jake burst out laughing. “The Osmonds,” he replied. “They’re who your nan likes and no, you’ll be nothing like them.”

  “They don’t have the fucking teeth for a start,” Tom offered.

  “I never knew Auntie Thelma liked The Osmonds,” Luke said, looking disgusted.

  “She’s got a picture of that Donny bloke pasted to the inside of her cupboard where she keeps the crisps and chocolate,” Hendrix offered. “Every time I go in there to get something, he’s always grinning back at me.”

  “You know how you stop that, son?” Jake asked.

  Hendrix rolled his eyes. “Stop eating chocolate and crisps,” he sighed expecting a lecture about his skin and his modelling career.

  “No,” Jake cried. “Rip it off and shove it in the bin.”

  They all laughed, and the atmosphere felt a little easier, each ‘member’ of Snake Bandit visibly relaxing.

  “Right,” Skins said as he pushed back his chair. “Let’s have a listen to what we’re working with.”

  All of Snake Bandit suddenly went rigid again and looked at each other warily as Dirty Riches led them from the boardroom.

  “Shit,” Ethan said, swallowing hard. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

  Rocco slapped him on the back. “Dude, it’s our dads and their best friend. They’ve heard us play and sing thousands of times. How bad can it be?”

  “Yeah, and the last time was when we were about fifteen and didn’t give a shit,” Ethan hissed.

  “Listen this is my band, if you don’t think you can hack it,” Eliza snapped, “then say now. This is a huge break for me.” She stopped following their dads and Tom and turned to her brother and their friends. “Thanks for doing this Rocco, but if any of you want out, say now and I’ll call Lynsey and Donna and see if they’ll come back.”

  Rocco pushed Ethan forward and shook his head. “Nope, E, we’re all good here. Now come on, let’s show them how fucking great we actually are.”

  Skins, Luke, Jake and Tom all leaned against the wall, their eyes firmly on the foursome in front of them, their faces giving nothing away, not even when Hendrix strummed the final chord and Ethan threw his sticks in the air and then caught them.

  With her nerves on high alert and adrenaline rushing through her body, Eliza breathed heavily as she watched the four men, waiting for a response, but nothing came. She closed her eyes and groaned – they’d messed it up and lost their opportunity.

  “Okay,” Luke’s voice finally boomed out as he pushed off the wall. “We know what we have to work with, so let’s talk.”

  Eliza’s eyes snapped open and she turned to her brother who shrugged.

  “Rocco, you sound good,” Luke said approaching his son and squeezing his shoulder. “You’ve got a Josh Franceschi vibe going on.”

  Rocco’s eyes widened at being likened to the lead singer of You Me at Six. That was high praise as far as he was concerned.

  “But,” Luke continued. “That makes me think you’re just copying him.”

  “They’re one of my favourite bands,” Rocco answered. “I listen to them loads, so I’m bound to pick up stuff from him.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’m the one who keeps telling you to turn it the fuck down. I also know you have your own style, your own voice in there. Don’t copy anyone son, be you.”

  Luke then turned to Jake who had moved next to him. His arms were folded over his chest and his head was tilted to one side as he perused his own two kids.

  “Proud of both of you,” he said, causing Eliza to grin. “But you,” he said pointing at Eliza, “are playing too hard and overpowering Hendrix. And you, my son, are letting her take control. You’re lead guitar, you provide the melody and Eliza provides the foundation, but I can’t hear you. You’re too meek and she’s too forceful.”

  Eliza opened her mouth to disagree, but Jake was already pinning her with his ‘dad’ look that she knew meant not to question him. The look she’d rarely seen since she was about fourteen.

  “Shit, I guess it’s my turn,” Ethan groaned, rolling his eyes.

  Skins grinned. “Yep.” He took Ethan’s sticks from him and held them up in front of his face. “You start to throw these around once you’re a great drummer. At the moment you’re a good drummer, but not a great one. Stop the fucking tricks until you’ve got the drumming down. Talking of which, you do know—”

  Before he had time to finish Jake, Luke and Tom all chimed together, “The drummer keeps the fucking beat.”

  Skins flipped them the bird and then turned back to Ethan. “What they said, but you’re chasing the beat sometimes, usually when you’ve done some fucking trick with these.” He passed the sticks back to Ethan and then gave him a smile. “Even so, good work, son.”

  “Okay,” Luke said. “I think we all agree you have potential but there’s something missing. Tom, you want to tell them?”

  Rocco had no idea how his Uncle Tom knew what his dad was talking about. They hadn’t spoken one word to each other since Ethan had counted them in.

  Tom nodded and pulled at his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

  “First off, that was pretty awesome considering you haven’t played together since you were little kids and even then, it was only for those damn Christmas shows you used to put on, but it isn’t what we want.”

  Rocco groaned, he’d been so sure he’d come up with a solution for his papa, but they’d obviously under-estimated how difficult it would be to persuade Dirty Riches they were good enough.

  “Hang on,” Tom said, noticing that Eliza looked as though she might cry. “That’s not a no, but you need your own sound.”

  Eliza perked up a little and chewed on her lip, listening intently.

  “You could be any other band out there trying to get a gig and you need to sound unique. You need to sound better than the rest because, whether you like it or not, you’re the kids of Dirty Riches. So, as well as listening to what your dads have told you, I also need you to think about how you can create Snake Bandit. What’s going to set you aside from the rest?”

  “You mean my songs are too much like yours?” Eliza asked, taking her guitar off and placing it on its stand. “I tried not to make them sound the same. I was going for a punkier version of rock.”

  “Yeah, Princess and you have,” Jake replied. “But what Tom is saying is the overall sound is too Dirty Riches. It’s not surprising, you’ve been around us all your lives and you even look like us, except you don’t have an ugly one, like we’ve got Tom.”

  As Tom knocked Jake’s beanie hat off, Eliza smiled but she couldn’t help but feel a little deflated. She’d put her heart and soul into the songs she’d written, so to be told t
hey were too Dirty Riches was disappointing.

  “Eliza, you’re not understanding, sweetheart,” Tom added. “Your songs are great. You have huge potential as a songwriter, it’s the overall sound. You need to add something to whip it up another gear.”

  “Like another instrument?” Rocco asked.

  “Yeah, that might work,” Tom replied.

  “What about a keyboard?” Eliza asked. “Lynsey played keyboard on quite a few songs.”

  Skins tapped his foot while the others all considered Eliza’s suggestion.

  “Too eighties,” Skins replied, bringing his foot to a standstill. “A piano might work though.”

  “No offence,” Ethan said, “but I really don’t want to sound like Coldplay.”

  Tom shrugged. “Only you can make sure that doesn’t happen. There are plenty of great piano bands out there – The Fray, Athlete, Keane, you just need to make sure you’re different. Your songs will do that to a point, but the rest is up to you.”

  “You know,” Skins said, pointing at Eliza. “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you should try a keyboard. Now you have a full band, some electronic sound added to it might work.”

  “You admitting you got it wrong, big man?” Jake asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “Well fuck me. Life is full of surprises.”

  As they all started to laugh, Hendrix looked around the room and felt pride pull at his chest. He had an amazing family and a beautiful girlfriend and while he really didn’t want the band for his future, helping with the charity gig was the least he could do to pay something back for the charmed life he’d been born into.

  “If this goes well,” he said. “You do know I don’t want to be in the band long term, don’t you?”

  A shadow of disappointment drifted over Jake’s face, but it was only momentary. He wanted his kids to be happy and running an animal refuge was what would make Hendrix happy. Jake knew a lot of parents would see it as a pie in the sky dream, but Hen was one of those special kids whose heart was huge. He wanted nothing but to help others all the time. He’d been a nightmare baby, awake at all hours, wanting to play or be sung to, but he’d grown into the kindest, most gentle and loving kid he could ever wish for, and if his son wanted to run an animal refuge, well then Jake would make sure it damn well happened.

  “We know that, Hen,” Jake answered, giving his son a soft smile. “And if this band is popular and creates something amazing then you all have some decisions to make.”

  “Once you’ve finished Uni,” Luke added. “Because, if you’re good and you want to do this, the world will wait another three years and we will help you every step of the way.”

  “That includes you, Princess.”

  Eliza groaned but nodded, knowing her dad wasn’t going to change his mind about that, no matter how successful the gig was.

  Tom clapped his hands. “Okay, so we’ve established that maybe a piano or a keyboard would add to your sound, but now we have to find someone who can play the damn things.”

  Eliza glanced at her dad and then at Rocco, who had been decidedly quiet seeing as he usually had a great deal to say.

  “I know someone,” she said, her eyes wary as Jake’s gaze shot to hers.

  “Who, Princess?”

  Eliza cleared her throat knowing how Jake felt about him.

  “Freddie Price.”

  “The little fucker that follows you around like a lost puppy?” Jake asked.

  Hendrix laughed. “He’s really great, Dad. Stop being all Daddy Bear.”

  “Thank you, Hen. Yeah, Dad, stop being all grumpy and overprotective.”

  “Nope, not happening. I’m not having any offspring of Tom Price hanging around my daughter. Do you fuckers remember how fucking pretty that fucker was when we were at school?”

  “Fucking hell, Jake,” Skins groaned. “Do you have to curse so fucking much?”

  “Yes, I fucking do. I’m not having him around. Not after what happened to Gigi.”

  “Eliza isn’t as naïve as her,” Luke replied. “And I also don’t think Freddie Price is a dirty little prick like Carmichael.”

  Jake sagged a little but pointed a finger at Rocco. “If he joins and so much as breathes on her, I expect you to break his fucking nose as well.”

  Rocco grinned and had to wonder why his Uncle Jake was like that. Eliza could look after herself and hadn’t she told them she’d already lost her virginity, so Uncle Jake was a bit late in laying the law down. But he would protect her if he had to, because hearing his sister crying had made him sick to the stomach.

  Eliza watched her dad carefully and couldn’t help but smile. He was such an idiot at times, but at least she knew he loved her. There were plenty of kids whose parents didn’t give a shit about them, never mind give them an opportunity to perform in front of thousands of people. She had to keep her feet on the ground though. There was no way he was going to let her back out of going to university unless they became mega successful of course. She knew he’d have to reconsider then; he just didn’t want her to spend years trying for something that wasn’t going to happen. Admittedly she hadn’t wanted a leg up from her dad or her uncles, but this was a genuine situation where they needed her and Snake Bandit; Jake hadn’t manufactured it to help her and Eliza realised that sometimes you had to take the opportunities when they arose, despite the circumstances.

  “That’s settled then,” Tom announced. “Eliza will call Freddie and see if he’s in.”

  They all nodded and agreed, and Eliza couldn’t help but feel a little patter in her stomach at the thought of her dream of her own band coming to fruition, but she was also excited at the prospect of working with Freddie on a daily basis.

  Chapter 21

  As Freddie played the notes on the sheet music in front of him, his feelings were in turmoil. He felt excited to be there playing Eliza’s songs and potentially being part of something big, but he was also shit scared. Scared that he’d mess up for Eliza, but more so because her dad was giving him the fucking evils from where he was standing, leaning against the wall with his arms folded firmly over his broad chest.

  According to Freddie’s mum, Eliza’s dad hadn’t had his dad around when he was young, so she’d warned him that he was probably making up for it with his own kids, but even so, he was still pretty scary. As if it wasn’t scary enough playing in front of Dirty Riches, he had a protective father bear growling at him.

  “I like it,” Luke said as they finished playing Eliza’s song ‘Broken Veins’. “The keys add an extra layer that gives you that unique sound you needed.”

  He turned to Jake and inclined his head in question, Jake gave him a chin lift.

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “It sounded good, but you have to know Price, you’re in this to work not to flirt with my daughter.”

  Eliza groaned and rolled her eyes. “Dad! Freddie didn’t have to give up his spare time to do this you know. Stop being so rude and…and…fatherly,” she replied her tone laced with exasperation.

  “That’s because I am your fucking father,” Jake cried, his eyes narrowing on his daughter.

  “Might be fatherlier if you stopped saying fucking, Dad,” Hendrix offered with a huge grin.

  “Watch your language or I’ll tell your mother.” Jake pointed a finger at Hendrix but was smiling softly at his son, whose head was now down as he messed with the tuning of his guitar. “And I remember his father, he was a bloody puss— sorry, girl magnet.”

  “I promise, Mr Hughes,” Freddie said, coughing to try and hide the nervousness he was feeling. “I’ll work hard.”

  He didn’t promise he wouldn’t flirt with Eliza at the same time because that would be a lie and he was Tom Price’s son after all. The more time Freddie had spent with Eliza over the last few weeks, the more he liked her. He’d always thought Eliza was pretty—even when they were tiny kids, and he had no idea about the fun that boys and girls could really have together—but now he knew she was so much more than sparkling blu
e eyes and lustrous blonde curls. She was funny and sweet and, of course, she had a cracking set of boobs and amazing heart shaped arse to add to the rest of the good stuff. Freddie just hoped she wasn’t still hung up on Rocco fucking Mahoney. He was a decent guy but at twenty he seemed much older than Eliza, and Freddie knew for certain Rocco was far too experienced for her. For all she was outgoing and popular, Freddie had never known Eliza have a boyfriend before and was pretty sure she didn’t sleep around for the sake of it. So, it was obvious to him that Rocco wasn’t what she needed – or was that just his wishful thinking? If there was anything he wanted in the world, it was a chance with Eliza Hughes.

  “Okay,” Tom said, stepping forward and stopping the conversation before Jake decided to break Snake Bandit’s new keyboard players fingers before they’d even got started. “I think we all agree the sound is better, but you need to get tighter and that means rehearsals until you feel like you’ll puke if you have to rehearse even one more time. Do I make myself clear?”

  They all chimed in agreement, Eliza being the loudest as she cast a warning glance to Rocco and Ethan.

  “Can we stay and rehearse now, Uncle Luke?” she asked, seeing as they were in his studio down in the basement of his house.

  Luke nodded. “Yeah, no problem sweetness. Not too late though because you can come into Musica with us tomorrow and we’re leaving at seven.”

  Rocco groaned but held his palms up when Luke shot him a look that said, ‘your choice son, this or being an unpaid slave for the rest of the summer’.

  “You okay to get time off from the leisure centre?” Skins looked between Eliza and Freddie.

  “Yes,” Freddie replied. “They’ve agreed to give us evening shifts and reduce them to just three a week until after the gig.”

  “Together?”

  “Yes, Dad, together,” Eliza sighed. “It’s either that or I have to pack it in, and I don’t want to.”

  She glanced at Freddie and noticed how hot he looked and not in a sweaty ‘that rock star is going to kill me’ way, but hot in a ‘shit how did I not know he was so muscular and had such deep brown eyes’ kind of way.