Five Flavors of Dumb - Antony John [24]
Tash smacked her right hand against her guitar strings, eliciting an angry response from her amp. “We don’t need a stylist.”
Josh laughed. “Don’t worry, Tash. I wouldn’t want to change your style anyway.”
Tash narrowed her eyes, but decided to take it as a compliment.
“No,” continued Josh, “Kallie’s not here as a stylist. She’s here as our new member.”
I didn’t wait for the others to voice their outrage. I just closed my laptop, grabbed Josh’s arm, and dragged him into the neighboring practice room. I slammed the door shut and hoped the crumbling soundproofing on the walls still worked.
“What the hell, Josh. You know she can’t join.”
The smile never left his face. “Why not?”
“For one thing, the contracts have been finalized.”
“I don’t see any contracts.”
“That’s ’cause my mom had to redo them to add Ed’s name, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, Ed.” Josh picked at the wall, flicking a fingernail-sized chunk of white foam across the room. “I’m glad we were able to find a place in the band for your best friend. I really mean that.”
“He’s not my best friend,” I said, wondering why I felt so defensive. “Anyway, we needed a drummer.”
“And now we need Kallie.”
“Why? What does she play? For all I know she could screw up the band’s sound completely.”
“The way Geek Boy Ed screwed up our image, you mean? Sure, a dork with bad clothes—that’s just what we needed.” The words came out faster than usual, and though he tried to salvage the comment by smiling again, it was a smile that didn’t extend beyond his mouth. “I don’t mean that, of course. It’s just that, well . . . look at us. My brother looks perpetually stoned even though he’s never touched drugs in his life. Tash precisely fits the FBI’s profile of a future serial killer. And Ed has all the flair of a bank clerk. See what I’m saying?”
I nodded, half because I was still reeling from his attack on Ed, and half because, though I hated to admit it, I saw his point. Josh was the ideal lead singer—energetic, charismatic, and hopelessly in love with himself. But the band’s token feminine influence was Tash, and viewing her in certain types of light was enough to put you off your food. I thought about the photos I’d taken, and how Kallie would change the way people looked at the band. So what if she contributed nothing musically? She’d be a figurehead, a media darling, the paparazzi’s dream. But still . . .
“We need Kallie,” pressed Josh, clearly sensing my waning resistance. “We need someone to make us look good. And believe me, Kallie makes us look amazing.”
I rolled my eyes. “You just want to hook up with her, don’t you?” I asked, hoping he’d seize the opportunity to deny it.
“Don’t make this about me, Piper. Dumb needs Kallie. Kallie is Dumb.”
“Do you mean that literally or figuratively?” I snorted.
He laughed loudly. “Probably both. Does it matter?” He flashed his irresistible smile, confirming that we’d just shared an intimate joke. We were colluding.
OMG! did u hear? piper vaughan and josh cooke were caught colluding in a music practice room!
Josh chivalrously held the door open for me as we left, still chuckling, and it wasn’t until we’d entered the classroom that I realized he thought he’d convinced me to accept Kallie. And I guess he had. After all, he knew a whole lot more than me about bands, and his logic seemed flawless. Sure, I still despised Kallie with every fiber of my being, but that didn’t seem like an especially persuasive line of defense.
“Okay, guys,” he shouted, presumably for my benefit. (He had so much to learn.) “This is a democracy. Let’s have a show of hands. All those in favor of Kallie joining Dumb.”
As Josh and I raised our hands, Will looked down, and Tash scowled. Only Ed’s vote was in doubt. I peered at him expectantly, but he shook his head. If I’d been thinking clearly I’d have realized that Ed’s refusal to play along was a last-gasp rescue attempt, a