Page 35 of Final Serenade

Rolling his eyes, Ashton fell to his bed and stared at me vacantly. “So?”

“First of all, you need to stop cursing.” I hugged the Xbox harder, secretly hoping the damn thing would break.

“Uh-huh.” He nodded and crossed his arms on his chest. “What else?”

“Second, no more video games. You are to delete all the apps from your phone too.”

Ashton kept on looking at me as if I were speaking Chinese naked.

“Lose the attitude, buddy.” I paused to give us both a moment to absorb all this. “Third, you’re going to pack your stuff and come stay with me starting next week.”

“Where am I going to sleep?”

“On the couch. This is non-negotiable. I’ll drop off the key copy in a couple of days. This is a very busy month for me and I won’t have time to babysit you. You’ll have to find a way to bring your things over on your own. You’ll also have to clean this room before you leave.”

Ashton’s face was a mixture of expressions, mostly terror.

“Fourth, you’re going to listen to all the Iron Maiden albums and sort them from best to worst.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Why?”

“Because if you want to work for a music magazine, Ashton, you need to know how to sort stuff. Because this is what we do half the time. We listen, we evaluate, we review. Because if you want to interview musicians, you need to know their catalogue from A to Z. You don’t get to pick. You get an assignment, and you do it.”

Shock and awe flashes in his eyes. “Iron Maiden has like a hundred albums. And I don’t even listen to them.”

“It’s sixteen and I don’t care how you do it. YouTube them. Study them. Write down your thoughts. Make a list. That’s part of the job.”

“Are you for real?”

“Yes. I’m for real. You have two weeks. You’re not doing this for me. You’re doing this for you and for Mom. She’s overworked, stressed, and sick. And we need to take care of her. Not drag her down.”

I grabbed the game controller from his desk and left the room.

Chapter Six

My head hurt as I stared at the screen of my desktop. There, in my inbox, was an email from [email protected].

Do you have any plans for tonight?

Tonight was a couple of hours away. My sleep had been messed up badly because of the trip to juvie earlier in the week. I’d spent my entire Tuesday in bed and stayed up all Wednesday night working on the recap of an eventRewiredhad covered.

It was nearly five in the afternoon, and I’d just finished my second coffee.

My phone rang. I felt like ignoring the call, but in the end, stupid habit made me pick up.

“I’m considering doing a mini documentary on Isabella,” Levi said.

“What?” My mind was far away in the Frankie Blade universe.

“I believe we can get a few labels interested.”

“We haven’t even seen her perform live yet,” I countered. I knew the girl was a powerhouse and I was going to do the interview. No questions asked. But before committing to a major project like Levi’s, I wanted to meet the artist.

“I haven’t run this by anyone in her team yet. I’m just sharing my ideas with you.”

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