Page 78 of Hard Rock Temptation
“I have a plan,” I said without preamble.
“A plan for the second album?” Zain asked, his voice tight. “And is this plan something we’re all going to agree on, or are you just making decisions on your own again?”
“Zain, please,” Anya pleaded. “Let’s just listen to what Micah has to say.”
Zain firmed his lips and folded his arms across his chest, but nodded, not speaking again.
“So, my plan,” I began.
I paused, waiting until I had their attention. All eyes were locked on me.
“We’re going to leak our songs,” I said.
Silence. Dead silence. Then…
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Finn demanded in a near screech.
“Not at all,” I replied.
“No, seriously, Micah, this is the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of,” Finn continued.
“I have to agree,” Chris spoke up, surprising me. “I know you’re worried the label won’t release the album if we change things up, but if we leak the songs people might not buy the album when it comes out, and you know what the label’s reaction to that is going to be.”
“I know,” I said with a nod.
“Are you forgetting that the risk of the label dropping us is a big part of the reason we’re fighting in the first place?” Zain demanded.
I shifted my eyes to Kaylee, who was staying uncharacteristically quiet, and gave her a smile.
“I’m willing to risk the consequences for the things that could go right,” I said, speaking directly to her and the band at the same time.
Her shocked expression soon melted into a warm, heart-melting smile.
“Wait,” Anya said, tucking her long black hair behind her ear nervously. “Let’s think this through. We leak the songs, right? Then what happens?”
“The fans either love it or hate it,” I said. “If they love it, then we have our answer to the question of whether they’ll still follow our new stuff. If they hate it, then we know we should stick to our original sound.”
“And the label?” Kaylee prompted. “If they drop us? What happens then?”
“How wouldyoureact if the label dropped us?” I countered. “What would you do?”
“I’d keep doing the same thing I’ve always done,” she said decisively. “I’d keep making music.”
“Exactly.” I met the gaze of each band member in turn. “If the label drops us, we keep making music.”
There was a beat of silence. Then smiles began to spread across everyone’s faces.
“We keep making music,” Finn repeated. “We go indie again?”
“Exactly,” I nodded. “If a label won’t back us, we’ll do it ourselves.”
“So that’s your plan,” Zain said. The tightness in his voice had eased, replaced with a burgeoning glee, his eyes lighting up with an inner fire. “We leak the songs, see what the fans like, and if the label drops us, we go indie. That’s a bold move,” Zain added. “Not like you at all.”
“I’m tired of being scared all the time,” I said, avoiding Kay’s eyes for now. “I promised to be fearless. This is me keeping my promise.”
“So what’s next?” Chris asked. “How soon do we get this plan underway?”
“First we need to record demos of the songs,” I said. “That will get the label off our back for now. Once we’ve got something, we release it to the world. Then…” I gave them all a grin. “We sit back and watch the fallout.”
