Page 69 of Rocked: The Price of Dreams

We kept each other grounded by writing lyrics and playing our music at home when we got the chance. We met Lexi, the coolest, quirkiest girl I’d ever known at the café across from our apartment, and her awesome drummer roommate, Hayden. They lived in our building on the same level as us. We became instant friends.

But there was no time to rest. By the end of July, SureHaven Records had us on a plane bound for Los Angeles to record our first album, written largely by the SureHaven team.

I’d never been on a plane before. Tears prickled my eyes as we soared above the clouds. I’d never forget the moment we thundered down the runway, that feeling of lifting off the ground, that sensation of flying through the air. Our lives had changed forever. With Kyle by my side, we penned “Horizon.” The lyrics hit me right in the heart and were ones I’d always cherish.

Don’t care if we fly,

Don’t care if we run,

Don’t care how we’re gonna get there,

Just gonna follow the sun.

So, take my hand,

We’ll soar above the clouds,

Follow our dreams,

Never gonna touch the ground.

Yee-yeah-ya. Yee-yeah-ya, Yee-yeah, yeah.

We’ll aim for the horizon,

Don’t know when we’ll be home again,

So baby, come on, come with me,

Don’t know where this road will end.

Let’s aim for the horizon,

Let’s touch the stars,

Sail across the oceans,

Follow our beating hearts.

With you by my side,

We’re gonna touch the sky,

Gonna love you forever,

’Til the day I die.

’Til the day I die.

The manic excitement and euphoric energy that consumed us when we hit the studio made my head spin. But every time I entered the recording booth, the niggle in the pit of my gut twisted tighter. It irked me, not singing our own songs. But for our first release, it was the price we were prepared to pay. We’d negotiated three original tracks onto the album; I had to be happy with that. Especially when SureHaven loved “Horizon” and agreed to release it as our second single.

We were assigned a manager, Amie, and a publicist, Kate. We hired a personal assistant, Bec. Life had become surreal. But no matter how crazy things got, at the end of each day, I sat in our hotel room or in our apartment or wherever our new crazy life had taken us, with Hunter and Kyle, and counted my blessings.

And we played our music.

We were living our dream.

“Heartbeat,” our debut song, hit the airwaves in September. I don’t think anyone, not even SureHaven, was prepared for the phenomena we’d created. Our single went straight to number one.

---