Totally Unrelated by Tom; Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

fun. It’s a cool song.”
    â€œIt sounded good,” I agree. “But I’m not sure about the way you sing the second half of the chorus.”
    â€œOkay,” she says. “So how should I sing it?”
    â€œYeah, Neil,” says Bert. “She isn’t a mind reader.”
    I hate singing, but I try to show her what I mean. “ Out of all your other students, I want you to like me best ,” I sing, feeling totally self-conscious.
    â€œI don’t know why you’re always going on about not being able to sing,” says Bert.
    â€œYeah,” says Sandy. “You’ve got a nice voice.”
    â€œWhatever,” I say. “Do you guys want to run through it again?”
    We play through the song a few more times, and when Sandy’s grandmother arrives to pick her and Beast up, we’re sounding really tight.
    â€œSo you’re in?” I ask Sandy as she packs up her guitar.
    â€œYeah,” she says, turning around and smiling at us. “I think it’ll be fun.”
    â€œPerfect,” says Bert. “There’s just one more thing to figure out. What are we going to call ourselves?”
    â€œWe only have one song,” I say. “Do we really need a name?”
    â€œAre you crazy?” he asks. “Nobody is going to take us seriously without a name. Besides, we only have one song because it’s our first song. The Stones, U2, Arcade Fire—they all only had one song once too.”
    â€œHe’s got a point,” says Sandy.
    We stand at the foot of the stairs, mulling it over for a minute. A horn honks outside, for the third time. “How about we all think about it and see what we come up with,” says Sandy. “Beast and I better get out of here before Grandma has a fit.”
    â€œI’ve got to hand it to you, Neil,” says Bert, once Sandy has wrangled Beast and her guitar up the stairs. “She is exactly what this band has been looking for.”

Nine
    The Family McClintock has never been busier. Dad has us rehearsing like crazy for the Vince Beach show, and we’re also getting plenty of other bookings. Some days we wake up, eat a big breakfast and then head to the garage to rehearse before getting in the bus and driving several hours to a show, only to crawl into bed exhausted at the end of a long day and then wake up and do it all over again.
    Somehow I manage to find time to practice with Sandy and Bert, squeezing in an hour or two here and there on days when we don’t have performances scheduled. I especially look forward to Thursdays, which I’m able to spend entirely in Bert’s basement. Beast is usually around for our practices, too, and has kind of become our unofficial mascot.
    Now that “Pass the Test” is pretty tight, we start to play some cover tunes, mostly for fun but also because Sandy makes the good point that we should have an encore ready in case we win the talent show. Soon we have a solid repertoire of three songs: one original and two covers.
    The funny thing is, the more I get to work on the stuff I like with Sandy and Bert, the more my guitar playing seems to improve when I’m onstage with my family. My parents notice too.
    â€œYou were on fire tonight, Neil,” my mom says one night. We’re on the highway, coming home from a traditional music festival in New Brunswick.
    â€œI just played my parts,” I say.
    â€œNo, your mother’s right,” says Dad. “You’ve obviously been getting in some extra practices, and it’s paying off. Good job.”
    I shrug, although I have to admit it’s nice to hear them say that. During our performance today, I actually felt the music as I was playing it, instead of just going through the motions. Maybe it’s possible for me to have my own thing going on and keep being a useful part of the Family McClintock. I still don’t exactly love the music, but for some reason