Planning Your Future

We Say We're Friends

October 4, 1993

Veronica's POV

We still haven't been contacted by Zachary Dyer. Mr. Donovan told us to give it some time. But it's been over a month. I'm getting a little worried that he changed his mind. I've been stressing out all week. JD, Erika, and Alyssa have all failed at calming me down. But I'm beyond the point of being calmed down. Until Zachary calls us, I will be stressed out.

"Hey, guys." Miles walks in. "Did Zachary Dyer call us?" I jump up out of my seat, assuming that's the reason Miles came in. "Not yet. But I promise he'll call." He assures me, leaving. "Dammit." I lie down on the ground, staring at the ceiling. "Miles is right, Veronica. He will call us." JD looks down at me. "I hope you're right." I sigh.

We have our rehearsal, which is more of a session to brainstorm songs. JD and I have our usual argument about lyrics. We're almost ready to leave, when Miles comes in. He simply sets down a piece of paper and backs up. I get up from the piano and walk over to it. On this paper, there's an address and a few dates. "Is this from Zachary?" I look at Miles. Please God, let it be from Zachary. "It is. He said that he would have called soon, but he had a family emergency." Miles nods. "Oh my God." I cover my mouth with both of my hands. "He said that these were his open slots. But he also said he can work something out if you can't come these days." He puts his hand on the paper. "We'll be there." JD says.

We celebrate after Miles leaves. "I can't believe we're recording an album." I smile. "I know. It's so cool." Sam says. "Hey. Miles just told me the big news." Alyssa knocks on the door. "How do you feel?" She takes my hands. "Awesome." I kiss her.

October 19, 1993

We all walk into the building, looking for Zachary. "Hey everyone. Follow me." Zachary says when he sees us. He brings us into a recording studio. "So for this first session, I'll have you sign a few contracts, then I just want to start recording the music. Then we'll record the audio later. I have the instruments in there, so let's get you set up." We sign all of his contracts, which feel pretty straightforward. Then I give him the sheet music for all the songs. We do "Edge of Great" first. Before we record it, he has us run through it.

We spend the day playing the songs without the lyrics. We record three of them. We're all exhausted at the end. We're brought into a lounge area to relax before we do a few more. He sits with us, talking about the songs. "So I noticed during the show last month, you two seemed to be... romantic. Are you guys together?" He asks JD and I. "If you don't mind me asking." He adds. "Oh no. We're not together. We used to date, but it didn't work out. We only act like that during shows." I tell him. "Oh. So what about the duet you two sang?" He tilts his head, confused. "We wrote that before we broke up. We actually wrote it before we even started dating. I know it makes it sound like we're together." I was kind of worried he'd ask about it. "Are you dating anyone?" These are rather pressing questions. "We both are." JD says. "Okay. I'm just asking because when people hear that song, they're going to think you're a couple. Just be ready for that." He gets up.

We do a couple more songs before leaving for the day. "Are you sure we shouldn't cut that song?" I ask JD as he drives us back to Harvard. "No. Who cares if people think we're dating? I don't. I doubt you do. The song is well written and well performed. It stays on the album." He says. "Well he's right. I mean, 'we say we're friends, we play pretend' sounds like we're at least in love." I love the song but I don't want it to cause a rift in either of our relationships. "Well we were at one point. And we could say that it's not about us if we wanted. It could be about someone we know." He shrugs. "I guess." I sigh.

November 2, 1992

We come in for our second to last session. We just have to record the vocals for a few more songs. Then we have to start thinking about the cover and how we get the album out there. We finish the last of the group songs during this session. "Okay. So we'll do your solo songs next time." Zachary tells me as he walks us out. "Sounds good." I smile.

"I can't wait to be done. At first I was excited, but now I'm sick of it." I flop onto my bed when I get to my dorm. "I get it. It sounds like a lot." Erika says. "And it doesn't help that it feels like Zachary wants JD and I to date." I'm positive that JD and I will never get back together. He feels the same. "Fuck him. Who cares what he wants?" She laughs. "I'm just ready to be done. Friday couldn't come soon enough." I sit up.

November 5, 1993

I enter the recording booth. "So let's start with 'To Have a Home.'" Zachary says from the other side. We do it a few times before Zachary is satisfied. The same goes with "Wake Up" and "Ours." It feels like "Wake Up" took an hour. He made me sing that one so many times. "Alright. I will call your agent so we can schedule a meeting to discuss all the details." He says as I leave the booth. "Okay." I nod.

We part ways and I go back to Harvard. I go to JD and Kyle's dorm. "Hey." I lie down on JD's bed. "Hey Veronica. How was today?" JD's at his desk. "He had me sing all those songs a hundred times. My throat actually hurts right now." I get that we have to have options for when he mixes the songs, but why did we only record my songs that much? "But you're done. So that's good." He turns around in his chair. "Fair. Oh! And he said that he'd call Mr. Donovan to schedule another meeting." I sit up, remembering that I should tell him that. "Cool. I'm just ready to go home for Thanksgiving. I never thought I'd say that I miss Sherwood, Ohio." He laughs. "I definitely don't miss it." I pull my legs up to my chest. "I don't blame you. After the shit you went through it that town, no one could blame you." He says.

November 22, 1993

JD's POV

"Come on, Veronica. I know you don't want to, but we have to go to this meeting." I knock on Veronica and Erika's door. She opens the door, an angered look on her face. "I hate this." She walks past me. "I know. Let's just get it over with." I follow her. We take my car because I know she won't drive there if we take hers. "I know Zachary can be frustrating but the annoying part is over." He is a little hard to work with, but I'm sure a lot of record producers are.

We meet Sam and Owen in the lobby. Zachary comes to get us a few minutes later. "So I worked a bunch of long hours, but it's done." He holds up the vinyl. "I got it pressed into vinyl last night. And JD, I took your drawing to an artist, and they did this," He slides a picture towards me. It's really good. It still looks like it came from my drawing, but it's ten times better. "Wow. I like it. What do you guys think?" I ask the others. "It's good." Veronica nods. "I like it." Owen says. "Same here." Sam agrees. "Great. So I'll reach out to my guy and he'll start producing these with the cover. Now I've been working with your agent on getting you shows to promote the album. I understand that holidays are off limits, but is there any other time that doesn't work for you?" He asks. "Nope. We're available at any other time." Veronica says. "Great. Now I just want to go over a few more things, and then we're good to go." He tells us before giving us a bunch of information about the album and distribution.

Afterwards, we all go out to eat, Alyssa and Miles meeting up with us. "I'm so glad I won't have to talk to him for a while after this is fully done." Veronica leans back in her chair. "Well I'm sure he'll check in." Owen mentions. "No. Don't say that." She points at him. "Fine." Owen puts his hands up defensively. "I'm proud of you." Alyssa leans over to kiss her, but stops. "Are you okay with...?" She asks quietly. I'm assuming she means PDA. Veronica rolls her eyes and kisses her. "Yes." She laughs.

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry that this was a bit of a shorter chapter and it jumped around a lot. But I wanted to jump to the big stuff. There's some big things happening in the next two chapters. I hope you're prepared. Bye!