|Concrete and Gold||dave grohl|

Chapter Ten•Summer's End

Over a span of the next four months, everyone's lives had been consumed with the creation of Scream's first official album. Every day after school, Eliza and Dave would jet on over to the studio to work on everything from writing drum tracks to working on cutting songs together to brainstorming album cover artwork. On top of the band's rigorous recording schedule, they still played shows four nights a week.

Eliza, although not an official member of the band, still was present for almost every second the band was together. She acted as the true manager of the band, making sure everything was happening smoothly and on time. And she loved it. Eliza had become close with all the band members, often referring to them as her best friends. And, fortunate for them both, the band's intense work schedule meant that Dave and Eliza got to spend an insane amount of time together.

"Are you sure it doesn't bother you that I hang around the band so much?" Eliza asked Dave one day on their way to band rehearsal. "I mean, this is your thing. I would understand if you didn't want me intruding this much."

"Absolutely not, sweetheart." Dave said, reaching down to kiss her hand. "I love that I get to see you everyday. And besides, I honestly don't know where we'd be without our bookkeeper."

Eliza gave him a playful slap on his arm, laughing at the reference to the nickname Pete had given her. She did keep track of the numbers side of their operation, so the nickname wasn't too far off.

And after one final day of recording in late August of 1988, their album was complete. They had all met at the studio to finalize everything, and were all crowded in the recording space where they'd done most of the work.

"Eliza, you do it." Franz said, handing Eliza the CD and the artwork they'd decided to use as the cover.

She took the pieces from him and slowly placed the artwork in the front of the case, symbolizing the completion of the album.

Everyone began to celebrate by hugging each other and clapping.

"Alright, what do you guys think? Should we go show Paul?" Eliza asked, talking over the sound of the guys cheering.

They all sped out of the room and headed towards Paul's office. Eliza knocked sharply on the door, CD in hand.

"Come on in!" Paul called from behind his desk. "Ooh, it looks like you've got something for me."

"The album." Eliza said, presenting it to him.

"Let me get my hands on that!" Paul said, snatching it from her hands and cracking open the case. He examined it for a second, then shut it. "I love it. I'll pass it on to the higher ups and see what they think before we go ahead and start to mass produce it."

They all thanked him for his time and then left his office.

"Do you think they'll like it?" Dave nervously asked on the way home.

"Of course. I was there for every second of the recording of that album. It's amazing." She reassured him.

And, it's safe to say that Eliza was right. Within two months, Scream's album had been copied and sent out across the world. Paul's initial prediction was right, with the distribution being split across the U.S. and Europe. The band had gained success within the genre and were becoming a more commonly known name. The clubs they were playing became more tightly packed, prompting them to level up in terms of venue size. They began to be asked to play more frequently, an idea that Eliza shot down quickly.

"You guys aren't on tour. Four nights a week is enough." She explained to the band one day before a show.

About a month after the album's release on the drive home from school, Eliza got a phone call from Paul.