Four: New Songs & Last Nerves

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one week later

"Okay, what do you think about this chord?" Austin asked his girlfriend. Since appearing on the Helen Show, the two of them had had decided that they needed new material for the tour. They had both been up in the practice room working on new songs for the past week and they were starting to become exhausted from writing so much.

Ally smiled. "Yeah, I like that."

The two of them played around with chords for a while until Dez burst into the practice room.

"Uh, Dez, can't you see we're in the middle of working on a song?" Ally asked, a little annoyed.

"You want a break? Gotcha. Well, I was thinking about how you two should make your entrance on stage in Miami and"—

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm going to stop you right there." Austin stood up from the bench. "We already told you, we're not riding in on elephants."

"Or alpacas," Ally added.

"Or llamas."

"Or zebras."

"Ally, don't be ridiculous. Zebras aren't even real."

Ally ignored her boyfriend and stood up. "The point is, we're not riding out on any sort of land animal."

"I know that," Dez replied. "I'm just trying to brainstorm more ideas. This entrance needs to be perfect— it's your first time on stage together in years!"

Ally sighed, knowing that Dez wouldn't leave them alone until they considered his ideas. "Okay, let's get this over with. Whaddya got so far?"

"Well, my first idea involves shooting you both out of cannons"—

"No," they said in unison.

Dez frowned. "Okay, well, number two is kind of like that music video that Austin shot with Kiera back in the day— you guys would both roll out on stage from separate directions"—

"Still no," said Ally. Austin nodded in agreement. "Why can't we just walk out normally?" she asked. "It'll be just as exciting!" She sat back down on the bench and started to glance at her songbook.

"Walking out is too basic," Dez said, scratching his chin. His face lit up. "Ooh! What if it starts raining confetti when you guys walk out?"

"No," Ally said, putting her head in her hands. "That's way too messy; I would feel bad if our crew had to pick up all those little confetti pieces, one by one..."

"Fine. What about"—

Just then, Trish walked in, looking frazzled. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope," Ally said without missing a beat.

"Not a thing," Austin echoed.

"I was telling them ideas for their grand entrance at the Miami show," Dez mused, ignoring them. "Wanna hear?"

"Nope," Trish stated. She turned to Austin and Ally. "I was just looking at the calendar, and I'm freaking out. I did the math, and if we want to stay on track for the tour starting at the end of August, we have to get all of our crews hired and venues booked by next month. Next month! Do you know how long all of that will take?"

"Well, why don't Austin and I pitch in?" Ally suggested. "I mean, after all, it is our tour."

"Yeah," Austin agreed. "I can pitch in, for sure." He bowed to Trish. "How may I be of assistance?"

Trish smiled. "That's real cute of you to offer, but I can't just have anyone take care of these things. No offense."

Ally frowned. "Well, if you didn't want us to help, then why did you come and complain about it?"

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