Chapter 4

Once again, the official version of what happened is pretty well known, even if it took a while for it to get out. The recording studio loved the sound and loved two of the three songs I had written. We spent another 14 days laying down tracks for six songs to be used in the movie.

Kellie was pissed that the studio wanted to use the songs I'd written. I wasn't really pleased with it myself. I thought they were just to fill space on a demo. I wasn't ready for a public critique of my feelings.

Still, the record execs exerted enough pressure that we gave in, the first of many flaws in our value system. The movie, in my opinion, was typical CGI crap aimed at giving kids something to look forward to during the summer movie season. The soundtrack was the last portion of production before the movie hit theaters in five months.

I had hoped that things would go back to normal in the interim. The Collection, as were called, decided to take a short hiatus. It was a welcomed respite for me. I had SAT and ACT tests to prepare for and I wanted to keep my GPA above 3.5 so I wouldn't wind up at community college.

I barely managed.

The studio called us no less than six times per day. Carrie's father was acting as our erstwhile manager, but he soon realized he was in over his head. So we retained professional counsel to help us out.

That's when we learned that we really and truly screwed the pooch during negotiations.

The studio owned the rights to all the songs on the soundtrack — except the two I had written. Greg had never licensed his arrangement, so the studio owned it, too. We would receive modest (as in hardly any) royalties for the use of our voices in the movie and on the soundtrack.

I had never been asked if I had registered my songs and I hadn't proffered that information. The studio was a bit upset when they were informed that I owned the rights to the words to "Style over Substance" and "A View from a Fool." They were even angrier when they were told that I was not interested in selling those rights nor was I willing to allow them to use them without my permission (and compensation).

But it was too far along for the studio to drop the arrangements without postponing the movie. However it was plenty early enough to allow it to drop them from the soundtrack.

Greg was stoic about the mistake. He was thrilled to be making music professionally. I think he dreamed of stardom and mega-city tours. But he was peeved that someone stole something he worked a full year to produce. (I didn't point out the irony given the fact he stole the words that accompanied his music).

Carrie and Kellie were livid that we had been taken advantage of. But by the end, each of them would be even angrier — at the studio and at me.

I guess the beginning of the end for The Collection came about a two months before the movie opened. The studio released one of the songs written by Renee's friend as a single and it was an immediate hit.

I arrived at school shortly before Spring Break and saw Kellie, Carrie and Greg sitting in his car with smiles spread across their faces. I waved but none of them even noticed me until I was halfway to the building.

"Tee!" I heard from behind me. When I turned, Carrie wrapped her arms around my waist and started dancing with me. "They played our song on the radio. It's been on three or four stations today and it was all over the airwaves this weekend. Did you hear it?"

Actually, I had been listening to a Christopher Paolini audiobook in the car for the past several days, so I hadn't.

"Which one?" I asked.

By this time, the other two had arrived.

"Dreamscape," Greg said with a smile. "Man, it was great. You did awesome on that one."

It was a relatively easy piece that didn't require much effort. The musical portion was much more difficult to master.

"Thanks," I said. "But you guys are the ones who did all the work. Hell, I'm just a parrot, mimicking what I hear."

By that weekend, "Dreamscape" was all over the radio. It debuted at No. 12 in the Hot 100 and The Collection was in demand. Except no one knew who we were.

Our contract with the studio forbade us from revealing anything about us until the movie's premier. We didn't even own the rights to the name The Collection. The studio did.

But once the song hit big, the studio was all over us to make promotional appearances and do live performances.

"Not a prayer," I said. "I've got a lot going on in the next two months. I'm going with my folks to visit colleges over Spring Break. I've got a ton of shit to get ready for this summer and I still have my junior thesis to write. I can't miss any more school."

Greg seemed to understand but the girls were agog.

"You're shitting me, right?" Kellie said. I told you she knew all the curse words.

"No," I replied. "I'm not. I told you from the outset that I had plans for this summer. I'll be leaving for England in late June. I can't change my plans now and I wouldn't change them if I could."

"But what if the studio wants us to do stuff at the premier?" Carrie said.

"They may own the music," I answered. "But they don't own me. There are no appearance guarantees in the contract. Remember, I made sure of that before my parents would sign it."

"So, you won't go with us then?" Kellie asked. "No matter. We'll have to rework some of the songs. We can do it."

"I'm sure you can," I answered. "I'll even grant you limited use to the songs I wrote."

Kellie's face became a mask of anger.

"Limited rights?" she yelled. "What in the hell does that mean?"

"It means I'll agree to let you perform them a set number of times but I won't allow you to record them," I answered.

"Can he do that?" Kellie asked no one in particular. It was Greg who answered.

"Unlike me, he owns the performance rights to his songs," he replied. "So yes, he can do that. And he could sue us if we use them in another fashion other than what he expressly permits."

Kellie turned and stormed into the school building.

"What difference does it make?" I asked. "They aren't on the soundtrack. I was told that one is playing over the ending credits and one plays somewhere in the middle of the movie. No one will even care."