Read Online Rules to Rock By by Josh Farrar - Free Book Online Page A

exactly the cymbal thrower type.
    Bassinyrface: well, he is since he moved HERE.
    EggMtnRckr: sux that bad, eh?
    Bassinyrface: Worse. I mean, my parents are never here. Remember how Abuela was always cooking like a crazy woman in my old house?
    EggMtnRckr: yup, I do. it always smelled like onions frying in butter. And tomato sauce.
    Bassinyrface: Well, my parents cant cook! And they dont clean, or anything. Abuela did EVERYTHING, and now she’s not here to help us.
    EggMtnRckr: Ugh, that blows. But maybe things will get better? Maybe your mom n dad can do that stuff? Or maybe you and X can.
    Bassinyrface: My parents never do anything except record and tour. You know that.
    EggMtnRckr: So Belle, how about YR band stuff? Any progress on the rules?
    Bassinyrface: mmm, not really. But I did find out there’s another band at school.
    EggMtnRckr: Yeah? Any good?
    Bassinyrface: Well they’re just a cover band like us, at least I think. But I hear they rule.
    EggMtnRckr: Cover bands never rule. Original songs do.
    Bassinyrface: Yeah, but I’ve heard like three people at school say they totally rock your face off.
    EggMtnRckr: Well, listen, dont let em scare you. Whatever they have in tightness, u can make up for with good ORIGINAL songs.
    Bassinyrface: I know, Professor Duffy, that’s what u always say.
    EggMtnRckr: It’s true, though! How’s rule #3 coming?
    Bassinyrface: My songwriting? Nothing to share … yet. But I’ll keep you posted.
    EggMtnRckr: you should. U R gonna be a genius, I can tell.
    Bassinyrface: thanks, R. You always know what to say. But … does it always take this long to form a band? This is getting super annoying.
    EggMtnRckr: Belle, you’ve just started. It can take months to find just the right people.
    Bassinyrface: But it didnt with Egg Mountain. Right after I joined, we were totally dominating the city. We had fans, we had gigs.
    EggMtnRckr: Ha, so U think yr the secret to my success, eh? You do realize we were a band for almost a year before you graced us with your presence?
    Bassinyrface: uhh, yeah, I do. And no, I dont think I’m the reason we were popular.
    EggMtnRckr: You were PART of it. But another part of it was all the work we did for the year before that. Cant tell you how many times we played to four people in a lame café.
    Bassinyrface: really?
    EggMtnRckr: So, try to be patient. It’ll happen. Promise!!!

    After chatting with Ronaldo, I pulled out my homework. I had picked an especially ridiculous writing assignment out of the blue bowl this week: “Which of your personal traits would you most like to pass on to your children?”
    I would have liked to write an essay on all the reasons that assignment was just plain wrong. After the incident at Don’s, the last thing on my mind was my future family. Not everybody is going to have a million children anyway. And what if some girl in my class does want children in the future but can’t have them for some medical reason? She’ll remember the time in sixth grade when she was forced to describe the traits she wanted to pass on to her kids in some dumb essay, and she’ll feel terrible. I wanted to protest this assignment for ethical reasons.
    Luckily, Mr. V told us we could always write about something else if we didn’t feel “inspired” by the one from the blue bowl. I tried some haikus:
    Forced Family Fun
    Drove us all bonkers today
    Ice cream, salty tears
    My dad loves music
    My mom just follows my dad
    Where do we fit in?
    It seems clear to me
    X chucked a cymbal at Dad!
    He just needs some love
    I need this rock band
    To keep from going crazy
    When will it happen?
    Moments after I finished, my phone started to sing out The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” That was my customized Abuela ring!
    I opened the flip cover. “Abuela?” I answered.
    “Hola, mi Annabella,” Abuela said. “How you, my baby? Tell Abuela.”
    I surprised myself by choking up with tears and almost not being able to talk.
    “Annabella, is you all