Page 35 of Serenade Me

Chapter Ten

Marius

The stomping is starting.

That usually means we’re about 10 minutes past the concert start time.

The audience is getting restless and they want us to know it.

Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.

Rock Chamber Boys. Rock Chamber Boys. Rock Chamber Boys.

The chanting starts. Over and over.

Ten, fifteen thousand voices in unison.

It always amazes me how crowds can organize themselves into one unit.

One hungry-for-music blood unit.

“How long?” Sebastian is pacing. It’s his thing. He’s usually the one who starts our concerts. Since everyone else is too chicken shit to do it. Once in a while he might be able to convince Jez to, but then it’s back to him again for the next ten shows. As long as it isn’t me, I don’t care which one of them does it.

Dennis goes over and puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. “Sit down! Another few minutes, there’s some problem with the spotlight.”

“Great. Next time maybe don’t buy it off eBay.” Seb grumbles and continues to pace.

“Shut up. And sit down and breathe, for fuck’s sake. It’s like you haven’t done this a thousand times before,” Jez growls at him, barely looking up from his phone.

“Want to meditate with me?” I ask Seb from my spot on the floor, legs folded under me.

“About as much as I want a mouthful of rat droppings.”

“I can’t tell - is that a yes or a no?”

Jez throws an empty water bottle at me. “Leave him alone, you know how he gets.”

“Rock chamber boys! Rock chamber boys!” Brad chants along, waving his arms over his head. He’s probably had a bit to drink, so he’s not nervous in the slightest.

Then I realize there’s still one person missing. “Where’s Anca?”

“She’s in her own dressing room,” Dennis tells me as he listens in on the stage crew intercom.

“Maybe someone should call her?”

“She’s not playing for another 20 minutes, let her settle down,” Jez tells me, and there’s something weird in his voice, something strained, like he’s hiding something, something I’ve never heard before.

It’s not right she’s on her own, she should be a part of all this. “I’m just going to go let her know she can warm up in our green room with us, saves being lonely.”

“Let her be, dude. Trust me. She knows. She wants to be alone.” Jez blocks me as I get up to walk to the door.

He stares me down and I back down. “Okay. If you say so.”

Jez nods. “Yeah. It’s her thing. Hailey will take care of Anca, if there’s something she needs.”

“Guys, you’re on!” Dennis says, jumping to his feet. He looks so wired I wonder if I touched him, would his head spin right off. His mouth is chewing a giant ball of gum so large I’m almost afraid he’ll choke on it. But he’s always like this before a big show.

We file out of the greenroom and up the stairs.