Page 119 of Anthem of Love and Loathing

Riot

Inch by painful inch, Kelsey is letting me back in.

She’s letting me see the fragile pieces of her soul and giving me the opportunity to be there for her. Screwing it up is not an option.

The crowd is quiet as I signal the guys to take a break between songs. I want to perform an acoustic piece I have been working on. I pick at the strings on my guitar. “I have a song I would like to play for you.”

One of the crew brings a stool out to center stage. I take a seat. “I know our new music has been circulating, and the rumors are that L.A. Riot’s next album will be a collection of hate songs. But this is not one of them. This is a song I wrote years ago. It’s about a friend of mine.”

I search out Kelsey where she’s standing on the edge of the stage. This is not a song about our losses or heartbreak. It’s a song about the hope a teenage boy has when he meets the girl who will change his life. She doesn’t look away when I hold her gaze while I pick chords from my guitar.

If you could only see the way you look to me

In your cropped tee and your faded jeans

I saw you ollie, I saw you be free

And I wonder what the hell you found in me

Because a girl like you doesn’t fall for a boy like me

And a boy like me doesn’t hope for a girl like you

But you walked into my life

And I will never be the same

It will always be you

Every breath I take is going to be for you…

She doesn’t run, and she doesn’t turn away. Through the entire song we stay connected.

Lyrics aren’t going to change anything between us. We have a long way to go. But I couldn’t play another hate song about her. I need her to hear the truth about how much she means to me.

I stand and one of the crew runs on and removes the stool.

“Thank you for being here with us tonight,” I tell the crowd, but my focus is on Kelsey. We’ll be leaving first thing, but I have yet to confirm it with her. I’ve got the flights booked. I’ve informed Rebel and Summer we’re coming. I didn’t tell them why yet. That’s a conversation I need to have in person with my brothers.

Her eyes widen as she looks past me. Her jaw drops. Any softness in her turns to ice.

I turn to see what she’s staring at.

Sonatina walks onto my stage like she owns the damn thing.

Fuck, no. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

A big smile plastered on her face; she steals my microphone and addresses the crowd. “I hope you guys don’t mind me showing up like this. I wanted to surprise my boyfriend. You know how it is.”

The crowd turns frenzied. They scream for her as she launches herself into my arms and plants a dirty, wet kiss on me.

I drop her like she’s lava.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarl through gritted teeth before I look back to Kelsey. Only to find she’s gone.

Sonatina loops an arm around my waist when I try to go after her. “We all deserve to celebrate me joining Riot on the tour, don’t we? How about Riot and I sing ‘Chokehold’?”

The crowd is pumped. That excited energy is normally contagious. Tonight it’s not.