Page 75 of Fame & Chaos

I snort out a laugh. “Always thinking with your stomach.”

He gasps dramatically. “I’m not a kid anymore. I’m sixteen, dude.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I tease. “Even though all you care about is food and your disgusting socks, you’re still more mature than Annie, and she’s older than you.”

“I was totally about to warn you about fame and obsession, but then… my stomach interfered,” he says seriously.

I blink at him. “Warn me?”

“Yeah. One leads to the other or some shit like that.”

“You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, do you?”

He considers it for a second. “Not even a little.”

“So why say it?”

“Because it sounded smarter than telling you to get fucked.”

This kid is unintentionally hilarious.

I slap him on the shoulder while shaking my head. “I think we better get you some food. You’re so hungry you’re making no sense.”

“I’m practically wasting away here, man… feed me!”

I snort at him, considering the kid has put on some muscle over the last few months. He’s clearly been bulking. No wonder he’s so hungry all the damn time.

I glance over toward Ella and notice her still hovering awkwardly near her keyboard setup. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

Crossing the room, I pull her into a quick hug. “You did great, cuz. Seriously. Keeping up after Annie went rogue like that wasn’t easy.”

Ella beams up at me. “I know! I can’t believe I managed to keep going. I’m getting better, Caleb. I really am.”

“Yeah, you are,” I say honestly. “Hey, I saw Annie and Aston having some sort of argument before she left. Think you could go find her before Rob notices she disappeared?”

“Yeah, I saw it too.” Ella nods quickly. “I’ll go get her. Don’t worry, leave it to me. If I survived that solo, I can survive anything.”

I laugh softly as she heads toward the door.

As frustrating as Annie’s stunt was, at least it gave Ella a little confidence boost. Music never came naturally to her the way it did for the rest of us. She’s had to work twice as hard to keep up, and honestly, I’m proud as hell of her for pushing through.

The second Ella disappears from the room, I glance nervously toward Rob and Colt, hoping Rob hasn’t noticed our lead guitarist vanish halfway through the biggest night of our lives.

Colt looks up and scans the room. “Where are the girls?” he asks sharply.

My stomach drops instantly.

I look down at the floor because now Rob knows Annie disappeared… and Ella went after her.

This does not look good.

“I think they left a few minutes ago,” Chad says casually. “I saw them both walk out.”

Colt’s jaw tightens immediately. He presses his lips together while his nostrils flare slightly, clearly annoyed. “Okay, Chad, can you go get them for us?” Colt asks tightly.

Chad twirls his drumsticks in one hand and nods before heading out of the room.

I glance over at Aston and find him leaning against the wall, arms folded tightly across his chest, staring at the floor, and looking completely miserable.