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I’ve been dressed in skintight black satin pants, a white halter neck top with a plunging neckline that shows off my cleavage, and thick silver hoops that I swear are as big as my fist. Fire-engine red lips complete the look, sultry and seductive. I look poised and put together. I look nothing like myself. But I feel really good and I can’t help but wonder what Reed will think of my new look when he sees me.
If he sees me at all.
The band is completely off-limits again.
Bouncy Boobs, as I like to call her, otherwise known as Dee, made sure to tell me that as soon as I arrived. She looked me up and down, rolled her eyes, and then flippantly pointed me in the direction of wardrobe and makeup.
She’s definitely got a thing for Reed.
And I might be a little jealous of that, being that she looks a whole lot more like his type than I ever would. But Reed didn’t seem the slightest bit interested in her at the rehearsal, so I push the gnawing feeling away and look up when the door opens again and a tech guy comes into the dressing room to hook me up to a microphone pack.
He tells me I need to follow him to side stage left where my guitar is waiting for me. I wasn’t thrilled about handing my guitar over to a complete stranger when I arrived, but they wanted to tune and polish it themselves, and apparently that’s just the way things are done.
Side stage is a bustling hive of guys and girls wearing black jeans and long-sleeved black T-shirts, some with the Cold Neptune logo on them, some without. I’m handed my guitar and told where to stand so they can check my earpiece one last time before I go on.
My mouth pools with saliva and I swallow quickly to chase away the sea of nerves flooding through my entire body. My fingers are literally shaking.
I wish Reed was here.
I mean, I know he is here somewhere, like, in the building. I only have four songs to sing, and then Cold Neptune takes the stage approximately twenty minutes after that.
So I know he’s here, but I really wish he washereright now.
God, I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my entire life.
I take a small step closer to the thick curtains and peek out through the gap.Wowsers!The entire theater is jam-packed. There isn’t a spare seat available, and the dance floor is already overflowing with eager faces–mostly pretty young women from what I can see, holding up signs and banners with the guys’ names on them.
“A black cross has been marked at center stage,” says a voice in my ear, and it makes me jump. I startle and spin around, but there’s no one behind me, and I suddenly realize the voice must be coming from the sound booth at the very back of the theater, and I’m hearing it through my earpiece. Don’t mind me. I just have no idea what I’m doing.
Fucking hell. I swear I’m going to vomit.
Am I supposed to answer him?
“Okay,” I whisper.
“There’s a bottle of water on the side of the stage if you need it. The house lights are going down in thirty seconds. That’s your cue to take the stage. Get started whenever you want, but when the spotlight comes on, it will stay on you, so keep that in mind. Move around, have fun with it.”
“Sure.”
“Do your set just like we rehearsed and you’ll be fine.”
“I will.”
“Break a leg, Brinley… and that’s three, two, one, and…”
The house lights suddenly dim and I’m instantly enveloped in complete darkness.
Crap.
It’s so dark I can hardly see three feet in front of me. I freeze. My feet are not game to move from the safety of side stage.Oh no.I’m panicking, and I’m terrified, and now I’m not moving and I don’t know how I’m supposed to sing for all these people if I can’t even make it onto the stage.
I suddenly feel a hand touch the small of my back and someone–God, knows who, but thank you very much kind stranger–gives me a gentle shove in the general direction I’m supposed to be headed.
And then my feet are slowly moving onto the stage, and when I hear an overly-enthusiastic voice booming over the entire theater,‘give it up for Cold Neptune’s support act tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the insanely talented, Miss Brinley Thomas,’I find the cross on the floor and take my place, positioning my guitar just as the lights come up again and the entire crowd roars with excitement.
I don’t know what happens to me in that moment.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. The rush of adrenaline that zooms through my body is absolutely addictive. I can’t get enough of it and I never want it to end. I lift my eyes, blinded slightly by the spotlight, but all I see are arms and hands, and flashes and a whole theater full of people who are cheering and clapping.
