Falling Stars (24 page)

"I
know, right!" Kat shouted and gave me a high-five.

"This
is fantastic." Una wrapped her arms around Kat and Laney who were right
next to her.

"It's
so amazing!" Serena shouted.

We
all screamed together and then I smirked remembering Chris's comments at the
start of the tour.  
Take that, asshole!

We
had a quick meeting to go over rehearsals and tour schedule changes, as well as
our schedule for today. That's when Una dropped it on me.

"Mia,
you and Christopher are going to start rehearsing
Broken Inside
with the
stage director. We want –"

"Whoa,
wait, what?"

"We
want to get
Broken Inside
out there to the public. It's a great
collaboration and we want to use the tour to publicize it. So –"

"Christopher
and I have to perform on stage together, tonight?"

"No,
no. Not tonight." She shook her head. "You'll start rehearsing today,
but we will probably hold off until the next show to introduce it. That's if
the rehearsals go well." She smiled lightly.

"Oh.
Okay." I sighed in relief.

"Is
everything alright?"

I
nodded and smiled halfheartedly.

"This
will be a great way to get the song and keep the band name out there."

"I
know. So who is the 'we'?" She looked confused. "You said 'we' want."

"Oh,
the label of course, as well as Nicholas and it's a fabulous opportunity to be
able to do this. It will promote both band records releasing soon after the
tour wraps up."

Una
was extremely happy about this news. I, on the other hand, had knots in my
stomach. I was going to be even more on edge today.

On
our way to breakfast Una grabbed my arm and pulled me over toward her.

"I
almost forgot to tell you. Marcus arrived this morning, so he'll be here to
work on the performance during rehearsals."

I
smiled. "Good, that'll work."

She
wrapped an arm around me.

Later,
after breakfast, we were ushered to the stage to do some full rehearsals. We
had to rehearse earlier in the day since Christopher and I would rehearse 'Broken
Inside', and then
The Forgotten
needed rehearsal time.

We
finally got on stage, rehearsing. I loved it. Being on stage made me feel like
a different person, actually I did become a different person. I was much more
confident on stage singing and performing. We were a very active group, so each
performance was typically an energetic one; dancing, jumping, interacting with
each other and with the crowd.

Sweat
dripped down my back as we performed. The spotlights didn't help. So I had Kat
tie my t-shirt into a knot at the hem on my back. This made the shirt ride up a
little exposing too much of my back and stomach, but it was much cooler.

After
we got through our songs, a studio backup singer met me on stage. Una
introduced us. He was a male back up vocalist I needed for an acoustic version
of a song tonight.

We
discussed the song a little and then went over it together. Laney started on
the guitar and I started the song, the backup singer joining in to accompany me
in certain parts. It came out better than I thought it would on such a short
rehearsal. Excitement had me bouncing and hugging him, who laughed at me. After
thanking him, I said goodbye until tonight.

Heading
off stage, Una grabbed me.

"Mia,
you need to stay here to rehearse with Christopher."

"Can
I just go wipe the sweat off first?" Sighing sarcastically, I winked at
her.

"Fine,
but hurry up okay?" I nodded. "The stage will be reset for
The
Forgotten
very quickly." She shouted after me and I gave her thumbs up
in response.

Returning
to the stage, I was talking with Una when the stage director ushered me out on
stage.

Elliott
smiled and then he pumped his fist. I pumped my fist into the air back to him.
Jackson and Jimmy both smiled as I headed out to center stage where Christopher
was standing.

"Hey,"
he said quietly.

I nodded,
shifting my eyes to the choreographer.

"Okay,
you two. I want to start with just the music so we can go through the
choreography, then you can put it into full performance."

"Wait…what
choreography?" Christopher questioned with a confused expression. Elliott's
muffled snicker came from behind us.

"Calm
down Christopher, it's just some steps and standing positions I'm not going to
have you doing spins and dips." She rolled her eyes and waved off him off.

The
guys started playing, the choreographer took us through the steps, and
positions on the stage she thought would work best. After finishing, she walked
down in front and sat. Kat, Laney, Una, and Serena were already sitting there
watching. Laney waved of course. I smiled small to her.

"Okay,
remember the steps are not concrete, so improvise. Also, don't be afraid to
touch each other for God's sake." My face heated at her comment. "Alright
boys, when you are ready." She settled into her front row seat.

Taking
a deep breath, I stood at the spot she'd instructed off stage and hidden.
Christopher began to sing with the microphone in the stand. Entering from stage
left, walking toward him, a spotlight hit me as I joined him in song. He
continued singing to the empty arena seats.

Stopping
next to him, I began singing my verse. Following my newly instructed steps
toward the front of the stag, Christopher removed his mic from the stand and
trailed behind me. We turned to face each other during the chorus, slowly
backing from each other a few steps before stopping and turning back to the
crowd. Well, I turned back to the crowd, but Christopher was still looking at
me. Turning back to face him, we began singing again. We walked toward each
other and I couldn't tear my eyes from his. There was a fierce look in his eyes
and it drew me closer to him.

The
final part of the song played. We finished it with his arm around my waist and
partially turned into each other. The lights followed us the entire time, until
the last note then the light went out. In the darkness, my body felt tingly in
every spot we touched. Shaking it off, I started to walk away. His hand
tightened on my hip, but I kept moving and he didn't stop me.

I
took deep breaths to calm myself.
What the hell was that?

*
* * * *

Sitting
in the back row watching
Hushed Mentality
on stage, I took in their
energetic performance. Mia seemed to transform once she got on stage.

It
would be a lie if I said I wasn't nervous about rehearsing together. We hadn't
exactly said much to each other and we performed differently.

"Hey
man." Elliott took a seat next to me. Someone else silently sat on the
other side of me. Jackson.

"Who's
that?" I nodded my head in the direction of the guy singing with Mia.

Elliott
shrugged.

"That's
Marcus" Jackson spoke up. "He's a backup vocalist. He's decent, why?"

"Haven't
seen him before, I was just curious." Sitting back with my arms crossed
over my chest, Jackson snorted quietly. I ignored him. He didn't need to know
that a small part of me was still keeping an eye out for possible boyfriends or
even friends with benefits. My body tensed when she hugged this backup singer
guy.

"Come
on man," Elliott smacked my shoulder. "They'll be setting up for us
soon."

We
got up and went down to the stage. The crew was taking our equipment onto the
stage when we arrived.  Once the stage changed over, Mia arrived and stood next
to me. This is going to be uncomfortable, obviously. Time to get this over.

The
choreographer started telling us what she wanted to do and I almost freaked
when she started talking about choreography. Thankfully, she just had some
steps and stage positions arranged. When done, we staged ourselves and began
the actual rehearsal.

Mia
took her position off stage. I started to sing and she walked toward me singing.
I continued singing, as she got closer. She stopped next to me and turned
toward empty seats before she started again. Then she walked toward the front
of the stage. I followed. Everything was going as planned. At least, up until
that point.

We
turned to each other and began the chorus. When her eyes met mine, I almost
melted into the floor. Slowly she back away from me and turned toward the empty
seats. I was supposed to mimic the move, but I couldn't stop looking at her. I
wanted her eyes to look back at me. When she turned, her eyes filled with a
growing intensity.

The
urge to touch her was so strong. I couldn't contain myself. The final part of
the song brought us closer together and I put my arm around her waist, resting
my hand on her hip. The spot light went out and the stage fell into darkness.
After brief pause she moved. The air around us was thick and I was lost in her
familiar scent. I could swear her breathing picked up against my body.
Tightening my grip, she finally moved away from me. The pulse left from touching
her was almost as intense as looking into her eyes. The lights came up and I
silently begged her retreating form to look at me again.

"I
have to say that was great!" The choreographer stood with a large smile. "One
more rehearsal should be all we need." Turning back, just as Mia walked
offstage, she never looked back.

What
the hell is wrong with me?

Walking
back toward the mic stand, we continued with rehearsal. From the corner of my eye,
I caught a smirk on Jackson's face and glared at him. It was the performance,
that's all — caught up in a moment.

"Elliott,
when you're ready."

He
tapped out the beat. We started our practice and worked out some more ideas for
tonight's show.

By
the time we'd finished up it was getting close to show time, so we grabbed something
to eat. Then it was time to get ready for the night and we were sitting around
in the hair, make-up, and wardrobe room.

"So,
that song was pretty intense." Jackson broke the quiet between us.

"What
song?" Elliott asked.

"Christopher
and Mia's song," Jimmy snorted.

"It's
called
Broken Inside
," I corrected. My eyes closed and my head lay
on the back of the couch. I was so tired.

"Oh
yeah, that was kick ass. You two sounded fucking awesome!" Elliott
boasted.

"Thanks,"
I mumbled.

The
cushion next to me dipped down.

"So,
she's really good isn't she?" It was Jackson, of fucking course.

"Who?"
pretending I didn't know whom he was referring.

"Yeah
right, like you don't know," Jackson responded quietly.

"Whatever."

"Try
all you want Christopher, you're only fooling yourself."

Before
I could ask him what the fuck he was going on about, he was up and heading over
to the empty chair next to Elliott. Putting my head back down, I was too
exhausted to fight with him.

The
show went flawlessly and afterwards we were ushered to another press conference
during the tour. Mia and the girls were already in there. They were addressing
rumors and stories that run in the tabloids and newspapers. Laney did most of
the speaking, which didn't surprise me. We took our seats down from the girls
and began to address our own tidal wave of curiosities.

Nicholas
headed off questions about my incident of course, as well as questions
regarding a psychiatrist traveling with us. It was hard to sit there and allow
Nicholas to clean up my messes as well as to sit there and have it implied that
I am a psychopath. There were questions about the relationship between 'Hush'
and 'Forgotten' and rumors of animosity. Next came the question I'd been
dreading being asked.

"So
Christopher, it seems that
Hushed Mentality
has taken the number one
spot on the charts. Are you as confident as you were at the beginning of the
tour that you'll be able to regain that spot and keep it?"

A
quick glance toward the girls and I could see the sly smirk playing on Mia's
lips.

"Every
dog has their day." I kept my eyes on her.

Her
eyes narrowed. I smiled a large, warm, fake smile in her direction.

On
the bus, I could feel the exhaustion start to overtake me. Jumping in the
shower, I popped a couple of my pills hoping they would work tonight.

Before
unconsciousness took me, I thought over things that Dr. J had been saying. "You
need to talk to someone about that night", "Let it go", "She
won't be a part of your everyday life", were the thoughts that lulled me
into my nightly hell.

He
was holding her in his arms…rocking her. He had the nerve to cry! I was furious
and rage filled. I screamed at him before I launched myself onto him. My fists
clenched tight as I slammed them into his face, over and over, before he
grabbed my wrists and threw me against the wall.