Falling Stars (5 page)

"You
and those damn fish, that's what." She fake gagged.

"Shut
up, you always take some too, so don't act like you hate them." I stuck my
tongue out like a preschooler.

"It's
not that." She shook her head. "It's the fact that if I ate crap the
way you do, I would be four hundred pounds and look at you. It's disgusting."

"She
can't help it." Serena added. "She has our dad's metabolism."
She sighed. "She can eat whatever she wants and she will barely gain a
pound. It's all in the genes." She laughed and playfully pinched my thigh.

"Ouch,
hooker!" I smacked her leg in retaliation. "Hey what about Laney, she
is tinier than me."

"Yeah,
but I don't eat like you Mia." She shrugged.

"See
what I mean?" Kat pushed her foot against my knee.

"Screw
you all," shoving a handful of fish into my mouth and chomping on them, I
smiled at them with red jelly pieces stuck to my teeth.

"Eww…really
Mia, do you have to do that?" Laney cringed.

Behind
her pink haired, rocker girl persona, Laney is a girly eco child. Kat has
always the aggressive bad ass no one wanted to mess with, Serena the over
bearing mother hen and know-it-all, I was left with the scrawny klutz with
tomboy tendencies.

Swallowing,
I shook my head. "You act like I don't gain weight."

They
all nodded.

"Yeah,
but still Mia, you're like a bottomless pit and to top it off its all junk."
Kat added putting her head back and closing her eyes.

"It's
really not healthy. I have some granola and carrot sticks in my bag. Want
something healthy for a change?" Laney teased, knowing damn well her
vegetarian lifestyle would never, and I mean never, be a choice I would make.

"Well
if you're all done critiquing my eating habits and my lack of body, I'm going
to get back to writing our next big hit. You know the ones that made you all
famous, thank you very much." With a sarcastic and exaggerated sigh, I was
barely able to hold off my snort.

Wrapping
my legs up under me, I turned on the unwritten playlist. It was music we had
recorded but never put any words down. I, sometimes, use this to write even
though we often make changes once the lyrics written.

Two
notebook pages, a great deal of crossed out lyrics, and a couple of hours later
we finally pulled up to the Seattle hotel we were staying. The hotel staff took
our luggage and Una met us in the lobby.

"Hello
ladies, welcome. I hope your trip was comfortable." She smiled as if she
was as excited as we were.

"It
was good." Laney answered. The rest of us were looking around the fancy
marble lobby taking it all in. Suddenly my worn blue jeans, Rolling Stone's
t-shirt, and boots didn't quite cut it.

"Okay,
well let's get checked in, and then you can freshen up. After that, we'll head
out for dinner." Una escorted us to the front desk and gave the name of
the reservations. While the girl worked on getting all the rooms pulled up and
getting the key cards Una turned back to us. "So, what are you guys in the
mood for; Italian, Steak, Mexican, your choice?"

"Is
there a Sushi bar nearby?" Laney questioned before I could hop on the
steak idea.

"There's
a Japanese restaurant that serves Sushi, so I'll get some reservations made."
Una handed us each a key and we followed the bellhops to the top floor. Una was
across the hall from us and with a smile she entered her room.

"Meet
me in about an hour, okay?"

We
nodded and walked into the room. Stepping into the room, we stopped short and
gasped.

"Holy
Shit," Serena hushed. "Is this really our room?"

"Why
are you whispering?" Geesh, now I was whispering too.

She
shrugged.

A
moment of silence passed by and the door clicked shut behind us. Laney screamed
excitedly, causing me to jump, and ran straight to a room and jumped on a bed.
I looked to Serena then to Kat before the three of us followed her onto the
same bed, jumping up and down on the bed until each one of us collapsed
breathless.

"I
can't believe this is happening" Kat broke the silence. We lay in a heap
of tangled arms and legs.

"I
know. I keep waiting to wake up and be back in our house having to go to work
serving another 'low-fat, soy milk, I-am-a-snob, cost-a-fortune cup of coffee'."

"Tell
us how you really feel, Lane." Kat snorted.

"Well,
I'm gonna jump into the shower. I feel like ass." Serena rolled off the
bed and walked toward the bathroom.

"Thank
god, because I was just going to tell you that you were starting to smell like
ass."

She
flipped me her middle finger and closed the bathroom door with a bang.

"I'm
going to go claim another bathroom." I sniffed myself. "Ahh…nothing
but red fish, yum!"

"That's
so disgusting." Laney crinkled her nose at me and shoved me out of the
room.

Once
we cleaned up and changed, we headed down to meet with Una. She sat in one of
the large chairs in a pair of jeans and a sheer white blouse. It was the first
time I'd seen Una in casual clothes. I was impressed.

"Everyone
ready?" She stood when we approached.

"Well,
look who's more than just a corporate hottie." Laney giggled, circling Una
and checking her out.

Una
blushed.

"Um…thank
you, Laney. I think." Her face twisted in amusement and confusion.

"Oh,
trust. It's a compliment." Laney smiled and took her by the arm walking
with Una to an awaiting car. We shook our heads and followed.

Laney
schooled all of us on proper Sushi eating technique and Saki drinking. She
definitely earned smiles and laughs from the restaurant manager and staff.
Leave it to Laney to be center of attention. I still wasn't sure how she hadn't
ended up as the lead singer. She had that natural ability to draw attention.

Arriving
back to the hotel Una requested we join her in the lounge so we could talk
about tomorrow's schedule. We followed and sat around a large table. Ordering
some overpriced drinks, Una made a phone call to someone named Xander before we
got down to business.

"So,
tomorrow we need to arrive at the Dome early for sound checks, lighting, as
well as for you to do some stage rehearsal. We'll need to leave here around
nine in the morning."

A
young light haired man appeared with bags and boxes setting them next to Una.

"Thank
you, Xander." Una gestured for him to sit. "Ladies this is my
assistant Xander. Xander meet
Hushed Mentality
." He smiled and gave
a nod.

"So,
Xander and I will order a breakfast cart to be sent to your room around seven,
so you will have time to eat and get ready." Una looked up and we all
nodded our acknowledgement.

"Alright,
we'll be entering the Dome the same way you will be coming in Friday and
Saturday night. That way you will be familiar with arrival and departure. Don't
be surprised on the night of the concerts of the camera's, screaming fans, bodyguards,
etc. It's going to happen, especially since you are traveling with
The
Forgotten
." Una paused. I could almost see the light bulb appear above
her head.

"Speaking
of bodyguards, you'll be introduced to your security tomorrow as well. Phillip
and Bishop come highly recommended. We have a very trusted company we hire
through, but if you have any problems, at all, you just let me know and we can
find a better fit for you. Okay?"

"It's
going to get very real isn't it?" Serena asked the question all of us were
thinking.

"Yes."
Una smiled both reassuringly and nervously. "I'm afraid the bad comes with
the good, we just have to do the best we can." She looked back down to her
planner.

"We'll
also have one of our public relations representatives coming tomorrow when we
return from the Dome to start coaching you on how to behave and speak with the
press."

We
all scowled.

"Its
standard procedure and trust me it helps more than you could imagine. Besides,
your first press meeting is before the concert on Saturday."

"We're
going to be talking to a room full of reporters?" Laney asked with a glint
of excitement in her eyes.

Una
nodded with a small knowing smile.

"Now,
Sunday we'll leave early in the morning traveling by tour bus, so make sure you
have your luggage tagged and in the suite's living room for the crew to load.
Xander will help you get familiar with the tagging system for what goes on the
bus and what gets stored in the carriage." She took a deep breath "Any
questions?"

We
shook our heads and continued to discuss the tour, and other random things
until it got late enough for Una to usher us up to our room.

Ring****Ring****Ring****Ring…

"What?!"
Serena had never been much of a morning person. "Uhhgghhhhh….Okay."
She groaned.

The
sound of my door opening and heavy, fast footsteps told me to brace myself. The
massive shift of my mattress tossed me around.

"Time
to get up."

Peeking
out from my blanket, the large grin of my older sister hovered.

"Go
to hell," I groaned and rolled over.

Serena
started bouncing and singing. "If I've gotta get up…Everybody gotta get
up!"

I
groaned and pulled her leg out from under her.

She
screamed, landing with a heavy bounce on my mattress.

"Hey!"
She laughed and slapped me on the butt before rolling off my bed. "You
still have to get up." Her singsong voice made me want to throw things at
her.

 Serena
may still not be a morning person, but after having Ryan, she's learned to take
mornings in stride.

Getting
up, I stumbled to the bathroom and the shower. Once I dressed, I went in search
of caffeine. Laney fully clothed and eating fruit was perched on a barstool at
the breakfast bar. She looked up from her plate and took in my appearance.

"Well
good morning sunshine." Laney was definitely a morning person. "Kat
and Serena are still getting ready."

I
could only spare a nod.
Coffee must have coffee.

Una
arrived with Xander at her side, we left for the Dome, rehearsals, and stage
checks were the game plan.

*
* * * *

Still
being on thin ice because of my behavior at the photo shoot, it was a good
thing we hadn't come across
Hushed Mentality
. By the way, it looked; we
wouldn't see them until the night of the show. That put a cramp in my plan.

Nicholas
arrived to our house after Elliott finally made it out of bed. Only Jackson and
I were dressed, but that was the result of my nighttime episodes. Jimmy was
getting ready and Elliott was dragging himself to the couch.

"Okay,
we need to get to the Dome in an hour. You have stage check around twelve, as
long as the girls are finished up." Nicholas spoke without looking up from
his blackberry.

"So
Elliott if you want to eat you had better get your ass in gear, NOW,"
Elliott's head shot up and he quickly got moving. Elliott's 240 pound muscled
body does not mess around when it comes to eating.

After
eating what Nicholas had delivered, we left for the Dome. As soon as we
entered, we could hear muffled stage checks. The closer we got, the louder it
got and clearer.

"Stage
check Left." Pause "Stage check right." I knew the voice. Rob
our sound system engineer. "Okay, Mia can you take center stage? We are
going to start with your first track. Are you ready?"

"Yeah,
let's get the show on the go," She almost sang the response.

I
kept walking back stage, until I noticed the guys had all detoured toward the girls.
I wasn't going to follow until I heard the music begin.
Were they really
covering that song?
Joining the rest of the band at the side of the stage,
I took in the layout.

It
was a familiar stage. We started our first tour here and played here many times
since. Hell, I screwed a multitude of groupies in the backstage area. The only
unfamiliar was this girl band. My plan needed to come together soon.

Each
of them was in place with their instruments. Red was on drums, Tiny with her
bass, Blondie with her guitar, and Mia center stage. Her guitar slung low in
front of her she leaned into the microphone.

Performing
a cover of 'Love is a Battlefield' by Benatar, and, well, it was shockingly
good. They'd done a little change to the arrangement but it would be barely
noticeable to the average fan. This wasn't a radio edit. It was live and she could
sing.

Shit!
I hadn't expected the talent.

Watching
her play her guitar and lean into the mic—her eyes closed, my eyes followed the
small sway of her body. Suddenly she stopped strumming and grabbed the mic with
her right hand. Swinging her guitar around to her back, she belted out the
chorus and pumped her fist in the air. This was not the pop-tart band I
expected. Still, it changed nothing.