“I want texts, emails, phone calls, every day,” Jenna says, so excited I’m scared she’ll drive the car into oncoming traffic. “And you better come prepared. I want diary-level insight. I want to feel like I’m there with you. How it smells, how it sounds, what it’s like. I wanna know about the crowds, what it must be like to stand in front of so many people. You better promise to give me all that.”
“I promise.”
“You better,” she repeats, as she pulls the car off the road and into the big parking lot. “Oh my God! Look at how many people are there! Three tour buses! It’s just like in the movies! HolyshitthisisamazingohmygodIcan’tbelievethis—”
Her voice gets faster and more high-pitched until I have to squint and hunch my shoulders to stop my eardrums from bursting. She brings the car to a halt and looks around her like she just drove through a portal to Neverland.
“This is amazing!” she squeals again, bobbing up and down in the driver’s seat.
“Thanks for giving me a lift, Jenna,” I say, opening the door. She walks with me to the back of the car and we both pull my luggage from the trunk.
“Well, I guess this is it,” she says, when I’m standing there with my guitar case in one hand and my luggage in the other.
“I’ll tell you everything. I promise,” I repeat with a smile. She hugs me tightly, and I try not to cry. Not because I’m going to miss Jenna (though I will), but because I’m about to embark on a three week tour of my own personal hell. And on top of that, I’ll still have to perform with a smile on my face at every show. “And hey, good luck with that audition.”
Jenna waves it away. “I’m more nervous about your tour than the audition, to be honest.”
“Still, I really hope you get it.”
“Me too,” she says, stepping back to the side of the car and opening the door. “See you in three weeks, Haley. Go give them something to remember!”
“I’ll try flashing my breasts.”
“Doesn’t Lexi already do that in her show?”
I’m still laughing as she reverses her car back out of the lot, and then I watch as she concentrates so much on waving at me that it’s a miracle she re-joins the flow of traffic without crashing. I take a deep breath, turn around, and start walking toward the buses.
My band’s already there. Paula, the drummer, and Aaron, the bassist, are loading bags into the open bay doors underneath the bus. Brian, my guitarist, is having a cigarette. He comes to meet me and takes my luggage.
“Thanks,” I say.
“Can you believe this is really happening?” he says, his voice nowhere near as calm and collected as he looks.
“Nope. Why are there three buses? And so many people. Is there another band?”
Brian laughs. “Us, Lexi, and her band.”
“Lexi gets a whole coach to herself?”
“Could her ego fit in otherwise?”
We laugh and Brian lifts my luggage into the storage bay. I put my guitar case in and take a moment to soak it all up.
“Sorry I’m late,” I apologize. “Traffic. I hope I didn’t keep everyone waiting.”
“You’re always late,” Brian replies, teasing, before adding, “but some people are always later.”
I turn my head toward wherever he’s looking and see a black Mercedes with tinted windows pull up. A big guy who looks like a bear in a suit jumps out of the passenger side and runs to one of the rear doors. He opens it and stands upright, his eyes engaging in their usual rapid-scan for paparazzi and rabid fans. But he’ll find none here.
Her leg comes out first, long and slender, a practiced motion, and then the rest of her. I do a double take. She’s dressed like a valley girl who just got a promotion. White jeans, red high-tops, and a turquoise off-the-shoulder t-shirt. If it wasn’t for the big sunglasses and the destroy-every-thing-in-its-path walk, she’d almost be approachable.
Seconds later, I realize how wrong that idea is. She makes a beeline for me and Brian, entourage of black-suited bodyguards and slightly less attractive hangers-on following her in almost perfect V-formation. She takes her glasses off slowly.
“So you’ve finally got your big break. Tagging along behind me. Scared, little girl?”
“What’s there to be scared of?” I reply, noticing Brian is frozen in place. “I’m doing what I love, what I do best.”
Lexi laughs as if I’m a pet that just did something cute.
“I forgot, you’re all about ‘real’ music, aren’t you? So long as you get those audiences warmed up for the main event, we won’t have a problem.”
“Just make sure you don’t get them cold again, Lexi.”