Opening Act
˚○ Chapter One ○˚ Children at Play get their big break, but could the attraction between Gia and Brendan spell disaster?
I watched the crowd still as the bass notes wrapped their fingers around my heart and squeezed in time with the music’s pulse. A slow smile stretched over my lips, I reveled in witness of the music’s magic. “This one’s my favorite, so y’all better settle down for me… I need to get it right,” I teased the crowd. I heard Drea chuckle from my right, her eyes on her fingers as they moved expertly over her bass strings though she shook her head when I looked over at her. I laughed lightly, lacing my fingers over the microphone before turning to the mouthpiece. I watched the front row as I sang, wide eyed and halted. I glanced over at Drea beside me and shared her knowing smile. We had it in the bag, without question.
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Sweat drenched my hair from root to tip, the packed venue of bodies coupled with the stage lights didn’t do the performer any favors. I abandoned the microphone in its stand and stepped back to jump in front of Renee’s drumset with the last few beats of our final song. From my place, I could see Brendan and the guys watching from the outskirts of the stage, invisible to the crowd. They all wore smiles of satisfaction and I knew they were thinking the same thing me and Drea had been during our first song. That they had found the opener for their tour. I paused as the music ended, notes hanging in the air with residual static energy. I raised my eyebrows as my eyes locked with Brendan’s, a smirk lifting the corner of my mouth before I turned to walk back to the front of the stage, the floor vibrated with the crowd’s enthusiasm while I took my time. I wrapped one hand around the microphone stand, holding it beside me as the crowd continued to cheer emphatically. I looked between Chloe and Drea on either side of the stage beside me, laughing in disbelief.
“You guys are awesome, that’s amazing,” I said to the crowd, and waited while cheers swelled in response. “We’ve had so much fun playing for you tonight, thank you for having us.” I paused again to let the cheering die down before continuing, “Keep that energy going for our friends Hollow Mercury!” I stepped back from the microphone with a laugh as the crowd went wild. I waved for one final time before collecting Drea under my arm and walking off the stage with the rest of the girls.
“There they are,” Ryan said the second we came around the corner of the side stage the guys were waiting at. His arms were crossed over his chest but he wore the expression of a satisfied house cat.
“Here we are,” I grinned. “What’d you guys think?”
“I didn’t think you guys had it in you,” Jon laughed.
I shared a side look with Chloe, who made a face in response. “Not sure if that’s a compliment, Jonathan,” she said briskly.
Brendan laughed, “He’s saying you guys were good – really good. You all just seemed so… I don’t know – polite when we talked last time. We had no idea…”
I waited a moment for him to continue, when he didn’t I said simply, “That we could put on a show?”
Brendan nodded in agreement, looking me over, eyes lit with an emotion I couldn’t place.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement.” Jon scoffed, pointing at me as he went on, “You were climbing the speakers! I thought you were gonna go all the way up to the light system.”
The group of us laughed at his obvious excitement.
I shrugged. “That’s rock ’n roll, baby.”
“Okay, but did you like the show?” Drea cut straight to the point. I pressed my lips together to smother a smile at my small-statured friend’s big attitude, she was still tucked under my arm. I raised my eyebrows expectantly as the guys looked between all of us.
“Stage is ready when you guys are,” a P.A. interrupted the pregnant lapse in conversation to tell the guys.
“Yeah, fuck off,” Drea snapped quickly. When the P.A. paused, looking confused, she explained roughly, “You can’t see we’re talking?”
“Drea,” Renee spoke up suddenly, her voice held a warning.
“What?”
“Thanks, Morty. We got it,” Brendan cut in, talking to the P.A. After the kid nodded and walked off, Brendan turned to us. “Stick around after our show, we’ll talk.”
I deflated a bit, my stomach rolling nervously. I turned toward the girls, who were all wearing varying looks of disappointment, as the guys made their way onto the stage.
Ryan, the last to follow, clapped Renee on the shoulder as he walked backwards to tell us, “Don’t worry, you guys have my vote.”
“Thanks!” I called, before facing my friends with a frown. “Let’s find some alcohol.”
We paid one of the stage hands to get us a bottle of tequila from the bar and snuck off with it to our tiny dressing room. The room was painted burgundy and furnished with a small leather reclining chair and a cheap full length mirror that was hung horizontally on the far wall. That’s what a small fanbase got you, I guessed. It didn’t matter though, it was enough for us.
We circled up in the middle of the floor and took turns taking shots out of the cap. “Does anyone have snacks? I’m starving.” I looked around, rubbing my stomach as I handed the empty cap to Renee sitting beside me.
“Maybe we can call that stage hand back here,” Chloe suggested, referencing the guy that bought our tequila bottle.
I snorted. “His name was Pete, Chlo.”
Drea snickered and Chloe rolled her eyes with a smirk and a shrug. “Who cares.”
“We should invite him back to drink this with us.” Drea smiled to herself.
“Ew,” Renee said quietly, the full cap suspended in front of her.
Chloe made a similar noise of disgust.
“Yeah, that’s actually kinda gross,” I agreed with a laugh.
“I mean for entertainment! It’s just us –” Drea began in defense of herself.
“Yeah, alright.” I rolled my eyes and she punched me in the shoulder. I rocked back with a laugh, holding the place she punched.
“Violence is never the answer,” Chloe said in a stern voice that made the rest of us laugh even harder.
“Guys this smells nasty,” Renee said finally, holding the cap up.
“Oh my God. Every time…” Drea shook her head in exasperation. Renee had a habit of sipping shots. “I’ll take it.” She moved to snatch the cap out of Renee’s hand, but I smacked her reach down.
“No, Renee has to take it. We’re all taking turns,” I said and turned to Renee. “Just plug your nose or something.”
Renee hesitated, giving me a miserable look.
“It’s just tequila, you’re not gonna die,” I said impatiently.
Renee took a deep breath before throwing the shot back. Her eyes were squeezed shut and it took her a moment to swallow. And then she gagged, pretty violently too. Chloe shrieked, falling backwards and scooting away from her seat beside the other girl.
I laughed loudly, my hand over my mouth in hopes to quiet the sound but my eyes were tearing up.
“Sweet baby Jesus!” Drea shouted in her gravelly voice though she was only seventeen and never touched a cigarette in her life. I only laughed harder.
Chloe was giggling in terror, her dark eyes bulging as she shouted in a high pitched squeak, “Please don’t throw up on me!”
“I told you guys it was gross!” Renee yelled defensively, eyes still watering as she coughed. She handed the cap to Chloe who had settled a bit.
“Oh my God, Renee…” I burst into a fresh fit of laughter before calming down. “Maybe you can take a break.”
“Whatever,” Renee snapped even though she was smiling.
By the time the guys were done with their set, we were out in the common space of the backstage area sharing our bottle with the band that was headlining.
“You guys were really great out there you know,” the lead singer, Ian, said before he took a swig straight from our bottle.
I heard Chloe groan from beside me, she was a raging germaphobe. He didn’t notice though, his eyes on mine as he handed the bottle back.
“Thanks, that means a lot.” I gave him an easy smile.
The corner of his full lips lifted as he looked down at me. I wasn’t too familiar with his band or their music, but I knew enough to know that I should’ve been starstruck. Renee and Drea were off having their own conversations with other members of the backstage area, it made the look he gave me feel more intimate by effect. My stomach turned nervously. Ian wasn’t necessarily my type, a bit too old and the look in his eye a bit too hungry.
“You were wild. It kind of reminded me of the old school bands.” Ian nodded as his dark green eyes fell over the rest of me. His smile stretched. “You know, we’re actually looking for an opener.” He said it as if it were a secret.
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. “Really? I didn’t know you guys were going out on tour.”
He nodded, drawing a breath to continue just as Brendan cut in. I hadn’t even noticed the guys enter the backstage area.
“There you are. I went to your dressing room but you guys weren’t there.” He was shirtless and wet with sweat from his performance. Something about the sight of his bare torso made my heart squeeze. I'd be lying if I said Brendan’s looks weren’t a large part of the initial draw, for all of us in the band.
My cheeks burned. I didn’t like the idea of Brendan thinking I wanted to be talking to Ian anymore than I did.
“Oh hey. You’re done? That felt really fast.”
Brendon gestured toward the bottle in my hand with a laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
A P.A. came to collect Ian aside our conversation, as he left he called, “I’ll talk to you later, Gia.”
I nodded with a wave just as Chloe came up beside me to murmur into my ear, “Ian’ll talk to you later.”
“Gross,” I whispered back just as Drea came up behind me.
“Yeah talk. We know what that means,” Drea snorted and grabbed my hips to mimic humping. I batted her away with a strained laugh.
“You guys are making me nauseous.” Renee made a face.
“Yeah, me too.” Jon made a similar face.
Brendan wasn’t nearly as humored and the thought he was under the impression I liked Ian’s attention crossed my mind again.
“You guys want to come back to our dressing room?” Brendan asked.
“And do what?” Drea wiggled her eyebrows at him.
I laughed and looked between them. Brendon let his head roll back on his shoulders with a snort.
“What do you think?”
I shared a look with Andrea, “I mean…”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time. C’mon.” He started towards the dressing room and we followed after him. As we walked down the hallway we naturally paired off due to the lack of space. I fell into step beside Brendon.
“It’s a fair question to ask a group of beefy men like yourselves,” Drea said from behind me.
“Beefy boys,” Renee chimed in from the back.
“You think we’re beefy?” Ryan asked beside Drea. I grinned, looking back over my shoulder at them. Ryan was very skinny, basically skin and bone.
Drea paused. “Beefy in spirit.”
The rest of the group fell into their own conversations behind us. I was watching the black tile under my feet when the bottle was snatched out of my hand. I looked over to see Brendon taking a swig. He handed it back to me the next moment with a grin.
“Rough set?” I asked with a laugh.
He shook his head, still grinning. “Just looking to celebrate.”
“So there’s something to celebrate?” My stomach tightened with excitement.
He smirked at me. “You don’t have any patience, do you?”
I paused a moment, eyes searching his for an answer. Finally, when I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I said, “It’s not one of my virtues.”
His eyes lingered on mine, as if he had just decided something. Without answering, he stopped suddenly, pushed a door open, and gestured for me to go first. I walked into the center of the expansive room. Large, expensive looking mirrors lined the wall adorned with desks and chairs pushed beneath where they hung. Two couches faced each other in the middle of the room, and a coffee table sat in the middle filled with bowls of various snacks.
I stopped suddenly, looking around.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Chloe murmured, walking up beside me.
“Beefy boys, indeed,” I said quietly, raising my eyebrows with a smirk. She giggled, elbowing me.
“Wow and their couches don’t even smell,” Renee noted as she collapsed onto the plush looking cushions.
“And here we were living with a little beat up arm chair that smells like fart,” I said.
Our amazement warranted a few laughs from the guys.
Brendan was digging through a bag in the corner. He straightened to pull a clean shirt on before turning to face us.
“They wanted to talk to us about the tour, so let’s talk about the tour.” Drea gestured to the guys as she took a seat next to Renee. There was a pause as the energy in the room sobered.
“Yeah, go ahead and take a seat,” Brendan said to Chloe and I, the last two standing. We moved to sit beside Drea and Renee on the couch, leaving the other open for the guys. My stomach was jumping with nerves, my palms felt staticky. This was it, this was the make or break moment in our young career.
“Ew, I don’t like how serious this feels,” Jon said from his place behind the couch. Brendan had taken a seat on the couch across from us.
“Neither do I, honestly.” Ryan was sitting with his knees to his chest.
“No one’s having fun right now, man,” I said in a voice wrought with tension.
Jon laughed, shaking his head. “Dude, just tell them.”
“We want you guys to open –” Whatever Brendon was going to say was lost to our cheering. Renee, Chloe, and I jumped up from the couch, grabbing blindly at each other as we shouted. Drea had stood straight up on top of the couch, screaming. I turned to throw her small frame over my shoulder. Chloe shrieked as Drea’s legs came up and almost hit her.
“Oh wow, Jesus.” I heard Ryan say.
I put Drea down and we circled up to belly-bump each other. Renee fell backwards from the collision and grabbed onto Drea to stop her fall but the smaller girl just fell on top of her. I gave a yell before piling on top of them. Chloe wasn’t far behind, and then we were a laughing heap on the floor.
The room spun from my excitement and the liquor. I was finally feeling the buzz creep in.
Jon’s head appeared in my line of vision, he was standing over us peering down. Brendan came up beside him.
“Well, that was weird guys. ” He said it so flatly I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What the fuck?” Ryan said.
“Get up so we can celebrate.” Brendan shook the half empty bottle of tequila.
It didn’t take much more convincing.
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I was definitely feeling the buzz as we made our way out to the common area. We had finished the bottle of tequila quickly due to the card game Ryan suggested. Jon had insisted he saw a keg near the kraft table, so we were on the hunt for more alcohol.
“I told you guys,” Jon’s words were already slurring, gesturing toward the beautiful metal barrel that was tucked halfway behind the table.
“How did we miss this?” I asked with a disappointed frown.
“They put a magic spell on it to hide it from underage eyes,” Ryan guessed, referring to the fact all four of us were under twenty-one.
“Good one.” I rolled my eyes with a smile, grabbing a red cup for Jon to fill.
“Was that sarcasm…? I thought that actually was a pretty good one for me,” Ryan said dryly.
I laughed, taking a step back from the small crowd we formed around the keg once my cup was full.
“You should have more confidence in yourself.” I gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder.
Ryan shook his head. “You know, I’m noticing you guys have a mean streak.”
Drea, who was standing just a foot in front of us with a cup held out for Jon to fill, turned to bark back at Ryan, “Don’t be a bitch.”.
The guys shared a look before they burst into laughter.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Ryan laughed.
“Kind of a bitch response,” I mumbled.
“What do you want me to do? Punch her in the face?” Ryan asked.
Drea shrugged. “It’d probably just feel like a strong breeze anyway.” Drea had a slight frame with a big mouth, she yelled almost everything but that just made her delivery even funnier.
Jon laughed even harder, spilling some of the beer on the floor.
“That’s it. Hold my cup.” Ryan passed me his red cup of beer and lurched toward the smaller girl.
Drea made a guttural noise of surprise as he grabbed her shoulders, pulling her backwards. She quickly found her footing, wrapping wiry arms around Ryan’s neck.
My attention was so focused on the impromptu wrestling match, I hadn’t noticed Brendan walk up beside me. “You’re not going to help your friend?”
He nodded toward the struggle before grinning down at me, his cheeks flushed attractively from the alcohol.
I laughed. “She’s scrappy, don’t count her out.” I said it just as Drea punched Ryan in the knee, and he groaned loudly in response. We both were silent for a moment while we watched the two rather boney figures struggle before I noted, “It is kind of like watching a smack down between anemics.” Brendan laughed loudly, and I continued, “Who’s gonna lose their breath first?”
“That’s so fucked up,” Brendan said through laughter. I grinned in response, taking a sip of my beer. “You’re funny.” He said it suddenly but the tone in his voice made me turn to meet his gaze. He was staring at me with something like recognition and disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe he missed it before.
A weird feeling of accomplishment settled in me, and I had a sense that I had just earned his ear for the rest of our time together.
A slow grin pulled at my lips. Instead of thanking him for the compliment, I said, “Yeah, I know.”
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As the night continued, the headliners came back to join us. They brought with them a couple of groupies. It was easier to avoid Ian when I was with the groupies, it seemed he didn’t like speaking to all of us together.
The bleach blonde with impressive cleavage had the best gossip I ever heard, though, and I found myself enjoying her company.
“Really? Jared Letto?” I gasped.
“Yeah he made me wear a collar,” the girl with the dyed jet black hair and smudged eyeliner chimed in.
My hand flew to my mouth and she nodded solemnly.
“I heard he makes some girls eat their own throw up,” the bleach blonde said.
“Stop, I’ll gag.” The black haired girl closed her eyes and fanned herself with her hand.
“Maybe it’s like beetlejuice, gag three times and Jared appears,” I said dryly.
The two girls giggled.
I finished off my beer and looked toward the keg. Brendan was standing beside it, talking animatedly with the stagehand he called Morty earlier.
“What about Brendan? Does he have anything weird going on?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“Oooh,” the blonde sang, giving me a poke. “You have a crush?”
I laughed, but shook my head.
“No, but we’re touring with him soon.” When the girls just stared at me, I added, “It’d be kind of disappointing if he turned out to be a psycho that made girls eat their puke.”
“Oh.” She seemed let down by the lack of gossip. “I haven’t heard anything weird about him.”
“Neither have I.” The other girl shrugged. “My friend said he was really nice to her, but I think he gets around.”
I tried to hide the shock that gave me, I knew I had no right to be shocked. Of course the lead singer of a successful band reaped some of fame’s glories.
“Yeah, he’s a huge slut,” the blonde scoffed in agreement.
I looked over to where Brendan stood and he caught my eye. I looked away with a laugh only to discover the two other girls had followed my gaze, they laughed as well.
I shrugged, “Well, I guess as long as he’s a nice slut…” I trailed off, at a loss for words. The two other girls just chuckled, sharing a look that I wasn’t in on. I shook my empty cup at them, figuring it was an opportune time to get a refill. “I’m gonna get some more.”
I walked over to the keg where Brendan and the stagehand stood.
I was fully prepared to get my own cup, but the keg gave me pause. I had never gotten my own cup from a keg, the parties I had been at someone had always been there to do it for me.
Brendan and the stagehand’s conversation died the second I walked up. Brendan turned to grin at me expectantly, he probably thought I was coming to include him in my conversation with the groupies that was very obviously about him.
“You guys know what this is?” I asked, pointing at the black ball handle sticking up from the top of the barrel. Alcohol was making my head feel light and I didn’t have the patience building up conversation the question required.
Brendan and the stagehand turned, following my pointing. “You don’t know what that is?” The stagehand, Morty, asked in a condescending tone.
His tone put me on the defense.
“No I know what it is, I was just making sure you guys knew,” I said even though I definitely did not know what the handle was.
“What is it then?” Brendan grinned, calling my bluff.
I hesitated only a moment before saying, “That’s where you sit.”
Morty spit his beer up, turning away.
“That’s the pump,” Brendan told me with a laugh.
“If that’s what you want to call it…” I mumbled.
“You sit naked on there?” Morty asked, a creepy smile stretching his lips. I could tell his imagination was going somewhere gross.
Brendan seemed to pick up on Morty’s perversion, as well. His smile fell and he shifted uncomfortably as he watched me.
“No, man,” I said briskly, waving a hand. “Boys only.”
Brendan snorted and looked at the stagehand, who shook his head in disgust. I had clearly ruined the visual he had going on in his mind.
“Why boys only?” He asked, a distinct frown on his face.
“Look at the way it’s manufactured.” I pointed again at the keg, giving him a moment to do as I said. “I really have to answer that?” I asked, eyebrows raised pointedly.
He made a sound somewhere between laughter and disgust before walking off. Brendan and I shared a look before we both broke into quiet laughter.
“Can you pump for me?” I asked, still laughing, moving to grab the nozzle.
“Yeah.” Brendan grabbed the black ball handle. “You know, I wasn’t sure about touring with girls but I’m starting to think you guys are going to be more fun than dudes,” he said as he pumped.
“It’s weird you even questioned that for a second,” I said flatly before smiling up at him. I stood to face him with my full cup of beer. We both sipped our drinks, watching each other over our rims. “I think we’re all going to be fast friends,” I decided finally.
The corner of his mouth lifted as he watched me and I took his silence as an agreement.