"Where's Trisha?" I look at Blaco without moving my head too much as the make up artist brushes my cheeks with bronzer.

Blaco shrugs.

"She dropped off your clothes and shoes then left." He says.

I clench then unclench my fists. I knew she was still upset about the fight and I knew she would stretch it out as she always does. The day flew by as Cece helped me rehearse through skype. Sound check is in 15 minutes and the show starts in less than an hour. There is already a long line wrapped around the venue and I can feel my nerves building even though I know that I am more than ready for this show.

Blaco looks at my feet which are shaking against the chair.

"Are you alright?" He asks, getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator of the make up room backstage.

"Yea." I answer. Just that I miss my best friend and I need someone to calm me down or make me laugh during make up. Just that this is a big show and a lot of my fans here are relying on it to be flawless.

"Are you and Trisha okay?" Blaco asks moving closer to me.

I shrug then smooth my lips together to disperse the lip gloss that was just placed on them.

"Does it have something to do with pictures of you and Mila having fun last night?" He questions again.

I stop breathing momentarily and look at him.

I didn't know pictures of us were going around. I didn't even know pictures were taken. But then I remember that I did spot some paparazzi in the club while I was getting wasted.

"What pictures? Let me see." I say to Blaco.

The make up artist turns my head to the side, then to the other side and tells me to look in the mirror. I examine my face as she does.

"Perfect." I say with a smile. "Thank you."

She nods and leaves the room.

"Look." Blaco speaks as soon as the door closes. A few paparazzi pictures made it to TMZ. The first one with Mila and I posing for a selfie and the second one of us dancing together. I sigh, relieved that they didn't capture anything I would be embarrassed about.

"I'm glad you took my advice and went out with her. It's all your fans have been talking about."

"Yea, she wasn't as bad as I thought." I reply.

Someone knocks on the door twice.

"Soundcheck, Chanel." A white lady with a headset speaks into the room.

As I walk out onto the stage and grab the mic, Blaco takes the DJ through our set list and the first song comes on through the speakers. I look out into the crowd of empty chairs and start my words to "Cursive". I am halfway through when Blaco chimes in on the microphone.

"Good on that one?" He asks.

I give a thumbs up and the next song plays. I imagine the place completely packed, which it will be because we managed to sell out tickets fast. The Pop Off Freestyle plays through the speakers and that sounds great too. Nothing without you is the last song but the track doesn't play.

"Was that it?" Blaco asked confused.

I put my microphone to my mouth.

"No, Nothing Without You is the last song." I say confused.

I hear the DJ mumbling to Blaco.

"The track wont play, Chanel. Who did your mixdowns for the show?" Blaco asked.

"Mac mixed everything down and sent it to the work email." I answer. I wait a few more moments before jumping off the stage and walking towards them. Blaco takes out his phone and dials Mac but the call only rings out.

"I think Mac might be in a meeting with another artist on the record label until later tonight." Blaco shakes his head.

"The track won't play at all?" I ask, trying not to panic.

"No. Blaco opened up the work email and we downloaded the track again but it still isn't playing. Watch." The sound technician says.

He hits the play button and even though the seconds for the song increases, there is no sound coming out. I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. As if I wasn't already nervous about this show, the hottest song of mine on the radio right now won't even play.

Blaco tries calling Mac again but this time the phone goes straight to voicemail.

"How much time before the show starts?" Blaco yells into the darkness of the venue and the white lady with the head set runs out.

" Twenty-five minutes." She screams back.

I can feel the sweat begin to gather on my forehead and I can feel the knot beginning to form in my stomach. It's just one song, if we can't play that one song it wouldn't be such a big deal.

"Does it matter if I don't do that one?" I ask Blaco.

He nods his head. "It's the song everyone wants to hear right now. It needs the live performance and it needs the promotion." It's silent as the sound tech fiddles with the file.

"Go put on your clothes and shoes. Get ready to perform because they need to open the doors soon. The show must go on regardless." Blaco says.

"So what am I suppose to do?" I say as I walk backstage.

"We will figure it out in a few minutes." He answers.

I run back stage and slide into my show outfit with the help of my make up artist. She ties my shoes and dabs my forehead. Suddenly, its a thousand degrees.

"I'm going to have to reapply foundation if you keep sweating sweetie." She says respectfully but calm. She dabs my nose.

Where the fuck was Trisha? Are you serious? One small fight and she abandons me. Really makes me think about the friendship. Really makes me question her loyalty.

I take a few sips of water and begin running different songs in my head. The Pop Off Freestyle was fast and it's easy to jumble the words.

"10 minutes to show time." The lady passes my door and her voice is audible.

"Blaco." I sing warningly to myself. "Come on." I roll my eyes.

Suddenly, my dressing room door opens without a knock.

It's her.

Curves and brown skin, wavy ombre hair. Big lips and cat eyes.

She came.

"Trisha, one of my tracks won't play. I'm freaking the fuck out." I say instead of greeting her.

She keeps her head down at her phone and drops her bag in a corner then leaves the room.

I can feel the heat raising from my feet and into my head. I get up from my chair and follow her out, onto the stage then down the stairs.

"Are you serious?" I yell.

The coordinator looks at me and begins walking my way.

"We are about to open the doors, Chanel you can't be out he-"

"Trisha. It was a small fight. How long are you going to stretch this out." I interrupt, still trying to catch up to her.

She passes Blaco and hands her phone to the sound technician.

"All the backing tracks are on my phone, including any current or upgraded mixdowns. They're in the order of the set list." She says to him.

I step back, frozen.

The sound technician plugs her phone in using the auxiliary chord and skips right to Nothing Without You. It plays.

"We got it." The sound tech says.

"Thank you, Trisha." Blaco pats her on the back as she walks right past me yet again.

"Show time!" The coordinator says. "Chanel, get back behind the stage. Seating people now." I go to the back as I am told.

"Start letting them in." I hear the lady say while my back is turned.

_______________

The openers rile up the audience and I am handed my mic with my 2 minute warning. Trisha stands backstage, her stink face on. She doesn't look at or speak to me.

"Okay, Chanel. You're up." The lady tells me.

The light dims and I can feel it in my stomach.

My music comes on and as I pass her to go on stage, I mumble.

"Thank you."

The show goes so smooth, I wonder what I as ever worried about. The audience sings every song and every word. 'Nothing about you' has so much more popularity than I could have imagined and my voice keeps up with all the notes. I look to the very back as I am performing the last chorus and see Mila in a black top and hat along with her body guard. She smiles and waves.

I touch my hand to my heart to say thank you for coming.

Not just to her, but to the 500 people before me.

And then, I turn to my left side, where I can see my best friend staring at me concerned, absolutely making sure that everything is going right, that my mic isn't too loud, that my tracks are playing.

I walk to her and her face freezes. I know what she is thinking.

"What are you doing?"

As soon as the audience sees her, they scream and applaud. Some even yell her name.

I pull her into a hug and sing the chorus again.

"I'm Nothing without You." I end with the music.