The festival grounds were drier than a desert, and the temps were reaching well into the high eighties. Maybe all black outfits weren't such a good idea, but at least the stage was shaded, so that was kind of a plus...?

You could technically classify our band, 'Younger', as an alt-rock, pop, folk and punk band, so basically we were a jack of all trades. You wanted country music for your nephew's thirteenth birthday? Bring on the Maren Morris and Kacey Musgraves. You wanted hard rock for your dad's retirement party? We'd bring the Falling in Reverse, Breaking Benjamin, and Led Zeppelin.

The festival, however, was our first chance to showcase our favorite genre: whatever the hell we wanted. Our setlist was culminated with a dash of Ariana Grande, some Fall Out Boy, some Paramore, Demi Lovato, and so on and so forth.

The last song on our twenty-five minute setlist flew by on my AirPods and I felt those familiar tingles of nervousness swamp my gut, but that emotion was completely dwarfed by the irreverent and palpable tension created by Eli's magnetism and closeness.

I yanked my headphones out of my ears just as the carnival site came into view and dialed up Bea to make sure that we knew where to park.

"You'd better hurry if you want that hair of yours done in those braids you wanted and that red lipstick. We only have thirty minutes to prepare and warm up before sound check, which we'll have to do behind the stage since so many people are already camped out in front."

"I know, I know, we're hurrying. So it's the red tent behind the Ferris wheel right?"

"Yes. Park there. We're center stage tonight, babes."

My eyes flew open wide in shock.

"What? No, we're supposed to be performing on the smaller stage, off to the side, where no one would really notice us all that much..." I trailed off, terrified beyond reason. I had never performed for a crowd that big before. Center stage, even as the opening act, was already filling up as people claimed their best seats.

And we were the first act!

"I know but there weren't enough acts to fill out the other stage's repertoire, so we're it. I'm glad they liked our audition tape."

"Yeah," I mumbled breathlessly into the phone. I was really hoping Bea would spontaneously decide to take the lead vocals in 'Sorry Not Sorry' because the thought of trying to hit that lofty high note at the end in front of all of those people? It was more than nerve wracking, it was downright terrifying.

"So, about the lead in the Demi and Ariana songs-"

"I'm going to stop you right there. I thought we agreed that you were the only one who could hit those notes? I tried and my voice cracked the entire time. You're just getting scared, but I know you've got this. Oh, is that you guys in that giant SUV? Who is that driving you? Holy shit, V, is that who I-"

"Okay, I see you. Bye."

I cut Bea off because I didn't want her making such a huge deal out of who I was with, even though there were sure to be questions upon questions about the most popular basketball player at our school and why exactly he was driving me to our gig.

"Park right there," I told him, and Eli complied, those large and veiny hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, like something was wrong, but I couldn't be sure since his eyes were still guarded by his sunglasses.

I snuck a peek over towards him but was distracted by the disgusting sound of lips smacking together from the backseat.

Stifling a groan, I said, "Thank you for the ride," to Eli and was just about to jump out of his car before his hand reached out to grab my arm.

Eyebrows raised and heart racing, I waited for him to elaborate on why he was touching me, not that I was necessarily complaining, but...

"I just wanted to say I was sorry for how I acted last night, and for spying on you while you were singing. That wasn't right."

"Oh, thank you. I, uh...I appreciate that."

His thoughtful look turned into a full on grin and damn if I wasn't starstruck. Did he have any idea what he did to me? Surely he did, otherwise he wouldn't have turned on the charm for what he had to say next.

"Good. I really want to work with your dad as my coach, so if you wouldn't mind letting him know I apologized...that would be really awesome."

His touch no longer seared a delectable path of chills up my arm. No, instead, my blood ran hot as anger sizzled in my veins.

"So, you want me to put in a good word with you for my dad? Are you really sorry, or are you just sorry that it could make you look bad to him?"

Those sunglasses were suddenly off, his face dangerously close to my own and I could have sworn the two in the backseat stopped breathing. Why hadn't they left the car yet? This was none of their business...

"Listen, I've been looking for a coach my entire time in college that was fair and didn't...anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I need your dad as my coach."

I answered almost immediately, but right before it was as if time practically slowed so I could have a moment to collect myself, which was almost impossible while breathing the same air as Eli.

It was like he sucked the life out of everything and pulled it into himself, leaving everyone around him grasping at whatever he was willing to give back.

I wasn't willing to take what he was giving, however, because the reverence in his face, the raised eyebrows, pinched mouth, green eyes dripping with sincerity...I wasn't buying it.

"Yeah. And I need for people to not use me just to get to my dad. That's not really a good look for anyone, least of all you. Thanks for the ride," I said coldly, all emotion ripped out of my voice and soon enough, with one last parting glance at those seemingly anguished green eyes, my feet were on the ground outside and Eli was answering a phone call with a growl in his voice.

I didn't wait to see what Jared and Sara were going to do, instead waving Bea over to help me grab the keyboard from the trunk.

"V, why the fuck is-"

"I'll tell you later."

She raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything to question me, not yet, at least. Her hair was pulled up into a messy yet somehow completely beautiful bun, corkscrew mocha curls flying in every direction as the sun shone directly on her, almost making a halo on top of her head, her brown skin finally allowing a few freckles to peek out from behind it giving her a younger appearance.

Her outfit was similar to my own, black attire with tight shorts, tan tights peppered with glitter and thigh high boots, though hers were red suede whereas mine were black.

Nerves completely shot, I was about ready to sing the hell out of the venue when suddenly Eli's SUV was put into gear, and he promptly spun out of the parking space he'd once accompanied, effectively leaving me, Sara and Jared stranded.

"What the hell? What's his problem," I asked Sara who had only scrambled out of the vehicle mere seconds before Eli's infamous takeoff.

"I don't know, he was just yelling at someone on the phone, and then told us to 'get the hell out' and now here we are. This is so annoying, Virginia. I didn't even want to be here in the first place! Me and Jared are getting an Uber. Have a good performance."

Wow. So much for her 'looking up to me' as a performer like her mother had suggested. I supposed it didn't work both ways, she wanted me to watch her perform but she didn't care to watch me. Noted.

"I will."

I shared one searing look with Sara, before my eyes fell upon Jared's. He had that stupid, puppy dog look on his face that used to always bring me to my knees, made me do whatever he wanted me to do, but in that moment it only showed me just how much I'd moved on.

I didn't even tell them goodbye as I turned around in the dust cloud that Eli's hasty exit had created and faced Bea, hands on her hips waiting for an explanation.

"What was all that about?"

"Oh, my lovely father decided I needed a baby sitter. It's no big deal, we just need to get into performance mode."

"Agreed. Hazel came with Leo so we're all here."

I followed Bea to the tent where we finished getting ready and warmed up our vocals.

"Okay, sing the high note for 'Sorry Not Sorry'."

I took in a deep breath, opened my mouth wide and implemented all of the techniques my vocal teacher had instructed me with and belted the final chorus of the song, stopping only after the intricately hard vocal at the end of the bridge.

"That was perfect. Okay, do it just like that and we'll be golden. You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We finished warming up and ran through mic check quickly, joining Hazel and Leo, both of which in black clothing but Hazel's copper hair stood out amongst the four of us, the entire theater department of UCM.

"Starting with 'Break Your Heart Right Back, then onto 'Señorita' with Hazel and Leo, our Journey covers for 'Don't Stop Believing', 'Faithfully', 'Open Arms', and ending it out with 'Anyway You Want It'."

"Yes," I agreed with Leo, glad that I didn't have to sing the sexier song of the night with him and that job had fallen on Hazel's shoulders. If my eyes didn't deceive me, she'd been harboring a crush on Leo for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity for her to give that a shot. They'd practiced the vocals, but not what they'd do with the song on stage...

Hazel was shy and had a hard time expressing herself, except when it came to music. Leo was the exact opposite.

He could tell you all day what your problem was, what he felt about you and he wouldn't hold back. When it came to his singing, however, he was withdrawn and almost as shy as Hazel-most of the time.

"We're still going from there to our two originals?" Bea asked, mainly because she was worried the songs she'd written wouldn't have enough time to be played.

"Yes, and we round it all out at the end with 'Tell Me You Love Me' and 'Sorry Not Sorry'."

"I can't wait! You are so going to kill it on those Demi songs, V!"

I liked Hazel's enthusiasm, I just didn't feel it myself in return.

"Let's hope..."

"Okay, let's warm up your voice some more, it's almost go time."

I nodded to Leo, his hipster attire seemingly out of place with the more pop punk vibe the rest of our clothing held, but it worked.

"Five minute warning," one of the workers from the tech crew let us know.

I checked my reflection in one of the mirrors from the tent, happy with the French braids that trailed down the top of my scalp and stopped at the middle of my head, cascading down with the rest of my raven colored hair as it went tumbling down and came to rest in the middle of my back.

I was preparing myself, doing my breathing exercises to calm myself down, when heated voices from behind the tent caught my attention.

"You seriously want to stay for her show?"

It was obvious that voice belonged to Sara. It was hard to mistake the bitchiness in her tone for anyone else, and I had just stumbled onto an argument with her boyfriend, my ex. Well, this was going to be interesting...

"Yeah. She's basically your sister. Why wouldn't you want to stay?"

"Ugh, she always does this. She just wants all the attention to be on her. She took singing away from me, it was my thing first! I'm so much better than her, anyway. I should be the one in her band."

"Okay, Sara, but she's older and in college. You can start your own band. Come on, let's just grab a seat and-"

"No, I'm leaving. If you want to stay and 'support her' then me and you are going to have a problem."

"Why? She didn't do anything to you?"

"You didn't see what she was doing with Eli Shepherd? She was using him to make you jealous."

There were crickets on the other end of the conversation, and just as I was about to break away from spying on their moment, Jared finally spoke.

"Maybe he did."

Wow. I had absolutely nothing to think about that.

Good thing it was time for our act, and the very first song on our list was Ariana Grande's 'Break Your Heart Right Back', something I didn't really think all too much about when choosing it, but it seemed fitting for this situation, especially since Jared would be in the crowd with the girl he'd broken my heart with. Gotta love irony.

I stepped out onto the stage, oriented myself with the other members of the band, took center stage and blocked out everything but the music flowing through my inner ear piece as Bea introduced us with her cool and calm collected vibe.

The microphone slick in my hand, heart racing to a staccato tempo and lungs sucking in large gasps of air, I ignored the slight trickle of sweat already beading along my spine as the music built up, and the crowd roared its approval as they recognized the tune.

And then my intro came, and I performed.