Colder Than My Heart

Sarah was a nervous wreck. All the rules set by Andrew had been met with time to spare, but they had no time to go anywhere else as her green eyes fixed on the empty stage she was yet to walk out on. Speakers pounded with heavy baselines from well known songs and the crowd was filled with dancing fans screaming along with the lyrics. She tried to steady herself, trying to get rid of those shaky breaths racking her frame. Her other band members stood nearby but none of them were showing nerves quite like she was. Thomas was the first to do something about her worried state, placing his free hand on her shoulder whilst the other supported the neck of his guitar.

“It won’t be so bad. You can do it, if anyone it’s you,” he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her towards him in a friendly embrace before swiftly kissing her temple. The gesture made her feel slightly more secure. She knew she wouldn’t have the confidence to get her through the performance if anyone heckled her but she could act confident until then. She was good at putting on a mask, hiding behind the feelings she couldn’t muster.

“You’re right,” she lied with a winning smile on her face. He returned the warmth of her smile before letting her go just in time for Andy to run up to the singer.

“Okay guys you’re on!” He called as the music echoing from the stage faded away. Fans stopped dancing, turning their attention to the vacant stage and screamed at the emptiness.

“What?” She half yelled staring incredulously at the never ending crowd.

“We’re done, get on now!” He repeated with urgency in his voice. The guys all ran out with their instruments in hand much to the crowd’s approval. Thomas turned to Sarah with a smile, playing a few chords on his guitar signalling she had to be on stage. She cussed inwardly but forced an impressive smile as she ran out onto the stage. As she stood in the center the number of people gathered around were now visible.

“Oh god,” she muttered to herself. Quickly grabbing a water bottle from behind her and unscrewing the cap for later she swallowed back her fears. “Phoenix!” She screamed earning a chorus of screams from the audience. “We’re Too Close for Company,” she added shutting her eyes as if the people weren’t even there. She reopened her eyes as the screams grew louder and she turned to her guys who were still playing the intro to her song on repeat. “This is call when I get home.”

With that Jersey kicked in with a cymbal and the whole song started up. Sarah’s mind was fixated on the words coming at the end of the intro as she took the microphone from the stand. She stood at the edge of the stage between two amps and brought the microphone to her lips. With one final breath, now was her cue.

“Dude where’s my guitar?” Alex asked from backstage. His hands were held up in question and his eyebrows were furrowed as he looked between the members of the crew.

“Yours is the SG right? Says ‘turd’ on it?” One of the shorter men asked as he settled down one of the cases with a snare drum inside.

“Yeah. You’ve seen it?” Alex asked raising one eyebrow.

“Aw shit man,” the tech man sighed. “I saw someone taking it off to another stage. I knew I recognised it, I’m sorry,” he explained.

“Dude, don’t worry about it,” Alex smiled placing a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. “Did you see where he was taking it?” He inquired to which the man bit his lip in thought.

“I know the guy who was carrying it,” he explained to which Alex nodded. “I’m not sure whether he’s signed to the Ernie Ball stage or the Smart Punk stage, but it’s definitely one of the two,” he nodded.

“Okay thanks dude,” Alex patted his shoulder and jogged off in the direction of one of the two stages. He eventually reached the Smart Punk stage figuring it was closer and therefore more likely to be at that stage. He flashed his pass and jogged to the racks of guitar situated near the far end of the room. As he approached his eyes quickly scanned the selection. Breathing out a sigh of relief and grinning to himself he picked up the instrument by the neck.

“Thank you so much Phoenix, how are you all?” A female screamed in the direction of the stage. Alex frowned to himself. All the girl bands had been grouped together, always had been so why a female band were on the Smart Punk stage confused him. Furrowing his eyebrows he cautiously turned in the direction of the stage. “Okay, we’ve only got one more song for you,” the girl called. One hand still gripped to the neck of the guitar he continued up the steps to the side of the stage, making sure to leave room for people rushing past him.

The edge of the black curtain was gathered close to Alex’s feet. He noted this as he walked forward. As he moved forward so he had full view of the stage his eyes slowly lifted. Closest to him stood two guitarists; one tuning his guitar, the other playing the opening chords to the song. The drummer kept a steady beat on the toms adding a bass kick every few beats. Alex raised his eyebrows at how professional the band looked, glancing over to the other side of the stage. There stood a bass player, looking no taller than him, with the guitar hung around his neck. All the band members he’d examined were fully covered in sweat but their smiles stretched to their ears.

Alex’s eyes roamed the stage for the final member. Finally she caught his eye. Stood center stage between two of the on stage amps was the most beautiful brunette Alex had ever seen.

“This one’s called Secrets,” she spoke into the mic before the drummer played them in and all the members were jumping around. Alex had to admit, he was impressed. Their energy radiated from them into the crowd who seemed to be enjoying every second as they swung their bodies in all directions. Any passerby would think the teens in the audience were possessed had they not witnessed the band in front of them. Alex’s eyes instantly snapped back to the girl as he saw her step towards the crowd. She brought her leg up; pressing her foot to one of the amps she was so recently stood between. Leaning forward she began the song, holding the note perfectly and leaving Alex breathless. Her voice was definitely powerful, something he’d prefer to listen to. The note she held brought chills to his spine. He listened intently to all the music blended together but paid particular interest to the girl in his sights.

Her hair was loosely curled but looked natural. It was flowing past her pale shoulders. The girl wasn’t a sickly pale, it was more like she was glowing. Her eyes were shut as she sung the words into the mic, but Alex’s eyes weren’t on her face. The shorts she were wearing gave him a good view of her long slender legs causing his eyebrows to raise. He bit down on his lip pretty hard to stop himself from shouting an obscenity in the girl’s direction. His eyes travelled up, taking in the tank top that clung to her body and the pendant hanging around her chest.

Any average person would describe her looks as ‘beautiful’ or ‘stunning’ but the only word entering Alex’s head at that moment his eyes roamed her attire was ‘sexy’ amongst other degrading terms. However, she wasn’t dressed like a cheap girl. The sun was burning most of the people walking around the stages, beating down harder than it had on any other date of the door so really what she was wearing was appropriate. In no way had she worn the clothes she had chosen knowing that someone as popular as Alex Gaskarth would be stood at the side of her stage undressing her with his eyes.

Alex looked at the stage times near where he was, taking in that the set of the band with the beautiful singer would be over right before he should have been at his stage. His cussed inwardly, taking one last look at the band as if his strong stare would force their song to end soon. Sadly, every second seemed like an hour to Alex and he was beginning to grow anxious. He groaned to himself and took off away from the stage. He was almost disappointed in whoever had arranged his stage times, blaming them for stopping him meeting the pretty girl.

As he stormed past the people at the back of the Hurley stage his mood continued to spiral downwards.

“Oh hey, Alex?” Matt asked ignoring the fact that the singer was storming through the crowds before Alex stood before him and cut him off.

“You’re fired!” He exclaimed before continuing to stomp in the direction of the stage.

“What’s up with him?” Matt asked furrowing his eyebrows.

“I dunno,” Jack shrugged slipping his guitar over his shoulders. “Manopause.”