OverExposed: Making Me Love You

Adam wrapped a muscled, tattooed arm around my waist making the girls squeal with excitement and envy. My breath caught in my throat when he touched his lips to my ear; his hot breath washing over the side of my neck.

“Do you know the song ‘Just A Feeling’ off our Hands All Over album?” he quietly asked covering the mic of his earpiece with his hand. I slowly nodded as I tried to keep my cheeks from flushing a furious red. I had to keep reminding myself that I had a boyfriend who loves me back at the apartment, but it was hard to do so when you had a man like Adam Levine standing right next to you.

“Good,” he chuckled moving away which allowed me the chance to catch my breath. He walked over to the side of the stage where a man stood holding a piece of white paper. Adam exchanged a few words with the tech guy and then came back to me with the paper. He slipped it into my hands.

“Here, this paper has the lyrics and which parts you should sing,” he smiled. I found it sweet that he was willing to help so that I knew what to sing and what not to sing. Then again I felt almost embarrassed like he thought I didn’t know the words to the song. Little did he know I knew all the lyrics to every single song on each album he made.

Suddenly, that nauseating feeling of being on stage about to sing in front of thousands of people slammed into me. I stumbled back breathless and clutching my chest with fear that my heart just might pound its way right out of its cavity. My eyes frantically searched the front row until I found my friends standing there staring up at me. Kennedy was smiling like a loon and giving me two thumbs up trying to encourage me. Ashley merely gazed at me through dull eyes with her arms folded.

Then the music began playing and my heart plummeted to the ground knowing it was too late to turn back. My vision began to tunnel and black dots swam across my vision. It was getting more and more difficult for air to enter my lungs as I swung my gaze around to look at Adam who was smiling out at the crowd.

“A-ad-adam,” I stuttered feeling myself swaying on my feet. He didn’t hear me over the music playing so my gaze swung back to Ashley hoping she could help in some way.

She angrily gestured at the piece of paper in my hand while Kennedy was motioning for me to take deep breaths. My eyes fell to the words on the paper only to find they were blurred and constantly shifting around. Oh no….I think I was about to collapse from lack of oxygen I was so scared right now. Just as I could feel myself blacking out, a voice rang out bringing me back to consciousness.

I watched you cry
Bathed in sunlight
By the bathroom door
You said you wished you did not love me anymore

Adam’s voice drifted over, around, and through me like some cleansing magic. Air swept into my lungs with relief as his words washed over me causing goosebumps to form along my skin. The words on the paper in my hand righted themselves allowing me to read them. That’s when I noticed that I was to sing the second verse right after him. Alone. Panic settled in once more. He turned to me as he sang the last line of his verse. Seeing those hazel eyes stare into mine holding such encouragement and belief chased all of my doubts and panic away.

Slowly the sounds of the large crowd began to fade away as I stared up into those mesmerizing eyes. All that was left to hear was the sound of Adam’s voice as it sang off the last word and the music that continued to play for the next verse: mine. Taking a deep breath, letting the music engulf my shaking body, I opened my mouth to sing.

You left your flowers in the backseat of my car
The things we said and did have left permanent scars

I saw Adam’s eyes go wide the moment the first word left my mouth. Afraid he thought I was doing badly, my eyes fell to the paper to see that after my two lines then it was our turn to sing together. I sighed in relief to myself hoping his voice would overpower my horrible one. But once I had sung my last line, Adam’s voice did not join me in the next verse which left me to sing on my own once more.

Obsessed, depressed at the same time
I can’t even walk in a straight line
I’ve been lying in the dark, no sunshine
No sunshine
No sunshine

My eyes snapped up to his begging him to join me in the chorus. Those hazel green eyes seemed to be glazed over completely awestruck. I stepped closer to him and touched his arm making him snap out of whatever place he had zoned out to. When he heard me sing the last two lines, he opened his mouth to sing:

She cries

I smiled gratefully and responded back.

This is more than goodbye
When I look into your eyes

You’re not even there

Our voices meshed on the last line and it was like an orgasmic rush that raced throughout my body. The moment his voice joined in with mine, our voices melded together to harmonize perfectly with one another. I could see the hairs on Adam’s arms stand on end as chills erupted across my body. It was like our voices had been meant to join together in this melodic dance of notes and words intertwining. Hearing our voices collide and blend together the way they did gave me the last push of confidence that I needed.

I stepped even closer to his body, microphone clutched tightly in my hand as I felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of my face. I would throw all of my emotions and longing into this song hoping against all odds that somewhere deep down he would remember me.

So we continued to sing.

It’s just a feeling
Just a feeling
Just a feeling that I have
Just a feeling
Just a feeling that I have, oh yeah
Cause I can’t believe that it’s over

Adam and I continued swapping verses back and forth, both of us eagerly waiting for that moment when our voices would once more intertwine and cause a cataclysmic rush of emotions to sweep over us. This feeling was intoxicating and I hungrily pushed for more by jumping in during some of his solo parts just so I could feel that chill race down my spine.

Our eyes stayed locked throughout the entire song even when we back away from each other to head towards opposite sides of the stage. Any thoughts of my boyfriend had long since left my head now that it was consumed with the desire to sing forever with this man. I never wanted to leave this stage. I wanted our voices to continue on in this powerful, angelic dance of melodies and notes. Unfortunately, the song came to a close with our voices going a cappella (ah-cappella) as the last note drifted off into the silent auditorium of the music hall.

There was a single clap that rang out through the hall. That clap came from Adam as he smiled down at me. Soon, the entire audience erupted into applause as they screamed and hollered. I jumped, startled, as I remembered I wasn’t the only one here. I had become so lost in the feeling of singing with Adam that all of my fears of singing on stage were completely wiped away.

Adam glided over to me while reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out a black card that was laminated and had a maroon string attached to it. My eyes widened upon reading the words scrolled along the card: V.I.P Backstage Pass. My gaze snapped back up to his as he curled my fingers around the pass.

“B-b-but,” I stuttered feeling all of that nausea return to my body.

“You deserve it,” he whispered smiling. “See me after the show.”

My heart stopped beating in my chest completely when Adam bent down and placed a searing hot kiss against my cheek. All the girls in the crowd screeched at the contact as the security guards helped me offstage and back to my seat. There was a permanent red stain on my cheeks.

“Give it up one more time for Alyce!” Adam yelled into his mic smiling out into the crowd. The crowd cheered my name for a short time before Adam went on to continue the concert with his next song: Stutter.

Kennedy nudged me snapping me out of dreamland. She snatched the VIP pass from my hands with a squeal of excitement.

“Oh my god, you get to meet Adam!” she breathed. “What did he say to you before he kissed you??”

Ashley shoved Kennedy away from me and yanked the pass from her fingers.

“You should thank me, you know. It’s because of me you even got this pass,” she huffed handing the pass over to me.

“Oh whatever!” Kennedy shot back. “It’s because of me that we even got these seats!”

I sighed. “Guys, I really don’t think it matters. All that matters right now is I get to meet freaking ADAM LEVINE after the CONCERT. Let’s freak out about that more, shall we?” I shouted excitedly. Kennedy and I did a little happy dance as we squealed like school girls. Ashley rolled her eyes at our actions refusing to join in.

He had said he wanted to see me after the show. Did that mean that during the time we were singing, my longing had gotten through to him? Did that mean he recognized who I was? My eyes lifted up from the pass clutched tightly in my fingers and met with a pair of sparkling hazel green eyes. I wasn’t sure for how long he had been looking at me while singing, but I noticed something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. A new emotion had arisen in those hazel orbs. Adam’s lips curled into a crooked grin before he glanced back out over the rest of the crowd.

My heart stuttered inside my chest at that knowing grin.

Did he…did he remember me?