Page 27

Throwing the sheets off her body, Elena stood and began pacing the floor.

“And has she forgotten that she left me? We were good. Things were great. And then she just left because she was jealous of Peter.” Another scoff. “That’s on her, not me.”

Opening her nightstand drawer, Elena pulled out her notebook and pen. She furiously flipped to an open page as the words began to flow out of her like an angry spout.

I gave you my heart, but it was all in vain

Why are we still playing games?

I’m tired of the pain, tired of the games

Maybe it’s time to quit you

Elena added two verses to the chorus before she felt satisfied enough with it to call it a night. Hopefully, Skylar would be off her high horse by rehearsals the next day. If not, Elena was fully prepared to knock her off.

Chapter 10

Skylar

Skylar was keenly aware that Elena hadn’t looked her way the entire time they’d been rehearsing. She’d talk to everyone else, even Johnny, who had arrived to watch, and asked everyone else what songs they wanted to sing. Elena made a setlist with little input from Skylar, who was perfectly content sitting on the leather couch watching the scene unfold.

“We can’t follow ‘Always Dreaming’ with ‘Firecracker’.” Elena massaged her temples. “That’s two fast-paced songs back-to-back, and we should space them out more.”

“What about doing ‘Always You’ before ‘Firecracker’?” Gordon was playing air drums with his drumsticks as he spun around on a stool. “That’s how we did it on the last tour.”

“We want this tour to be different.”

Skylar snorted a laugh, and Elena finally shot her a glance.

“Do you have something to add, Skylar?”

“Nope.”

“Okay then.” Looking back at the notebook in her hand, Elena tapped the pen a few times on the paper. What about ‘Always You,’ ‘About That Night,’ then ‘Firecracker?’”

Each band member gave a nod of confirmation as Elena looked around the room. When she got to Skylar, her eyes narrowed.

“That okay with you?”

“Sounds great.”

She watched as Elena rolled her eyes and popped her neck, clear signs she was frustrated.

But the fact of the matter was Skylar was frustrated, too. She’d hoped that maybe—just maybe—things would be different this time around with Elena and Maine Event. Skylar had hoped that Elena would be more open to having a more diverse repertoire of songs on their tour, but if the setlist told Skylar anything, it was literally the same old song and dance. The same songs from the same albums were sung the same way they had ten years ago.

Skylar wondered if the fans would be as disappointed as she felt about the setlist.

“Are we going to play any new stuff?” Skylar chimed in, interrupting Erica and Elena, who were discussing which song to close out the setlist with. Both shot Skylar daggers. “I’m just saying it might be nice to throw in some new stuff.”

“It’s not like Maine Event is getting back together,” Erica pointed out.

“Like ever,” Elena sighed, annoyed. “So, why would we introduce something new? This is a reunion tour. Not a new album tour.”

“Fine.”

“Don’t pout. It’s not attractive.”

“I wasn’t trying to be attractive,” Skylar snapped back. She had enough sitting on the sidelines while Elena effectively led the band into a verbatim version of their last tour. Standing, Skylar pushed her black kimono cardigan out of the way and put her hands on her hips. “Also, how long does it take to make a setlist? Just pick the hits, and let’s move on.”