Page 64 of Beyond the Stix
Fuck. Mom. I don’t know how to tell her about what happened with Jessup. At least he’s notherbrother.
“Knock-knock. Are you decent?” Dante calls out from the doorway. “Can we talk?”
A groan leaves my lips. “Yes,” I say over my shoulder. Then I turn and watch Dante step into the room, and sit stiffly on the corner of the mattress. Their blacked-lined eyes study me keenly, and their highly glossed red lips are pursed.
“What?” I say tersely, ready for a verbal battle.
“Are you going to be alright for today?” they ask, pulling out their phone and beginning to scroll.
“I will be fine.” I’m not lying. After my brief phone call with John, I feel slightly better, but I’m still not one hundred percent myself. However, once I get behind my drums, I will be.
“I’m only asking because there are several things Ron has set up for the band today, before you hit that stage tonight.” Dante darts their eyes my way before returning them back to the screen. “So, you good for an interview, and a quick signing with fans?”
“I’m ready for whatever you have for us,” I say resolutely.
“Great. Then get your fine ass in the living area so we can do a rundown of today. Tobias has some extra things he wants to throw at us for security.” Dante rolls their eyes, stands, and then quickly leaves the room.
“My fine ass will be out there in a minute,” I call out after them, but Dante ignores me.
I glance down at my phone once more, before retrieving one of my favorite pair of sticks out of its case. If I’m going to face the fans, I need these to be on my game.
But really, I’m stalling. Having to face my friends shouldn’t be daunting, but it is. I know eventually I have to explain to them about my uncle. There’s no way of getting out of it. Especially with Danny. He’ll want to know everything.
When I enter the living area, all heads swivel my way. “Well, that’s creepy,” I admit, staring at my friends and then the security team.
“Sit here.” Danny moves over. “Okay, we’re all here. What’s the rundown for today?”
“Me first,” Dante says as they stand, but their eyes are still glued to their phone. “I don’t know if Ron told you, but you’re the final act for tonight.”
“Fucking A. That’s awesome,” Bobby hoots, then high fives Callum and Rafe, who are sitting on the sofa.
I meet Danny’s eyes, and he’s smiling huge. “That is great news.”
“Ron says he’ll be arriving later this afternoon. But in the meantime, the roadies arrived an hour ago and have reviewed the setup for our ten-minute practice time on the stage at ten this morning. You also have an interview withRock Magat noon. Then a meet-and-greet at two over on the west side of the grounds. What I need from y’all is the song list for tonight,” they say with a few taps of their phone screen. “Any questions?”
“The only question I have is do we have any more pixie sticks?” Bobby asks, as he searches through the cabinets. “Or any candy laying around? I’ll be happy with some suckers for tonight.”
“Umm, no.” Dante scowls, and points to the empty chair. “Take a seat, Hicks.”
“My turn,” Tobias announces as he approaches and stands next to Dante. The grim determination on his face has my pulse jumping.
As lead to the security team, Tobias is usually all business, but looking at him now, something’s wrong.
“What is it?” Danny asks, a frown replacing his easy smile.
“We are making some changes in the lineup, that’s all. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Lineup of what?” Callum questions.
“Entering and exiting the stage. With one less person on our security team, I feel this is the best course of action. Since Danny has to go on last, I want Callum to go first. Then Rafe, followed by Connor. Bobby, I want you to go before Danny.”
“Are we walking in from the left of the stage like we did last year?” Rafe asks.
“Didn’t we enter from the right?” I ask, trying to picture last year’s entry point onto the stage.
“Rafe is right,” Tobias corrects, then points to the security team that’ll be joining us. “I’m not worried about the interview, since the band will be in the magazine tent and nowhere near the crowd. But the signing, that will be an issue. With that in mind, Connor, Pen will stick to you like glue. Where you go, he goes.”
“What if I have to piss? Pen’s not joining me,” I swear, shaking my head.