Page 31 of Next to Everything We Wanted

Phoenix sat beside me, placing a bowl of chicken noodle soup on the table. “But you’ve seriously screwed up.”

My muscles tensed. “You can stop saying that now.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t get over what you did.” He nodded to the bowl of soup. “This should make your stomach feel better.”

“Thank you.” I sipped the soup. It hadn’t been an excuse when I’d said I was too sick to perform at What Do You Bean tonight. I’d been nothing but nauseous the past twenty-four hours. The last thing I wanted was to puke all over myself on stage while trying to belt out a high note.

And have it go viral like last time.

“Are you feeling better?” Phoenix asked as I sipped the soup.

I nodded, the warmth spreading to my stomach. “Much better. Your mom’s soup recipe never fails.”

“She has a gift.” He smiled. “Do you think you’ll be well enough to perform next week? I know it’s a week away, but what happened yesterday was kind of . . . jarring for you.”

“I think I’ll be okay by then.” I sighed. “I haven’t been this mad at myself in a long time.”

“You don’t have to be mad at yourself.”

I gave him a small smile.

“I’m already mad at yourself for you.”

I groaned. “Thanks for being an encouraging best friend, man. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Hey.” He laughed before his face went serious, his eyes darkening. “Are we going to tell Forrest about this? Or are we keeping this between us for now?” He swallowed. “I don’t like keeping big secrets from our bandmates. You know, because we’re in this together.”

“Are you kidding me?” I scoffed in the middle of sipping my soup. “Forrest would die of a heart attack before we could finish explaining what happened.”

“We can’t have our lead guitarist die, so we might want to hold off on that for now.”

My chest tightened. “We don’t have to keep it from him or the others forever. But no one who hasn’t helped us with this façade knows our real names. Sienna could be the first person of many. I’m scared that she or her cousins will tell their friends.”

“It does sound concerning, but maybe they’ve never heard of you. You were never Harry Styles relevant. You were rarely even Liam Payne relevant.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know Liam was always my favorite.”

“Mine too.” He adjusted his posture. “Hey, at least you’re not known as ‘that cool black kid’ from that one band nobody remembers because their label dropped their asses before they could release an album.” He shrugged, and I could tell from how the corners of his eyes crinkled that he was half-joking.

Phoenix’s band, Daybreak, had been formed during a later season ofA Search for Stars, and people liked them from the few singles they put out. Mercury Heights Records didn’t make them a priority since other bands, including Charm Street, made more money. They were eventually dropped after only being on the label for five months. Our friendship had helped Phoenix get back on his feet.

“True,” I said. “But less than ten people know you as that, so I’d say there’s a win to that loss. And at least no one said you were lame. I’d have to disagree.”

Phoenix scoffed. “Why, thank you, sweet pea.”

“Call me that again and you’ll never be able to taste sweetness or peas.”

“Why? It fits you well.” His eyebrows lifted as if he’d remembered something. “Oh, I forgot to tell you that I stopped by Sienna’s booth.”

I spat out the soup in my mouth. “What?”

Phoenix cringed. “Gross.”

“Sorry.” I put the bowl on the table. “Did she say anything about last night?”

He shook his head. “She only said that she hopes you feel better and that we did amazing tonight.”

“What about her cousins?”