Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,90
hummed, non-committal. That was fine. We hadn’t had a real conversation in years, and now wasn’t the time to start.
“Hi, I’m Ellie Domingo.” My girl sounded confident, and her smile was like moonbeams. “And this is my friend, Devon. We’ve got two songs for you today. The first is a cover of an oldie, the second is an Ellie and Devon original. I hope you enjoy our music.” She strummed her guitar once, then said, “Glycerine.”
Devon stood a little behind her, truly acting as her backup, and I loved him for that. The spotlight was on her, and she rocked it. Her fingers moved nimbly over her guitar strings, and her voice was clear and confident. Devon joined her in the chorus, their voices blending seamlessly. He grinned at her as they sang together, and my heart somersaulted in my chest.
He cared about her, and it positively ripped me apart he was walking away. This was his farewell to both Ellie and me, and god was he going out with a bang.
When their song ended, I had tears in my eyes. Veego cheered like a maniac, whooping and yelling Ellie’s name. I met Rose’s eyes momentarily, but looked away quickly, not wanting to share this moment with her.
Ellie grinned at her audience and waited for the cheers to die down before she spoke into the mic again. “Devon and I wrote this next song together. If you’ve ever had to overcome obstacles, I hope this song means something to you.”
They say one foot in front of the other
Lose your turn, you’ll have another
Hurt yourself, you can run to your mother
Life’s too short, shrug it off, don’t bother
What if one chance is all you’ve got?
The only thing between you and the end is one shot
One small stumble can cost it all
Get up, brush it off, the end isn’t the fall
Rise up
Strength is in the trying
Stand tall
Look ahead, not behind
March on
Color outside the lines
Be brave
Unique and always kind
I heard I should suck it up and be glad
Others have it so much more bad
I breathe my chances into my lungs
I touch the air, hoping I’m not stung
This life is uncertain for us all
But we keep going until we hit the wall
Some of us will see it as a sign to stop
But not me, no, I’ll keep climbing to the top
Rise up
Strength is in the trying
Stand tall
Look ahead, not behind
March on
Color outside the lines
Be brave
Unique and always kind
One shot, one shot
Take it or leave it
You’ll never have another
One shot, one shot
By the time Ellie and Devon strummed their last chord, I was openly crying. From the quiet sobs to my right, so was Rose, and from the feel of Veego shaking on my other side, he was doing his best to hold it in.
“Shit,” he muttered. “I wasn’t prepared for that.”
Casey wrapped her arms around him, soothing him with quiet, private words.
“She’s so special,” Rose said. “So like her mother.”
“She’s so much better than me.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks and cleared my throat. “We should go back there.”
The four of us made our way to the backstage area where Devon and Ellie were being congratulated by the other performers. Veego got to Ellie first, picking her up in a bear hug.
“Kid, you sang my favorite song. At least it used to be my favorite before you blew me away with your new one.” He gave her a loud kiss on her cheek. “You broke my heart a little, Eleanor Anne.”
I’d never seen her look prouder of herself. Veego set her down, and I swept her up, hugging her tight. “Baby, that was amazing.”
“Devon helped me write it,” she said into my shoulder.
He smoothed a hand over the top of her head. “Seventy-five percent of that was you, little sister. I just gave you a couple nudges.”
I shook my head at him, and mouthed, “Thank you.” Then I had to let Casey and Rose shower her with love. Veego shook Devon’s hand before turning back to his daughter, picking her up again in another bone-shattering hug.
I wove my fingers with Devon’s, but kept my eyes on my family. “I’ll never forget this.”
“You think I will?” He tucked my hair behind my ear and dipped his head beside mine. “You’re both embedded in my fucked-up heart ’til the end of time.”
A shudder passed through me. I was saved from answering him when Ellie asked if she could walk around the festival with Simon and a