down every single advance as she kept a tight grip on Maeko’s hand. They were thick as thieves, and when they were together, no one else existed.
Sometimes not even me.
“Nope.” The truth was, I was burning. Always burning.
The guys and I had just returned from checking in backstage, dropping off equipment, and confirming our input list and stage plan one last time with the festival’s sound crew while Maeko and Griff set up our tents.
Now that it was done, the six of us wasted no time jumping into the fray. The festival was already well underway, and I needed the distraction. The massive stage and the flashing colorful lights were more intimidating than usual even though nothing was special about the setup.
I wasn’t sure if five minutes had passed before Liam, Mason, and Abe ditched us. Their chances were better at finding girls to take the edge off if they weren’t mistaken as taken.
We shouted our agreement to meet backstage in a couple of hours before the crowd swallowed them. Left alone with Griffin and Maeko, who were already on their way to being wasted, I sighed. Fear of tumbling off stage kept me sober. I’d save getting wrecked for after the show so I could quickly forget if I made a fool of myself.
The winter music festival was amateur hour. Half the acts were booed off the stage, but it brought the people out in droves. Really, any excuse to get drunk and have something new to post on Instagram would bring them out. If I never read another living my best life hashtag, I will have lived my best life.
Before I knew it, after ducking wandering hands from anonymous culprits, eating overpriced food from the food stalls, window shopping at the clothing vendors, flirting free drinks out of guys, and warming up by random bonfires, two hours had come and gone. I now had only fifteen minutes before our changeover time.
The last festival we played only allowed ten minutes to get one band offstage and the next ready to perform. We were allotted fifteen minutes, which was doable, considering only the headlining act would be given the luxury of a soundcheck. Twenty minutes for setting up would have been ideal, but the festival had booked plenty acts for the weekend. In addition to selling more tickets, it kept the crowd pacified if too many of the performances stunk up the place.
“Are you nervous?” Maeko shouted so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d gone hoarse. We’d been slowly forcing our way through the drunken, half-dressed assemblage, and now that the stage was mere feet away, the music had become deafening.
I knew what put that worried look in Maeko’s eyes. I’d been too quiet for too long. Because I liked to be in my head where I felt at home amongst my own chaos.
A nod was all I offered since my tongue felt too thick, and the smell of brine made me feel as if I were in the middle of the ocean rather than the desert. If I swallowed, I was afraid I would choke.
“You’re dynamite, babe,” Griffin assured me as she rubbed my back in a soothing motion. Sure, Griffin looked like the popular cheerleader, but she had the personality of a nursemaid. “You’ve got this.”
At least one of us could say it with a straight face. With my friends sticking close, I approached the line of guards keeping backstage separate from the crowd and the short, overweight man wearing a full beard and a headset.
Before I could give my name, he spoke. “Hey, are you, Brandy?” he asked even as he glanced at his clipboard where my name was printed clearly.
“Braxton.”
“Backup’s already here,” he announced, making me sigh in relief. The guys getting hammered or caught up chasing ass had been on my mounting list of worries these last couple of hours. “Get backstage. You’re up next.” Headset guy then started shouting at one of the crew members without acknowledging his mistake.
What if there was a Brandy waiting to perform, and I took her spot? I knew I was overthinking things considering the organizer had emailed the running order, but that didn’t stop my pits from perspiring. The lights and constant need to vomit would keep me warm if the temperature dropped, so at least I had that. Freezing on stage wasn’t what terrified me anyway.
Reluctantly, I waved goodbye to my friends, who held each other as if I were going off to war, and passed