Back in the city, the arena was electric. Kids in fishnets, heavy eyeliner, and Tokio Hotel hoodies lined the block. Posters of Phantom Youth × Tokio Hotel covered the streets like wallpaper from another universe.
Inside the greenroom, Isadora paced in her hip-hugger jeans and cropped tank layered under a ripped fishnet tee.
> “You okay?” Tom asked, adjusting his studded belt in the mirror.
She nodded but her leg kept bouncing. “Just... nerves. First tour show since everything.”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek, whispering, “You’ll kill it. Like always.”
Bill popped his head in. “Five minutes. Let’s light this place up.”
The lights dimmed, fans screamed like sirens, and Phantom Youth took the stage first — Nina’s riffs shaking the ground, Isadora’s voice tearing through the crowd like wildfire.
After the show, everyone buzzed backstage — sweaty, giddy, high off the music.
But the energy shifted when a figure in a red trench coat stepped through the side doors.
> “Isadora?”
She turned. Her eyes widened. “Renata?”
Her old childhood friend from São Paulo. They hadn’t spoken in years — not since before her family moved back to Germany full-time.
> “I saw the news. The Disney deal. The band. I had to see it for myself.”
Tom watched from a few feet away, brows raised.
Isadora gave her a hug, awkward and unsure. “It’s… crazy seeing you again.”
Renata looked her up and down. “You’ve changed.”
> “Yeah,” Isadora said, her voice flat. “I had to.”
Later that night, as everyone celebrated the killer opening show with pizza and cheap hotel champagne, Renata lingered by the band’s room.
> “So that’s Tom, huh?” she asked Isadora, eyes scanning him from across the hall.
Isadora crossed her arms. “Yeah. That’s Tom.”
Renata tilted her head. “Funny. He’s cute, but not really Phantom Youth’s style.”
Before Isadora could say anything, Tom appeared beside her, slipping his arm around her waist like instinct.
> “Everything cool here?”
“Totally,” Isadora said, voice a bit colder now.
Renata’s smile faded. “I’ll catch you later.”
As she walked away, Nina appeared with her brows knit. “Yo. That girl gives off major weird vibes.”
Isadora sighed. “You have no idea.”
YOU ARE READING
"Strings Between Us
Romance2004. Germany. Tom Kaulitz is used to getting what he wants - the stage, the crowd, the girls. As Tokio Hotel begins to rise, so does his ego... until she shows up. She's the Brazilian guitarist in a rival band - quiet, sharp-tongued, and completely...
