The Ballad of a Lost Star

April, Year 7

Bum. Bum. Bum. Biddi-biddi-bum!

The crowd goes wild as Alex flips those drumsticks for the hundredth time in the last three months. Another show, another day. That's how it felt touring at this point. My love of music had become my day job.

SCREECH!

There goes the amp, again. Damn, why can't we just get a new one? We're a best-selling rock band and can't even get a new amp? Note-to-self; talk to Chris about a new manager. Speaking of Chris, where is that egomaniac?

I look over to my left to see Chris singing right in the faces of some girls who can only be called, well, STD-infested ladies of the night. Chris Clark; the egotistical, stereotypical, pain-in-the-ass that is the lead singer of Bad Battery. I've been friends with him since 4th grade and love him to death, but god damn it can he be an annoyance. The all night parties; the cocaine out of whore's ass cheeks (and soon to be those girls out in the audience); the tantrums during rehearsals; it's all to much. Though, he is an amazing singer. Those high notes he can reach even give me chills down my spine.

"Thank you, Cincinnati! You've been absolutely wonderful!" Chris beckons us as we do our routine bow at the end of the show as the lights go out.

...............

"Beer's on me!", Donald Vans, our manager, exclaims as he enters our tour bus. Oh, so he can afford a literal shit load of beer, but not a new amp? Glad to see where his priorities are. We all groan as he enters, though. We're tired from another day's work. Months of touring can really wear you out. However, there was one person ready to go.

"Yeah, guys! Let's go par-tay!", shouts Chris, spitting all over my face. Fuckin' ay.

"We'll meet you up, Chris. James and I are pretty tired."

Thank you, Alex. Glad someone's with me here.

"Alright, but your losses! I've got some suitors to go meet!," he says, leaving with a grin.

Once the bus door finally closed I could hear Alex sigh with relief. "My god, what happened to him? I swear this whole 'rock star' thing is totally getting to him." I nod my head as I take out my headphones. Being the sole songwriter lyrics aren't going to write themselves. "But hey, maybe it's just a phase? I mean, we're only two albums in; we're barely a blink in the history of music. Maybe once we really get going it'll just pass over. What do you think?"

I shrug my shoulders, already determined to finish this new song I had been working on for the past few days. I believe Alex noticed this and just gave me a friendly punch in the shoulder as he crept to his "humble abode" in the back of the tour bus; AKA "The BEST bunk-beds in all of America! MADE IN CHINA" The best? Not in a million years. But it could be worse, I guess. I can't really complain. I mean, I'm the lead guitarist in one of the biggest bands in the world as of right now. To Those I've Lost just breaking 500,000 copies; we were the real deal. I just wish it turned out a bit better in the long run. I just wish I could go back and change a few things. I just wish my life went down a different path. I couldn't think of that now, though; this song had to be finished tonight or I couldn't live with myself. Just a few more hours and then I'll go to bed. Yeah, that's all I'll need.

...............

"Wake up! You have a photo shoot in an hour! You cannot be late, again!"

I open my crusted eyes to see the tour bus in a mess. Blurry-eyed I look around to see boxes of food all over the counter, objects thrown all over the ground, clothes all over the...wait, is that a bra? Oh shit...Chris. Disoriented I walk towards the bunks, finding even more bras on the floor. How many woman did he find? Walking in I find one...two...five...Alex? Five woman, Chris, and Alex were all in the same bed. Guess he stayed up for a while. Why must these guys act like children? I remember the good ol' days. The days of of just us in my garage, rocking our teenage hearts out. The small gigs, all the soda, only dreaming of having sex with girls. Man, I miss those days. I still remember the day I first met Alex; that faithful day Simply Cities was born.