Battle of the Bands: Full Disclosure {Wattys 2016}

Lips of an Angel and Unforeseen Circumstances

Chapter 22

<Beckham O'Halloran>

"I'm not coming back; I've done something so terrible. I'm terrified to speak, but you'd expect that from me. I'm mixed up, I'll be blunt, now the rain is just washing you out of my hair and out of my mind. From so many thousands of feet off the ground, I'm over you now. I'm at home in the clouds, and towering over your head." I sing softly, the instruments fading out.

"Well, I guess I'll go home now. I guess I'll go home now. I guess I'll go home now. I guess I'll go home." The three of us sing, the audience remaining quiet until the very end of the song.

I brush some tears out of my eyes as they cheer for us. I pull Tristan and Hendrix into a hug as all three bands exit the stage to prepare for their individual sets. When we're off stage, I let out a deep breath and run my thumb under my eye.

"You guys have no idea how much it means to me that we could come together and do this." I say, pulling Hendrix and Tristan in for another hug.

Their surprise melts as they hold me close, a protective embrace that I wouldn't trade for the world. This is what this competition is supposed to be about. Delilah smiles as the stagehand closes the backstage curtains. She points to me and says that I'm on. I nod and grab my acoustic guitar, following my bandmates back on stage. The crowd cheers as we take our places.

"Honey, why are you calling me so late? It's kinda hard to talk right now. Honey, why are you crying; is everything okay? I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud." I sing, strumming my guitar softly. "Well, my boy's in the next room; sometimes I wish he was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice saying my name and it sounds so sweet coming from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words-- it makes me weak. And I never wanna say goodbye, but boy, you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel."

The audience is swaying along with my voice, the candles flickering as I continue to sing.

~~~~~

It's Friday and the second to last dress rehearsal of the competition. Instead of our usual silent breakfasts and evil glares, the bands actually sit together and talk like civilized people. An outsider would think that we're all becoming friends; somehow, I know that after Saturday's performance, we'll be the farthest thing from friends. We can all pretend that everything's alright now, but once the curtain comes up and the finalists are revealed, all this effort will be for naught. Until then, I've decided to bask in the glow of this newfound friendship, no matter how short-lived it'll be.

After breakfast, all of us head for the bus with our instruments and some things to occupy us before and after the dress rehearsal. Delilah beams as she sees us all sitting together on the bus like old friends. She tells the bus driver to go and we all begin to talk about anything that comes to mind; everyone laughing and joking as if we've always know each other. It makes me wonder why we had to act so badly towards each other to reach this point; I mean it's obvious that we've always had it in us to be friends, so why'd it take so long to get here?

When we reach the arena, Delilah directs us to the backstage area and lines us up: Aimless, Falling Daisies and then Slightly Psychotic to finish out the night. She takes out a walkie-talkie from her pocket and tunes it so she can hear the fuzzy voice of one of the stagehands on the other end. Delilah shouts directions into the walkie-talkie as she pushes back the curtains, the stage lights illuminating the backstage area. I shield my eyes and lean against Antebellum, wondering what could possibly be so wrong that the vein in Delilah's temple would start throbbing. She comes back a few minutes later, looking considerably calmer as shoves the walkie-talkie back into her pocket.