Lainey and the Magicians (First Draft)

Chapter 38

 Lainey raced toward the back. "Hey, Lainey. Long time no sees. What have you been up to?" Lil Marco asked, shaking her hand and smiling at her as he did. His hair had changed. It had grown longer than when she had last seen it. What products had he been using for his hair?

 "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lainey answered.

 "In this crazy world, I probably would believe you. You've got to stay humble in a world like this. I'm going to be using a prayer emoji for that in one of my music videos somewhere and then everyone's going to think my music video is some great humbling," Lil Marco laughed.

 "Do you want to catch up before I get on stage?" Lainey asked. She didn't want to tell him she didn't really care about him that much, but she could change her mind about that. He had been in a few of her songs, but he didn't really care about her life. He was a subpar person. Why was he playing at a club called Stonerz? He had gotten stoned early in his official musical career when he was seventeen. This was a few months after he had rapped in the streets and anywhere else he could find in Detroit, Michigan, where he used to live. He now officially lived in Palm Springs, California, close to his girlfriend Michelle, and her two kids. He hadn't used any drugs for a few years as far as Lainey knew. He was 20 years old now.

 "Sure. Let's start with me. My time in the media's been on the down-low and nobody catches any news about me. My girlfriend's still in Palm Springs and we're getting married in a couple of days. I don't want anyone screwing up or taping our wedding. I could appear in the news again and that would be cool to support my career, but I don't want my step-daughters to be in the spotlight. I don't want their pictures online. I know I could hide their faces during the wedding, but someone's bound to find out who they are if they do a search of my name and find my wife. I've started wearing masks recently and using voice modulators when I'm performing so nobody knows that I'm exactly Lil Marco. Growing my hair out was a safety precaution. I hate gossip and I don't want my family getting involved in it. I've been writing different songs that sound different musically and lyrically from my normal ones. I've been doing original rock and country songs under the name Lil Nas X. I'm kidding, actually, Nevada Vigilante. I'm a man of justice and good punishments. That's what my name is supposed to mean.

 "It's hard to believe I'm settling down already, but that's where fate wanted me to be. It showed me, Michelle. I was sick of the meaningless lifestyle I was in. Michelle was my angel and she showed me light. We came from two different sides of the fence. Me from the ghetto and her from a country suburb in Missouri. She introduced me to music like Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, and Garth Brooks. I'd only heard of Garth Brooks, but she inspired me. This was after a nasty breakup I'd had. I used to be a player who sought meaningless dating, but the last girl I started to date intentionally destroyed me. I'd been out of love for a long time and felt horrible, but Michelle gave me something to believe in. I'm starting to develop a career as Nevada Vigilante. I'm not doing Lil Marco music right now because I want to try something new and I also don't want to be in the news. I want to be underground.

 "Also, I want my kids to look up to me more as a role model and not as a crazy person. I don't want to sing about adult stuff and I want my kids to be able to listen to my music so they don't get confused about morals and what their place is. When I'd joined the music industry at seventeen, I'd ran away from home and I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I did drugs. I made bad choices. I can't believe that Michelle hadn't dumped me where I stood when she first met me. I didn't seem like the right person to raise her kids because of my bad choices and drugs in the past, but she loved me anyway. I want my kids to end up better than me. What about you?" Lil Marco aka Marco Piza asked.

 "I used to be a Magician and I'd cut off all my contact with people on my social media after I was going to sit my family down and tell them about my activities as a Magician and Pumpkin came to my house and he erased my family's memory of me. He also placed a dislike spell on them. I'm sorry for cutting contact with you. That was the reason. I'm trying to run away from the Magicians to Mars," Lainey filled Marco in.

 "I like this guy named Nathan, but I don't know if it's love. I wrote a few new songs last night and some nights ago to sing at my concerts. It's funny meeting you here. What do you think I should do? I wasn't going to ask you because I wasn't sure if you were a good person or not," Lainey said.

 "I was a child. I hardly knew any better. It's funny meeting you here too. I think you should go for it. I went for Michelle a few months ago when Wanda broke up with me and it's practically heaven. Go for Nathan. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. You might never see him again. Also, what's your new band name?" Marco inquired, laughing.

 "None," Lainey said.

 "Good name," Marco replied.

 "It's still Lainey Paris. Cliche, I know. See ya later," Lainey said.

 Marco/Nevada Vigilante walked off to sit in the middle of a table close to the dance floor after putting his mask on again to go open up one of the beers that he'd bought for himself where a girl had saved a seat for him. Was that girl Michelle or was she back in Palm Springs with her kids? How old were her kids? Also, how come Marco wasn't fazed by her story about her being a Magician? Had he recently become a Magician? Thankfully, she had left out the part where David lived. Marco had two other people sitting at the table beside him other than the girl. All of them were wearing masks and had hoods pulled up. They were serious about concealing their identities from the public. Lainey stepped up onto the stage after sheathing the knife into her belt, grabbing her guitar, and she had grabbed one of the microphones.