This is what I imagine the stage looks like.
Hope you like my drawing skills :)
What a fucking asshole.
I'm not panicking.
Or maybe I am. But I didn't think it'd be this visible.
With a frown, I turn the corner and see Violet waiting outside one of the rooms. She looks up and holds my pass for my hotel room in her hands.
"There you go," she says and hands it to me. My room is between hers and Delilah's.
"Thanks," I say with a smile that's not sincere.
Vi being Vi quickly catches on to it. "Are you okay?" she asks and straightens herself up, frowning.
I nod and send her another assuring smile. "I'm just tired and want to go to sleep," I say, "I'll tell you everything tomorrow, alright?"
She nods and sets herself off the wall, before giving me a tight hug. "We can do this," she whispers and I nod.
"We can," I assure her and tighten my grip on her, before letting go and entering my room.
I see that my suitcase has arrived already. My room isn't too big, and it's tidy. Neat. Polished floors and furniture. A big couch in the corner of the room and a king-sized bed in the other corner.
The bathroom is made out of marble and the large windows give me a pretty view. It's a shame that I'll only get to spend two nights here, seen as we'll leave the day after tomorrow.
Opening up my suitcase, I take the first oversized shirt I see and change into it, before brushing my teeth and getting in bed.
Too tired to check anything on my phone, I close my eyes and doze off just like that.
The next day is chaos.
I had to wake up early as fuck. Or at least, it felt early since the jet lag is killing me. We had to rehearse one more time, to check the lights, screens, and sound.
I don't know what energy drink Caleb and Nick had – or what pill they popped – but they're energetic.
"Tomorrow, I'll sleep like my life depends on it," Vi grumbles as she walks into the cafeteria of the arena. She sits next to me with a big cup of coffee in her hands. I smile weakly. "Same," I agree.
Caleb is flirting with one of the staff from around here, but the bags underneath his eyes are proof that he'll take advantage of the fact we won't have to do much tomorrow. And sleep in.
I haven't seen anyone from Dopamine, and thank fuck for that. I hate to admit that I'm intimidated by Ares after what happened yesterday, but I am. The way he's so confident and won't back down from anything is scary.
But that's not the only thing eating at me. It's the fact that I'll perform for so many people tonight.
"It's going to be okay," Vi says softly from beside me as if she's read my mind. Which I believe she's capable of doing.
"I know," I sigh and close my eyes, "I'm just stressed. I don't want to mess things up."
"They're all here to see us, Elena. Even if you're off-key, which I know you won't be, they'll be happy to see us all because that's why they're here."
"They're here to listen to our music," I reply, "and we're going to give them our best."
"That we are," Nick interrupts and takes a seat in front of us. Gayle Phonic enters the room, and I smile at the sight of him.
We asked him to join us as a guest and to perform right before we have to go on stage. He happily agreed, saying that it's an honor to tour with us.
Gayle's music is more electronic, but good nonetheless. He has millions of streams and followers and is loved by everyone.
He radiates positivity and always speaks up about an issue that's taking place or participating in a movement.
I love that he's so outspoken, without a filter.
Gayle sits in front of us, raking a hand through his hair before settling his ring-clad fingers on the table.
I notice that he has the LGBTQ+ colors painted on his nails.
"Excited?" Gayle asks with a wiggle of his eyebrows. I snort and take a sip of my tea, half-shrugging.
"It's more like nervous," I reply, "how do you handle the pressure?"
Letting out a long sigh, Gayle leans back in his chair and shrugs. "It's always scary, but once you're up there, it's like you don't give a fuck anymore. Believe me. It's not your first concert, is it?"
"It's the first time performing in such a big crowd," I explain. "We always played in gigs or in front of crowds with not as many people. But Gayle, this is huge."
"You'll be perfect, I know it," he says with a wink and stands up. "Now, I've got to go and prepare myself, gotta be handsome for the crowd," he smirks and takes off, leaving the room.
"He's so charismatic," Vi notices with a smile on her face. "He is," I chuckle.
Eating the salad is hard. My stomach is in knots and won't allow me to eat anything.
The arena has been slowly filling itself, and the more people, the tighter the grip on my throat becomes.
And while we're getting ready, Gayle is readying the crowd by performing some of his songs and warming them up for us.
When Delilah is seated in front of me, doing my make-up, Caleb and Nick are cracking jokes in the room.
The laughter followed after, eases up some of the tension coiled up in my body.
"You're so stupid," Vi chuckles. "Your jokes aren't even funny," she follows after.
"Why are you laughing then?" Caleb retorts and lets the make-up artist touch up the make-up she applied underneath his eyes and all the other spots on his face.
"I laugh because I'm feeling bad for you," she replies, which makes us all chuckle. The other make-up artist is working on Nick, who quietly asks if they can apply some eyeliner.
Caleb catches it. "Oh my god! I want some too," he says.
Delilah's work is flawless. The foundation she used feels like a day cream and is weightless. The blush brings some life to my face and the lipstick is a subtle gloss that doesn't stick too much with a pretty color.
She even added some fake eyelashes that aren't too long and the golden eye-shadow compliments my eyes.
My face is perfectly contoured and highlighted.
"I look beautiful," I smile and go to hug her. "Thank you so much."
"I love working on your face," she laughs, "it's already beautiful without make-up."
I blush and look at the ground, thanking her. Then, it's time for the fittings.
"So," Sasha begins as she welcomes me into the room. "We settled on comfortable but trendy, right?" she asks, though it's rhetorical. We brought all these clothes and suddenly changing my mind would cause a heart attack among everyone.
"Yes," I reply and go to stand in front of her. She lays out an outfit for me, no discussion possible for me not to wear it.
I'm not objecting either. It's everything I want. Not too tight and loose enough to let me breathe.
I don't want people to judge me. To look at every inch of my body and have an opinion of it. I like to showcase it while still hiding some of it.
I change into the clothes and instantly feel at ease.
Then, it's my hair's turn. I asked for it just to be straight and shiny. It falls over my clothes and back, the highlights pretty in my hair.
I have wispy bangs covering my forehead, but it's not too much hair, only a few strands. But I like the look of it.
Everything goes by in a rush, and suddenly I'm handed an earpiece. The strings go underneath my clothes and to the monitor tied to my back.
I asked for only one earpiece to be able to connect with the crowd and feel the vibe.
"I believe in you, Elena. Come on, I'll be watching you from the side," Delilah promises and squeezes my hand. I nod and send her a tight smile before I need to take off toward the stage.
Gayle has ended his performance about fifteen minutes ago, and apparently, everyone is waiting on the edge of their seats to see us. He says that the crowd was welcoming and loving, so I don't need to worry about anything.
For a split second, Violet and I sneak toward the side of the stage, where I see everyone. All the people there. And it's full.
"Vi," I breathe as I look at all those people. "Remember when we were about to start classes in college for the first time and you asked me if I was nervous?"
"Yeah?"
"And that I told you I had never been more nervous in my entire life?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I lied. Now is the moment where I'm experiencing nervousness like never before."
She chuckles and turns to look at me. "It'll be fine. I'm a bit nervous too, but just think that we're all going to die someday, so why worry about this?" she asks. "Also, imagine everyone in the crowd naked," she whispers.
I cringe. I certainly do not want to imagine that.
"Where are Elena and Violet?" we hear Malcolm yell from a few feet behind us.
With a chuckle, we both appear from behind the curtains, much to his relief. He gives us a ten-second lecture on how to not disappear right before the show.
Malcolm directs us to the stage and right before we go up the little staircase, I glance at Violet.
"Till the end."
"Till the end."
I get on stage and see that the huge screens are still closed in front of us. It's now playing an animated version of us, playing chess for the crowd.
As soon as the music starts, the screens will open up like a gate, revealing us and I'll have to find my way towards my mic.
Nick goes to take the bass in his hands and Caleb takes his seat behind the drums. Violet takes her guitar in her hands and sends me a little smile.
My acoustic guitar is resting a few feet away from me on stage, ready for me to take it.
"Show will start in..." I hear from the earpiece. Wincing, I adjust it really quick before going to take my place.
"One... two... three."
The lights suddenly go out, and everyone starts screaming in anticipation.
. . .
Idk I'm nervous in her place.
Elena her style on stage will vary from time to time, don't come for me.
Sometimes she'll feel comfortable wearing certain clothes, sometimes she'll want to hide and feel completely at ease in whatever she's wearing.
It's hard picking outfits for on stage, ngl.
Anyway, thank you for reading.
I love you.