**Edited
(1/14/2022)
Hey everyone, it's been forever. This story was originally written in 2013 when I was 18, and ended up getting over 200k reads, the sequel over 100k, and in 2018 I decided to rewrite them and place them on Amazon. It wasn't a popular decision but was best for me (: I wanted to put this chapter of the new version up for anyone who stumbles upon this book and I hope you like it.
"No matter where we are, I'm with you."
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692052437?ref_=pe_870760_150889320
Here's the book trailer below (:
And here's the rewritten chapter one
The streets of New York City overflowed with life. John's ears echoed with the sound of incessant honking, footsteps, and other bustling of the concrete jungle. His eyes were fixed on Radio City Music hall when his taxi stopped at a red light.
"John!" Alex called out, making him snap his head towards him, "I called you like 5 times, you good?"
"Ah, yeah man sorry. I was just thinking. What were you saying?"
The blonde grinned, "it's not important, what's got your mind wandering bro?"
He glanced back outside then back at his best friend, "I know I may sound crazy, but I wanna play at Radio City one day."
Alex was silent for a moment and slowly nodded, looking at the sky on the left side, "you don't sound crazy. It won't be easy, but I know you and the guys can do it. Just lemme get front row."
"You don't even have to ask." John smiled, running his hand through his dark brown hair, shifting in his seat, "thanks for the support man. Have you heard from them yet?"
Reaching in his back pocket, Alex took out his iPhone and checked his texts. "Yeah, they're at Red already, in line. They said it's super long and don't know if they can save us a spot."
"Do we even have to go to this club anyways?" John groaned, "none of us even drink or whatever, remind me why we're going? Can't we just get pizza and chill or go to the movies?" His questions made his friend laugh and even the taxi driver chuckled too.
"You sound like a grandma," Alex told him, "you know we don't have to drink to have fun there, there's music and we can just leave if it's super bad. Plus, it's cheap to get in since its opening weekend and we'll go out for pizza after." He heard John mumble something under his breath and lean back further into the leather seats. Alex smiled to himself and looked back out the window, keeping his eyes above the noise.
"Can we leave?"
"John, we just got here, relax" Rick hushed him, patting his shoulder as they were enveloped by the masses of people in the club; it seemed like half of the city was there. Electronic music blared through their ears, causing them to miss each other's sentences and shout to understand each other. Alex, Brian, Matt, Rick and John turned their attention to dancers suspended from silk ropes on the ceiling, some shooting fire to entertain those below.
"Man, it's Cirque Du Soleil in here" Brian mumbled, adjusting his glasses. Everyone agreed with the blonde and nodded, hoping no accidents happened, that'd be disastrous. The guys hadn't been clubbing in a while, the last time was for a college graduation and that ended in disaster, a different story for another time. An EDM remix of a pop song blared throughout the club so loud they couldn't think, bodies pressed against them like a school of fish as they headed to the bar.
"Hey guys, what can I get you?" a female bartender asked. They placed their orders, noticing her raise her eyebrows at their non-alcoholic choices. Shrugging it off, she served them and they made their way to around the dancefloor. The DJ announced that some celebrities were in the building, causing an excited roar making it even more deafening. John nodded his head to the beat of a remix to something he'd heard on the radio and took a sip of his drink when he felt a nudge on his shoulder. It was Matt getting his attention and he looked up, there was a girl walking towards them. She had slightly tan skin with long brown hair that bounced as she stepped, she looked like an Instagram model who'd easily have a couple hundred thousand followers. Her eyes held mischief and she gave the guys a sultry smirk and waved. They strained to keep their eyes right on hers which was a bit of a challenge, she wore a completely see through black long sleeved shirt with a black bra underneath and pink leather miniskirt with black heels.
"Hi boys." she bit her lipstick covered lips.
"Hey," Rick spoke up, giving a polite smile, "what's up?"
"Me and my friends saw you across the room and wanted to know if you wanted to dance?" she asked looking right up at John. She placed her arms behind her back and pushed her chest out towards him. He raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh at the poor girl, he wasn't interested at all and the stench of alcohol on her breath put him off even more.
"Uh, thanks but I'm not much of a dancer" he replied with a polite smile, "I'm sorry."
"Aw, come on," she pouted, grabbing his arm, "just one dance."
The guys stood there dumbfounded, thinking of the polite way to handle the situation. John leaned in and said something in her ear. Her head snapped up like she'd been burned, her eyes ablaze with anger. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned, "what do you mean you don't wanna dance with me?! Fine! I'll find a hotter guy, asshole!" she shrieked, shoving him in the chest.
He opened his mouth to say something but felt a hand on his arm, he looked to his right, seeing a woman beside him. She wore an apologetic smile and glanced at the girl then up at the group of guys, who wore a mixture of shock and confusion at the whole situation.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, traffic was insane." she explained. Her dark brown eyes urged them to go along and her hand still rested on John's arm, giving it a small squeeze.
"It's totally fine," he smiled, giving her a friendly side hug, "we haven't been here too long, you look amazing!"
She gave a genuine smile and the other guys played along, greeting her with hugs and hi-fives. The girl in front of them let out an annoyed huff, mumbling under her breath and walking away.
"Thank God" John sighed, "hey thank you!" he finally got a chance to take in this beautiful stranger. She was about a foot shorter than him and a playful yet kind smile graced her features. Her style was edgy and cute, red roses adorned her black long sleeved romper. Black thigh high socks were worn under studded ankle boots. Under a black felt hat, raven waves of hair cascaded. Multiple stacked rings were on her fingers and a small silver cross was around her neck. He suddenly felt like there was something familiar about her but it escaped his thoughts.
"Hey," Alex said stepping forward, "why do you look so familiar?"
She grinned and took a sip of the dark red drink in her cup, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yeah you do..." John mumbled, putting his hand on his chin and thinking. Suddenly people's phones started flashing as they took pictures in their direction and voices started screaming as people clamored towards them.
"Oh my God it's Tumi Yukii!!" people screamed, pushing and shoving, going into an absolute frenzy. They were encircled by the crowd and she was shoved against him, the contents of her cup splashed everywhere, including his white t-shirt. The voices of his friends were drowned out by everyone else and he almost went blind from the flashes, shutting them to get relief. He felt Tumi tug at his hand and opened them, his hazel eyes met her dark brown ones. She gave him a sincere smile and he gave her hand a thankful squeeze. He yelled something but she couldn't hear over noise.
"What?!" she mouthed. He chuckled and the crowd of suddenly split, she and him were grabbed by security guards and escorted to the V.I.P. section. As soon as he sat down on a couch, Tumi was by his side with a ton of napkins and an apologetic face.
"I'm so sorry" she said, "I'll get you a new one." He chuckled and shook his head, patting the stain on his shirt, which only made it worse.
"You're fine, trust me. This is probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me in my whole life."
She laughed then let out a sigh before standing up and telling something to a security guard. The huge guy nodded and walked away.
"Tumi-chan!" a girl called out from behind them. Tumi and John turned to see a pale Asian girl around her height with long wavy black hair and long bangs cut to the front that fell just at her eyebrows. She wore black denim overalls with a white shirt underneath with ruffled sleeves and he couldn't deny that she was adorable. She said something not in English and Tumi replied, they had a short conversation, Tumi used a lot of hand movements and looked really embarrassed. Her friend looked shocked and laughed at the end, which made Tumi roll her eyes.
The girl sat on John's right side and extended her hand, "Hi! I'm Saeko!" He smiled and reached out, shaking it firmly.
"Nice to meet you Saeko, I'm John", he replied, "your friend's really cool."
Saeko laughed and nodded, "Yeah, we've been in crazier situations than this. Where're your other friends?"
As soon as she said that they looked over and saw Alex, Brian, Rick and Matt walking up and being let into V.I.P. They looked stunned and waved at him, Saeko and Tumi.
"I'm so sorry we lost you guys back there" Tumi apologized even though they told her it was okay, "guys this is my friend Saeko" she introduced with a smile.
"Hi!" she said cheerfully, "I'm Tumi's sister"
"Sister?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at the two of them?"
"You don't see the resemblance?" Tumi asked with a playful grin, "hey do you guys wanna get out of here and get pizza or something?"
The guys looked at each other and agreed. She clapped her hands excitedly and they got up, being led out by security. They caught a glimpse of other celebrities who were hanging out with their entourages, acknowledging them with head nods.
Tumi Yukii.
The vocalist of the multi award winning Anchored Hope, a band that really shocked everyone. They were successful in metal, alternative, mainstream and the Christian scene and to top it all off, also released music in Japanese, making them the best-selling foreign musicians the country had ever seen. Plus, she was known for her own anime series called Light & Dark, it made records for even outselling famous classic shows, had a live action film that she co-wrote and stared in, it seemed like she'd done it all. And she was sitting right here telling a story about how she spilled coffee all over the A&R of her label, laughing about it and covering her face with her hand while lights from outside danced on her brown skin.
"What did he say?!" Brian asked in between shocked laughter.
She shook her head, wiping her eye as small tears formed, "that he always preferred iced coffee, thank God that's what it was. But he's a cool guy and everything went well. I've just never drank anything around him again. What kind of music are you guys into?"
The guys got quiet and glanced at each other, feeling shy about being open about their tastes. Everyone knew stories about 'social climbers' and they didn't know what to say but Alex took it upon himself to be their billboard.
"They're actually in a band," he admitted.
"Really?!" Tumi and Saeko said at the same time, looking around the car. They were met with blushes and looked back at Alex for him to continue.
"Yup! They're called Light of The World and they make Christian rock music."
"We're not that gr–" John started
"You guys are amazing, shut up" Alex interrupted, turning back to Tumi, who looked on with intrigue, "Matt plays drums, Brian is on bass, Rick is on guitar and John sings, screams, and plays guitar."
"I wanna hear!" Saeko chimed, taking out her phone, "do you have a YouTube?"
"This is so cool" Tumi grinned, ignoring the embarrassed looks on their faces. John felt his heart in his stomach, hoping they wouldn't listen to them right then and there.
The car stopped and the driver announced they were at the pizzeria. He thanked God as they got out, heading inside and finding a booth. People began to take photos as they recognized the popular girls but didn't say approach her, more than likely intimidated by security guards. The group chose a table, Tumi ended up sitting across from John and looked up to see him staring. He smiled sheepishly and she smiled back, letting out a chuckle. Green leather seats squeaked beneath them as they shifted their weight, searching for words.
"It's cool that you sing...how long have you been in a band?" she wondered, her hands fidgeting. She decided to sit on them to keep from moving.
"Since my senior year of college, so around four years" he nodded slightly, "it's been really challenging but I love it. How about you?"
"You're 25?" her right eyebrow raised.
"Yes ma'am, you?"
"22, I–"
"Hellooooo" Brian called out, waving, "guys what do you wanna drink? I don't wanna make two trips to the soda machine!". They noticed he was standing up and laughed nervously.
"Root beer" they said at the same time, looking at each other and smiling after. Saeko smirked and Rick shook his head.
"You guys are getting too weird too fast" he said, making his friend turn red and Tumi laugh. She gave Saeko an embarrassed look when she said something in Japanese. She was about to reply when she was cut off by Matt.
"How long did it take you to learn Japanese Tumi?" he rested his fist against his cheek and leaned forward, "I've been trying to learn but it's hard."
"I know that feeling, honestly Japanese music helped me the most because I sang along with the songs and it helped with pronunciation more than anything else. Anime helps too of course but most Japanese people don't talk with so much...exaggeration. Other than Japanese music, movies and T.V. shows help the most because you kinda learn by immersion. I still have books you can borrow."
"Really? Thank you Tumi! Thank you so much" he smiled brightly.
She smiled back and waved her hand, "anytime. And having Saeko as a roommate helps too, you can't borrow her though." The table erupted in laughter and Brian came back with their drinks, placing the sodas on the tables.
"Do we know what we're ordering?" Rick asked, looking around the table.
"Pepperoni."
"Barbeque chicken!"
"Margherita pizza"
"Meat lovers"
"Ew no–"
"Guys," Alex laughed, "how about we order smaller or medium ones and get the toppings we want instead of just getting one or two?"
"That's a really good idea Alex," Tumi chimed in, looking at him like a proud sister. He smiled, shrugging, "I'm the brains of the group".
He got up to order and Tumi looked around the table, catching Matt's eye. He messed with his nose ring and they smiled at each other.
"Do you do this often?" he asked, pointing from her to Saeko who was talking to the other guys. She glanced at John and back at Matt.
"Hang out with strangers?" she replied with an amused smirk. He chuckled and nodded.
"One, I really like your hat" she started while pointing at him and winking, "two, no actually. We used to a lot more before, but now we do it occasionally. The guys in my band had other plans tonight though unfortunately. We hang out with 'strangers' in big groups sometimes." She leaned back and messed with her hair, light catching on her septum ring, "I think it's just cool that we're all living different lives and talking to someone can change everything, or, bumping into someone" she finished, glancing at John and getting a nervous smile in return.
"Have you guys thought about modeling?" Saeko suddenly asked, Tumi started laughing and nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing."
The guys looked at each other like the girls were crazy and Rick spoke up, "you think we could model?"
"You didn't look in a mirror this morning? Duh." Saeko snapped back, making her roommate almost spit her drink out. Laughter erupted from around the table and Brian shook his head.
"I mean to be fair, in L.A., scouting happens all the time. You'll be at the mall and agents just walk up to you. So, we know what we're talking about." Tumi said once composed, "all of you guys are pretty aesthetically pleasing, and have good style, so it wouldn't really be hard to get on an agency or something if it's something you're interested in. But...I got signed to an agency after music took off, so you may wanna focus on that for now." Her excited eyes were fixed on theirs in as they stayed silent and she smiled. "And, I won't forget to listen to your music."
"So," John finally said after a long pause, "can we ask about you or will it feel like an interview?" he grinned when she chuckled and nodded.
"Ask away." She challenged.
"Why do you scream in your music? What drew you to it?"
An unreadable emotion flashed across her face and she looked down briefly. "I never really explained it before, huh? That's..." she scratched the back of her neck and let out a humorless laugh. "...I think it's about honesty. I need to be honest with myself and that's how I manage to do that. And I wanna be heard."
"Who do you want to hear you?" he implored.
"Myself..."
He stayed silent, his eyes fixed on hers before she looked away. Her words weighed heavily upon him and he felt the best response was silence. They both let out a breath they weren't aware they held in and broke their silence once the pizza came.
"I'll pray" Brian volunteered, they all bowed their heads and he thanked God for His grace, for new beginnings and asked that He'd bless the food, the ones who prepared it and that they'd have a safe rest of the night. After he said 'amen', they raised their heads and dug in. The rest of their conversations were kept light and fun, they talked about everything but fame and 'success'. Infectious laughter resounded and everyone at the table had moments where they'd just glance over at each other to make sure it wasn't all a dream.
or
maybe they all dreamt the same thing.
"John!"
"What?" his head jerked up and he was met with Tumi's wide eyes.
"Are you ok? We said you get to pick a song."
This dream continued.
He blinked and raised an eyebrow, "um, sorry. Someone else go first."
"I'll pick" Saeko offered, choosing an early 2000's pop song. The familiar tune echoed and she danced around excitedly before it began. The guys sang along with her, full of nostalgia. Tumi kept her eyes on the brunette as he sat on the private karaoke room's sofa, running his hands through his long hair before putting it back in a bun.
She sat by him, glancing over. Their eyes met and the side of his mouth twitched into a non-convincing smile.
"Hey."
"Hi."
An awkward wave from her hand rippled between them as purple and pink lights danced across their flesh. It was a push and pull. He opened his mouth to speak while her eyes pierced everything in him.
"S–sorry, my brain gets weird sometimes and I get nervous" he explained. She nodded and smiled.
"I understand John, don't even worry about it. Are you more of a hermit on weekends?"
He chuckled, "yeah. This is fun, but I don't go out as much as I used to other than shows or the movies sometimes honestly." He suddenly realized how it sounded and faced her, his hands going up, "I mean, I've never done anything like this really, I'm having fun. I don't want you to think I'm not."
She touched his arm, "John, I get it. I don't think anything bad about you, don't worry. I know I can be a bit too impulsive sometimes, but yeah. I totally get how you feel, I'm nervous right now too, just...take a breath. It's alright. I'm in bed by 9pm when I don't have a show or event thing so I literally get it."
A genuine smile broke through as John laughed, "really? In bed by 9? Are you sure you don't belong at the old folk's home?"
"Look who's talking grandpa" she elbowed him, "hey, seriously, thanks for getting out of your comfort zone. We don't have to do this at all anymore, you can forget you met me come tomorrow morning if you want. That club just wasn't my thing" she tugged on her hat and grinned at the last part.
His eyes stared straight ahead, fixed on his friends singing loudly and out of tune. He couldn't forget any of this even if he tried. "Tumi, one, you're unforgettable. Two, you rescued me. Literally, you're a lifesaver. Let's do this again. Maybe just not at 1am, if you're down."
"John, I'm down like a coffin 6 feet under."
He turned towards her and laughed his lungs out, almost choking while she looked on, hiding her smile behind her long sleeves.
"Yo! Come sing, just once!" Rick called, grabbing her arm and yanking her up. Saeko pulled on John and microphones shoved in their hands.
"We picked the perfect song for you, old is gold" Brian informed, pressing play. The pair laughed as a 90's Disney duet started. They shrugged and began.
It all began.