The Rush

Chapter 6

When I got home, I passed out. I was exhausted. Performing can do that to you, you get these incredible highs and then crash. When I woke up the next morning, I could feel the tiredness throughout my body. I reached over to check the time on my phone and groaned when I was treated to a dead phone. I must have forgotten to plug it in last night. I fumbled for my charger and, once it was charging, I went downstairs. I didn't bother with my phone. If anyone needed me, they could wait until I had my coffee.

"Hey! There's our superstar!" Dad cheered when I walked in the kitchen. He was sitting with Mamma and Will at the kitchen table. I gave them a tired smile and made my way over to the coffee pot. I was glad that there was already some waiting for me. I poured myself a cup, poured in my creamer and got myself a bowl of cereal before I joined them.

I was not known for being the most aware the morning after a show, so I just quietly drank my coffee and ate my food in silence. It took me a while to catch on that they were all watching me. I felt my nose scrunch up as I looked between the three of them. "Why you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, just looking at the world's newest obsession," Will said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Only that the entire internet is talking about your show with Lenora Ashley. A bunch of people posted videos from last night and everyone is obsessed with you. Didn't you check your phone? I've seen you tagged in a million posts and I cannot imagine what your DMs look like right now." Will said and my jaw dropped.

"My phone's dead." I turned to my parents, "Is he joking?"

"Not in the slightest. My boss's boss is asking me to bring you in Monday so she can talk about a recording deal. I wouldn't be surprised if more labels come calling or have already called. Mel and Andrew are coming over tonight to discuss what you want your next moves to be."

I sat back in my chair completely overwhelmed. Was this what I wanted? I didn't know what I wanted. That was my whole problem. I had no clue what to do. Did I want the life of my aunts and uncles? Did I want to be like Lenora? She was trapped under the thumb of her label and had no freedom. I need my freedom. Holy shit, this is way too much. "I need to get out of here." I pushed myself out of my chair and started moving on autopilot. I needed to run, do something other then let all these thoughts take over.

Two strong hands on my arms stopped me. I looked up at Dad as he leaned down to look me in the eyes. "It's safer you stay in the house for a bit. We had a problem with people outside earlier, we dealt with it, but you should stay here while we figure out what to do."

"People tried to break in?" I could almost feel my throat close up. This was all too much too early. Or late. What time is it? I don't fucking know. I don't fucking know anything right now. Just that I could not deal with any of this.

"They didn't try to break in. They just were outside. We know how to deal with this kind of attention Monkey. This isn't our first rodeo." He assured me. He was right. We had dealt with this... well not me, but Aunt Red. She's famous. She knows how to deal with this shit.

"I need to call Aunt Red. I need to talk to her."

"That's a good idea. Do you want us there or do you want to be alone?"

"Alone. I need to process." He gave me a hug and squeezed me tight. I was so happy I had him as my dad at that moment. God knows what bio-dad would have done in this situation. Probably the same thing he always did, be an ass.

I grabbed my coffee and went up to my bedroom. I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. I sat there for a while as I finished off my coffee and just tried to come to terms with what had happened. People like me? People like me enough to want to buy my music? They hadn't even heard my music, they just heard me performing covers with Lenora. Lenora. What is she doing? She also knows how to deal with this shit.