Broken Barbie

Chapter 1

Pain. Pain was all I could feel at that moment. All that I knew. I was numb to it as the dull feeling came over and over again. My bones broke in several places and I could feel the blood rushing to each place that was going to bruise. My ribs, my stomach, my spine… it hurt everywhere until something fragile broke over my head once again, sending me back to that dark, peaceful place. I wish I could stay there, but I knew that I would eventually wake up and no one would be the wiser.

I couldn't believe my eyes as they came towards the stage. The lead singer was glaring competitively at me, but I barely noticed as I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Leo Diaz. My ex-boyfriend. His dark green eyes met mine and I remembered where I was, turning away and hoping he didn't recognize me after all this time. He definitely did. "Good luck out there." Cap said, holding out his hand to the lead vocalist like the good sport he was. 

The leader shook his hand and nodded. "Thanks. We're going to need it after the performance you guys just gave. Where did you find this guy?" he said, referring to me. I looked at him and smiled nervously, trying to ignore Leo's gaze. "I was lucky enough to share a dorm with Scorp on campus." I said, not going into too much detail. He looked me up and down and smiled. "Lucky guy. I'm Logan, by the way. We'll have more time for introductions after the contest. See you guys later." he said, winking before the band ran out onto the stage. I couldn't help but notice the familiar green eyes glancing back at me. 

"Don't worry. They act all tough, but they soften up after a few drinks. You'll see." Cap said, patting my back and heading back to the green room with the others. I stayed back to watch their performance from the sidelines. They had decided to do a cover instead of an original like we had. I heard the first few notes of "Give You Hell" and I was already tapping my foot. 

Logan sang the melody while the audience sang back to him. I was surprised to see Leo singing back up as he plucked away at his sleek, black bass. It wasn't too long ago that he was serenading me with his acoustic guitar. I shook the thought from my head and headed back to the others, my heart pounding out of my chest. 

"Yo, Gem. What took you so long?" Taurus asked as I entered the room, 

"Sorry. I wanted to see a bit of the competition. They're good." I said, taking a seat in the corner. 

"And their drummer is sexy." he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Taurus has a knack for getting into trouble with women. Mostly because he goes about it the wrong way, but he still does pretty well for himself. He just doesn't know where to draw the line. 

"Yeah, Lynn will never be into you, dude." Scorpio replied. His playful smirk completed his naturally emo look as he took another hit from his vape. He was extremely flirtatious with anyone he met. Literally anyone. From his dyed black hair down to his spiked biker boots, he was the perfect bad boy trope. The fruity smelling vapors wafted over to me and I waved them away, picking up my aromatherapy pen to calm my nerves. 

"Yeah, you might want to dial it back. And do you guys really need to use those in here?" Capricorn asked, referring to our pens. Mine just had regular vapors from essential oils, like a mini diffuser. Scorpio's had all the nicotine. But they still made a room look like something was burning. "Sorry, Cap." we both said in unison, going outside to use our pens. Cap was the dad of the group, keeping us all in line and making sure we didn't kill each other. He was the oldest of the four of us and had a naturally calming demeanor.

Scorpio and I stepped outside to blow our smoke into the air. "You know, you look sexy when you use that thing." Scorpio said. I rolled my eyes at his attempt at a compliment. "Save it for someone who believes you, Scorp." I responded, taking another hit and blowing it out through my nose. Ironically, this process helped me breathe better. The natural oils and calming scents would never fail to relax me. 

"I'm not kidding. Show that to your fans and they'll practically writhe." he said, taking another hit of his pen. I chuckled, knowing that he would be right. I'm very aware of how sexy smoking can be, so I have no room to judge them. After a while of this repeated routine, Taurus came out to get us for the final tally of points and votes. We waved the vapors away and stowed away our pens, Scorpio coughing a few times. We headed to the stage with Taurus and Capricorn to find The Lions' Den already waiting patiently in their place on stage. We took our place a few feet away from them, Capricorn standing over my right shoulder, Taurus to my right and Scorpio to my left.

I kept my eyes down at the floor as the judges whispered to each other, the final votes being gathered from the large crowd. We waited like convicts lined up at a shooting range, waiting for our inevitable conclusion. Staying completely silent.

Eventually, one of the judge's was handed an envelope and they began speaking. "Zodiacs. Lions' Den. Both of you came here tonight and gave it your all, but was it enough to impress us?" they said. I felt my hands getting sweaty as I stayed silent on the hot stage, the spotlight now burning me, slowly getting hotter and hotter. The longer I stood, the more my anxiety crept up my spine, rearing its ugly head as I was forced to wait for dramatic effect. 

"It was. All three of us have decided that The Zodiacs gave us a peek at what they're truly capable of. They win this year's Battle of the Bands!" the judge announced. I sighed in relief as all three of them hugged me, bouncing and dancing as we celebrated. A stage hand came out and handed us a trophy and Capricorn gladly accepted it, heading back to his place as the crowd settled down.

"And now, the people's choice award…" the judge slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. I crossed my fingers and toes, bouncing on the balls of my feet. I wanted the award to go to The Lions' Den, since we had already won the grand prize. And we didn't deserve it. They were amazing out there, if not better than us. They deserved… "Also goes to The Zodiacs!" the announcer stated. Taurus went crazy across the stage, his arms spread out like a flying monkey. Another trophy was given to us and we all celebrated. After a few more words were spoken, we left the stage.

Logan approached us with the rest of the lions behind him, holding out his hand towards me. "It was a well-deserved victory. Great job." he said. I shook his hand and smiled. "At least I know it was a fair fight. You guys were incredible." I said. Their drummer, a shorter girl with long, strawberry blonde hair pushed back into a ponytail who was apparently named Lynn, approached me. "But we didn't have half the energy that you guys did! You were on fire! If Leo over here would stop being a downer all the time we might have won." she said, gesturing to the bass player. 

He rolled his eyes at her, using his tongue to play with one of the sharp, black snake bites in his lip. I tried not to look too guilty about that statement, glad when Taurus stepped in front of me to start flirting with Lynn. "We should all get drinks to celebrate." their guitarist suggested. 

"I like where your head's at, Luis. Want to join us for some drinks?" Logan asked, looking directly at me. I could tell that he was just like Scorpio, flirting with anything and everything that looked legal. I smiled at him pleasantly, pretending to be oblivious to his intentions. "You guys can. I think I'm gonna head back to our bus. Someone has to split that check we just got." I said, referring to the cash prize we had won. Scorpio ruffled my hair affectionately. "Yeah. He's not much fun when it comes to bars anyway. He's kind of a party pooper." he says. And people honestly wonder why I won't go out with Scorpio. 

"It was nice meeting you guys." I say with a polite smile on my face. I try to ignore Leo's eyes on me as I say goodbye to the band, telling my band mates to be mindful about their alcohol intake since we have a long ride to the next gig tomorrow. Capricorn assures me that he'll keep an eye on them, but I know he's just as bad when it comes to shots. I head back to the bus and finally feel safe, pulling out my pen again and taking a hit, enjoying the taste and scent of spearmint as I inhale and exhale. I almost feel dazed as I watch the vapors swirl into the air, curling in every which way and distracting me from my smorgasbord of emotions. 

I was about to start on the check when someone knocked on the door of the bus. I went to open it, thinking that it was one of the guys grabbing their wallet or something. I opened the door to find Leo leaning against the bus, looking right into my eyes. "Hey Barbie." he said.