Fanboy

Chapter 2 - Paparazzi

I was on my private jet with my band and our manager, Connor. He was mad annoyed, and on the phone. Per usual. Most of the time when he was on the phone he seemed mad, especially if it had to do with the band.

'What the hell do you mean?! Of course I take the band seriously!' Connor yelled into the phone. 

The venue we were supposed to be playing at this week had cancelled on us, and as usual Connor was yelling at them about it. After all, who would cancel on us? The great Saint Sappy?! Haha. Just kidding.

The other band members started giggling. I had to hide a few chuckles myself, I was trying to take this seriously. Of course the others weren't. I shot them a quick look that said 'Shut up.' and they all quickly went back to having small conversations about random things going on in thier life.

I rolled my eyes. I swear I was about to jump off of the plane. This was all too stressful, a few venues had cancelled on us for this tour and we were starting to have trouble finding replacements. But you know Connor, he always found one who was willing to let us play there.

My thoughts changed to last week in Austin, when I saw Willow for the first time in god knows how long. I can't believe it was actually her! She was so hot, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I wonder if what her brother said was really true. Did she really still like me or was he just teasing her? I know for a fact that I still like her. Maybe she never moved on either.

'Eros.'

My attention switched to Connor. He was staring straight into my soul. I don't know why, but he always called me by my stage name. Maybe he thought it was more professional rather than calling me Terrence.

'Have you heard about what's been going on?' He asked with an annoyed tone. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, there's been a lot going on.

'Uh-' I started.

I was interrupted by Connor throwing me a magazine. The band was on the cover, and there was grafitti all over our faces. I held it up, not really seeing the point of making a big deal out of this.

'Connor... Is this supposed to mean something? I don't see a problem, it was probably just a kid who was bored.' I said, shrugging it off. I put down the magazine on the table in front of us.

Connor scoffed and rolled his eyes.

'Look inside.'

I grabbed the magazine and opened it. There was a note inside.

'You better watch out, Saint Sappy. I'm gonna rock the hell out of your carreer. This will be one dynamite performance, one they won't forget. So good, you just might explode.' It was signed 'TK'.

TK?!?! I used that acronym for two girls I had crushes on in middle school. Once for Table Kid and once for Theatre Ugly, who used to be known as Theatre Kid. I figured the death threat was harmless, maybe just a joke. But the puns made it crystal clear. Someone was threatening to bomb our performace, but I doubt they'd really pull through with it. It's probably just some teenager trying to scare us.

I sighed and looked out the window, putting on some headphones and music. I was ready to perform already!

As soon as our plane landed, we were ambushed. Damnit. Paparazzi.

The paparazzi followed us everywhere. At first it was kind of fun and exciting, but it got super old super quickly. I swear, those flashing lights could blind me. Thankfully, Connor cleared the way.

'Back off! I'll pay you each $4,000 to leave my band alone! Is that enough for you?!' Connor yelled, clearly annoyed.

But that was Connor, fast, reliable, and using money to solve his (and our) problems. As soon as I got on the tour bus, I called Ivan.

'Hey Ivan, can you get dirt on Willow? I wanna know if what her brother said was true.' I said, picking at the black nail polish on my fingernails.

'Yeah, sure Terrence. Just gimme a second.' Ivan said.

I waited for a few minutes. He said 'Gimme a second.' not 'Gimme a few minutes.' Rude.

'I'll get your dirt, Terrence. I got her pulled up on 8 different criminal search sites and I have all her socials, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat... Ooooh!!!' Ivan said.

A gasp of excitement came from the other end of the phone, and I couldn't help but get a little excited myself.

'She seems to be working at some random tech company and she has tickets to come see the show tonight!' Ivan exclaimed.

A wave of eagerness washed over me, and I almost screamed from the excitement. Suddenly, Ivan hung up on me. Once again, rude. Most of the time when we were on calls, if they wen't silent he would just hang up on me. Not even say goodbye. But I was used to it by now, he's been doing it for quite some time.

Our bus stopped at the venue and I stepped off. I waited for my band members to get off before we all rushed backstage to our dressing rooms. We had minimal time to get ready. The opening band was coming on soon, and we still had to get dressed and do our makeup. We made quick small talk as we quickly walked backstage.

After we were all ready and the opening band was finishing up, I met up with my band members. We were all smiling and chatting about random things, eager to get onstage and play. I turned around and peeked through the curtain, and saw someone I was hoping I'd never see again, someone I thought I left behind in highschool.

Annar Cortapassi.