Stage Lights

Chapter One

Prologue: Justin POV

My name is Justin Rockwell. It really is. Most older people think I changed it after I decided I was going to be a rock star, but trust me I didn't. In fact the only reason that's my last name is because my great ancestors really just built wells. No seriously. Made of stone. It has nothing to do with rock music.

I couldn't tell you what the difference was from each concert I did that year. They all mush together and I don't even remember which states I did my concerts in. Was I in LA or Chicago? That was the questions I asked myself when I woke up in a hotel bed, or the trailer. But that all changed. One night. A night I thought was going to be like any other concert. The people would love me for sliding on my knees and screaming into a mic, then I would go onto the other concerts that were on my tour. 

But that night was different. I didn't know it when I was on stage, I slightly recall seeing the honey blond haired girl smack someone, but that's all. I didn't know how much my life would change after that night. I do remember though, once I'd played the last squealing chord and the lights were blinding me as a bead of sweat slid down my temple, I knew something was wrong. I knew the applause had come a second late. That the older faces were scrunched and their claps were slower. Later I'd find out why, not much later either. You can't blame me, back then I didn't understand what I'd done was wrong. I would later. Someone would show me. But...This isn't my story anyway, so why don't you move on and meet the real star of this show.

Chapter One: AJ POV

I pull the car into the parking spot.

"It's crooked!" Hunter yells from the backseat.

I grit my teeth and glance at my dad in the passenger seat.

He opens his door and checks the line. "Good on this side."

I almost turn around and stick my tongue out at the little monster in the back, but I decide to be more mature. Which wasn't that hard seeing as he was twelve.

I unbuckle and kiss my dad's cheek. "Guess we'll be out in a couple hours..." I sit back in the seat. "Are you sure you can't stay with him?" I make one last feeble attempt to get out of this. If only I had never promised that favor to Hunter back when he covered for me last year when I came home ten minutes past curfew. I love him and it is his birthday, but the last place I want to be is here.

"Nope, I don't do rock concerts. I'll be back at ten, then we'll go get a snack or something. Get outta here." He kisses my cheek and I glare but still get out of the car. Hunter launches himself out of the back and is already jumping around me by the time I have both feet on the pavement.

"Hunter, cool it."

He just shakes his head and bounces ahead of me getting far on his short, preteen legs. "You owe me!"

"No wonder you need a chaperone," I hiss and follow him just so he can't get in trouble. "We are not standing in the front."

Shows what I know. Half on hour later once we waded through the insanely long lines, the usher person took our tickets and directed us to the very front row. My aunt had given Hunter the tickets for his twelfth birthday—With permission from my parents—And apparently it's decided by what tickets you buy where you sit. Which is how we end up basically kissing the lip of the stage.

"God just had to bless me with a rich aunt," I grumble and cross my arms as I situate myself in the uncomfortable seat. All my friends had said they were jealous of me, and to send them a thousand pictures, which I just don't understand. I get that Justinpain is a big band, and I get that everyone loves them, the one thing I don't get, is how a group of teenage boys got big by yelling into a mic about how much they hate their lives and whacking their instruments to make the worst sound possible.