Bea & the Broken Record

Chapter 29: Move Along, Move Along

I peeked out from behind the large wall that kept the crowd of thousands of people waiting to hear some music. They were hyper, excited, and just bringing electricity to Madison Square Garden. It sent chills down my spine to think about how they were going to listen to us and decide our destiny.

This was our time. Ablaze had one chance tonight to prove ourselves to Drew that we were worthy of a record deal that would make us famous worldwide. It blew my mind.

"Asher, man!" I heard a familiar voice call out. I turned around and my eyes widened at the sight of Alex Gaskarth, the lead singer for the band All Time Low. My adrenaline began to rush through my veins when he got to me and I shook his hand proudly.

Did I mention we were opening up for them? Yes, a small town band from the middle of no-name Pennsylvania was opening up for the huge platinum band All Time Low. And I was just getting to meet them the day of.

"Alex?" I asked in shock although it clearly was him. He only smiled and laughed.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I've heard so much about you guys. I'm really happy Drew decided to get you guys up here. Our manager was more than happy to make this happy as were we."

I could say anything, just let my mouth open and close like the idiot I was.

"Thanks," I finally was able to say. "It means a lot that we could do this. I don't even have the words..." I trailed off. Alex clamped a hand on my shoulders and pointed at me with a small smile.

"Don't sweat it. You don't need the words because the are already in your head and ready to be turned into lyrics." He clapped his hands together and began to back away at the sound of his name being called to the dressing room. "You'll all do great, don't worry. I have faith in you!"

I felt the smallest amount of pressure being added to my shoulders. I wasn't sure how much I could take. There were too many people to disappoint; Drew, my bandmates, Bea, and now Alex freaking Gaskarth. How could I handle it all?

Another hand was slapped in my shoulder within a matter of seconds after Alex disappeared behind another wall.

Brody gave me a shaky smile and I knew right then that he was possibly just as nervous as I was. He was the one sitting behind a bunch of drums while I had to sing and make sure not only my guitar playing was on point but also my voice. It was the second main part along with the music.

"Nervous?" He asked as he took a seat on an amp nearby. I crossed my arms over my chest and took a deep breath.

"A little more than usual," I admitted to him.

"Well, this is a little more of a crowd than back home. We have to give this our all," he reasoned and explained. I could feel the sweat beading up on my forehead just listening to the crowd.

"Brody?" I asked innocently. He looked at me with curious eyes, ready to answer me as he nodded his head toward me.

It reminded me of when I was younger and Brody and I would be sitting around the house doing pointless things when I'd ask him questions. They were questions about life, who's, what's and how's mostly. But he always had an answer for me. Even when I'd ask what was wrong with our mom, he'd tell me she was sick and that we needed to take care of her.

I had asked him that a week before she was admitted to the hospital and Brody and I were sent to "stay a little while" with our aunt and uncle, as my dad put it.

"What if this isn't right for me? This while performing thing? The celebrity thing?" I turned to him and I had a feeling that I never looked like I did very often. Scared, is what I mean. I didn't get scared easily. I was scared the day my mom had a complete breakdown right in front of me and I was scared when Bea almost slipped through my fingertips. I never wanted to admit it, but I hated being scared and feeling it. I hated feeling vulnerable.