The tour

Chapter 21

A groundbreaking feeling of complete terror swam over Kristina as she entered the stage and took her place in the back with the other musicians. The audience was going insane. The show hadn't even started, and Kristina could see that the security people down at the front were already having a hard time keeping the masses together. It was a complete mob scene. Screaming and crying girls were tearing out their hair in desperation of seeing Michael, people were sweating because they all stood really close, all pushing to get closer to the stage. The noise was ear-numbing. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest and she felt it throughout her body as she grabbed the neck of her guitar hard, frozen in place.

'If they're like this now, what's it going to be like once Michael gets on stage?' she asked herself and felt her stomach churn.

She was actually frightened. All there was between her and the insane, screaming crowd was a small, fragile fence and some security guards. If the fence fell, they would all the stomped to death, she was sure of it. And Michael would be ripped apart by their love for him.

Kristina was so scared and in her own world of fear that she didn't hear the drummer slam his drumsticks together three times, which was the heads up for the musicians to start the first number 'Wanna be startin' something'.

She didn't snap back into reality until Brad gave her a friendly nudge, and she tried to pull herself together. Kristina really tried, but the fear was planted deep in her and she had a hard time concentrating and couldn't take her eyes off the crowd. When Michael came running onstage seconds later, the crowd exploded and started pushing even wilder to be close to him. Kristina felt herself taking a step back and felt the adrenaline rush through her entire body in sheer panic.

When Michael took his first dance step, which was quite simple, the faintings started.

Unconscious girl after unconscious girl were being picked up by the big guards and carried to a nearby tent where medics stood ready to help them.

'So that was what that was for,' Kristina thought to herself.

She had seen the roadies rise the tent earlier in the day and hadn't been able to figure out what it was for. Now she knew. And it scared her. This was insane. The roars and screams continued, and Kristina relied on her own sense of rhythm completely to try and figure out where they were in the opening song. It wasn't until Brad gave her another helpful nudge that she realized it was time for her to go centerstage to interact with Michael for her short solo. With her heart threatening to emerge through her body she slowly and shakily walked out to him and tried to play her heart out.

It was a weak attempt, at best.

'What is wrong with her?' Michael thought to himself as he moved to the rhythm.

He was used to the extreme masses, and they didn't scare him the same anymore. Not when he was performing, at least. He wanted to stop dancing and cup her face, look into her eyes and ask her, but he knew he had to stay professional. Although Kristina did look like she could faint at any minute.

A few minutes later Kristina felt a bit more at ease. The fence had held through the first number, so maybe the guards had it all under control? She still did not feel comfortable at all. Kristina felt someone grabbing her beloved blue guitar from her, and she was just about to yell 'Hey!' but then realized she was supposed to play the acoustic, Francine. The next number was Human Nature, and Michael had actually built the entire number around her version of it. This was her safe zone. Kristina took a deep breath and sat down in indian position and started playing the soft mellow tune. The crowd naturally shrieked with excitement when they realized which number was coming up, but after a while they noised down. The stage was completely dark except for a single headlight on Michael, who was dancing slowly and seductively to the rhythm of the base that accompanied the beautiful strumming from the guitar. She dared to look to the crowd and smiled when she saw that they were all standing still, slowly moving to the rhythm with Michael, with lighters filling the air like little stars on earth.

'Why, why 

Just tell'em that it's human nature

Why, why

Does he do me that way?'

The crowd sang with Michael.

'Yeah, I'd like to know that too,' Kristina thought.

She would've thought that Michael would at least have acknowledged her or something after the last night in LA. But when she had gone centerstage during the first numbers, he had barely even interacted with her, which wasn't like him. She started to regret that night even more. She did not want to be hurt again.

'Looking out' Michael sang, before he turned his back to the audience in a single twist and stood completely still. The music died as well, and he just stood there, holding the suspense. The crowd went insane. Kristina stood with the other musicians, waiting for his sign to continue the song. Then she caught his eye, and the two of them just stood and looked at each other from a distance. She felt her stomach churn again, but not for a bad reason this time. Michael just looked at her with an almost curious look before giving her a faint smile. Suddenly the world and the roaring crowd disappeared, and once again it was just the two of them. The only people in the world. Even though he was too far away, Kristina felt like she could feel his heartbeat, beating the same rhythm as hers. Her lips longed for his, and she wanted nothing more than to run out onstage and feel his arms around her, which both surprised and scared her.

 Before she knew it, he gave the sign to continue and she snapped back into reality.