Chapter Six

 

 

Five songs down and the crowd were swaying in one direction. The sing off had not been going well for Two Dimension. It seemed like every time they went out on stage, the audience were waiting for them to fail.

Standing off to the side, my heart was aching for them. As the night wore on, they were becoming more and more defeated. Meanwhile, Ten Minutes of Winter were just getting better. They were feeding off their success, knowing they had the whole thing in the bag before it was even over.

Two Dimension had worked so hard for their careers. They’d worked hard just getting their first record contract and then they’d worked even harder to do a good job. They were at risk of losing their entire careers.

They came off stage and the smug band went on. It was down to one song now and Two Dimension would close the show. They drank water and rested in the green room. Their spirits were as flat as a sheet.

“This was a terrible idea, I’m sorry,” Reed said. I never knew it had been his initial idea. “I really thought it would go differently.”

“It’s not your fault. We all agreed to it,” Cole replied. The others mumbled their agreement. Nobody was blaming anyone, they were all blaming themselves.

I knew they would put everything into their last song, but they didn’t expect to win now. They had already admitted defeat and they were just doing what they were obligated to. Once the sing off was over, their careers would nosedive. It was very difficult to come back from this public humiliation.

We only had little more than a minute before Ten Minutes of Winter finished their last song and Two Dimension had to go on. It was within my power to do something to help them.

But could I?

Should I?

I might not actually be helping them, I might be making their loss even larger. Anything could happen out there on the stage. Nothing was guaranteed. After all, we hadn’t even practiced. We’d never sung together before.

But there was something I could do and I owed it to the boys that were like my brothers. I owed it to the boy I loved. I would do anything for them if it meant I was giving them a chance of winning.

“I’ll sing with you,” I said before I could back out again. Those four little words could get me into a lot of trouble. They may be the four words I’d regret the most.

All the boys looked at me. “Are you serious?” Cole asked.

“Yeah. I mean, if you want me. We can do Combat Hearts as a duet. It builds towards an epic moment that I think people will really respond to. But you don’t have to, it’s just an idea.”

All four of them stared at me for a long, painful moment. Long enough for me to question the absurdity of everything I had just said. I squirmed under their gaze and wondered if they would ever take me seriously again.

But then…

They all ran at me at once. I had four boys surrounding me in a group hug. I was just a squished bug in the middle of it all. A squished, terrified, happy, relieved bug.

“We need to get you wired for sound,” Reed said as they all pulled away. It was down to business now, we only had half a minute before show time. “We need to get Melrose a microphone.” He was giving orders now, making sure the crew knew what was going on.

Cole remained by my side. “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to.”

“No, I want this. I want to help.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

“I am.” I gave him a kiss to make certain.

The next few moments happened like a whirlwind. Crew members moved about me, threading wire underneath my top and taping a battery pack to my pants. I had no idea what it was all for but by the end of it I had a microphone in my hand and I could hear things much more clearly through earphones in both ears.

Ten Minutes of Winter finished their song and came off stage. They had to walk through all of us to reach their green room. They just ignored us this time, they’d already said everything they wanted to during the night. They thought they had already won, there was no need to pay Two Dimension any attention.

The emcee gave us our cue and we all ran out on stage. I followed Cole, praying I was doing the right thing and wouldn’t freeze out on the stage with my first note.

The arena held six thousand people and it was full to capacity that night. But with all the bright lights, I could barely see only the first few front rows. It was easier than singing karaoke because I could forget about all the masses of people.

Drums started and then the guitars joined in. Only a second later and the boys started to sing. I waited for my cue, hoping I would hit it at the right time. I couldn’t be the reason the boys lost, I couldn’t be that person.

But I hit it.

Right when I was supposed to.

Cole and I sung the main parts together, our voices hitting the notes entwined and giving their song a completely new spin. Even though I’d heard the song a million times before, it sounded so different now with a female voice mingled in with the boys.

The boys moved around the stage while I stayed in the same area, trying to move along and not stand completely still. Thank goodness I’d seen the band perform so many times before, it gave me a perfect idea of what they would do so I could do the same thing. I’d never imagined I would be on stage with them. Not in my wildest dreams.

The big climax of the song approached. I prayed my voice would hold. If I didn’t hit the notes then nobody would remember the rest of the performance. They would only remember my epic failure.

Cole came over and held my hand, looking into my eyes as he sang his part. He stopped so I could do mine. I launched into it fearlessly, hoping I would be able to pull this whole thing off.

My voice crept higher. I took a final breath for the big crescendo.

And I nailed it.

I sang the words exactly as they needed to be sung. Cole squeezed my hand just before he joined in. I couldn’t see much of the crowd but I could suddenly hear them over my earphones. They cheered and screamed out their approval, making me have to focus on what I was doing so I didn’t get carried away with them.

The song ended quickly then and the five of us stood at the front of the stage together. We took a bow and I had never seen Two Dimension so happy before.

We didn’t leave the stage. The emcee and Ten Minutes of Winter joined us on the stage instead. It was crowded with everyone so we had to stand together in our groups.

The results of the sing off had been calculated. And now it was time to announce the winner.