The Stage (Phoenix Rising #1)

by Shelby Rebecca

  As we cross the threshold into the kitchen, I see that they’ve updated, adding granite tiles and nicer cabinets. The attached family room seems smaller than I remember, but I can still feel the memories of times past in here. Making food with Mom, playing my guitar with Dad. Watching Riley grow taller and taller.

  “The couch was here,” Riley says, taking her hand away and motioning to the exact spot our sectional was. “The TV was here and the book case, remember?”

  “Yeah,” I say, and hug her, feeling pulled toward the garage, the location the fire started. When I open the door, I see a box in the middle of the concrete and walk toward it.

  “What’s this?” I ask Amy.

  “The contractors left it. It’s some stuff they found during the demolition.” I start pacing. I want to know what they found, but I’m scared it’ll cause me to break down. I sit down on the floor, my back to the cameras and say, “Riley. Please wait until I look through it. Okay?”

  “Alright,” she answers. I watch as my perilous hand reaches out, shakily unfolds the top, and then I peek inside. Silverware, a few of Mom’s nice plates from her china cabinet, a picture of Mom and Dad on the beach. It’s mostly burned, but I can see them holding each other around the waist, wearing swim suits. And then there’s a napkin with something solid inside. I take a deep breath and open it to find a metal ring, partially burned. It’s made of wires wrapped intricately and has a fake diamond in the middle.

  I know it well. I took Riley to the mall that year right before Christmas. God, has that been two years now? Well, she went into this costume jewelry store and found this ring. I remember me trying to talk her out of it. It’s huge and gold and kind of flashy. Mom was more of a small-diamond-pendant-hanging-from-a-thin-gold-chain person, but Riley persisted.

  When Mom opened the little paper box on Christmas morning, her face lit up and she hugged Riley. “It’s so fancy!” she crooned, putting it on and holding her hand out like royalty.

  “That’s a real big ring, there Riles,” Dad said and chuckled. He hardly ever chuckled anymore, so that’s why it stood out so much to me.

  I turn now to face Riley and motion for her to come to me. The cameras follow us, but don’t come around to film it from the front. I hand her the ring and watch as she lights up, remembering that she’d given it to Mom.

  “Momma’s ring!” she beams, taking it into her hand like a relic.

  “Yeah,” I say, wiping some rogue tears escaping down my cheeks.

  “Remember when I asked Momma if she liked my gift?”

  “No. What did she say?”

  “She said she did, but then I asked her why she didn’t wear it.”

  “Oh, but it’s a fancy ring you should only wear on special occasions,” I explain. I don’t want her feelings to be hurt.

  “Yeah, but after that she started wearing it. She wore it to work and, one time, my teacher was lookin’ at it at school and she told everyone about how I got it for her. I was real proud.” She’s smiling so wide it makes my heart turn to mush.

  “That’s a great memory, Riles.”

  “Can we take it home?”

  “The ring? Yeah, sure, and the box, too. But you know, Riley, I don’t think we’re gonna live here, you know that, right?”

  “I kinda know.” She shrugs.

  “Wouldn’t it be nice for a new family to come here and make all new memories?” She sticks her bottom lip out and thinks for a minute, her eyes moving around the cold garage. “’Cause, for us, there’s a lot of sadness mixed up with this place. It looks the same, but it’s not. Mom and Dad, they can’t come back. I think we should make new memories someplace else.”

  At first she chews on her bottom lip like she’s thinking. But then she looks up at me with resolution in her eyes. “Okay.” She smiles and hugs me. I put my arm around her and she takes the burned ring and puts it on my middle finger. “Will you wear it sometimes?” Riley asks. “Like how Momma did?” It breaks me. My eyes gush tears and all I can do is nod. I’m fighting a huge knot in my throat, but I say, “Thank you,” as best I can.

  “I’ll wear it. I promise.” She nods and stands up.

  “Can we go see the backyard?”

  “Yeah.”

  With my arm over her shoulder, we walk out to the backyard. Grass has started to grow again and the old swing set is still there. I used to play on it when I was her age. It’ll probably get torn down, but it’s okay if it does. It suited its purpose for a long time. Both of us just stand and look. I nudge her a little on the shoulder. “Ready to go?”

  “Yup,” she says, and we walk back inside one last time. Neither of us tries to go upstairs. I think that would be too hard. It does look the same, in many ways, and the amount of fear we both faced up there and coming down the stairs. No. It’s too much.

  Instead, we stay downstairs and silently say goodbye to the memories that live here just for us. I take Riley’s hand and think it’s over when I get to the landing of the staircase by the front door. It’s like being pulled into a bad dream.

  The biting pain of the fire burning my feet, the heaviness of holding Riley in my arms. Panic that I’d never make it out in time, flames chasing me out the door.

  I force myself to keep walking. I open the front door and we walk out to the grass. I hold Riley’s hand as we stand on the soft green spot where we knew we were alive, but also where we had to come to terms with the fact our parents weren’t coming out. There aren’t enough tears to make that go away. And there’s no need to say a thing. I hold her and she cries. All I can say is, “Love you, Riles.”

  “Thanks for saving me, Mia.”

  “Or maybe it was you who saved me?”

  “How?” she asks.

  “If I didn’t have you, maybe I wouldn’t have had the courage to do all this stuff. You know?” She looks at me through new eyes.

  “So, you owe me?”

  “Yep,” I say as we walk back to the SUV.

  “That was great stuff,” Amy says as she puts the box inside the car. At first I feel a twinge of anger for her rejoicing over getting “great stuff” for the show. But, that will do me no good.

  “It wasn’t for the show. It was good for us,” I say. “It was closure and I don’t think I could have done it without that push. So, thanks.” As we drive away toward the hotel and then to the Sacramento airport, I think, just a few more days. I might be signed with a record company and have a whole new future with Kolton. A whole new life.

  Just a few more days.

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  The Finale

  “We had cameras installed,” Devon says, walking me around and showing me where they are. One on each door, one at the elevator entrance in the foyer. Another on the balcony in the master bedroom. When I come back to the living room, Gina stands up.

  “Can we speak for a moment?”

  “Sure,” I say, sitting down.

  “The account she’s threatening you from is untraceable. She’s very rich and capable of hiding herself, but the threat could be very real.”

  “What do we do?”

  “As you know, that’s not my forte, but I don’t think we should make it public. That might be what she wants, more attention.”

  “Okay, I trust you, Gina,” I say, walking with her toward the elevator.

  “I want you to focus on your performance,” she instructs. “This will be taken care of, okay?” I nod and give her a weak smile. “Good luck tomorrow,” she says, before the doors close and I’m left to worry all by myself.

  * * *

  The last two days have been a blur of practices, recording, and interviews. Everyone wants to talk to the final three contestants. With me, they want to talk about Kolton more than my voice or my goals. It’s annoying, but I’m handling it. It’s even a little fun to dodge the questions.

  Gina has taught me how to use this fallacy in logic called a red herring for my own sanity, basically. She says when I’m asked a personal question I shou
ld take part of the question and answer it how I want to.

  For example, I was asked yesterday, “You and Kolton have been falling in love throughout the season. Fans are rooting for you two. Will things get easier for you when the show’s over?”

  My answer was, “One of my favorite moments from the show has been getting to sing with my coach. He’s so talented and I’ve learned so much from him. And yes, I’ve really been looking forward to all the opportunities and possibilities once the show’s over.”

  They can’t keep asking the same question, so they usually move on.

  Kolton and I have been together a lot during practices, working on our duet of “Stay,” because if we make it into the final two for the finale we’ll be performing the duet a few acts before they announce the winner.

  The final performance show is tonight, then tomorrow they’ll announce the winner. I’ve got a few really cool songs scheduled for tonight and tomorrow. But my final song tonight that I’ll be judged on will be “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys. I’m most excited about this one because it feels like a fitting end on this journey toward the conclusion of the season. Still, I’m worried about it. I might lose control of my emotions, break down in the middle of it, or I could even get hurt.

  The latter is what I’m thinking about as Sharlene works on my hair. “Kolton told them not to put so much make-up on you tonight.”

  “He did?” and now that she mentions it, this is the most natural I’ve looked since the silhouette auditions. For a second, I feel like he’s trying to control me. But then, it’s just make-up. It’s not something huge like who I’m signing with, or what songs I’ll record first. They did go really overboard when they dressed me up like Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With The Wind after our affair went public. I mean, he cares enough to stick up for me.

  “He said you needed to look softer. More like an angel than a devil.”

  “Well, I love it. My make-up looks natural, but really pretty,” I say, sticking up for him, even though he didn’t ask me or fill me in on his reasoning.

  “I didn’t have to add any extensions to your hair.” She changes the subject, fluffing and spraying my long black locks. “I never do with you, Gorgeous Girl. We’re all rooting for you,” she says, taking the apron off me. “What a love story.”

  The next two hours are a mad dash of outfit changes and coaches giving critiques. The final twelve contestants return to perform “She Works Hard For the Money” by Donna Summer. All the girls have to wear these short blue dresses and the guys wear dark blue shirts. The only person I’m glad to see is Brianna. She hugs me over in the corner afterward as I’m exiting stage right.

  “Congratulations, Mia. I think you could win this whole thing.”

  Before I have to change clothes once again, I say, “Thank you so much!” and run off to wardrobe.

  I’m pacing. It’s time for my final performance. I’m actually shaking again like when I performed my very first song on this stage. It’s like coming full circle, facing my past and getting a different ending. Like what Kaya said. When Kolton first brought up the idea that I should sing “Girl on Fire,” I flat out said ‘no.’ I was resentful and felt like I was being asked to sell my soul to the devil.

  I mean, me and fire—it’s too much like what really happened. It could seem like I’m using the worst experience of my life and my parents’ deaths just for votes. But, when I really listened to the lyrics, I understood the song is about overcoming. About claiming my future, despite my past. It’s not about real fire, it’s about being reborn. I knew then I had to do it. There was just so much about it that felt too difficult.

  For one, I was concerned because of Katharina and her threat to use fire to hurt me and keep me from winning. But I’ve been assured, there’s no way she can get on set. I’m still worried it will be an emotional trigger because they’re actually going to have fire on stage during the performance.

  During practice, I definitely had some nerves about the fire but it doesn’t smell the same as actual, organic fire. What they’re doing is really very safe and they’re professionals with pyrotechnic licenses and experts. This is what I tell myself to be able to hit my marks and give it my all.

  Another one of my reasons is this is a tough song to sing. To reach the notes in the higher register is intimidating. I can do it, but I’ve messed up a few practices and gone off key. Basically, in every way possible, this song is a challenge. And he’s right, if I want to win, this is the song I have to conquer.

  Right before it’s time for me to go on, I see the edited bit of me and Riley in Sacramento. They show us in the car driving through downtown Sac, shots of me at Rio Americano High School, the concert with so many people there to watch me live. And then, they show us going to our old house. The music softens and I watch Riley and me face one of our biggest fears.

  As she places the burned ring on my finger on the screen, I place it on myself again, too. This is the best time as any to be fancy and wear Mom’s fancy ring. I wear it with honor.

  “No crying now,” Amy says, as I’m fitted with the cape. Black on the outside, but when I open my arms, it spreads out in a deep red, like wings. It will make me look like a real phoenix, a lot like the one on Kolton’s chest.

  “They’re happy tears,” I say as I’m ushered on stage.

  They’re counting back from commercial break. I’m on my mark when the music starts and the lights flash. One. Two. Three.

  The base pounds in my ear. One. Two. Then, I sing my first verse. It reminds me of my past, the horror of my and Riley’s survival story. The loneliness I’ve felt since losing my parents, wanting to get away from it all and start over. I look at Riley and smile. Tears are falling down her cheeks. She holds up her hand to show me she sees the ring.

  Then the refrain: I’m still grounded as I dream for a better future. I feel so much love coming from the audience to me and back out. It comes out of my pores, out of my being, like I was born to be here right now.

  The music stops. One. Two. The fire springs up all around me. I resist the urge to panic. This is where we moved the verse of “Ohs” when we did the arrangement. So, I start, “Oh, oh, oh, oh ohhhhh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh ohhhh…” I was told to stand still, look like it hurts, because it fucking did in real life! My feet are itching inside my boots as a reminder that this did happen, that it was real.

  I calm myself and look at Kolton. He’s nodding. His eyes are watering. He’s on the edge of his seat, literally. He looks prouder than I’ve ever seen him before.

  Then the change. On two, I sing that I’m on fire. The stage rises as I belt the chorus, letting my voice weave around each note. Luckily I’m strapped into a brace hidden behind my cape. I start to raise my right hand and point to him. He’s the reason I’m burning bright. He’s the reason I see a new future. He’s our future. I wink at Riley and she starts jumping up and down.

  On the second verse, the lights start to pulse and the clouds form behind me. This is my favorite verse because it’s how I feel now. I’m in the spotlight, literally; everybody knows my name. I’m reaching for my dreams and asking for their help to get me there.

  The fire is not what took me out. It’s what propels me forward. It didn’t break me, it made me stronger.

  I put the mic in the stand in front of me. As the music pounds. One. Two. I start to sing the second chorus, I push my arms out. The specially designed cape flies up and out like huge red wings.

  The fire can’t reach me anymore. I sing the last chorus, knowing what burns inside me. It’s love. It’s promise. It’s future. It’s a brand new chance at life.

  I sing the last refrain. My arms straight out, my head back, my legs firmly planted and I know I’ve been reborn.

  When the crowd erupts, I look to the only people who matter to me.

  Riley is standing up, crying and clapping. She’s wearing a pretty dress and holding a little red purse.

  Deloris has her arm around her and they look like fa
mily.

  Kolton is standing, clapping and biting his bottom lip. He looks proud, emotional.

  The stage lowers me to the ground and I step out and walk over to my mark for the judges’ critiques. Chuck Faraday says, “Mia Phoenix, everybody.” Which is my cue to bow. “Amazing final song. Let’s take it to the judges’ comments. Pulse.”

  “Mia, that was spectacular. I wish you were on my team, girl. That was amazing. I feel like I was at your concert, and, man, I would’a paid a lot of money to see that performance. I don’t think it’s just me either.” The crowd erupts again, standing up, whistling, and clapping.

  Then Selma starts, “Mia, you know I’ve always admired your voice. You have this cadence, this tone that melts like butter, but firm like a hammer when you need it to be.” Her accent and the way she moves her hands when she speaks makes me chuckle. “It’s the best of both worlds. You amaze me. You really do. And, you know, your stage presence might not have as much hip action as I would have wanted, but you made up for it with the emotions behind the words. You meant it. You felt it, every single word. Great job!” She starts to clap.

  Then Danny nods, “I think you’re just great. You’re a natural, you really are. And as you were up there just now I realized something about you, Mia. You might’a had a rough past year, but you never let it hold you down. You overcame it. You’re a hero and an inspiration to me and to a whole lot’a other people, too.” He claps and I feel satisfied. Grateful. My chest tight with the tug of happiness reverberating all around us. But then it’s Kolton’s turn and I want so badly for him to say he’s proud of me.

  “Mia,” he says quietly, causing the audience to go silent and pay attention. “Do you remember the first time I heard you sing live? Do you remember what I said?”

  I nod and pick up the mic. “You said that I’d patched up the missing piece in your heart.” He laughs.