by DC Renee
Trevor and Gavin liked that quality, but I was sure Cody was half in love with her. I was just waiting for Cass to give in and let him have his way with her. Cass was amazing, but she had never been serious with anyone, ever. Not that I had, either, but I was a romantic at heart. She was practical. If Cody had a shot with her, it wouldn’t be her heart we’d have to worry about.
“All right, all right, I missed you too, but I want to hear these boys sing and pretend they’re playing just for me.”
“They are playing just for us.” I waved around the venue to prove there was no one else there.
“Oh hush, you know what I mean.”
I was about to open my mouth and attempt some kind of comeback when Cassidy squealed as Cody came up behind her and lifted her. “You don’t say hi anymore?”
Oh man, the poor guy had it bad. Although he hadn’t stopped with the groupies, and he had made no real moves, so I wasn’t compelled to help him.
“What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?” she asked after he set her down, but then proceeded to give him a hug and tell him it was good to see him.
Everyone else came over, and Cass said hi to them.
“Glad you’re here,” Grennan told her. “But you’re not getting the bed this time either,” he added with a straight face.
“Yeah, yeah, I got that.” Cass laughed. We all had chatted for a couple of minutes before the guys were summoned to go on stage.
“I enjoy listening to them like this rather than during the concert,” Cass told me halfway through the rehearsal.
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s too hectic at that time. Too many people, too many ways for things to go wrong. This way, it’s just them and the music they love.” She had taken on a faraway look for a moment as if she remembered something, and I wondered if it had anything to do with Cody. “Things going wrong” seemed like something that would reflect on him, but I just shrugged it off. “Rehearsals have always been my favorite,” she added. I frowned as her words triggered something in me, but I couldn’t put my finger on the feeling. I realized she was entranced in the music, letting it take over like I often did, and then I understood what she meant. From the very beginning, panic aside, something about listening to the guys perform made me feel like it had always been a part of my life, not like something I had just come to love recently.
That was just the type of power they held over you. And it made complete sense why so many girls—and guys—threw themselves at the guys. Heck, I probably would have too. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to do that. I had Grennan, but Cass had some serious self-control.
The rest of the day consisted of Cassidy settling in on the bus and us watching the show afterward then sneaking into a dive bar to have some fun. The crowd didn’t strike me as the “rock” type. We stuck out, but at least people wouldn’t recognize the guys.
We drank too much, but it was totally worth it.
“Oh dear God, stop talking so loud,” Cassidy moaned sometime in the late morning. Funny enough, we had actually been whispering because she, Trevor, and Cody had still been sleeping. Trevor had woken up just moments before Cassidy, grunted at us, and made his way to the bathroom. “I hate you,” she whined as she pulled herself from her little bunk. “You made me drink too much with your cheery smile and your fun-loving attitude.” If she was trying to sound upset, she shouldn’t have used such cute wording.
“I love you too,” I told her, and she tried to snarl but ended up wincing instead.
“Give me two minutes, and I’ll have you back to normal,” Cody spoke as he got out looking like he hadn’t drunk two pints of beer and passed out.
“I didn’t think you were the kind to admit you’re a two-minute man,” Cass joked and chuckled before saying, “Ow.”
“I’m more than happy to prove I’m not.”
“No thanks,” Cassidy responded all while Grennan, Gavin, and I laughed.
“You’re lucky you’re hungover or I’d make you eat your words … or maybe I’d have you swallowing something else.”
“Oh God, kill me now.” Trevor had returned from the bathroom and was silently laughing with us now.
“You just need the Cody Cure.” Cody ignored us all.
“Cody, I don’t know how you get laid with lines like that. Your penis is not magical and having sex with you will not cure my hangover.” Cassidy and Cody’s banter was almost as cute as Grennan’s and mine. Almost.
“Babe, having sex with me will cure anything,” he responded cockily, “but that’s not what I’m suggesting. Step aside,” he told us as he walked to the tiny kitchen. He mixed up a few things, brought back a glass of orange liquid, and practically forced Cassidy to drink it.
“Go grab a shower, and I promise you’ll feel better by the time you’re done.”
“This had better work.” She pointed her finger at him as she made her way to the bathroom.
I started to put some things together for a late breakfast, more like lunch, while the guys got dressed and worked on some songs.
“Holy shit, Cody, your little stunt worked.” Cassidy came out of the bathroom looking like a freaking runway model. I didn’t know how she could manage to shower, change, and put on makeup in that tiny thing, but she did. “What the hell was in it?”
“Alka-Seltzer, water, a touch of sugar, and some orange juice. Really, you only need the water and Alka-Seltzer, but the sugar and orange juice make it taste better.”
“Well … uh, thanks.” I smiled because I knew it had been hard for Cass to say that. “I’m so freaking thirsty, though.” She put up her hand just as Cody opened his mouth. “Save it. Whatever smartass remark you’re about to make, don’t. You’re on my good side now. Let’s try to keep it that way for a while, yeah?”
The guys didn’t try to hide their laughter. They ribbed Cody about his little fascination with Cassidy almost as much as I did.
Cassidy grabbed a glass and poured herself some orange juice then sat down and watched me make food as we both listened to the guys figure out some chords.
“That was really good. It’s new, huh?” Cassidy asked after they played one of my songs from beginning to end.
“Yeah, thanks to Brook,” Gavin informed her. I could feel myself blush. I hadn’t told Cassidy about my songwriting. I hadn’t planned to tell anyone. Grennan had just ambushed me, but it was one thing for him to find out on his own. It was another thing for him to announce it to the world, even Cassidy.
“Aw, is Brook a good muse?” she teased.
“More like Brook is a good writer,” Trevor told her.
“What do you mean?” I could see the confusion on Cassidy’s face, and I was worried about what she’d think.
“These lyrics were written by the one and only Brook.” Before Trevor even finished the sentence, I heard the loud crash of the glass shattering. My head had been down, letting the conversation go on around me, not wanting to be a part of it and feeling like it would be bragging if I joined in. When I heard the noise, my head snapped up. The glass Cassidy had been drinking from was on the floor in pieces at her feet, her mouth was slightly ajar, and some emotion was in her features I couldn’t read. Panic? That couldn’t have been right.
“Cass?” I asked, and it seemed to snap her out of her thoughts.
She looked at me, and for a moment, her expression faltered, although I still couldn’t read what it meant. She composed herself quickly, putting on a smile that looked an awful lot like embarrassment. “Sorry, I guess I’m still a little shaky from last night. And that was a bit of a shock. In a good way, of course,” she tacked on.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah, yeah. I might need more juice, but maybe I should stick with plastic cups,” she joked. To anyone else, she sounded like her usual cheerful self, but I could hear something just a bit off. I was going to press, but Grennan beat me to it.
“You sure you’re okay?” Grennan asked, and I was grateful that he
cared too.
“Definitely. Now, tell me about this writing thing while I clean up this mess. And how come I didn’t know?” Her tone was back to being light, and her interest sounded genuine, so I just brushed off my weird feeling.
“Let me help you,” Cody offered, and I was two seconds away from screaming “C-squared.”
“Brook’s written a whole notebook full of songs. Each is better than the rest. We’ve already gotten the music down for some of them. Definitely enough for an entire album,” Gavin gushed while Grennan stared at me with pride.
“Brook, that’s … that’s really … wow, I don’t even have the words,” Cass told me. “And why didn’t I know about this?”
“I wasn’t sure I was good.”
“Oh, you’re good.” Cass said it as if it was a fact. Yep, definitely my best friend. “But then how come these clowns know?”
“Blame Grennan. He went snooping through my things and found my notebook. Next thing I know, everyone else knows about it too.”
“I wasn’t snooping,” Grennan said as he stood behind me. He wrapped me in his arms. “It was calling to me … just like you.” He nipped my neck before kissing it.
“No hanky-panky on the food,” Cass told us. “You,” she said as she pointed at me, “we’ll talk about keeping secrets from me later, but for now, I want food. Feed me, Brook.”
“Yeah, Brook, feed us,” Cody added, and the next thing I knew, everyone was chanting, “Feed us, Brook.”
So I fed them. And by the time lunch was over, the whole weird songwriting scenario was forgotten. It was back to fun and games, the sexual tension between Grennan and me, Cody’s unsuccessful flirting with Cassidy, his smart banter with Cassidy, and jokes galore with Gavin and Trevor. And that was pretty much how the rest of the day went.
Brooklyn
I was starting to believe my subconscious wanted me to be a famous musician. Obviously, it started with the dreams, then the songwriting, then catching some notes here and there, apparently, although I hadn’t noticed it until Grennan pointed it out, and then supposedly, I sang well. Well, if I wanted to get my fifteen minutes of fame, I was dating the right guy. The funny thing was that I really, honestly, one hundred percent didn’t like being up on stage. Whenever I was backstage, I felt amazing. When I wrote songs, when I hummed, sang, and especially when I watched or listened to The Rising Sun, I felt … I couldn’t even describe the feeling I had. It was truly otherworldly.
Whenever I wandered onto the actual stage, though, I always felt uncomfortable. Weighed down somewhat, I felt like an invisible force had wrapped their hands around me and was holding me in place. As a result, I felt trapped, and I was sure I wasn’t the only person in the universe who was averse to that feeling.
Either way, almost all the signs were pointing to me wanting to be a rock goddess. All the things I already listed should have been enough, right? I didn’t need any more large neon signs pointing directly at me. Except it didn’t stop there. If it happened before, I hadn’t noticed it, but I had a feeling that when Cass snapped me out of my thoughts, that hadn’t been the first time.
On the third day of Cassidy’s visit, it happened. The day had started with everyone goofing around, as usual, then we all went out to get breakfast, and that was fun. Cassidy had experienced the full force of going out with everyone a few times already, but she hadn’t gotten used to it how I had. In books and movies, each guy in a band is notoriously hot. Let’s face it, in real life, that is so not the case, but there was definitely something about each guy that made them delicious. I might have mentioned that to Grennan a few times, and he was none-too-pleased to hear me talk about his “brothers” that way. Okay, so Grennan was gorgeous, but he was the lead singer, so that was understandable. The rest were good looking but not necessarily “holy moly hot,” and the fact that they all had bodies meant for sin was a major plus, but their physical looks did not grab attention. Even when it was obvious people didn’t recognize them from the band, there was something abou them that commanded attention, so people did stare, women gawked, and men got a little jealous because their aura was off the charts. They screamed confidence and sex, and what girl didn’t go gaga for that? It made them infinitely hotter than if they had been some shy waifs.
I digressed, but it made Cody smirk like the cat that caught the canary and get extra cocky with his flirting with Cass, and it made Cass tease like she was afraid her banter days were about to end. It was hilarious.
Cassidy and I then went to a couple of stores while the guys did whatever they did while we were gone, and then we came back just in time to watch them rehearse. A good day, right? And then it hit.
We were watching the rehearsal when I was literally transported. I felt like I was having a dream while still awake. It was different from a daydream in the sense that a daydream was someone letting their thoughts take over and the world fall away for a few moments. With this, I didn’t have a choice. My mind just decided I would not be in the here and now, and it took my body along for the ride.
One minute, I was watching Grennan perform, and the next, I was on stage singing. It was identical to my dreams. The weird thing, though, was that in my dreams, it was just me and whatever was happening. This time, I could hear The Rising Sun in the background; like someone had turned down the radio so it wouldn’t be distracting, but you could still hear it. That was why I was sure that if Cassidy hadn’t “interrupted” the dream—I will call it a dream since I have no different description for it—I wouldn’t have realized I had it and would have maybe thought it was just a memory from a dream the night before. That was the best lame excuse I could think of.
I was singing before a crowded stadium, the music in my dream overpowering Grennan’s rehearsal. As usual, the songs were a part of me, the words flowing from my mouth. I moved around the stage with grace, dancing here and there, pointing at random people in the crowd. The audience sang along with me between loud cheering. It was invigorating; it was something else. In this dream, I wasn’t self-conscious or anxious about being in front of so many people. So it was also a bit freeing too.
And then I felt it, I felt the cold liquid splash on my face, but I wasn’t sure what it was or where it came from. I stopped singing immediately, and the entire world disappeared, leaving me standing alone in the dark, the droplets pouring down my face. I tried to reach up and wipe them, but I felt dull pain throughout my body, some force preventing me from drying myself. I was panicking, but I held onto the vague sounds of Grennan’s singing in the background. I blinked to process what was happening, not understanding how I could be remembering a dream from the night before and see it happening at the same time. And then I saw a face right in front of me. It was gone before I could even sort it out. I didn’t even get a good handle on what I saw, but somehow, I knew I should be afraid. It was the same feeling of dread I had gotten several times in my dreams. I could feel myself losing grip on what was real and what was fake, and then I heard my name being called from the same distance I heard Grennan’s voice.
I fought to make it to the voice. I pushed against whatever was holding me in place, and when I blinked again, Cassidy’s hand was on my shoulder, and her voice sounded concerned.
“Brook, where’d you go?”
Before I could answer her, I brought my hands to my face. The feeling of wetness had lingered. It was odd, and I honestly can’t describe it, but it didn’t feel like water. It was something else.
“What are you doing?”
“I felt something on my face,” I told her as I ran my hands down my face, but it was dry. I was on the verge of freaking out, but I didn’t want Grennan to worry. Lord knew I had given him plenty of things to worry about. He didn’t need anything else.
“There’s nothing there, Brook, but where the hell did you go?”
“I don’t know. Something’s wrong,” I told her. I looked up and saw Grennan watching me, his brows furrowed as he sang on. I stood, and he stopped singing.<
br />
“Brooklyn?” he asked.
“Just got to run to the bathroom,” I told him. “I tried to hold it but gotta go.” I frowned for good measure. “Be right back.” He nodded and continued.
It took all I had not to run away as Cassidy followed me.
“What the hell happened?” she asked as soon as we made it to the bathroom. I wasn’t sure why I thought splashing cold water on my face would make me feel any better, considering I was worried about water already being on my face, but it actually helped.
“I had a dream,” I told her.
“You fell asleep?” she asked, confused.
“No … no, I don’t know. Maybe it was a memory of a dream? I don’t really know. It was like all the others but different.”
“Different how?”
“When I snapped out of it … Actually, when you brought me out of it—thanks, by the way—I still had some lingering feelings from it.”
“Has this happened to you before?” she asked.
“Not that I know of. Maybe? I don’t know. I don’t think so, but sometimes, these dreams seem so real that I have to remind myself they are only dreams. Maybe I’ve zoned out before and didn’t even realize it.”
“What were you saying about your face?”
“It just felt like someone had thrown some water on my face or something.” I tried to downplay it because she was freaking out. I knew she was struggling with her calm demeanor. She thought I couldn’t read her, but I could. She was flipping out for me.
“Come home with me,” she announced.
“What?”
“I’ll skip my next client, and we’ll go home together.”
“No way, Cass. I couldn’t do that to you, and I’m not going home.”
“Why not? This is obviously too much for you.”
