Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Never had she imagined what it would be like to pull into a concert venue in a chartered bus. Bree and the rest of the band was sitting in luxury--well, as secondhand busses went, but it was still nice--their own team of roadies having loaded the equipment before they left the studio. They were on their way to play their first gig together, and even though it was just across town, it was still an awesome experience for her.

Trent was with her, which was great. She was glad she got to experience this with him. He looked more than a little uncomfortable as the rest of the group talked about guitar riffs, bridges, and fades, but that was okay. She didn’t understand most of what he was talking about when he was going on about accounting either. He’d told her all about this woman he’d hired to run things at the new office when he wasn’t there, and how she’d had so much knowledge about different accounting… things. Bree had smiled and nodded.

They chatted about the set list that Jordan had put together, and everyone was in agreement that they needed to come out and nail some of the older songs so they could get into the new ones and have the crowd already in it. “This’ll be the largest venue I’ve ever played,” Bree admitted. The auditorium they were going to seated five thousand. That was huge to her.

“Really?” Zach asked, racing his eyebrows. “You’re in for a treat then, little mama.”

He’d taken to calling her that the other day after he’d accused her of mothering everyone. He said he meant it as a compliment, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. “What’s the largest venue you’ve ever played at?” she asked him.

“We opened for Charlotte Nights at the Viking Bowl last year,” he said. “So… thirty thousand.”

“Good grief,” Cat said before Bree could comment. “That’s a butt-ton of people.”

“Yeah, but how many people were actually there? A lot of people come in late and only see the headliner,” Dominic pointed out.

Zach flipped him the bird. “Most of them,” he said. “We were making a name for ourselves at the time. It was right after ‘Halo Lights’ hit the charts.”

“That was a pretty big hit,” Chase noted. “That’s really awesome, Zach.”

“So this is like, nothing, to you?” Griffin asked, folding his arms.

“I didn’t say that. No, it’ll be a lot of fun. You guys are way cooler than my last band,”

“You’re just sayin’ that,” Bree said, smacking him lightly on the arm. She realized as soon as she’d done it that Trent might not appreciate her touching him, but she’d grown close to her bandmates in the last few weeks.

If it bothered Trent, she couldn’t tell. He was listening attentively without saying anything. She scooted slightly closer to him as a reminder to him--and maybe to her--that she was in a committed relationship--with him.

“Yeah, you probably say that to all of your bands,” Cat said, and they all chuckled.

“Nope, only to you guys,” Zach assured them.

They continued to chat until the bus pulled into the parking lot, and Bree looked out the window to see the auditorium. A herd of butterflies began to fight in her stomach, but they were the good kind, the kind that reminded her she was alive. She’d get up there in front of those five thousand people and make sure when they left that night they’d had the time of their lives. And she’d have a hell of a good time doing it.

***

Bree watched in awe as the roadies quickly brought in the band's equipment and got it all set up as if they’d been setting up these particular instruments for years. She imagined they had a plethora of experience from other groups. They brought in guitars, the drum set, Cat’s keyboard, as well as dozens of cords and wires, pedals, and a ton of other pieces that had to be hooked up and adjusted before they’d be ready to take the stage.

Not that much of the equipment was for Bree, though. She’d be using a microphone tonight, and that was it. In all of her years of singing on stage, Bree had never performed without her guitar, but she wouldn’t be using it during this gig. They’d talked about her potentially playing rhythm guitar it in the future so that Chase could play a different instrument on a song or two, but they hadn’t been rehearsing that way, so tonight she would just sing.

Most of the rest of the band was backstage in the green room, chill out in before it was time for them to go on. Bree probably should’ve been there, too, but she’d started watching the crew set up the equipment and couldn’t pull herself away.

“You’re fascinated, aren’t you?” Trent asked.

She had to assume he was talking about with the set up and not one of the men, but she looked at him for a moment before she said, “I’ve just never seen people work together so fluidly when they’ve never done it before,” she said with a shrug.

“I’m sure you and the band will do the same,” Trent said with a shrug.

“But we’ve been practicing for weeks. These guys haven’t. A few of them might’ve worked together before, but they’ve never set up our equipment.”

“Maybe they’ve been coming into the studio and practicing, tearing down your stuff and setting it back up.”

She knew he was joking so she smirked at him. “I doubt it,” she said. “But that would explain why my mic stand is always in a different place each morning.”

“Really?”

“No.” They both laughed, and Bree was glad to joke around and get some of her jitters out.

“You should pull yourself away and go hang with the band,” Trent suggested, tugging lightly on her arm.

“You’re right. I should. These guys will be a few more minutes.” She turned away from the intricate dance happening on the stage and walked with him to the back. She heard Griffin’s deep chuckle and Cat’s throaty laugh and was happy to know her band was getting along so well together.

When she walked in, they sort of stopped laughing, and for a moment, Bree thought maybe they’d been laughing at her. Surely not. Zach looked agitated and wouldn’t meet her eyes. An air of uncomfortableness seeped over them, but she didn’t let on like she’d noticed.

“Are they finished setting up?” Dominic asked.

“Not quite,” Bree said, wondering if she should sit down or make an excuse and walk out again. Why were they talking about her?

“I’m gonna go hit the head before we get started,” Griffin said. He squeezed past Bree and Trent to get out the door, not looking at either one of them.

Bree stared at Trent, but he didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong. She was growing a little frustrated but could hardly say anything about the odd behavior in front of her bandmates. With a sigh, she sat down on a sofa near the door, and Trent settled next to her. Chase started telling a story, and everyone tuned in to that. Bree felt as if her perfect night was ruined before she even stepped foot on the stage. Something was going on with her band, and she didn’t like it.