Hey Girl (Turn it Up #9)

Chapter 12

12

CHRIS

“ D ude, wait until she hears ‘Hey Girl’. Jack shakes his head, his eyes darting around, wistfully. He has the nerve to sit parched, all relaxed on a concert box with his arms crossed while I pace back and forth like a confused chicken. “I can’t wait to get the crowd’s response to it, too,” he adds. He always gets a hard-on when we have a new song to debut. If the crowd shits their pants over it, we’ll consider recording it. I’m not seeing that happen though, as it’s definitely a far cry from our usual sound.

I give a nod, and look around at my surroundings as I continue to pace, hoping it will get me out of my head - a place I don’t normally spend a lot of time in because, holy shit, it is way too freaky in there.

Stage techs zip past me left and right, patching in cords to amps and sound boards, while others test the different filtered spotlights. It’s the 200th anniversary of the St. Michelle theater and the seats are already packed as Jack and I engage in our routine pre-show chill. Normally we’d be doing that in the dressing room but I’m pretty sure Matt is in there giving Josh his thirty-seventh come to Jesus talk about his back room, groupie- and alcohol-fueled-shenanigans. That rascal.

It’s getting closer to showtime. Nothing is actually happening, but I can feel the shift in the energy, I always can. And then the lights from the end of the corridor are partially blocked by Mayzie with someone else.

Long waves of tawny hair with streaks of platinum and are styled in a way that covers half her face. Mayzie whispers something in the girl’s ear, a look of excited mischief on her face, before the girl lifts her chin and gives it a gentle flick to the side, softly tossing the long, wavy hair out of her face to reveal striking green eyes that flash at me from behind fluttery black lashes instead of a pair of glasses.

Holy fuck, it’s Rebecca.

When our eyes lock, her eyebrows go up along with the corners of her mouth. Her smile is nervous as hell but excited. I rush to grab her up in my arms. Holding her close and lifting her off her feet, I’m delighted to find that while she’s been made over nine ways of Sunday, she still smells the same: like a spring garden after a soft rain.

Shut up, that’s what she smells like.

I set her down almost as quickly as I scooped her up so that I can stand back and get a better look at her, but keep a tight hold on her hand.

“Ho- ho - hooo…” - I’m not calling her a ho or imitating Santa Claus, I swear to God, I just… words…

“Welcome to my world,” she quips softly, smiling and shyly looking at the floor before looking back up at me, as if she inwardly nudged herself to.

“Ho. Lee. Fuuuuuck,” I finally exclaim, looking from her spikey heels up to her black lace top.

I take her hand and slowly guide her to twirl so I can scope out the full package. Fuck, she’s even wearing some edgy jewelry.

I can feel myself shifting to a different persona. It’s still me, but it’s as if a new level has been magically added on to the imaginary house inside me and I’ve just stepped inside the new room. I’m now in a place where I talk and act like a normal, fucking grown man who’s smitten by a beautiful girl.

“You look breathtaking, Mouse,” I breathe out as my eyes continue to pan up and down before landing on those eyes.

Rebecca

Out of nowhere, his face seems to fall.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m amazing,” he shakes his head, his eyes darting up to mine. “You’re amazing. I just hope you didn’t do this because you felt like you had to. You don’t have to change for me, you know that, right?”

My heart tightens and seems to stop for just a missed beat before I swallow and nod up at him. “I know. I like the way I look right now,” I explain, lifting a shoulder because I don’t even know how to make it make sense.

“I do too, don’t get it wrong, lovely. I’m blown away.”

“So am I.” I grin and lift an eyebrow. “I mean, going into tonight, I felt … inadequate, like I didn’t belong in my own skin. So when Mayzie offered to help me get ready, I thought it might help and my goal was just to look nice. But then she brought in Enrique and -”

“Oh dear God!” He freaks, cutting me off. He pulls me in, cradling my head. “Tell me she did not show you Enrique! You poor thing! I’m going to have a serious talk with Maze -”

“No!” I pull away and protest. “I mean, yeah he was a shock at first, but he…” I shake my head, looking for the words, but there are none to describe what Enrique did for me. “He changed the way I see myself. I feel so… strong. Like for once I’m bold, confident, and feel like I belong in this body and on this planet. And while I’m still a ways off, I feel like I could one day not give a f-fuck what people think about me. I still need work, but the difference is—now I think it’s actually possible.”

Chris drops his forehead to mine, closing his eyes. He looks as if someone took a heavy weight off his chest and he’s feeling the relief. So he surprises me when he says, “I’m so fucking happy. I think that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m just sorry I couldn’t be the one to do that for you.”

“What?” I feel my own breath shiver in my chest. “Babe, you did so much more.”

“I’ve helped you here and there, but -”

“You made me want to,” I point out with a firmness I didn’t know I was capable of. “You’re my whole reason for wanting to. And the truth is, I’m still scared sh-shitless. But you make me feel safe enough to try.”

He rests his forehead against mine again and squeezes both of my hands. He’s quiet, and while that makes part of me nervous, another part of me is thinking it’s okay; that maybe I’m just doing the opposite for him that he’s done for me.

“You’re all I think about,” he finally says. “And now getting to sleep at night is going to be extra hard.”

“You mean mid-morning?”

“Smartass.”

“Showtime!” Someone announces, and I can only assume it’s Matt as I can only see my sexy drummer man right now.

“Come here,” Chris leans away but doesn’t release my hands. He starts slowly pulling me with him and I find myself leaning back as I realize we’re headed to the stage.

“No,” I start to protest but then he steps into me and places one hand on my back and one of my hands in the other.

“Just a few steps.”

I can’t get over how calm he’s remained.

“I promise, Mouse. Can you take just a few steps with me?”

My heart is still in my throat but it’s not even a question. With a gulp, I nod, though I’m still pressing my back against his hand a bit. We’re just on the other side of the curtain when he stops us and pulls it aside, just an inch. Just enough for me to peek through.

The lights have gone down, and though Jack, Josh and Matt hustle past us in the darkness with their guitars all strapped on, Chris hangs back with me, and points towards the crowds.

“See all those people out there?” He asks rhetorically as I take in all the lights wavering around in the dark theater.

And just when I’m about to reply with Yeah, are you going to throw me out in the middle of their fray now, you fucking traitor? I remember what I’m supposed to say instead.

“Those are just fireflies.”

“I don’t believe you,” he snickers and I can’t help a small smile.

“They’re fireflies,” I say again, this time with that same, new affirmation that came to me before.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” He plants a swift kiss on my cheek and running out on the stage.

The guys start the show off with a thunderclap, as soon as they’re illuminated by the stage lights. After the third song, Matt takes the mic to thank the audience for being there, and to reminisce about how they shot their first music video in this iconic theater. I glance around at the other two girls and find that Melanie has a look of bittersweet nostalgia on her face as she watches Matt step away.

When I think they’re about to get started on another song, Jack lets go of his guitar to grab the mic.

“What would you guys think if our drummer came up to the mic and showed you what he can do with his vocals?” Jack teasingly asks the audience who respond in an eruption of cheers. “That’s sweet of you all.” Chris rises from behind his kit, laying his sticks down on the snare. He looks nervous, but gives Jack a mock menacing look when. Jack continues, “See, there’s a pretty lady he wants to impress, so…”

What? No. Not…

He can’t mean me.

Jack slides his guitar strap off and hands it off to his tech and gives Chris a slap on the back before making his way toward the back of the stage.

“Wait a minute…” Chris asks into the mic with a questioning yet comical look on his face gives a small tug on my heart, despite my confusion as to what’s going on. “If I’m up here, who’s going to play drums?”

The fans respond even louder than I thought they could. with a roaring sound of laughter and delighted cheers when Jack stands behind the drum kit.

“Jack?!” Chris exclaims in mock astonishment, letting his voice go slightly high-pitched and I feel a tickle in my belly that ripples outwards through my body, the laugh shaking a few of the nerves out.

“Please, totally planned,” Melanie leans in on my left to say in my ear.

“They just like to frenzy the crowd,” Mayzie adds on my right.

It’s working. The audience is definitely losing their shit. Jack sits on the stool and twirls one of the drumsticks while raising an eyebrow at Chris like he’s been sandbagging him with hidden drumming skills. By the deafening roar, it’s easy to see that the fans are exhilarated at the prospect of seeing how multi-talented these guys actually are.

“Okay…” Chris draws out, looking back at Jack, eyes squinting with a faux look of skepticism before slowly swiveling his head back to address the audience. “Our front man thinks he can drum,” he scoffs rolling his eyes, and can’t hold on to the giggle that escapes. He can be funny and silly all he wants but it will never cease to be sexy.

Chris puts on something of a game face, looking uncharacteristically serious as he takes hold of the mic in both hands.

“I’ve got a special girl on my mind, and I hope you all don’t mind if I sing her a little something I wrote for her.”

Josh and Matt start strumming on their respective instruments as Jack starts impressively slamming out a beat, and by now, I’ve listened to all their albums enough to know this is something they haven’t played before. Ever.

My heart thumps. Mayzie gives me a little nudge with her elbow, not taking her eyes off her man behind the drum kit, unabashedly biting down on her bottom lip.

As if he couldn’t surprise me enough, Chris pulls a shiny device out of his back pocket and when he brings it to his mouth I am downright stunned at how he nails an impressive harmonica riff, and I feel a warm tingling in my lady bits.

As the music segues towards the first verse, he pulls the instrument away and grips the mic to sing the first words, and sweet lord, his voice. It’s not low like Jack’s but it has a raspy quality to it that just breathes sex and the way he tosses those golden strands of hair out of his eyes as he cocks his head to look towards me sends my heart into a tailspin.

Hey girl,

I see you there,

Hiding behind your hair

You’ve got a pretty face,

Though you think you’re out of place

I want to show you,

This world should know you.

His blue eyes dazzle as they hold onto mine, refusing to let go. My mind has a hard time deciding whether to get lost in them or the lyrics.

He wrote this. I can’t believe it.

The place may be packed full of devoted yet nameless fans, but the look in his eyes, as he refuses to turn his face back to them, tells me he’s singing only to me.

Come with me and just let go

Of all those fears that keep you so low

We’ll help each other fly

Take this thing to the skies

I’ll take us up fast

You bring us down slow

I feel a warm flash burst across my skin and I only just now realize that I’m dancing a little.

My man.

I can’t believe I’m here.

As the song starts reaching its last chorus, Chris turns to me with a look on his face that takes me a moment to decode. For a flash, I think he looks sad but then I immediately realize that’s not it. He looks thoughtful, his eyes casting between the floor and my eyes. He looks just a bit reticent and in comparison to his baseline, perma-grin, it worried me for half a second. But now, I realize what he needs.

“I love it,” I mouth to him and the twinkle in his eye is enough to incinerate the thong Enrique insisted I wear with these jeans. Chris returns his attention to the crowd, while I look around for someone to slap me and laugh in my face that obviously I’m going to wake up in the next few seconds, twisted up in my pink and green floral comforter with two or three items from my vibrator collection discarded nearby and a disgusted look on the face of Mr. BooBoo, the stuffed rabbit that brought me comfort as a kid.

Now that’s just sick.

The song comes to a gentle end and Chris still grips the mic, looking over to me with a smug smile that correlates way more with his personality. I giddily bounce up and down in place, not knowing at all what to say but the best part is how little he cares. He simply places his fingertips to his lips and throws me a kiss before slapping hands with Jack and returning to his place behind his kit to the soundtrack of apeshit, roaring fans.