Page 81 of Crash & Burn

“Should be good. Eddie always kills it,” Luke adds over Annie’s shoulder. She tips her head the opposite way of his face, but she lets him put his hands in the front pocket of her jean shorts, so I guess they made up.

“Not talking to you,” she says, stepping forward to be in line with Drew and Emmett who are standing in front of us.

Guess not.

“Eddie mentioned this song may be a little different compared to their other stuff,” Luke tells me. He crosses his arm, and his eyes are on the long brown hair in front of us.

“He did?” He didn’t say anything about it to me.

Not that he would seeing that we talked the most time last night than we have in months, and we were most certainlynottalking about the band.

“Said he had different inspiration for this one,” Luke shrugs. “Not that I can talk much on that, I am not musically-inclined.”

“Yeah, we saw that last night with your rendition of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ last night,” Annie says, turning over her shoulder.

She is good at pretending to be uninterested, but she pays as much attention to Luke as he does to her.

He rolls his eyes and steps forward to stand on the other side of Emmett who is standing next to Drew with one hand in her back pocket. I step forward to fit between Drew and Annie who are talking about how cute the three of us look in our Cross My Heart T-shirts.

Before I can add anything to the conversation, the lights fade and the crowd cheers as Mateo, Theo, Silas,and Eddie walk on stage.

Chapter 27

Mia

The lights come up andasthe guys get into their positions, I feel my stomach do somersaults.They allhave on a black Cross My Heart T-shirt, but each one has their own style with it.

All four guys look fired up, like they are moments away from jumping out of their skin.

My eyes go directly to the drummer.

Eddie is a sight for sore eyes, his bright smile and dark hair perfectly contrasting his tan skin. He has the short sleeves of his t-shirt rolled, showing off his corded arms, and my mouth waters. He grabs his drumsticks from his back pocket before he sits down. I watch his green eyes scan the crowd, not sure what he is looking for, until they lock with mine, and he points at me with one of his drumsticks before giving me a wink.

The world around me spins, and I feel like my movie-moment of locking eyes with the band’s heartthrob just came true, and I can now die happy.

“He knows what he’s doing tonight,” Annie yells to Drew across from me.

“Exactly what he is doing,” Drew yells back.

“Excuse me, I’m right here!”

“Are you?” Annie asks me. “Pretty sure you’ll need both of us to help you pick your jaw up off the floor.” Drew laughs as Annie hits my hip with hers, and we go back to clapping and cheering with the crowd.

Eddie hits his drumsticks together three times, and they start their first song. This is the first time I can listen to the songs without worrying about getting the shot or moving throughout the crowd, and I let myself enjoy it.

Being a part of Cross My Heart has helped me re-discover how important music is to me. I spent so long refusing to let myself enjoy music in fear of what it would bring up. But that is the beauty of it. Music allows you to be taken to the different times of your life, bringing out memories and feelings that you tucked away, and it gives you a space to remind you that you aren’t alone. Music reminds me that while the world can feel like it’s crashing and burning around me at least I’m still here to watch it all go down.

Annie, Drew, and I cheer on the guys, singing along to every song. I see Luke and Emmett nodding their heads to the beat, cheering every time Mateo says, “Thank you,” when they finish a song.

My eyes find Eddie whenever they can, cheering extra loud when I know his eyes are on me. His shirt, as always, comes off before the third song, and sweat flicks off his hair every time he bangs his head down with the beat. His gold chain catches the stage lights, and his arms flex with every move he makes.

He is like a work of art.

Their fifth song tonight is the rock cover of “When I’m Alone” by Post Malone, and I scream the lyrics as loud as I can, not caring that my throat is still sore from singing karaoke last night.

The song ends, and Mateo thanks the crowd. We cheer as loud as we can, not because of how amazing they sounded, but because we all know what is coming next.

“Okay, this last song,” Mateo says into the microphone, “is a new one.”

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