Page 12 of Just My Type of wrong guy

“You look really pretty. You look like the girl who came to our meeting three weeks ago,” A.J. comments, and Thalia gives me a sideways look. “Not that you don’t look amazing in long dresses, but the vibe, you know?”

“Are you counting the weeks you’ve known her and telling which outfit gives moreher vibe?” Richard teases A.J., giving him a playful slap on the neck.

“My music partner knows I’m just being nice. And she’s right,samba is hot!” He repeats the words from my t-shirt.

“Three minutes for Alex to go on,” Pietra yells, invading our space. “The stage is waiting for you, go rock it!”

“Can you put her in the VIP area between the stage and the premium pit, please?” I ask Pietra, who nods and takes Thalia after she says goodbye with a kiss.

“And you,” my cousin turns to A.J., “keep those hands off her duringOne Last Kiss!”

“I only kiss people who scream my name,” A.J. jokes, and I raise my arm to throw something at him.

But the only thing in my hand is my mom’s guitar pick, so I lower my arm and turn. I take a deep breath, ready to be embraced by the seventy thousand people of the night, happy because at least one of the people I love is with me.

Chapter Four – A.J.

They said I wouldn't be nothing

Now they always say congratulations

Worked so hard, forgot how to vacation

Congratulations - Post Malone

Hearing fragments of Alexandra ’s conversation with the manager last night stirred something in me. I didn’t catch everything, but I got the context and confirmed with Rick that the point we’re at is the same: Our parents don’t love us enough to accept our careers.

Maybe I was just worried she’d spend the night alone, thinking about the things said in that hallway, and not the adrenaline of the moment, but I suggested to the guys we bring her and Thalia here. My excuse was a toast and pizza to wrap up the first few shows, and everyone agreed.

Leaning against the glass doorframe with a cup of hot chocolate in hand and my feet between the living room and the balcony, I watch the sun bathe Leblon and, even though I don’t want to, it’s impossible not to think about the highs and lows that music has given me so far.

The first thing my parents said when I dropped out of medical school to sing was that I would never amount to anything, that the music world is rotten, and that good people like me never make it in that world. Thinking back on the obstacles I faced during the first two years of my career, I can’t say they were wrong, and even after all this time, it still hurts to remember.

Weeks after I turned eighteen, I left Canada for the United States with the promise of becoming the next ShawnMendes. A year later, the only thing I had achieved was the habit of drinking a shot of vodka at breakfast to face the day, and two roommates who were also signed to my manager.

In other words, we hated each other, and everything was a competition. For new songs, party appearances, women, guys… everything was savage in that world. Just like my parents warned me.

To be honest, I did get a hit song.Always Usblew up so much that it played everywhere in the U.S. But it was one of those cases where everyone knows the song but no one knows the singer. In the end, it didn’t really change much for my career.

And then came that day.

One single day, with a meeting and a proposal that destroyed everything I thought I had achieved.

So, my parents were right. So right that, consumed by shame, I preferred to get government aid during COVID, move into a student apartment, and work at a fast-food restaurant than tell them what had happened and go back home to finish my studies. And I was so wrong that, even though they reached out a few times, I never answered or picked up, and in the end, I changed my number.

The shame of having fallen suffocated me. And, to be honest, it still consumes me now, even though I’m on top of the world.

I shift my weight and swallow every fragment of my journey, from the dreamer kid who left Canada toNext Idol, almost two years later, and now, when I am someone, not just to my parents, but especially to that jerk who tried to destroy my soul. I take another sip from my cup, feeling secure in knowing that I’ve risen high enough that he’ll never be able to bring me down again.

“Head in the clouds?” Alexandra asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I take in her crumpled face, wanting to explain to her that not having the support of the people we love isn’t the end of the world, and that, as far as Vicious is concerned, her career is going to take off.

“No, just thinking about my life,” I say instead, but I’m not lying.

“Ah, right, how’s the life of the Vicious Bonds guitarist?”

“I was actually thinking aboutthe other life. Before, and everything I lived through to get here.”

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