Page 124 of Never To Suffer

All of us nervously watch as the competition comes on strong and doesn’t let up no matter how hard we all begged for a string to snap or an amp to blow. Dani would have hated that, though. She wants to win, but she’s all about winning fair. If their tour bus broke down, she’d be finding room on their own to cram everyone in to make sure they all got to the show, that’s how she is. She knew this was the band to beat, and she wants to beat them the LA Proper way.

This will be close.

To make matters worse, they’re letting the crowd vote. Not by cheers or interaction, but with actual votes in these cheesy booths. It’s a great tactic, they get to shut down the stage and set up for a big, streaming announcement while keeping the crowd entertained. Meanwhile, we’re kept entertained by Ethan’s continual shutdown of Steve’s ideas for voting more than once.

An hour passes, the last of the crowd votes have been called for, and now, we’re all too nervous to talk or joke around.

Beetle

They’re saying they want us all on stage in two minutes.

They’re totally going to try to drag this out even more.

Yeah, I got that vibe from out here. How are you four doing?

Beetle

Noah’s got no nails left to bite. Connor and Sky are plotting what to do when the winner gets announced, and it will probably get them both arrested.

I’m…weirdly zen.

No matter what happens, we love you. Both of you. I may come shank people if you don’t win.

Beetle

Vacation after this?

The only thing close to a vacation we’ve ever taken was for Ethan and Steve’s wedding, when they flew us out to Italy for a week.

I think we’ve earned it, babe

I’m proud of you, Dani.

Beetle

I’m proud of you, too, Xander. We finally fucking did it!

And we’re still together!

Beetle

Always!

Oh shit, gotta go. See you soon-ish.

When the curtain pulls back, NotOkay Records has a huge stage production setup. Dani and Sky look up toward the booth and wave at us, even though I’m sure they can’t see us. They’re holding hands so tight, I swear I can make out the white knuckles from here.

“Okay, we’re going to get right into this, folks!” The guy who introduces himself as the CEO of NotOkay Records yells into the mic. “We’ve got a ton of shit to go through, but as a thank you for getting your votes in, following the concerts, and being generally awesome, we’re going to bring it down to two bands.”

A mixture of cheers and boos comes from the crowd, although I'm not sure why they’re booing.

“I know, I know! But we have a definitive gap between votes for third and second place. So, without any more stalling…”

When they announce the two bands leaving, a collective sigh of relief carries from our section and through much of the crowd. We’re still in this. Dani should find that encouraging if she notices it. LA Proper has the advantage of this being their home turf. But will the hometown crowd carry them through?

Another hour of tour date announcements, upcoming bands and releases, videos of random people from the crowd filmed after they voted, and the anticipated but still cheered reveal that next year’s contest will be filmed and streaming on some big service goes by. We thought the pre-show sex would help with the nervous energy, but that didn’t last. The bands have come on and off the stage at least five times. Each time, I notice the combined worry and excitement on Dani and Sky’s faces.

“Relax, baby. There’s nothing we can do now, and especially not from up here,” Theo reminds me, his hand on my knee. I’m not sure how he’s keeping it all inside as he sits back and looks cooler than any of us. Meanwhile, everyone else in our box sits on the literal edge of our seats. If they make us wait much longer, these seats won’t ever fold up properly again. The head guy comes out again, blabbering on and bragging about their company and how great it is.

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