Page 74 of Wylder and the Secret Rockstar
“Little sis!” Becks nearly knocked her down in his rush to give her a hug.
“Becks. You came. Don’t remember inviting you.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss a chance to see my little sister play drums again for the first time in ages. You didn’t think I’d let Nicky come without me, did you?”
“We told him we should just slip into the back row and not make a fuss, but you know Beckett.” Nicky shrugged, leaning in to give her a hug. “You’ll be great,” he whispered in her ear.
She was secretly glad to see her best friend and her brother, as well as her former bandmate, Nari and Nari’s boyfriend Avery. It was almost like anAnonymousreunion.
“No pressure, Wylds.” Becks dropped an arm around her. “Just remember to have fun out there.”
“Thanks, Becks.”
“Miss Anderson? Mr. Cook, you’re up next,” Mrs. Shepherd announced. “You best get dressed quickly.”
“Um, we didn’t know we needed to wear anything special, so this is it.” Wylder held up her hands. “I hope that’s all right.”
“Well, you better hope your creativity wows this crowd. I don’t want you to lose points, but you should have paid closer attention in class. It’s too late now, so you’ll have to go on as you are. Go, take your place just off stage. I’ll announce you in a few minutes. Good luck.” Mrs. Shepherd rushed off to see to her other students.
“Let’s just get this over with.” Logan stood up, a little unsteady on his feet.
“Diego?” Wylder whirled around. “You all set to run the show for us? Just like we rehearsed.”
“I’m ready.” He clutched his computer to his chest. “Good luck out there.”
“I can’t believe I’m about to do this.” Logan stood trembling beside her as they waited for Mrs. Shepherd to announce them.
Wylder reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, hoping it would calm his nerves because he was really starting to freak her out.
“Just wait for Diego’s lights to come on, then we’ll go out, and it won’t be so bad.” At least she hoped not.
“Thanks.” Logan took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“For what?”
“For being here with me, trying to keep me from not freaking out.”
“Is it helping?” She grinned.
“Not much.” He grinned back at her.
“Please welcome to the stage, the incredibly talented duo, Wylder Anderson and Logan Cook!” Mrs. Shepherd turned toward them and clapped along with the crowd.
“That’s our cue.” Wylder grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his. “You ready?”
Logan shook his head. “Does our school really have this many people?” He looked out at the crowded auditorium.
“Don’t look at them, look at me.” Wylder took a step forward as Diego’s lights fell across the stage, creating a curtain of tiny white and blue lights. “See? They won’t even notice us,” she whispered as they took their places behind their instruments. She’d had them place her drum kit to face Logan’s keyboard so neither of them would have to face the audience.
As Logan took his seat behind his keyboard, he gave an audible sigh. His shoulders relaxed. He was going to be okay.
Wylder tapped out a beat on her drums, playing the intro to the song they’d played more than a dozen times in the last two days. They were ready for this. Logan took up the same beat on his keyboard, and a pair of dancers swept across the stage. The audience gasped as the white silhouette of a girl danced away from the blue silhouette of a boy. Logan’s voice rang out strong and confident as he launched into the first verse.
Wylder gave him a huge grin as she leaned toward her mic and let her voice join his in a perfect harmony.
Logan smiled back, ignoring anything happening beyond the veil that separated them from the audience. “We’ve got this.” She mouthed before it was her turn at lead vocal.
Lights flickered across the stage, and Wylder picked up the pace of the beat in preparation for her drum solo, oblivious of the absence of holograms and fairy lights that were there a moment ago.
