Page 54 of Selling Out
Austin and I agree to feel out the day and see how everyone does, but he really doesn’t want to cancel.
“If push comes to shove,” he says on our way back to the buses, “you’ll do backup alone.”
“Push cannot come to shove,” I say firmly. “No pushing or shoving.” I don’t know why the thought of doing it by myself isso terrifying, but it is. It’s not like the backup vocalists are the focus of attention. Austin has that covered. But I feel less conspicuous when Rose and Kelly are next to me. Not just visually, but vocally.
Austin takes medicine to Paul, while I take it to the girls.
They both look awful, and the bus doesn’t smell fantastic, frankly. I crack the windows and spend a good hour cleaning and nursing, losing hope with every passing minute they’ll be up for a performance later.
Even if they were feeling more lively and less attached to the toilet, vomiting isn’t exactly great on the vocal cords.
But today, I believe in miracles. I have to.
Eyes closed,I lie on the floor of what’s supposed to be the dressing room for Rose, Kelly, and me but is currently deserted. I take in a deep breath and let it out as slowly as possible.
Austin’s song,Heart on Fire, is playing through my earbuds, calming me. And making me fall deeper in love with his voice. At the moment, my nerves are the more pressing issue, though. I’ll deal with the whole falling in love thing later.
For now, I’m thanking my lucky stars the hiccups haven’t arrived.
We have ten minutes until we’re on stage. Just Austin and me.
“Mia.”
I open my eyes and flinch. Austin is standing right over me.
I take out one of my earbuds. The music pipes into the room, albeit softly, and I hurry to press pause.
He puts out a hand and pulls me up. “What were you listening to?”
“Nothing,” I say. “Some warm-up videos.”
He raises a brow. “If justlisteningto warm-up videos helps you warm up, you’re even better than I thought.”
“Warm-up as in calming,” I say, wishing I’d come up with a different lie. “What’re you doing in here?”
He smiles. “Got a little surprise for you.”
That word acts like a match on the gasoline that is my nerves. My body spasms as a loud hiccup escapes me.
“No, no, no!” I bury my head in my hands.
“I thought surprises helped you getridof hiccups,” he says.
“Normally they do. But I’m hanging on by a thread here, Austin. What’s the surprise?” My eyes widen and hope blossoms in my chest. “Is it Rose and Kelly?”Hic!
“No. But it’s still good.” He grabs something in his back pocket, grinning widely, and reveals it.
I stare at my phone.
“I guess the mom of the kid who stole it demanded he return it. I wasn’t totally clear on the details, since the security guys he gave it to don’t speak great English. Apparently, your sister Gemma called your phone at one point, and they found out through her how to find you. She called the phone a few minutes ago, after security gave me the phone, to make sure they followed through, so we had a nice chat.”
I blink and take the phone from his hand, speechless. I never thought I’d see this thing again. Bless Gemma for being such a nosy sister.
“This too,” he says, handing me my purse.
“I can’t believe it,” I say, rifling through it like it might be some other person’s. It seems too good to be true. The stress of losing my phone and purse got put on hold last night with the whole Venetian gondola experience, but it came on full force this morning.
I throw my arms around him without thinking. “Thank you so much.”Hic!
