by R H Tucker
“Becca, you know it’s not Derrik’s bed.” I shake my head but can’t hold back a laugh. “But yeah, her expression was priceless.”
5
Derrik
Maddox makes his way up to the stage first. The Saturn Girls, an all-girl pop-rock band that plays right before us, linger backstage, talking with us as the crowd quiets down. One of them flirts with our other opening act, JC, who himself is burning up the charts right now. One of the things I’ve loved about touring is making friends with all of them. But I can’t help it, these last few tour dates I’m more excited for than any other times we’ve performed.
“So, I got a surprise for you,” I whisper over to Zoey as the crowd lets out a rumble, seeing Maddox walk on stage.
“What’s that?” Zoey replies.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” I laugh, and she snorts a giggle herself. “Besides, if you’re going to react to all my surprises like you did when you found out about your sleeping arrangements, I’d rather just keep them all to myself until you need to know.”
“I’m serious, Derrik. I will not be the Yoko—”
“Hey.” I put a finger in her face, keeping my wide grin in place. Her brown eyes stay locked on me, still smiling herself. “If you call yourself Yoko one more time, I’ll wake you up every morning by placing Maddox’s dirty socks on your face on the bus. Believe me, you’ll be gagging for a week if I do that.”
She tries to hold a scowl, but her lips break forth with a grin.
“Thank you.” I give her a quick peck on the cheek and turn around, grabbing my guitar. Being close to her has never been a problem. And even after we broke up, we’ll still flirt. I’m thankful that hasn’t changed. “I’ll give you a hint, though.”
“Okay?”
“You know our encore show?” She nods. “I’ve asked the guys if we can add a new song to start it.”
“Oh, now I’m intrigued.” She smiles.
“I’m sure you are, Sporty Spice.” I laugh, and her eyes pop open in shock.
“No. Derrik, don’t you dare—”
She grabs my arm, but it’s no use. I’m already hurrying over to the stage, listening to the crowd erupt as Maddox taps away on his snare drums. Zoey is gonna freak during the encore show.
There’s still a slight moment of nerves that creeps up before I hit the stage. This is our second tour, but the first one we’re headlining. All things considered, we’ve all taken the huge spotlight in a relatively short time good. EJ, I think more than any of us, is the most same. That’s probably why he gets the “nice” label. He’s never let the rock star stuff go to his head and likes to keep a low profile for the most part.
Jade and her brother love it, like me, though Maddox is probably the one who revels in it the most. Think of the biggest cliché rock star vibe and attitude, and that’s Maddox. Complete with partying and drinking, even though he’s the same age as the rest of us.
None of us are the “leader” of the band. We all agreed on that upfront after we lost Kellen. He’s a fantastic guitarist but decided he couldn’t sign the contract. We’d signed with our record company, with Peter working as our manager, but Kellen couldn’t do it. We were gutted because he really is an insanely awesome musician, but we didn’t hold it against him.
From the very first band practice in our garage, we made a pact. We are the leaders. There would never be one person who owned the King name, never one person who decided things for the group. It had to be unanimous. If we ever add more members to the band, or if we want to tour a particular time or place, we all have to agree on it.
We made two pacts, actually. That was the first, and the second was simple—if any of us, for whatever reason, decided to call it quits, the Kings would be no more. We wouldn’t keep it going without all the original members.
Thankfully, there’s never been a hint of that type of conversation because, like I said, we love this. And stepping on the stage tonight, only a couple of hours from where we grew up and went to school, I still feel the nerves. They should be fading because it usually only lasts until I get on stage, and we hit the first note. But not tonight. Tonight, they linger, kind of like at the TV show taping yesterday, because Zoey is backstage watching us. Me.
“What’s up, Inglewood?” I scream out, and the audience cheers in response. I glance over my shoulder, and Maddox spins the drumsticks in his fingers. Jade smirks, and EJ nods over to me. Gazing back over the crowd filling the arena, I pull the microphone closer.
“One, two, three, four!”
Perfectly in sync with my words, Maddox starts us out and hits his drums. I glance over at Zoey, who’s bobbing her head to the song she’s already familiar with. Giving her a smile, she returns the look, and I let loose the lyrics, starting to sing our first number one hit. The crowd sings along, and the strobe and spotlights we have shining over them swirl around. I can’t believe this is my life. It’s amazing.
The fans continue to sing along as we play our songs, half of which have been chart-topping hits. I still can’t believe the reach we’ve had and how many people want to see us. But tonight, I’m playing to a crowd of one. Zoey will graduate soon, and I have a feeling this is my last chance. I know why she gave up on us the first time, even if that’s not what she called it.
“It’s not giving up,” I remember her words as I back away from the microphone, and EJ plays a solo. “It’s letting you fly. All of you.”
She knew how big we were starting to get, but I don’t think anyone could have seen this.
Whatever her reason, I know she didn’t want to break up. I sure as hell know I didn’t. But I could see she was right. Our recording and touring schedule has been insane. I’ve made sure we remain friends and text her to make sure we don’t lose touch. And in the back of my mind, I haven’t given up on us.
“Thank you!” I call out as we finish another song. We have three more to go, and then we’ll hit our encore show, which is a show in itself. That’s where my surprise is going to come in for Zoey.
“All right, Inglewood,” I call out and walk over to Jade. “How about we let the Queen handle this next one.”
Everyone screams, knowing what’s coming. Jade had two songs on our first album and has two songs on this album that she sings lead on. We all work on the music and putting the songs together as a group, but Jade and I are the ones who usually write the lyrics. She’s an amazing songwriter.
“You guys know we’re from Karmichael, which is only a couple of hours away, right?” she asks the crowd, which cheers.
I take a step over to the side of the stage and grab a drink of water. Zoey looks absolutely giddy, and I lightly splash a few sprinkles of water on her, to which she pushes me, laughing.
“Which is why,” Jade continues, “Derrik said Inglewood and not the generic Los Angeles, like some others might have. We know this place. We love this place!” Another eruption from the crowd. “Like Big Mike’s down on Fourth Avenue. That place has the best burgers in the world!”
I hurry back on stage and bump her with my hip. “Yo, are we playing the next song, or are you talking about burgers?”
“Can’t we do both?” EJ yells out behind me, earning a laugh from everyone in the crowd.
“Maddox?” Jade calls back to her brother.
He slaps his sticks in the air, counting out loud, “One, two, three, four!” He hits his snare drum, and Jade strikes the first notes on her bass guitar at the same time, and we start playing the song. The crowd instantly knows the hit and cheers. As soon as Jade begins with the first line, they sing along.
After getting through the last song on the setlist, we make our way off of the stage, playing it up for the crowd. When we first started doing the encores, EJ thought it was dumb. Not playing them, but going off stage, and then coming right back on.
“Let’s just stay out there. The crowd knows we’re coming back out,” he told us one night.
“It’s about showmanship!�
�� Peter argued with him, waving his fingers in the air.
And our encore is definitely about showmanship. It’s turned into its own mini-concert in and of itself. We know our audience, and while we do have some older fans in the crowd, most of our fans are either our age or a little younger. Since we don’t have a huge backlist of songs to play from, Peter had a brilliant idea.
When we first started touring and performing on smaller shows, we noticed a lot of our fans came with either their parent or someone older with them. So, Peter’s idea was to cover some of the biggest hits from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. But we also incorporate foam parties into the show. Jade sings the Pat Benatar song, “Heartbreaker,” we have Journey and Bon Jovi hits. And we always kick off the encore show with Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” complete with foam shooters that spray around the stage and out into the crowd. It’s nothing short of a party.
Maddox makes his way back up to the stage first, and the instant the crowd sees him, they start cheering. After we all get back on stage, I step to the microphone and give Zoey a sly grin.
“Okay, Inglewood.” I look back over the crowd. “I know most of you know how we get this party started.” Another eruption. “I was hoping you could indulge me for a moment, though. We’ve got a special guest visiting us tonight.” A small chatter of whispers spreads through the audience. “Sorry, it’s not anyone you guys know, but she’s been friends with the band since we started.” I glance over at EJ, smiling. “EJ, would you go grab Little Miss Z for me?”
He starts laughing and walks over to Zoey, who I can hear asking what he’s doing. Stepping closer to Jade, I nod over to her, then look back at Maddox. I’ve gone over this plan with both of them because I wanted to make sure they knew the song.
When we were in eighth grade, Zoey and Becca sang the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” at a talent show. The Kings had just formed as a garage band, and we sang a Fall Out Boy song. We ended up winning, but the real highlight of the event was us being able to tease Zoey and Becca for months on end. Whenever they’d walk down the hallway at school during freshman year, we’d all start screaming out, “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want,” much to the embarrassment of both of them.
EJ helps Zoey on stage, and I can already see her blushing. She shakes her head and her dark brown hair falls over her face. I know she’s going to turn bright red the minute I sing the lyrics.
Glancing over at Jade, I nod. “One, two, three, four!”
I scream out the first lyrics of the song, and she instantly covers her face. I see her shoulders bob up and down, laughing under her hands, while her hair sways back and forth from the motion. We put our own rock twist on the song, and I wasn’t sure how the crowd was going to respond, but surprisingly, they all cheer and start singing along with us. Truthfully, they might sing anything simply because we’re playing it, but it’s still nice that they don’t revolt against the iconic pop song.
When the song ends, Zoey scowls at me with a smile, then hurries off the stage.
“Thank you, guys,” I call out to the crowd. “Okay, let’s get the party started. If you’re ready to rock, give me a yell!” A huge yell floats through the arena. “Awesome, so let’s have a good time! Girls, get your cameras ready. And dads …” I sneak a glance over at Zoey, who’s still shades of pink and red, but she smiles back, “look away.”
EJ hits the first chords for “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” and we start our encore show.
6
Zoey
“Thank you!” I hear Derrik shout again, and they all make their way off of the stage, for reals this time.
They’re drenched in water, foam, sweat, and glitter. I’ve known about their encore show since they started doing it, and seen pictures or videos online of the event, but I’ve never seen it in person. It’s a spectacle in itself.
Derrik rushes over to me. “What’d you think?”
“It would’ve been amazing if you hadn’t embarrassed me like that?”
“I thought you might like that.” He wraps his arms over my shoulders. “Can I do it at every show we have?”
I throw a finger in his face, still wearing a lingering smile. His ocean blue eyes watch my finger for a moment before looking back at me. “If you do, I’ll be leaving tonight.”
“Okay, okay.” He nods.
As embarrassed as I am, there’s a heartstring that’s being severely pulled on. I never told him, but even during all the teasing freshman year, that’s when I developed my crush on him. I push the memory away because this trip isn’t about remembering the past. It’s about having fun.
Jade runs over. “Time for sushi!” she yells, and he starts laughing, nodding at the demand.
“Come on.” He pulls me as we all make our way toward their dressing room.
“What are we doing?”
“After every show, we all wind down on the bus, or in a hotel, and grab a huge platter of sushi.”
“Oh.” My feet stop moving, watching the rest of them walking away. “Isn’t that like a band thing? I don’t want to be a fifth wheel or something.”
Keeping his arm around me, he pulls me closer. “Z, you are part of the band.”
“Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?” Becca shouts behind us, making me laugh.
“Oh, sorry.” Derrik looks back at her. “We’ll try to squeeze you in somewhere, Becs.”
He starts laughing, drawing another one out of me, and Becca rolls her eyes.
“There you are!” Danica yells, running over to us. He still has his arm around me, but she doesn’t pay it any attention, and squeezes between us, wrapping her arms around him. “Derrik, that show was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Becca, stepping a little closer, lifts a brow. “You’ve never seen one of their shows?”
“Well, I’m just so busy,” she counters. “The TV show, appearances, movies.”
“Right.” Becca nods. Then she shoots me a sneaky glance, and I shake my head no. I don’t know what she’s going to do, but I’ve seen that gleam in her eye before. “What’s your favorite song of theirs?”
“What?” Danica stares back at her, wide-eyed.
“Your favorite song?”
Danica immediately regains her composure and stares back at Becca. “All of them. They’re all my favorite.”
“Danica, I didn’t know you were here,” Derrik interrupts the challenge taking place. “What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t Peter tell you? We’re going to shoot a little thing for Life with Stephanie.”
“Why?”
She giggles one of her vapid giggles, tapping her finger to his nose. “Because she’s only one of the biggest YouTubers in the world. Her vids pull in over two million views within twenty-four hours, Derrik. Plus, she’s totally a bestie.”
“Actually, I was just about to head back to the tour bus and unwind for a bit.”
“Derrik.” She sticks out her bottom lip.
I know their situation, but she really has this role down pat. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she really was going out with him. It makes me wonder if she was telling me the truth about not knowing who I am. If she does know Derrik and I used to go out, I could see why she’d be acting like she is. It’s not so much as jealous, but it’s definitely mean-girl behavior trying to claim property.
Then again, she could just want him. She already has the fake relationship set up with him, and maybe she’s hoping it turns into something real between them. Either way, I shouldn’t be thinking about it. We broke up for a reason. A good reason. And he’s still one of my best friends.
My phone starts ringing, and I pull it out to see Landon’s name on the screen. “Hey, what’s up?”
Derrik seems stuck. He’s looking at me, maybe hoping I follow through with him, but still unable to figure a way out of Danica’s plan.
“How’d the show go?” Landon asks.
“It was good. They just finished.”<
br />
“Cool. Franky and I are down the street at Taco Shack.”
“Really?” I look around the backstage area, then roll my eyes at myself and the lame motion. “What are you doing here?”
Derrik’s ears seem to perk up, and he studies me curiously.
“Well, I knew this would be the last time I saw you for a week, so I thought I’d see you off. Want to get some food before you head out with them?”
“Oh, sure. That’d be nice. I’ll be over there in a few minutes. Bye.”
Ending the call, I look over at Becca. “Landon and Franky are here. Well, not here here, but they’re down the street at Taco Shack.”
Becca turns to Derrik, smirking. “Boyfriends, can’t live with them, can’t have tacos without them.”
My eyes pop open. Sudden realization hits her, and she now has the same expression. Derrik’s jaw drops a touch, and his gaze bounces between Becca and me. Danica lets go of him, paying us no attention, as she checks her phone.
Derrik takes a step closer. “Did she just say boyfriend?”
Bringing up my thumb to my mouth, I nervously chew on the nail. I wasn’t sure how to ever bring this up. I know our history, and I know we’ve remained close friends, but he never talks about girls with me. Ever. He’s toured the country, and has girls screaming at him left and right, but he’s never once mentioned them.
“Zoey?” Derrik presses.
My gaze snaps to Becca, who cringes in apology. “Um …” I hesitate. “Yeah. Remember Landon from last night?”
“Are you serious?” His emotions are a mixture of hurt and anger. “Landon’s your boyfriend?”
“Oh, Landon’s a sexy name,” Danica jumps into the conversation with the offhanded comment. “Come on, Derrik. It’d be so much better if we show up together. We can stop by Stephanie’s, and grab some food afterward. Tacos do sound good. El Gallito just received a three-star Michelin rating last month.”