Rocker Boy

by Wendy Knight

  JoAnn took her to the airport that night. Harli was flying the red-eye home so she wouldn't miss school the next day. With tears in her eyes she didn't even try to hide, Harli hugged her grandmother tight, wishing she could stay there and never leave. It was safe with JoAnn. No one hurt her. There was enough love to keep the pain away.

  But life was all about finding a good thing and running from it.

  At least, that was what Harli's life was all about. She kissed JoAnn on the cheek and backed away. "I'll call as soon as I get home."

  "Don't forget! I love you!" JoAnn waved, tears in her eyes, too, making them red-rimmed as her lip quivered.

  "I love you, too!"

  And then she was gone, through security and up to the terminal, leaving JoAnn behind. Her plane, luckily, was on time, and she boarded and settled in for a good nap before her layover in Denver.

  Unfortunately, her plane there was late. An hour late. Grumbling, she plunked herself down in the terminal. Cameo Prince's Night Show was playing on the ceiling mounted TVs, and Harli practically had it to herself. She stuffed her guitar case under her seat and curled up like a small dog, trying to go back to sleep.

  "Our next guest is a last minute surprise. They called me out of the blue a couple days ago and said they have some earth-shattering news."

  Harli peeked up at the TV, curiosity captured. Cameo's elaborate makeup, his Kohl lined eyes and wild hair, not to mention the satin purple shirt covered in lace ruffles… he hadn't changed at all since Harli had been on The Last Chord. She smiled and her eyes drifted shut again.

  "Well, what could I say, except come visit us here tonight! I'm as anxious as the rest of you, so let's wait no longer. Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome Shattered Assassin!"

  Harli shrieked and sat up so fast she toppled out of her chair. The gate attendants nearby all hurried over, alarmed, but Harli barely noticed as she stood up and slowly backed into her seat, eyes glued to the TV.

  There, walking across the stage, was Levi.

  He looked so good. So beautiful. Torn jeans, tight t-shirt, tattoos snaking out from under the sleeves and disappearing into his cast. His hair was perfectly messed, and his eyes—

  His eyes didn't sparkle like they usually did.

  He sat nearest Cameo. Colin sat on his other side, Dorian next to him, and… and there was no Graham.

  They kicked Graham out of the band!

  Harli felt like she was watching some docudrama unfold in front of her. She was thrilled for Levi. He had enough stress without having to deal with babysitting Graham.

  Cameo, of course, dove right in. "Thank you for coming. I'll just quickly congratulate you on your recent success. Your tour has been smashing all kinds of records."

  It has? But Michael said—

  "And you've recently had two songs nominated for a Grammy."

  Harli nearly fell out of her seat again. How had she not known this?

  "You've been avoiding the Forums and the TV, Harli."

  Oh. Right.

  "But these are things I, we, the world, already know. And you said you have something earth-shattering to share with us. So, what's the news, and does it have anything to do with Graham, Shattered Assassin's drummer, being conspicuously absent?"

  Levi ran a hand over his face. "First of all, I just want to say that we came to you because—"

  "You're our favorite," Colin cut in with a smile. But it was a sad smile.

  Harli frowned. Something bigger than Graham was going on.

  "—And because you've been with us since the beginning. Thank you for having us on such short notice."

  Cameo waved a hand through the air. "I just bumped some minor celebrities who will hate me later and throw pies at me in public."

  Everyone laughed. Except Shattered Assassin… and Harli.

  "We are very sorry," Dorian started.

  "Don't worry about it, and stop dragging your feet. What's the big news?" Cameo propped his chin on his hands and waited.

  "Well." Levi cleared his throat. Harli hung on his every word, her eyes devouring him. She remembered what he looked like. She had pictures, of course. But her memory and the camera never did him justice.

  "You notice Graham is gone. We had contract issues and Graham chose to leave rather than work things out. That was his decision, and we respect that." Levi's teeth were clenched.

  Colin reached up, squeezed Levi's shoulder, as if offering him strength and comfort, like Angie did for Harli.

  Except that Colin was real, of course.

  "So you're looking for a replacement?" Cameo asked, absolutely delighted.

  "No."

  Harli's eyebrows shot up. The gate attendants around her all gasped. The audience gasped.

  "No, we're not. At this time, I am also stepping away from Shattered Assassin."

  CAMEO NEARLY FELL OUT of his chair. Levi tipped his head back, blinked at the ceiling, and prayed for strength.

  "How can you do this? You're at the height of your career—I just don't understand—Explain yourselves," Cameo finally snapped.

  Levi couldn't speak. This was harder than he had expected. He loved it — the concerts, the songs, the excitement — but it was time to go.

  "You remember Harli. Our drummer during The Last Chord?" Colin asked, taking over when Levi couldn't.

  "Of course. Who doesn't? Sam, play the clip. Play the clip!" He waved his hand through the air impatiently. Several seconds passed before the shot of Harli playing came up behind them. Levi twisted to see, afraid to blink because on this screen, she was life-sized, and he wasn't sure he would ever see that again.

  He wasn't sure, but he was going to try his damnedest.

  "Well, we have a secret. Harli and Levi have been together for four years."

  More gasps. Levi wondered if the audience was told what reaction to make. He winced and glanced sideways at Cameo to judge his reaction.

  Cameo smirked. "You don't say."

  "You… knew this already?"

  Cameo rolled his eyes heavenward. "I was there for the entire competition. Plus—" He raised a hand. "—Plus, did you see him when he was talking about her at our last interview? Sam! Roll that tape!"

  Levi blushed as the screen behind him switched from Harli to them, specifically, him, practically drooling as he described Harli in workshop class in junior high.

  "Freeze it right there. See that face?" Cameo pointed to the screen. "That is not a face one wears when one isn't in love with whomever one is talking about."

  Levi dropped his head into his hands, laughing. "Fine, fine. Guilty. I'm guilty. I'm crazy about her. I'm so crazy, stupidly, totally and completely in love with her I can't think straight." He dug around in his soul for courage, trying to find the words to make this right. "The problem is, she thinks she's ruining my career. She thinks she's standing in the way of our happiness," he said, motioning to him, Colin, and Dorian. "And she made me let her go."

  The crowd all cooed and Levi nodded. "But there's a problem with that right there. Because this — this life, this dream — it was our dream. A dream I shared with her. And I—I don't want it if she's not in it."

  The crowd erupted. Levi knew he'd be called ungrateful and co-dependent the next day in the tabloids. He knew what he was doing, dragging their names through the mud. And it killed him.

  "But what about your bandmates? If you quit, they're pretty SOL." Cameo raised an eyebrow.

  "No. No they're not. They're amazingly talented, and there is a lot of talent out there. They'll find another drummer, and they'll find another singer."

  "But you, my friend, are what makes Shattered Assassin — Shattered Assassin."

  "No, actually. I'm not. She was. And she's gone."

  "We realize we can't replace him," Colin said quickly, "Nor do we want to. The problem is that every single one of our songs is about Harli. And Levi, actually, no guy in the world, including Levi, can go to concerts and sing beautiful songs he wrote when he was with the girl he lo
ved. It was killing his soul. And we have enough respect for him to let him walk away."

  "But can't we just get Harli to come back?" Cameo cried. "Where is she? Sam! Get Harli on the phone."

  Sam, flabbergasted, called from backstage. "We have no number for Harli, Cameo."

  "Wow. The Forums are going nuts right now." Cameo had apparently momentarily forgotten about calling Harli. Which was a relief. She would have killed them all with her drumsticks if Cameo Prince had called her on national TV. "Pull up our feed on the Forums."

  "ARE YOU SEEING THIS? Where the hell are you?" Jace yelled into the phone. "He's quitting Shattered Assassin! You can't let him do this!"

  Harli could barely blink. She, along with the gate attendants, were all glued to the TV. She had thus far stifled her sobs into her fist, but the pain on Levi's face, for everyone to see, was heartbreaking.

  He's quitting. Because of you.

  This is exactly what I was trying to stop from happening!

  Angie was silent. Harli was having conversations with herself.

  That wasn't alarming at all.

  "Harli!"

  "Yeah. Yeah, I see it, Jace. I'm in Denver. My plane is late."

  Kim, in the background, was squealing. "Do you see what people are saying? Look, Harli!"

  "No," Harli groaned. "I don't want to. They're going to—"

  "They're begging you to take him back! Women, girls, whoever they are, they don't care if Levi is taken! His manager was off his freaking rocker!"

  "See, the problem is," Colin was talking again. Levi was reading the Forums page behind him. "Harli was led to believe, by our former manager, that her influence is causing us problems.And I agree. It is."

  Harli felt like she'd been punched in the stomach.

  "Here are our reviews for this tour. Pretty good, right?"

  The crowd roared. The Forums page and all the rapidly coming comments disappeared, and a graph showed up behind them.

  "Sam, you genius! I didn't even have to tell you!" Cameo grinned. "And yes. We see your fabulousness."

  "Well, look carefully. See the ones with the highest scores?"

  Cameo nodded.

  "Those are when Levi was with Harli. See the ones lately? With the not-so-great scores?"

  Again, Cameo nodded, winking at the crowd.

  "That's when Harli left. Also, that was when Levi broke his hand and couldn't play guitar. The crowd loves his guitar."

  Somewhat belatedly, Harli realized Levi's hand was still in a cast. But then her eyes flew back to the screen, checking dates and scores.

  Colin was right. They'd done better when she and Levi were together.

  Michael had lied.

  "This is astounding. Already 10,000 posts from the Forums. Are you seeing this, boys? These people don't see Harli as a detriment. All they care about is that you keep playing!" Cameo was caught up in the excitement, positively glowing.

  Kim screamed. "Harli! Do you see that? Find Levi! Find him right now! Tell him it's not too late!"

  "Kim! He doesn't have his cell phone on in the middle of a live interview!" Harli yelled back, her heart pounding.

  People didn't care. They really didn't care. She could be with Levi.

  Numbers don't lie. Her math teacher had drilled that into her head. The numbers on that chart said that she was good for him. Good for Shattered Assassin.

  "Look at this one: 'Shattered Assassin, please reconsider. Let's find Harli and tell her we love her.' Sam! Why don't we have her on the phone yet?"

  Harli looked in horror at the phone in her hand, eyes wide.

  It didn't ring.

  "Here's another thing." Dorian spoke for the first time. "Harli isn't just Levi's muse. She's a muse for our entire band. Hell, the first time I got to see her play in real life, I was blown away. It made me want to be better. Colin's met her. Colin loves her. We've played with her, and there's nothing like it in the world. Shattered Assassin might not be Shattered Assassin with no Levi, but it's no Shattered Assassin without Harli, either."

  "Harli! Do something!" Kim yelled.

  All the gate attendants were watching her with wide, excited eyes. Most of them were texting, too.

  Harli realized seconds later that they were not, in fact, texting.

  "Here's one! Look at this!" Cameo said excitedly. "I'm with Harli right now. She's watching this unfold and she's crying like her heart is broken. There is hope!"

  Harli gasped and whirled on them all. "Sorry," the blonde one said. "I thought they should know."

  "Flykeeper08, tell her to call in. Tell her to talk to Levi and save Shattered Assassin. It's all in her hands."

  "Did you hear that? They want you to call!"

  "I'm not calling." Harli glared, crossing her arms.

  But Levi was talking. She spun around to face the TV again. "No. It's not all in her hands. I'm not going to put this kind of pressure on her. We're here to tell you we're done for a while, and that's that. Harli, Sunshine—" Harli's heart stopped as he seemed to stare right through the screen and into her soul. "—I love you. And I don't want this dream without you in it."

  "Well!" Cameo sat back, face dark with disappointment. "I guess that's that, then. Wow, this was not the news I was expecting tonight. We're going to take a commercial break, and we'll be right back to say our final goodbyes to Shattered Assassin."

  "Wait!" Harli screamed. The few passengers in the terminal all spun on her.

  "Attention flight 386. We will begin boarding for Salt Lake City, Utah, in ten minutes."

  "Aaah!" Harli shrieked, on her feet and practically jumping from tile to tile in her panic. "Jace! Jace!"

  "What, Harli?" He was much calmer than she was.

  "Is it true? Is he better with me?"

  He didn't answer for several long, long seconds. Harli looked from the TV to the gate and back to her phone to make sure he was still there.

  "Yes, Harli. Yes, he's better with you. Everyone is."

  Not everyone. Not Selicia. The hope whittled away from her deflated heart. Selicia wasn't better with Harli. Harli had—

  She heard Levi's voice in her head. "You want me to let you go? Fine. But you have to let Selicia go first."

  And then Angie, whispering in her heart. "Selicia is standing between you and Levi. It was never you standing between you, and it was never him. Let her go, Harli. Let her go and let my brother in."

  Something shifted. Maybe it was the universe. It felt like it could be. For the first time Harli could remember, it seemed like the darkness lifted. She gathered her strength, gathered everything she had, and held Angie's hand.

  And then she pushed Selicia out of her heart.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "LEVI, I KNOW YOU THINK YOU'RE done, but I beg you to reconsider." Without the cameras on, Cameo lost his flamboyancy, leaning across his desk to talk to Levi in earnest.

  "That's why we did it on national TV, Cameo," Colin said. "Because we don't want to flip flop all over the place and cause any more heartache than we have to. One sharp blow, and we're done."

  "But what if we could find her? Talk to her? I like Harli. She's a great girl. She's not stupid. I could bring her on the show—"

  "And she would strangle you with her guitar strings," Colin said with a smile.

  "It's true." Levi nodded.

  "Cameo, we're back in five, four—" Sam counted down with his fingers, and Cameo slid back into his stage personality.

  "Well, ladies and gents, it looks like we're out of time. It is with a sad, sad heart that I—"

  "Wait!" Sam bellowed.

  Cameo whirled toward him, with Levi, Colin and Dorian following like puppets.

  "I think we've got her! I think this is her!" Sam was screaming, bouncing all over off camera, pushing buttons on his computer. "Twenty-five thousand posts, and I found her," he muttered smugly.

  "Twenty-five thousand posts in the span of minutes, people. Did you hear that?" Cameo said, watching the screen like his life
depended on it.

  Levi, too, couldn't look away. Please, Sunshine. Please be there.

  "Rockergirl101 says, "I'm sorry. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I've always been yours, Levi. I always will be. Please don't do this."

  Levi was on his feet. "Bring it back! Let me see it again!"

  The crowd was roaring as Sam fought to find the post again. "There!" Levi yelled when he saw her handle scrolling by. Sam froze it and enlarged it.

  "Harli? Are you serious? Are you—Harli?"

  Sam went to her wall, with the entire country watching, waiting for her reply.

  "Yes. I'm serious. I'm done running."

  Levi felt like he had wings. Like if he jumped, he could fly right through that ceiling and home to Harli.

  Another post came and he spun around to read it. "My plane's leaving. I'll call you when I get home. I love you, Rocker Boy."

  Cameo was on his feet, as well. Colin clapped Levi on the back and Dorian was getting the crowd even more riled up than they had been.

  On national television, he'd gotten the light back in his life.

  No more darkness.

  "So." Cameo cleared his throat, went back to his desk and sat down, prim and proper. "What shall we do until she calls? Are you guys up for a song?"

  Levi laughed, but he couldn't sit. He was infused with so much energy he felt like if he sat down, he'd start to vibrate like a purring cat.

  Not a good look for a grown man on national television.

  "I love you, Cameo, more than words can say," Levi said with a grin. "But we are not having that conversation on your show. I will, however, keep you personally updated, if you want."

  "Do I!" Cameo threw his hands in the air.

  "But," Colin interrupted. "We can say our thank yous for getting our muse back by playing for you. Maybe… Levi's new song?" He looked questioningly at Levi. "We don't need a drummer for that one."

  "Please, please, please, please, please?" Cameo begged. "I'll be forever grateful."

  Levi laughed. "Okay. That, I can do."

  SHE WASN'T SURE HER stupid plane was ever going to land. It was only a forty-five minute flight, but it felt like at least six hours. When they touched down, and she could turn her phone on, it buzzed continually for over a minute with missed alerts.