More than Music

25

My thoughts exactly. Since there was nothing to do but wait for Angel, I picked up my coffee and took a sip, but it had gone cold now. Yuck. I moved across the room to dump the plastic cup in the trash.

“No, you tell him that doesn’t work for me. All or nothing!” Angel yelled at someone on her phone, pacing across the room like an angry jungle cat. She waved her free hand as she spoke and backed right into me, knocking into my arm. Coffee splattered all over both of us, and time seemed to slow as Angel looked down at herself and then up at me.

“You stupid b***h!” She wiped coffee off her leather jacket. “Look what you’ve done!”

“I’m so sorry!” I looked around for some napkins or something, my face burning. All of this was being filmed by the camera guys, who were probably thrilled to have captured some drama. I could only pray some kindhearted producer cut this moment so the entire country wouldn’t laugh at me. Kyle ran over and handed me some napkins, but Angel waved him off when he offered her some.

“I don’t have time for this s**t,” she snapped and turned to the door.

“No, you don’t seem to have time to be a mentor at all,” Jared said.

She spun to face him. “What did you say to me?”

“You heard me.” He moved to stand in front of me, like he was going to protect me from her wrath. “And you need to apologize to Maddie.”

Angel pointed a finger at Jared. “You ungrateful little s**t, you’re lucky to even be on this show!”

Seeing her shout at Jared upset me even more than her calling me a b***h. “We should have picked one of the other mentors.”

“No kidding,” Hector said. At some point, he’d moved to stand beside us, fists clenched at his sides.

Angel looked like she might strangle one or all of us. I was surprised the show didn’t intervene, but they probably loved this stuff. “You’re done,” she yelled. “Tomorrow you’re all gone!”

She stormed out, followed by her entourage, who either gave us looks of sympathy or ignored us completely. The door closed, and we were alone again.

“This is all my fault,” I said, my shoulders slumping. “She’s going to send us home because of me.”

Jared ran a shaky hand through his hair. “No, if anything that was my fault. s**t, what have I done?”

“I can’t believe you said that to Angel,” Kyle said. “Even if it was true.”

He sighed. “I know, it was stupid. I just can’t stand bullies, and when she yelled at Maddie, I lost it.”

There he went, being my big brother again, but this time I didn’t mind as much. I placed my hand on his arm. “Thanks.”

“What do we do now?” Hector asked. “We’re screwed.”

There was only one thing we could do. We had to nail this song and hope for a miracle.

We arrived at the Nokia Theater early on Sunday for a quick soundcheck, followed by an hour of hair and makeup. We got to pick our own outfits for this show, and of course we all wore black. I had on a low-cut top with leather pants, of all things, and after about ten minutes, my crotch was sweating and I was cursing Julie in my head. But I had to admit, I did look pretty hot—and we needed every advantage we could get tonight.

We filmed a clip about what it was like being mentored by Angel, and we’d forced smiles and lied through gritted teeth about how great it was. We’d decided being honest wouldn’t help us if the show was trying to cover up what she was really like. Now that our battle with The Static Klingons approached, I found it hard not to bite my dark red nails and tear out my extra-volumized hair. We already knew Angel was going to pick The Static Klingons no matter what happened today, and our impending doom hung over us through every step of our prep work.

Our gear had been transported to the theater and carted away, and it made me realize how much we left it in the hands of others. I hated giving up my guitar to strangers and trusting they wouldn’t mess it up or misplace it, but bands on tour did it all the time and The Sound had this down to an exact science after so many years.

We were shuffled into a waiting area for Team Angel’s bands, where we could watch what happened through giant TV screens. The battle rounds weren't live and didn’t use the rotating stage; instead, the two competing bands were both set up on opposite sides of the main stage. As the first competitors went on, I found myself munching non-stop on the chips and cookies they’d put out for us while trying not to watch Jared flirt with the mohawk girl from the punk band. The only way to distract myself was to eat my anxiety away, until Sean appeared next to me at the food table.

“You’re getting crumbs all over your shirt,” he said, trying hard not to stare at my cleavage and failing.

“Ugh, thanks.” I brushed off my chest with a sigh. “I thought eating would help, but now I just feel sick.”

“Me too. This whole week has been overwhelming. Very different from life on a farm, trust me.”

“I bet.” For a few minutes we watched the screen, where two country bands from Team Lissa took turns performing “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum. The first band was good, but they were missing a certain spark, while the second one, Fairy Lights, was led by a pretty blonde teenager with an amazing voice. When both bands finished and Lissa chose Fairy Lights, it wasn’t a surprise at all.