Ember

21 - I hate that man!

Ember

“Ember, if you could just lean back against Marco,”

We’ve been taking photographs with a professional photographer for the past couple of hours. It’s not the first photo shoot we’ve been on over the past month, but it’s the longest. I’m already used to others doing my hair and makeup. I’m even used to people dressing me the way Matt seems to think I should be dressed, though I refuse to wear anything too revealing because I am not a whor.e! Just because I am the only female member in the band, it does not give Matt the right to have me dress like a hooker. I’m selling music, not se.x.

The past few weeks have been hectic. We’ve signed up with a major record company - scary as hell! Marco and I have written some songs that the others loved, and those songs will be featured on the album we’ll be working on next week. Our EP sold tens of thousands of copies, and our fans have multiplied in their thousands.

We’ve done some interviews, and we’ve even been on TV. Well, we sang one of our songs at the end of a popular TV show. I made sure to text everyone I knew to let them know to tune in. Of course, they all did, and my mom called me to tell me how proud she and my dad were of me. Mom even commented on how Marco looked at me and how it came across on screen. I hurriedly changed the subject. Talking about Marco with my mother was not going to happen right then. I don’t know how I feel about him, so making comments wasn’t a good idea.

Life seems to be moving so quickly, and we don’t have a moment to ourselves these days. Around the tour and everything else we have going on, I don’t know what day it is half the time. The record company even hired a PA for us. Caren is fantastic, and she seems to know what we need before we do. She’s also here to make us look good. If we mess up in any way that could harm the band, Caren knows how to spin the story into something positive. Not that the boys and I have done anything to cause us any bother. We’re trying to play by the rules, though we know it can’t or won’t always be that way.

The boys and I have posed for so many pictures today, though most have been fun. The five of us have been larking around a lot. We’ve had photos taken of the five of us together and some individually. The photographer even wanted pictures of Colin and Hannah together. He said it would make a good feature for the magazine he works for.

Now Clark, the photographer, wants a picture of Marco and me, just the two of us. After our second talk, Marco and I know where we stand, and we’ve become incredibly close in the time since. Marco is a wonderful friend, and I hope he feels the same about me.

I am incredibly proud of Marco for how well he’s doing when it comes to saying no to drugs. I know Marco says he was never an addict, but still, the temptation must be overwhelming when they’re all around us at every after-party. Each time, Marco refuses the offer, just as I do.

I can’t say as I know about Marco’s se.x life. That’s not something I ever want to know about. What I do know is that women throw themselves at Marco, and I haven’t once seen him take them up on their offer.

Men are always coming on to me, but I’m not interested. I’ve never been the kind of girl for one-night stands. Some of the girls back home do just that, especially Phoenix, but that’s her life and her choice.

We have security guards following us now, thanks to the Caren. She wanted to ensure we were safe, even if we didn’t realize we needed it yet. The two men Caren hired are huge in size. I’ve seen bigger men, but I feel safe knowing they follow us everywhere.

I do as Clark says and lean back against Marco with my arms across my chest. I can see Marco’s reflection in the window in front of me. It’s dark out, which makes it easier to see him. He has his fingers hooked and a growl on his face like a bear, and I can’t stop myself from laughing. Marco laughs, wraps his arms around my shoulders, and kisses my head.

“This is really good,” Clark mumbles while clicking away with his camera.

Marco leans his cheek against my temple and wraps his arms around mine, holding me against his warm body. I feel genuinely happy today. I’ve smiled for no good reason, and none were forced. I wouldn’t say that I’m entirely over what Lydia and Toby did to me, but I’m moving forward a little more every day. My bandmates are helping me to do that, and I’d be lost without them right now.

“You two make a beautiful couple.”

I raise my eyebrow at Clark, a tall, camp man around thirty years of age and so perfectly flamboyant. I open my mouth to correct him on his mistake, but he’s already calling for Hannah and Colin to get into position.

I shake my head with a chuckle. It should annoy me that everyone we come into contact with thinks the same thing, that Marco and I are together. I’ve stopped looking at social media because people are always writing about Marco Russo and his girlfriend, Ember Marshall. We’ve both tried to correct this in the past.

But what’s the point when people don’t believe us?

Matt said that if we didn’t allow people to write such things, then they wouldn’t.

We’re friends; what does he expect us to do?

Stand a mile away from each other at all times?

Marco said that we should let people think what they want. I argued the point, but he’s right; no one is listening to us.

Why should we stress about it when we know the truth?

All I want to do is make music, and that’s what I intend to do. I make my way over to the refreshment table and grab a soda. I haven’t even opened the bottle, and Matt is beside me. He folds his arms with his eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“What have I told you about drinking this shi.t?” Matt snatches the Pepsi out of my hand.

I stare at him, open-mouthed. I’m getting pretty sick of this crap. If Matt’s not snatching drinks out of my hands, he’s yelling at me about my food choices. Not to mention, there hasn’t been a day gone by where he hadn’t warned me about getting fat.

“How many times have I told you to drink water?”

I sigh and wrap my arms around my stomach. “Why does it matter to you what I drink?”

“Because I’m the man making you look good in the public eye.”

“No, that would be Caren,” I throw back sarcastically.

Matt grits his teeth at me. “The camera already adds ten pounds. Drink this shi.t, and you’ll pile on the weight. You wanna be known as the ugly, flat-chested, fat chick?”

I shake my head in disgust. Every time I tell myself that Matt’s constant digs about my looks and boobs aren’t getting to me, he goes one better. I like to think I’m stronger than this, but I’m lying to myself. I want to be part of Dun’s Dungeon more than anything, but Matt is starting to make me feel terrible about myself. I feel sick whenever I think about eating because I know Matt will have something to say about it. There’s only so much a person can take before the comments sit heavily in your mind. Call me what you want, weak, pathetic, but I am not like the girls back home. I should be because my mother taught me to be strong and not put up with things like this. But I guess I was cut from a different cloth. I don’t want to cause problems with the band. Kicking up a fuss because of Matt would do just that.

I look around the room at my friends. They’re all laughing and having fun, just as they should be. We have to get to the recording studio in two hours. We won’t be recording anything until we get to Texas next week. But Matt wants us to see the inside of a real studio to get a feel for things to come. But right now, all I want to do is run and hide.

“I’m done here.” I move past Matt, but he grabs my arm, stopping me. “Let go of me, or I’ll break your arm where you stand.” I will not have anyone grab me like that! I might keep my mouth shut about his digs, but I will not put up with unwanted physical contact from this prick!

Matt stares at me with a smirk on his face. “Be careful, Ember, I’d hate for you to have a nasty accident.”

I grit my teeth, yank my arm out of Matt’s grip, and walk away. I won’t be drawn into his silly games. I’m here to make music, not argue with a man so backward; he doesn’t know what forward means!

Calm down, Ember. Take a deep breath and clear your head of thoughts about killing Matt. He’s an asshole, but he’s not worth it.