Beautiful Mess

Chapter 19

 “Riley, it’s almost time for sound-check,” Brooke said. She was running around my room helping me find something to wear tonight. Our stylist team was currently helping out with some awards show and wasn’t able to help us tonight. This put Skylar into a frenzy. She was stressing out about, so Brooke decided that she would help me when she could. Skylar felt somewhat better, but not much. She came in to check on me every now and then before she would run about getting stuff ready for tonight. Brooke would assure her that she had this handle and with a second a glance back over at me, she’d be off.  

 “Is Tiffany going to be there?” I scowled. I pulled a brush through my hair before pulling the sides up and into a ponytail.

 “Probably,” Brooke replied. I rolled my eyes in the mirror, putting some chapstick on and slipping into my tennis shoes. I had a pair of yoga pants and a tank top on. It was my pre-show look.

 “Why is she here?” I exclaimed. I whipped around to face her. She was holding my jacket and a bottle of water. I graciously accepted before leading us out the door.

 “Maybe because Chase invited her?” Brooke said.

 “I think she invited herself,” I said. I took a sip of my water. “This is just what I needed. My mother threatening to take me home and Chase’s ex-girlfriend joining us on tour.”

 “I don’t think it’s going to be that bad,” Brooke said. I glanced behind me as we turned the corner that lead to the stage, giving her a look. “It’s not.”

 “What if they end up getting back together? What am I going to do now?” I asked.

 “If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out. If not, then there’s always another,” Brooked said. I rolled my eyes once more and took the steps to the stage. Brooke followed close behind.

 The boys were already on stage as we arrived. Skylar was running around making sure the crew was putting things where they needed to go. I glanced over at Chase who had his arm around Tiffany’s shoulder, talking to Ian and Lucas. The sight sickened me. Sonya and Adam were in the corner, talking amongst themselves. It was looking pretty intimate and I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows. Sonya glanced over at me and smiled.

 Brooke led me to the microphone and motioned for the boys to take their stands. Tiffany and Sonya left the stage, walking down the steps to stand in the hallway. Chase glanced over at me and smiled. I quickly adverted my eyes. It was stupid to get jealous and angry over their relationship when Chase and I were just friends. That’s what Brooke had told me earlier. There was no reason to be angry at him, though he had led me on. I saw Chase out of the corner of my eye, confused, but quickly shook it off. He grabbed the mic in his hand, fixing it to where it stood on the stand. He pulled his guitar around waiting for the cue from Brooke. Brooke gave me a nod and the guys started to play.

 “I’m so tired of being here

 “Suppressed by all my childish fears

“And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave