Cherry || Owen Joyner

thirteen

It's been three weeks since I've seen Owen. We're still on good terms and we talk everyday. If we can't call or facetime, we're texting.

I miss him like crazy. I sleep in his hoodie almost every night. I wake up this morning excited. Our gig is tonight.

I had nothing much planned for the morning and early afternoon. But at four, I had to head to the venue for soundcheck.

I get up in a good mood and go downstairs. Nash was in the living room watching Netflix. The townhouse we live in has three rooms.

Two upstairs, one downstairs. Nash took the one downstairs while Kira and I took the two upstairs.

Our rooms face each other and right outside our room is more living space. We have an extra couch, a keyboard, and my electric drums.

Electric drums are basically the same thing as usual drums, they're just smaller and aren't as loud.

They're made differently. I would say that area is a loft, but it doesn't look over the main floor.

We just like to call it our musical space. Nash likes to hang out up there to watch if we're practicing or making a video. 

Nash looks up and sees I'm in the kitchen. "You excited for tonight?" He asked sitting up. "Of course. But I'm honestly scared too." I speak honestly.

I start to make coffee as he walks over towards me. "You got this. I can't wait to see it." He smiles.

I'm happy that Kira and Nash can come to see it. I just wish Owen can be there. I hang out with him for a while, and then Kira walked down the stairs.

She was dressed up and had makeup on. "Can you two help me set my music stuff up?" She asked.

We agreed and went upstairs. I set up the ring light as Nash set her camera up. After ten minutes, we sit on the couch.

She does her intro to her video and then starts the song. She was singing hallelujah. She sang it really well too.

When she finished, we clapped causing her to giggle. She did her outro and ended her video. I looked at the time to see I need to start getting ready.

I get up from the couch and go into my room. I put on a loose black long sleeved shirt and a band tee over it.

I put on black skinny jeans and straighten my hair. I put on makeup and make sure I look good.

"I'll see you guys later after the show." I announce to my friends. "Good luck tonight!" Kira smiled.

I walk out and head towards the venue. I'm meeting my band there so I put it in my gps. It took me about thirty minutes to get there.

When I walk in, my band was setting up. "There's our drummer!" Kilton cheered. I've always loved Kilton.

I grew up with him when we were kids. I've always had a sibling bond with him. My sister met Jesse when they were in middle school.

The boys always saw me as their little sister since I'm much younger and they have a sense to protect me.

My sister has always had a thing for Jesse. But he hasn't realized it yet. "What's up underachievers." I say.

I walk closer to the stage to see my sister talking to someone who looked professional. Harley waved me over so I went to them.

"Saylor, this is the owner of the venue, Duncan. Duncan, this is my sister and the drummer of the band, Saylor." I shook his hand smiling.

"It's nice to meet you. We got the drums set up this morning but if you wanna do a sound check you can." He informs me.

I thank him as I walk towards them. We're gonna practice a few songs to make sure they sound good.

The cover we were gonna do is Blank Space. Even though it's an old one, it's my favorite one to play.

After we do soundcheck and the main band does soundcheck, we have to go backstage since they were starting to let people in.

They told us how it was sold out and it was gonna be packed. While I waited, I hit my drum sticks against my body.

As I sit there, someone came up to me. "We have ear pieces for you." I stood up so they could put them on me.

Whenever they put earpieces in, I know we're about to get on stage. I always get nervous right before walking on.

Harley walked over towards me with her bass on her back. "You ready little sis?" She asked. I nodded as I get even more nervous.

I didn't wanna worry her. They said it was time to get on stage so we started walking. I bend over as I walk to my drums.

The lights were still dark so they couldn't see me. I could hear the boys start playing as the lights went down.

My adrenaline starts kicking up. When they come on stage, I start drumming. The first song we were doing was an original.

It's called This is Why. It's one of my favorites. The lights come on us, almost blinding me. But I love it.

People start screaming as we play. I couldn't really see the crowd well, perks of being on the drums.

During the song, I could see the crowd getting hyped with us. "So if you're wondering why I'm leaving, why don't you stop and count the reasons." My sister sang.

I forgot how much I missed playing live. By the end of the first song, I was drenched in sweat.

I try to look in the crowd but I couldn't see behind the lights. "I wanna thank everyone for coming." My sister spoke.

Everyone cheered and clapped. "We're Hey Violet if you didn't know. I hope you enjoy." She turned to look at me.

I gave her a thumbs up as she smiled. We played a couple more songs, it feeling amazing. When we get to Blank Space, I take a drink of my water.

We were about halfway through our set list. "This one is a cover. You've probably heard of it." Harley spoke into the microphone.

"It's called Blank Space." There were cheers. I listened in the ear piece for my cue and once I heard it, I started playing.

They play the guitars for a second, but they started clapping. It got everyone hyped since we changed it to a pop punk style.

"Boys only want love if it's torture." I did my own thing with it that we had planned. We loved doing this song.

After another twenty minutes, we got done. I think we did really well. I stood up on by my drums so we could bend.

I took my earpiece out so I could hear the crowd. I smiled so much knowing that we got to do this.

We get off the stage excited. That show happened so fast I already missed it. Harley and I squealed when we get off.

After every show, it's like I'm coming off a runners high. They take the ear pieces from us as we talk about our show.

We spent the next few hours backstage talking about everything. We only knew it was done when the main band came back.

They told us how we could leave once most of everyone was gone. I tried to message Owen but I haven't heard from him.

"Hey, Saylor." Duncan grabbed my attention. We all look over as he walked to us. "There's a few people here that want to meet you." He spoke.

"Is it okay if they come meet you?" He asked. I look at my band and they all nod their head. I nod my head as he did the same.

He went to get them and they walked through. The first two people that walked through was Kira and Nash.

I went talk to them. "Big fans?" I asked jokingly. "You were so good up there." Nash praised. I thank them as I hugged them both.

"We do have a surprise for you." Kira smiled. There was excitement in her voice. I looked at them strangely.

Before I could say anything, the door opened up behind them. I drop my jaw once I saw who it was.

"Hey, Cherry."