Beyond Blue Eyes

13: Jade

When Tori and I arrive in Florida, I accidentally bump into someone when I go to get my luggage. "Oops, sorry about that," I say. "Don't worry about it. I'm all right. I'm Jake, by the way. Jake Pitts," says the person I'd bumped into. I look up and realize that he was one of the guys that I thought I recognized on the plane. "I thought I recognized you earlier! I saw you on the plane back in L.A.!" I say. "Now I recognize you! You're the one who got on with the brown-haired girl and kept making her laugh," he says, and I look at him. "Yeah, that was my wife, Tori Vega. I'm Jade West, by the way," I say, shaking Jake's hand. "Hey Jake, we've gotta get going!" I hear a familiar voice call out to Jake. "Relax, bro. I'm just talking to someone," Jake calls back. "We don't have time to socialize!" The other voice calls back. "Oh, just come over here and meet my new friends," Jake says after Tori joins me and introduces herself. After a short pause, four other guys appear next to Jake, and I recognize every single one of them. "This is Jade West and her wife, Tori Vega. Jade, Tori, these are my bandmates, Christian Coma, who we call CC for short. He's our drummer. Our rhythm guitarist and violinist Jeremy Ferguson, who prefers to be called Jinxx. Our bassist, Lonny Eagleton, and our lead vocalist Andy Biersack. I'm the lead guitarist," Jake explains, gesturing to each member of the band as he said their names. We all shake hands, then Andy says that they have to get going to their hotel, InterContinental Miami, which just so happens to be the same hotel that Tori and I were staying at. We also learned that our rooms were next to each other, and we made plans to hang out tomorrow afternoon before their concert tomorrow evening.

When Tori and I get settled into our hotel room, we decide to have some fun together for a bit. The next morning, I wake up to a knock on our door. "Just a minute!" I say, getting out of bed and throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt before answering the door. "Hey Jade. Sorry to wake you up so early, but we have a bit of a situation with the band," Jake says, and he leads me to the band's hotel room. "So, what's the situation?" I ask. "Andy's sick, and he's lost his voice. On top of that, Lonny doesn't feel well either, and he said that he won't be able to play in the concert tonight," Jake explains. "So, what do you want me to do about it?" I ask. "We were kind of hoping that you and Tori could fill in for Andy and Lonny," Jake says, and I can't believe what I'm hearing. "Well, I'll have to talk to Tori about it, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can," I say, heading back to my hotel room. "Hey Jade. Where'd you go?" Tori asks when I walk in. "Jake wanted to talk to me. He wants to know if we can fill in for Andy and Lonny for the concert tonight," I say, then I tell her what Jake told me. "That sounds like fun. I know how much you love Black Veil Brides, so I'm in," she says. "Cool," I say, and I go tell Jake that we're in.

Tori and I spend the rest of the day leading up to the concert learning the set list for the concert, with me on vocals and Tori on bass. By the time we have to go to the concert venue, we've both managed to learn all of the songs we need to. As soon as Tori and I get onstage with the rest of the band, the crowd starts murmuring, and I catch a few people saying stuff like, "what's going on? Who are the girls?" or "I paid to see Black Veil Brides, not three guys from the band and two random chicks." I clear my throat loudly into the mic, and the crowd falls silent. "Okay, first of all, my name is Jade West, and that's Tori Vega, my beautiful wife. Second of all, the band asked us to stand in for Andy and Lonny, because they're both sick. Just because we aren't them, or we're girls, that doesn't mean that we can't perform at the same level as Andy and Lonny can," I say angrily. That really seems to get people's attention, so I promptly introduce the first song. "The first song we have for you tonight is called "Beautiful Remains"," I say into the mic, and the others start playing the song. I grin and start singing the song.

"We gather here to sing for you
The words you've written
Each bloodshot beauty still reigns true
From violent crashes"

After the first verse, I take a deep breath and take a moment to prepare myself to scream the next part of the song.

"GENTLY REST YOUR WEARY HEAD!
WHAT YOU LIVED FOR NOW IS DEAD!
GOODNIGHT!
GOODBYE!
A SOUL SURRENDERING!"

I feel the screaming start to hurt my vocal cords, and I pray that I don't lose my voice during the concert. That wouldn't be very good.

---- Later that night... ----

Almost as soon as I get to our hotel room, I flop down onto the bed, still fully decked out in my costume from the concert. Tori, meanwhile, heads off to take a shower. I make myself get up and get myself a glass of water, which I proceed to empty in one drink. I repeat this process three more times before Tori finishes her shower, and I've just refilled the glass for a fifth time when she comes out of the bathroom. "Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" She asks. "I feel alright. My throat is still really sore from all the screaming, though," I say, starting to drink some more water. "Hey, how much water have you had to drink?" She asks, and I stop drinking the water for a bit. "This is my fifth glass," I say nonchalantly. "You've had four full glasses of water since I went to take a shower?" She asks with wide eyes. "Yeah, so?" I ask. "Jade, you shouldn't have drunk that much water in fifteen minutes," she says, and I hang my head. "Hey, don't feel bad. I'm just making a suggestion," she adds. I continue to look at the floor, so she pulls me into a deep, passionate kiss. I completely forget why I was upset, even where I am. Heck, I don't even remember anything else that happened from then on when I awake the next morning.

----

Okay, so that was a fun chapter to write. I hope you enjoy it. Also, in regards to the recent news about Betty White, it's really hard to believe that she's gone. R.I.P. Betty White. Until next time.