Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Forty-Nine

    Jahron jogged backstage with a huge grin on his face. He spread his arms out.

    Drake hugged him and gave him praise on his performance thus far. "You're killing it, boy, you're killing it," he said.

    Jahron grabbed a bottled water from the cart near the entrance to the stage, opened it, and didn't hesitate in chugging it down. When he was finished, he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. "The crowd is on fire," he said, chuckling. He shifted his glance from Drake to Mia, who stood behind him. "Are you two ready?"

    Drake nodded. "We're ready, yeah." He turned to Mia. They'd practiced the song for the past half an hour. Each time, their voices only got better. "So what's going to happen is, Jahron is going to go out and he's going to start singing 'Recognize.' Right?" He looked to Jahron for confirmation.

    Jahron gave the thumbs up since his mouth was preoccupied with gulping down another bottle of water.

    Drake turned back to Mia. "Then I'm going to go on stage when my part comes on. Jahron and I are going to go through three songs - 'Recognize,' 'Over Here,' and 'Preach.' After 'Preach' finishes, the lights are going to go down. Jahron is going to hang back for a minute. The song you wrote is going start to play and I'm going to rap the part that I wrote. Shortly before your part comes on, that's when you come out on stage. Get it?"

    She nodded.

    Drake looked at Jahron. "She needs a mic." 

    "On it," Jahron said, climbing up the short metal stairs he'd just jogged down. When he returned, he held a plain black microphone in his hand. He showed Mia where the switch was located. "This one has been tested. It's ready to go."

    Drake set his hands on top of Mia's bare shoulders. "Do you understand what you need to do, or did you have any questions? Now is the time."

    She shook her head. "I'm good," she said, her voice slightly shaky.

    He lifted his brows. "Are you sure?"

    She nodded.

    "You got this," he told her. "Don't worry about it. They're going to love you. The OVOFest crowd did."

    Jahron snapped his fingers. "I knew I recognized her from somewhere. You're the girl who went on stage with Aubrey at OVOFest?"

    She nodded.

    "Yo, you were amazing," Jahron said. "Can't wait to see what you do on the stage."

    She offered a weak smile.

    Bri emerged from the dressing room, ending a phone call. "Is she about to go on?"

    "In a bit, yeah," Drake replied.

    A young, blonde-haired man wearing a headset briskly approached them. "PND is back on."

    "Showtime," Jahron said, nudging Mia in the arm. "You'll be great, doll. Don't stress." He went back up the short metal stairs. A moment later, the music to "Recognize" started playing.

    Drake rubbed his hands up and down Mia's shoulders. "You're going to be fine," he assured her.

    "I don't know if I'm ready for this," she whispered.

    "You did a great job before, at OVOFest," he pointed out.

    "I was put on the spot. Operating on pure adrenaline," she said.

    Bri gave her a look. "This is your time to shine Mia. It's time to step up, girl. Now isn't the time to get all shy and shit."

    "Tell her, Bri," Drake said. "I need to get going, because my cue is going to be up any minute. Talk to her." He gave Bri a serious look before turning and heading up the metal stairs.