Deadly Dynasty

5

September 2019

"So, what do you guys say?" Dinah Chappelle asked us.

Dinah was an employee at Creative Arts Agency. She was the one who contacted the band when our popularity grew on social media. My heart was beating out of my chest. I looked to my right, where Wyatt sat next to me. 

To my left was Viktor, our drummer. He wasn't from here. He was from Sweden. He moved to the states when he was eight years old. Even now, he still had a bit of an accent that fans grew to love. His hair was a pale blonde and his eyes were so blue that people are convinced he wears contacts. He nervously scratched the light stubble on his face as he looked over at me.

To Wyatt's right sat Chris, the bassist. Chris was kind of the wildcard in the band. He was spontaneous and charismatic. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and he was open about being gay. He didn't care what people thought of him. He didn't care that some people thought his skincare routine was too feminine. He didn't care that people wanted him to cut his brown nearly shoulder length locks. Like Viktor, Chris had blue eyes, but they were more of a pale gray.

From where I was sitting, I could see Chris eyeing Dinah, like he was expecting her to say something rude. He was gorgeous. Really, everyone in the band was gorgeous...and then there was me.  Dinah remained quiet as she looked at all four of us hopefully. This would be huge if this agency signed us. This same agency signed artists such as Beck, All Time Low, Breaking Benjamin, and Autumn Skies.

I cringed when I saw the Autumn Skies poster on the wall while walking into the building. Wyatt and I kind of had a beef with them four years before when we were just a duo and they were growing in popularity. Long story short, Autumn Skies was signed with an agency that is not well liked, they wanted us to go on tour with them, Wyatt and I were thrown into a "band" that really seemed like more of group of confused emo kids, and Wyatt and I were forced to change our sound. When we learned that Autumn Skies were the ones to convince the agency to do this to us, we knew that our relationship with them was dead. Not to mention the fact that the drummer also broke my heart and their fans treated me like garbage because of it. Thankfully, Wyatt and I were able to get away from the situation and go back to school.

"If you don't mind, we'd like to have the room to ourselves so we can discuss." Wyatt told Dinah. She gave us a brief nod before leaving. All four of us rose from our seats and stretched before walking around and taking in everything. The room was huge and surrounded by glass windows. The carpet was a vibrant orange and the furniture was red. In the middle of the room was a long, glass table with rolling chairs on each side. But Dinah told us to sit on the couch since it was more comfortable. Giant glass panels separated the room from the rest of the building, and behind the couch we were seated on was a giant glass window that showed us the gorgeous Los Angeles scenery. I folded my arms and stared out the window. The sun was setting and yet everything outside was still so bright. This was completely different from South Carolina. My heart ached when I thought of South Carolina and what happened there.

It has been seven months since the oyster roast. Seven months since I made the drunken decision to get on the boat with Parker and the rest of our friends. Seven months since the accident that killed her. Seven months since I bumped my head so hard, I was put into a week long coma. Seven months since I woke up and learned that just hours before, they found her body in a marsh. Seven months since I last saw or heard from Liam.

It has been four months since Parker was charged with her death. Four months since I saw his mugshot circulating everywhere. Four months since I last talked to him.

It has been three months since I spent my summer in Australia, even though it was winter there. Three months since I met Shane after seeing one of his shows. Three months since we fell in love almost instantly. 

It has been one month since I had to leave him. One month since we promised to keep in contact. One month since we determined that our love was strong enough to survive the distance and time difference. 

A lot happened in only seven short months. In a cruel way, the accident helped boost the band's popularity. People wanted to learn about the accident that took place on that cold February night, and in turn, they Googled everyone involved, and eventually, they would stumble upon our videos on YouTube. Despite all of our talents, we would not be where we are right now if it weren't for the accident that took her life. But if we had a choice between fame and bringing her back, I knew we would all choose to bring her back. She didn't deserve to die so young. 

Her heart was pure. She was full of nothing but love. She loved her friends and family, she loved her boyfriend, she loved animals, I couldn't think of a single thing she disliked. I would oftentimes go back and watch old videos of her on Snapchat. I would look at selfies we took together. My favorite photo was a screenshot of us face timing, and her laughing her head off over the cowboy filter she had on. She was amazing. She was so beautiful, one of the most beautiful people in my life. And just like that, her light was snuffed out. I hated Parker for the first month after the accident. It was all his fault. What I was unaware of was the immense guilt he felt over the accident. Nobody wanted anything to do with him anymore, especially not Wyatt. 

Because Wyatt fell for her. He fell hard. He fell for her the moment he saw her. He hated seeing her with her boyfriend, but she was happy and that was good enough for him. Her death destroyed all of us but it hit Wyatt and her boyfriend the hardest. And from what I've learned from Austin and Collin, it also destroyed Parker. After learning that Parker kept her obituary in his truck, I couldn't bring myself to hate him any longer. I knew it was slimy. I knew I should cut him out the way everyone else had. I knew that it was a smack in the face to her. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to let go of him.

"What are you thinking about?" Viktor's voice interrupted my thoughts. 

I was caught off guard. Were they discussing and I wasn't listening? I quickly turned around and my eyes darted over the three guys looking at me. 

"O-Oh...I was just thinking about...life. About everything that has happened. And now we're here..." I knew I sounded dumb, but I couldn't admit that I was also thinking about Parker.

"Well we aren't going to be here much longer if we don't make a decision. What do you say?" Chris asked me. He was catty oftentimes, but we knew it was playful. 

"What's the score, here? Who is aye and who is nay?" I asked.

"So far, its three ayes, zero nays. It's all down to you." Wyatt told me.

"No pressure!" Chris added in.

This is what all of us wanted for years now. We worked so hard to get here. We went through so much. This decision was a no brainier.

"Looks like we have four ayes, then." I said.

All three of them let out a loud breath and I saw Viktor do the "yes" gesture with his arm.

"Alright, let's get Dinah back in here!" Wyatt said.