Hurting Kind//Del Water Gap

Chapter 7

Ivy 

We left for the first tour stop a few hours ago. It was Niall and I with a couple of other tour managers. The first stop was Belfast. It wasn't too far from London. We had a few shows there before going back to Ireland. I was super anxious because I was going to go back to Mullingar to see my mom and brothers. I haven't heard from my dad in ages. It didn't help that I still haven't had a full conversation with Holden.

"Niall would you calm down?" I asked annoyed

We were on our way to the venue. He wouldn't stop moving. His knee was bouncing like a hundred miles an hour.

"Sorry, I'm just excited. It's been way too long since I've toured." He apologized.

"Well I've never been. I'm nervous about it."  I voiced

"Why are you nervous?" He looked at me

"Because what if I do something wrong? Or even worse, what if Holden doesn't like me?"

Niall shot me a weird look, "You are great at your job. I asked the boys because I remember you said something about working with them. The two had good things to say about you. And I'm positive Holden will like you. We are practically the same person and he likes me just fine."

"Okay whatever you say." I replied right as we pulled up the the venue.

We entered through the back. We had a few hours until the show and there were fans already lining up outside. Dedicated I'll give them that. We started to walk inside and there were so many people already here. 

"Niall it's time for sound checks!" Our tour manager, Paul, informed us. "Holden is first then you are immediately after."

"Sweet, thank you Paul." Niall said and started to walk to the stage. 

Paul looked at me, "Ivy follow me. For this show we are showing you what your job will be and next show you'll be doing it hands on. We are going to ease you into it and by the end of tour you will be doing it by yourself." He explained as we walked.

"Great, thank you so much."

"From what I understand, you and Holden haven't really talked. You need to get to know him so you know exactly wants." 

"Okay got it."

"Just through here" he pointed to a door 

I walked in and it was heaven to me. There were sound people like everywhere. The amount of mixers made me feel so excited. I stood there in awe.

"Are you Ivy?" a girl who looked around the same age as me asked. She had an American accent.

"Yeah that's me." I replied 

"I'm Natalia. I'm the one teaching you. Don't worry I won't be mean. Besides we are going to be sound partners for the rest of the tour." She spoke in a giddy voice

"Perfect! I'm really excited" I smiled at her.

"So, I've been working with Holden since the beginning, but things came up and I have to quit touring soon. This is my last tour." She said with emotion in her voice.

"Well I'm excited to work with you." I smiled at her

"Come on let me show you what our job will be. We do the same thing for like 40 minutes each tour."

She walked around to the very side of the stage. There was only a curtain covering us from the crowd. You could see the whole stage from here. It was amazing.  I could see Holden from the other side.He was getting his mic and tech stuff put on. 

"Stop drooling and get over here." I heard from behind me.

Blushing, I turned and saw Natalia looking at me. "Sorry, Natalia."

"Oh please call me Nat. It's going to be a long tour if you don't keep your eyes to yourself" She said with her hands on her hips. You could tell she was just joking. 

"I wasn't staring. I just happened to look at him right as you said something." I defined myself. I made mental note on how it was a perfect excuse.

"Except I sat and watched you stare." She gave me a mom look. 

"Oh whatever" I replied. She caught me

"Yeah now come over here so we can start." She nodded her head in the direction of our station. 

I watched her as she explained what button did what. She was a natural. She explained at most of the buttons wouldn't be used due to the type of music he prefers. Some buttons are a voice distortion and others changed his tempo. We only really needed 4 or 5 buttons for every show. 

The first one is for how loud the mic is. The second one is the one that controls his in ear monitor It turns the volume up or down. There's a signal that he gives if he needs up or down. The third button is his personal guitar. He only trusts Nat with it that's why we have it. The fourth is what switches the songs in his ear. We press that button as soon as the light turns on. He has a small button on his mic that indicates when he's ready for us to press it. The last button is only for emergencies. We hit it if he needs off stage immediately. He has another signal special just for that. Nat had told me that she's only had use it once. She didn't tell me what for though. 

Nat had explained all the buttons to me before she went through his signals that he uses. He will point up or down for his ear monitor. If he needs off stage he taps on his heart three times then looks at us. We had ran though each one multiple times before I knew each button and signal. 

"You're a quick learner." Nat complimented me

"Thank you" 

"Okay he's about to start sound check, are you ready?" She asked as Holden came out on stage.

She hit the button that starts everything up.  The mixer lit up and the 5 buttons were glowing. She hit the one that starts the song. 'Perfume' started playing. We watched as he sang along and occasional adjustments were made. By the time he finished his sound check, everything was ready. The show starts in a few hours. Gates open as soon as Niall gets done with his sound. It should't take long because he was here earlier. 

"The best part about finishing the set is watching the fans run in." Nat said as she walked up behind me. "Come on we need to talk to Holden about what he thinks and then we can come back and watch the fans." Nat pulled on arm

"Okay" agreeing I tuned and followed her out. Nerves were rising in my throat. I didn't know what to talk to him about. I was just gonna follow Nat's lead.

"How'd you meet Holden?" she asked on our way to his dressing room

"I met him when Niall saw him backstage after his festival set. I was dragged with Niall that day."

"Oh so you know Niall personally?"

"Yeah he's my cousin" I was surprised she didn't know.

"Oh that's so cool!" She said with wide eyes

"Yeah it its. I get opportunities like this because of him"

"Well I'm glad you're here" She smiled, "Here we are. I'll do most of the talking because you're new so don't feel awkward. Pretty soon you'll do all the talking." 

"Okay" I breathed. Here we go. 

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So a little but longer of a chapter

There aren't going to be a lot of sound checks in detail but they will be mentioned. 

I have no idea what any buttons mean on a mixer so I made them up. If you see any mistakes let me know and I'll fix it. 

I hope you like it. 

I love you

-Cami <3