Wicked Games

Chapter 6: Abel - Material Girl

Chapter 6: Abel

Why was I so nervous? It's not like I've never performed in front of thousands of people before. But then again, this time, it's different. It's for the Canadians. For my people.

After much deliberation and knee shaking, I decided to stop being such a pussy. John was practising on the drums, and two of the three back-up singers were already practising, so why shouldn't I?

After practising their singing for a while, Kelly and Muhsinah both ran down the stairs of The Opera House, to the ground floor. Typical, weird behaviour from the both of them.

I began to think about where Maddie was, what she was doing. She was supposed to be here, like, nearly 20 minutes ago. Did she forget that she had work today? It kind of... hurt. Out of all of the concerts I have ever done, this one meant the most, and she wasn’t here to share the moment with us all. Why was I going crazy over a mixed-race girl, anyway? It's usually the Eastern-europeans I’m crazy about...

With all of the strength that I had, I pushed myself off of the comfy red velvet sofa I had been sitting on for the past six minutes. I walked up to one of the microphones, tapped it to see if it worked, then began to sing 'The Morning'. I was lost in my own world, putting all my emotional feelings I could muster into it.

A little bit into the song, I began to hear faint footsteps, getting louder with each step. ‘It must be Kelly and Muhsinah’, I thought. Once they got onto the second floor, I realised they had brought another person up with them. Maddie.

After all this time, I thought Maddie had forgotten. But she was here right now, here right now for me. For the crew. She smiled a shy, timid smile at me, which made me smile in return. Her smiles are so contagious.

"I see someone's in love," Lamar whispered in my ear, dragging me away "I would have never thought it would be our own little Abel!"

I slightly turned my back to him, trying to hide the growing embarrassment on my face.

"Stop liking pictures of white girls on Instagram and DO SOMETHING," I said to Lamar

Sighing, he got his Nikon camera out, and began to take pictures of the people who were backstage.

Suddenly, I began to hear an angelic sound, similar to the sound that Lana Del Rey portrays in her music. It wasn’t too loud, but it surely filled the room. Slowly turning around, I realised it was Maddie practising her backing part to 'Lonely Star', looking as innocent as ever. Others began to look at her too, but she was too concentrated in the music. Once she looked up, she realised this, and began to blush in embarrassment. After this, she began to sing quieter, and everyone resumed to what they were doing before they discovered her amazing talent for themselves.

4 hours later

A few pictures taken on Instagram, some alcohol in our systems, and we were all ready to perform. After a few good lucks, I made my way to the centre stage.

"Make some noise for XO and CANADAAA!" I blared loudly into the microphone

Looking into the crowd, I couldn't see one seat that was empty. Suddenly, the crowd began to roar with excitement. John began doing some smooth drumming, the back-up singers began to hum softly, and I began to sing the French part of 'Montréal'.

After I few songs, I could tell that the audience were really enjoying themselves. Some people began to put their lighters up, while others people began kissing their significant other.

"Okay, now. This is the last song of tonight" I began saying; only to hear some disappointment from the crowd "It's quite an old song, but I thought you guys would enjoy it"

The crowd began going crazy, as I started to sing 'Material Girl'. People began to dance and sing along to the song, but my mind was preoccupied. The whole time, I was thinking about how my 'Material Girl' should be Maddie.

Urgh. I'm becoming all sentimental and shit. Not very typical of Abel Tesfaye.

Once the show was over, we began throwing a few XO and Kidult shirts into the crowd. Giving out merchandise for free may seem to be quite bizarre, but it is Canada, after all.

The crowd began to disperse, as I made my way backstage. People began patting me on my back, saying things like 'good job', and 'magnifique'. After this, some of the backstage people who helped out were beginning to go home...

But the night for the XO crew was only just beginning.

Authour's Note:

Aww, Abel's passion for Maddie's so sweet, isn't it? Up to Chapters 1 - 6, it's been all about playing hard to get... but is that all about to change? 

Another thing, guys. I need your help. Like, really bad. I, like, suck at making front covers, so I had to use the one that Wattpad automatically makes (': (I chose it because it reminded me of Toronto, sort of). But I found the picture to the right on Tumblr. So my question is: should I keep this cover, or change it to the Tumblr one? And answer me. Because some of y'all are silent ass readers, and never get your asses involved with me :'(