Dancing with the Boys (Harry Styles Love Story)

Chapter 23: A Show To Die For

Chapter 23: A Show To Die For

The stagehand’s mouth dropped open, but my facial expression didn’t change. In fact, I didn’t even have a facial expression. This may not make much sense, but I had so much anger in me, the fact that Madison took over my place, the fact that she had my girls doing backup, that the anger didn’t even show. If you can’t understand, think of it like the way they say the earth spins so fast you don’t even feel it.

I looked at the man, waiting. He eventually came to his senses and spoke into his headpiece.

“Jeremy, I need a mike for the stage.” The man looked at me. “Attached or handheld?”

“Attached,” I responded. Another man came hurrying up and gave the mike to the stagehand before stopping and staring at me, dumbfounded. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Well?” I demanded. The man began fixing all the necessary wires as fast as he could, finishing in record time.

I thanked him and turned and walked towards the wings, my face hard. I straightened my red glitter top which I wore beneath my black jacket. I looked down at the white jeans I wore and my black boots, taking a deep breath. I shook my hand so the bracelet Harry gave me fell down to my wrist instead of being up my arm.

I could hear few cheers. Everyone was murmuring, probably wondering who this girl was. Listening, I heard the girls sing backup and knew which lines were coming next. I adjusted the mike to make sure it was perfect.

“We can do this all night, turn this club skin tight, baby come on.” My powerful voice filled the speakers and I walked with confidence onstage. I saw Madison reel with shock and the girls’ mouths dropped open in amazement, forgetting to sing, but I continued. The hall was immediately filled with cheers and screams, so loud I couldn’t hear myself think.

When the chorus came, Madison finally found her voice and began singing nasally into the mike. But the audience was not having it. They began to shout at Madison, booing her. I picked up the chorus and walked over to the girls. It was time to give the audience the show they deserved.

The girls and I had an entire concert planned out for me to first release this song, and I’d already taught them the choreography for the dance. I only hoped they remembered. Beginning the second part of the chorus, I began dancing.

After the first line, the girls came next to me and began dancing at once. We moved in synch, going towards the centre of the stage. Kate and Katie came up on my right and began singing with me, our voice coming together, forming a perfect melody. As the bridge came, we stood in V-formation, with me at the top.

I couldn’t see the audience because the lights were so bright onstage, but I didn’t mind. The air was alive with energy and I fed off of it, feeling no fatigue. The cheers and shouts egged me on, willing me to do every movement with power to impress. I leaped and spun and kicked, loving the way the yells increased when I did something particularly impressive. I realized how much I missed performing, recognizing how it became a part of me.

I didn’t know where Madison had disappeared to, and I didn’t care. As the chorus came together again, I threw myself into the dance and I knew this was where I belonged. All that restlessness I’d been feeling for the past days, it was finally being satisfied in this moment. I was with my girls, on stage, performing in front of an audience who screamed my name the loudest they could.

The air was full of positive vibes, it practically crackled with it. I was singing the best I’ve ever sang before, doing the movements fluidly and easily, putting every single emotion I felt into the dance. There were some dances that when you did them, you entered your own world. You can’t see anything, only hear.