Cloud Nine

01|Heartbroken

Heartbroken

The music was blaring out of the speakers as I hummed the words to myself, not wanting to embarrass myself in front of my brothers crew.

I was behind the stage as my brother, Jake, performed in his band on the stage. He was lit from the inside to the out, running along the stage with energy coursing through him. I couldn't lie, he was amazing at singing, but I always told him he wasn't. Just to annoy him.

There was something different about this performance, he seemed more... alive. The hairs on the back off my neck pricked up when he finished his song, all the girls on the front row were squealing as he gave them a charming smile - his charming smile.

After every performance he was always ecstatic and it was clear that when he walked off stage he was. His face had a huge grin on it as he wrapped his arm around me, ruffling my hair. "That was amazing, Brook! The best one yet!" He said that every time. Every single one has been the 'best one yet'.

"Mmm. Yeah." I said, not wanting to give him the satisfaction he wanted. I didn't entirely love the fact that he was a worldwide pop star, it pretty annoyed me. I had to have a 'bodyguard', it was never a woman either. My parents want to keep me safe from his fans, I don't think they realise they're all girls who squeal every time he even looks at them.

I slumped in the nearest bean bag, crossing my arms as I took out my phone. Nothing. No text messages, no phone calls, no alerts for anyone. I didn't have to socialise - perfect.

As the crowd slowly calmed down and dispersed out of the stadium, Jake came and sat down next to me. I felt like he was going to give me a 'talk'. Oh how correct I was.

"Brooke.. can I talk to you?" He said, he seemed stern. I knew what I had done wrong, it was pretty simple really but I only nodded, not looking up from my phone. He said something but it only came out as a mumble, not that I cared anyway. Before I knew it, he had snatched my phone out of my hand. "Brooke! Listen to me." He said as he put my phone on the side, despite me whining.

"Alright.. I know you don't like the fact that you have to have someone to protect you.." I nodded miserably as I brought my knees up to my chest. I didn't just dislike it, I loathed it. "But it's vital that you do.. tomorrow you'll be getting someone new. They've been trained to know what to do if you decide to sneak out again." He actually sounded disappointed in me. I had been trying everything to get rid of someone to look after me, the last time I had snuck out through the open window. It was brilliant news to me to know that he was sacked but now there was someone else. "But Jake, I'm nearly eighteen.. I don't need to have someone to babysit me.." I replied, groaning as I turned away from him.

He remained silent as he stood up, walking away from me. The last few audience members slowly exited, leaving me by myself, backstage with the crew. I leaned over to grab my phone again, sighing when it pinged. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered wildly as my face lit up with joy. I waited a minute before texting back, not wanting to seem too eager. Not long afterwards, it was ringing.

"Liam!" I squealed in to the phone, I could just picture the big grin plastered on his face. "Hey Brooke.." he said through his laughs, he was surprisingly calm seen as though I hadn't seen him in three months. Liam had been my boyfriend for the last three years, I couldn't see my life without him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, he probably didn't understand as I was too breathless to speak correctly. "I'm fantastic, what about you?" He replied, his voice clear. I nodded slowly before realising I was still on the phone with him, he wasn't there in person. "I'm perfect now." I said, grinning.

I heard crackling from his end and a few voices, one of them was clearly a woman. The voice slowly got louder until it sounded like she was stood right next to the phone.

"Liam.. come on get off that phone.." she said, whining. It definitely didn't sound his mother, she was over in Australia and he wasn't there. "Do you even want to talk to me?" She continued to talk, even though he wasn't responding.

"Hey Liam, who's that?" I asked, my voice was quieter than I imagined. My eyes were glistening with tears as I tucked a strand of my light brown hair nervously behind my ear. He was also stuttering when talked to me - I wanted to believe it was only a relative but something told me it wasn't.

I heard what seemed like something drop to the ground before a sickening giggle. My mouth was wide in shock as the girl whispered something that made my insides turn with anger. "Liam.. put that phone down.. we have something more important to do."

"Brooke.. it's not what you think.."

It's exactly what I think.

"Liam. Who is that?" I raised my voice in to the speaker, my own voice echoing back at me. I heard them talking in hushed whispers before the line went dead.

The tears were beginning to well up in my now dull blue  eyes, my vision becoming blurred. A strangled cry came from my mouth as I dropped my phone, letting it fall to the ground.

I was all alone in the stadium, the air was filled with silence despite my quiet cries. I was absolutely heartbroken. He had cheated on me, how could I not be? The only thing worse was the fact I had to deal with a bodyguard.

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Hey! This is my new story Cloud Nine. If this doesn't get many votes or comments I'm going to stop but I'll be writing another chapter. Thank you!
- C xx