The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2

Asher Halen:

"And no matter what I dooooo, I just can't keep myself from wanting yooouuu!"

I let my voice fade out on the last note and nodded my head along as the drummer smashed out the last few beats of the song, ending in thunderous applause from the crowd in front of us. 

Ahhhh, I would never get tired of the applause...

"Thank you, Austin, you've been a wonderful audience!" I yelled into the mic, only to be met with even more screams. 

"We love you! Goodnight!" the bassist called out over the hordes of screaming fans, most of which were all females. One girl in particular towards the front was clad in a very low-cut tank top, and seemed to be making it a specific point to lean over as far as she could towards us. 

Man, I loved my job. 

The boys and I stayed on stage a few moments longer, waving and blowing kisses out into the audience before replacing our instruments on their stands and running backstage, eager for the chance to sit down and eat something after the concert. 

"That was great, boys; absolutely fantastic," our manager said as soon as we exited the stage, slapping us each on the back in turn. "Pretty soon you boys are gonna be the biggest group in America."

"I think you mean the world, Lenny," Tucker, the drummer, said with a grin. 

"We're already the biggest group in America," the bassist Zack said with a cocky wink.

Lenny waved his hand in the air in a "yeah, whatever" gesture before hurriedly bustling away to take a call that had come in on his cell phone while we had been talking. 

"Did you guys see that chick up front?" I asked the guys as soon as Lenny had gone, settling myself into a comfortable chair and reaching for a piece of the giant sub sandwich that had been brought backstage for us after the show. 

"You mean the one with the big...?" Leo, our guitarist, finished the sentence by cupping both of his hands and bouncing them in front of his chest with a devilish grin. 

The guys all laughed, but we were cut off when a woman with pastel purple hair entered the room. I knew she had heard the last part of our conversation, because she rolled her eyes and shook her head at us with motherly exasperation.

"You guys are pervs."

"Awwww come on, Ellie, you know we only flirt with the other girls because you're too far out of our leagues," Leo said, wrapping his arm around Ellie's shoulders and winking at us behind her back.

"You're so full of it," Ellie laughed, pushing Leo off of her and straightening her shirt. 

Ellie was our stylist. She was probably the coolest woman I had ever met in my entire life with her constantly-changing pastel hair colors, tattoo-covered arms, and wickedly mischievous smile. Leo was right, though. Despite being ten years older than even Leo, who was the oldest out of the four of us, Ellie was decidedly out of any of our leagues.

"Asher, nice work on that last set. Your voice just keeps getting better and better, man. I'm proud of you," Ellie said, walking over to give me a hug. I bent down to her level so that she could wrap her skinny arms around my neck, and I buried my face in her hair. I would never tell a single soul this, but I missed being hugged like that: like a mother or a sister would hug a son or a brother. It had been a long time since I had been home to see any of my family. 

"Thanks, El," I said, waiting until she released me to grin at her. "But we all know the ladies don't come for my voice," I said, waggling my eyebrows at her and doing a little spin to show off every angle of my body. 

Ellie rolled her eyes, but the rest of the band jumped from their seats and joined me in the middle of the room, all four of us spinning around and yelling, "Eyyyyyy!" like a bunch of idiots. 

"You know, one of these days you're all going to be old and washed up, like me," Ellie teased, putting her hands on her hips and fake pouting, "and then you guys are gonna wish you had taken all of this more seriously!"

We all rolled our eyes and waved our hands at her, dismissing her with rude noises and lewd comments. Ellie laughed and stuck her tongue out at us in response, clearly finding the whole situation delightful.

I plopped back down in my chair and continued eating my sandwich, watching with a vague smile while Ellie interacted with each of the other band members in turn.

I know she had been kidding, of course, but still what she had said had struck a nerve with me, one that I had kept hidden from the rest of the world so far. SHOULD I be taking this more seriously? Of course I loved my job. Who wouldn't? But it was really all I knew how to do. 

I had dropped out of high school to form Ten Minutes to Midnight, and we had been up and out of the country before most kids our age had even been out of our city. I was good at what I did, sure, but what would happen if I suddenly couldn't do it anymore?

What would I do?

What would I become?

"Yooooo, Asher!" 

I was snapped out of my depressing thoughts by Tucker, who was staring at me like he had clearly been trying to get my attention for a while now.

"What's up, man?" I asked, plastering on my brightest smile.

Conceal, don't feel.

"Brandi is throwing a party tonight," he said, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking at me with an expression that was filled to the brim with hidden innuendos. 

"Ahhhh dude you know I'm done with Brandi," I said, throwing my hands in the air and leaning back in my chair lazily, as if I didn't have a care in the world. 

Brandi, an up-and-coming lingerie model, had been my latest fling. I had ended whatever tentative relationship I had had with her last week, when she had asked me where I saw our relationship heading. 

All I had seen was where I was heading: straight out the door and far, far away. 

"Come on, man, all of her hot model friends will be there," Tucker whined, leaning forward in his chair and giving me his best puppy dog eyes. 

I put my finger to the side of my chin and looked up to the sky, pretending to deeply ponder what he had just said. To be honest, all I wanted was to go back to the hotel room, turn on Nickelodeon, and order a hot fudge sundae from room service. 

But, of course, I didn't say that. 

"Count me in," I said with a grin as my friends jumped out of their chairs and began cheering. 

Conceal, don't feel.