Hi!! This is the big one! There's going to be two parts of this day, also imagine the songs played acoustically, hope you enjoy (it all kicks off from this point onwards)
River was engulfed in his phone, I, next to him, was shaking erratically as if I were cold, but I wasn't, i was scared. I hadn't been anywhere this big with so many people before, it made me itch, knowing that everyone's eyes were on me, like flies.
I had to tell myself, it wasn't a big venue, and no one was that fascinated with me, however, it was just engrained in my head that they were. It was Reece that they'd be concentrating on instead, I just hoped that he'd be able to handle his nerves better than me.
"Hi, Shiloh is it?" An unfamiliar voice called from next to me, I turned my head to be greeted by a women who adorned a smile like Reeces.
"Yeah, hi," I squeaked, unsure whether I should give my hand to shake or to just stay how I was.
"I'm Reeces mum, Lyndsey, and this is my husband and Reeces dad Jamie," she introduced herself, her hand sticking out which I fondly shook.
"Lovely to meet you, this is my brother River, he's keeping me company tonight," I spoke, River giving a little wave to Reeces parents.
As the seats began to fill, the fogged sounds from other people's conversations bored me, and I gazed at the time on my phone. Three or so minutes before it would all kick off, I wondered what Reece was doing, and where he was behind this cranberry, velvet curtain.
'good luck tonight beach boy x' I typed to him.
'I see you beach girl, in the crowd and I'm so thankful x'
I smiled at his response, tucking my phone into my back pocket and watching the lights slowly dim and focus on the head teacher at the front of the stage. He bellowed out a list of students who were due to perform tonight, Reece was fourth, and I couldn't not wait to see him perform.
The first few acts were good, performing their versions of pop songs and making them more moody and focusing more on the lyrics than the beats that went alongside them. A girl performed a laidback version of Lucky by Britney Spears and that had River completely blown away. However, as soon as she left, I knew what was coming and my stomach began turning into knots. I batted my hand against Rivers thigh, but he grabbed it and held onto it, giving it a tight squeeze and a reassuring smile alongside, just like what Reece would've done. Both of his parents looked over at me and gave me a thumbs up, smiling like complete and utter goons, but then again so was I. This would be the first time I would hear him sing in person and the thought of that made me feel as if I were flying.
He shuffled onto the stage, his eyes scurried through the hundreds of people in front of him, before settling on mine, he smiled and nodded in my direction, his parents both got out of their seats and screamed words of encouragement at him, but he was turning as red as the curtain behind him.
"Hi I'm Reece Bibby, and I'm going to sing you a song by Lany," he started strumming chords to an unfamiliar song before taking a step towards the microphone and opening his mouth. His voice was liquid gold, I wanted to bathe in it, in fact I wanted it on repeat so I could listen to it constantly and get the same sensational feeling of butterflies and my body melting like butter. I squeezed tightly onto River, he looked over at me, leaning into my ear, "what have you done to this guy Shiloh," I smiled. He was blowing me away with every oozing word he spoke, it was delicious.
"I love the way you sound when it's dark outside
Pancakes, Champagne, 15 away, it's almost two
Those hands, the way your fingers fit between mine
I'm not any good at secrets
Could we fill a roll of film?
The way those old Levi's look on you
Got me thinking: Damn, I'm in"
As he strummed the last chord, I rose suddenly from my chair and began viscously clapping, pulling River up with me. He looked over in my direction, placing a hand over his heart and shaking his head at me. I was so blessed to be here in this audience, supporting him.
"So this next song, I wrote myself, and it's called Water," he plucked the strings of his guitar, singing into the microphone, his eyes observing every emotion I was giving off.
"I'm the canvas, you're the art
Its a mess when you're apart, so lost
When I see your silhouette
Its like sirens in my head, setting off" he sung, a smirk teasing at his lips, and I felt my mouth gaping open, zoning out completely but just fixating in that one part that he just sung. He'd lied about not being able to write a song, but I didn't think he'd stick with his promise and actually write me a song. I grabbed ahold of Rivers hand and squeezed onto it, not being able to tell you what was going on in my head right now.
"I-I think this is for me," I muttered into his ear, and he just shook his head.
"Shiloh. This has all been for you," he replied back, and I bit my lip, was I really this oblivious, this whole time?
As he finished, this time his parents stood up again, clapping and cheering, but I was glued to my chair, as it finally had all sunk in.
"What did you think?" Lyndsey asked me, pulling me out from my thoughts.
"I'm speechless," I said, my eyes staring at Reece as he walked off the stage, his guitar in his left hand.
The concert came to a weary end, unfortunately Reece did not win, but I was proud for him for stepping out and doing something he was so petrified to do, I just hope this would encourage him to do it more often, because I certainly enjoyed it.
The crowds flooded out of the fire escape, River and I stayed behind to speak to Reece, although I wasn't half sure what to say to him.
'I'll meet you at the back in 5 x' he messaged me, so River and I walked over to the wooden plaques at the back of the hall.
I stared at him, wanting him to speak and keep my mind off of Reece and everything that had just happened, but i knew I'd be asking for a lot, I knew River would be dying to ask me questions about him.
"he was really good, you shouldn't feel bad that he didn't win," he began by saying, but that wasn't why I had turned too silent, and I think he knew that too. "He seems like a good egg Shiloh, i'd hold onto him if I were you, it takes guts to do what he did, not just to get up on stage and sing, but to sing about his feelings for someone who's two metres in front of him, he's got big dick energy," River remarked and I scoffed, batting his arm at the last part. He says it how it is, and half the time thankful for it, but not in this case.
"Hiya," his northern accent drooled from behind me, I spun on my heels and wrapped my arms strongly around him, breathing in his familiar scent of cardamom and bonfires.
"You were so good," I mumbled into his chest, pulling away and seeing him smile, the infamous dimple on his left cheek.
"Thank you," he spoke, standing back and looking over at my brother, who I had not yet acquainted with.
"Oh sorry, this is River, my brother." I spoke, as they shook hands and exchanged smiles.
"Yeah, you did such a good job out there, you should be proud," he spoke, shoving his hands into his vintage bomber jacket.
"Thank you, I appreciate that. You should've bought your sister too," Reece smiled.
The words hit me like a bomb, my hearing had completely gone and I could just hear a repetitive droning sound, immediately my head snapped up to River, his eyebrows furrowed and beads of sweat forming on his forehead. My mouth bobbed open, wanting to speak for myself but I just couldn't, I couldn't find it in my to tell Reece, in fact I didn't want to, I didn't want it to be real.
"She's dead," River bluntly replied, almost spitting it out as if it were completely wrong of Reece to even bring her up, but it wasn't his fault. In fact I couldn't even remember bringing her up in front of Reece, I wasn't even sure he remembered every one of our conversations, but he did. Watching him suffer like a kid who has just witness something traumatising, it was painful to watch. I didn't want his apology, I didn't want this to put a complete downer on his evening, from what would have been an inviting gesture to something that would put a wall between us.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He stumbled, his eyes flickering between us both looking for some reassurance.
"You didn't know," I sighed, my head falling to the floor, as I hit harshly on my lip, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.
YOU ARE READING
beach//reece bibby
Romance"You're like a daisy; you've been trod on and become so closed up with every gloomy day that passes, you need to focus on the brighter ones so you can bloom," he spoke as he twiddled a daisy between his fingers. "A daisy?" I questioned, my voice hoa...
