The Ruels of My Heart

chapter two - ruel's perspective

"Nate I really don't want to do this anymore. I'm nineteen, and I've had enough. I am sick and tired of this life."
"Ruel you can't do this. At least finish the tour. Just three more concerts and then we can sort this out. Your instagram hit 10 million this morning, did you see that?"
"It's just people tapping a button, I honestly don't care anymore. There's too much pressure. Please. I don't want to do this anymore."
"You are due on stage in ten minutes. And you aren't even in your outfit!"
"I don't care, the fans love me in whatever I wear. Another thing I'm tired of."
"We will sort this out later. But now, you need to be getting ready to go on stage. Come on man!"
Nate looks up to me with beaming eyes.
"Fine. I'll go on tonight. But tell Jonathan to cancel next years Europe tour." I reply.
"Maybe. But now, you must hurry. Go get ready!" Nate says.
"See you," I answer, unenthusiastically.
"Good luck man. You'll be great. You always are."

I head towards the stylist room, and some lady touches up my hair. I don't know her name. I gave up making the effort a while ago. I look into the mirror, glaring at myself. I miss my innocent, friendly, 16 year old self, who got so excited for each concert and adored their fans. So much has changed. I am depressed. I am sick of performing. The fans are too obsessive. I have dealt with stalkers, lawsuits, murder attempts, so much scary stuff, I would do anything to be a normal teenager. But for now, I have thousands of people waiting for me, so I bite my tongue, and plaster a smile across my face. It's the only type of smile that has crossed my face in a year. I have gotten so good at it my own sisters don't detect it anymore.

All I remember is the stadium erupting into cheers as soon as I walked onto the stage, like it always does. The concert is all a blur, thanks to the stuff Jake gave me before. But it's worn off now. Right in time for the meet and greets. Great.
"Nate I'm feeling terrible can we cancel the meet and greets please?"
I know Nate can see the pain, the begging, in my eyes.
But all he says is; "You know we can't do that Ruel. I'm sorry. I really am. It will all work out. Trust me."

Finally, I only have one more meet and greet left for the evening. She walks slowly into the room, but she doesn't scream and run towards me and squeeze me into a huge hug like all the other fans do. She has long blonde hair, dark eyes, which I can see right into and she is prettier then all the other girls, but she looks sad. Or maybe empty.
"Hey," I say, standing up from the couch. I don't know why. I never stand up to talk to the girls. I feel like an idiot.
"Hi," she says quietly. Her voice is soft, like she's shy. It's the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. She looks into my eyes and I flinch and glance away.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Leo," She says.
It fits her perfectly. Why am I so attracted to her? What the heck is happening to me? It must just be a side effect of the stuff Jake gave me. I hope.