Rising Star: Book 3 of The Orion Series

G-L-O-R-I-A GLOOOOORIA

The world's a scary place

So much thrown in your face

And you try to keep pace

But you can't

--unpublished lyrics by Orion Bauwens

Saturn Mutants

Orion drops out of school immediately. He's eighteen, so legally he can. Ben and I finish and graduate.

My parents came to my graduation. The last few weeks they've begrudgingly been speaking with me, too. They were very vocal about the fact they still didn't agree with the decision I had made for myself, but at least we were speaking.

I was staying with Orion, and I had honestly never felt freer in my entire life. I had taken a hold of my life and was doing what I wanted. More importantly, Ben, Orion, and myself were staying together. Had I gone back in time to a year and told myself where I'd be now, I wouldn't believe it. I'd laugh at myself, it was absurd.

We've started work immediately. We already had enough material to produce an album, so now it was just a matter of actually putting it together. We spent stupid long hours at a studio inside EMI, because we couldn't afford renting our own. 

Sleep became a myth to us. We tried to pretend we didn't notice when Orion started popping pills to stay awake. We knew he was getting them from our friend, Simon. Simon had also dropped out of school without graduating, but was making a living out of dealing drugs. I sure as shit didn't agree with it, but he only dealt in high-end deals...Meaning, there wasn't a risk of me getting shot in a drive-by over a drug deal gone bad if I was ever hanging out with Simon.

We also had to set up the business end of things. Even though he wasn't obliged to, Paul ended up helping us find a manager. I'm not sure if it was because he was genuinely invested in us as a band, or because him and Orion had not so discretely started fucking. Even though I wasn't a fan of finding out about their relationship via Orion moaning in the bathroom one day, I also couldn't exactly complain. Without Paul I don't think any of us would've known where to start.

We've been interviewing managers all day. Literally, all day. Orion is being stupid picky. I'm starting to not be a fan of how...controlling, he is. He's micro-managing everything already.

"Thank you so much," Orion says to the candidate we just interviewed, "we'll be in touch."

As soon as the man in a suit is gone, I moan, putting my head on the long table we sit at. Ben sighs and sinks down into his chair. Orion taps his pen against the yellow notepad he has in front of him.

"One more," he says, eyes pouring over the notes he's written.

"Fuck, dude," I groan. "Come on!"

"No, I can't," Ben says. "I think I'm going to die. I think I'm going to literally die."

"One more, I promise," Orion insists.

"Fine," we say together.

Paul even looks tired. Even so he leaves the room and calls in the final person for the night.

She's a short Hispanic woman. She's wearing a plum suit-skirt outfit paired with a ruffled, silk, off-white blouse beneath the blazer. Her raven hair is pulled back into a high ponytail. She's a large woman, her hands are beautifully manicured, and she has on heels that match her outfit perfectly, like they had come from the same dye batch. She has on fake eyelashes and thick black eyeliner, but it's not trashy--it makes her dark pretty eyes stand out.