now or never - charlie gillespie

chapter fifty two

I turned and looked at Carolynn who shrugged her shoulders and gave me a weak smile. I felt my stomach flip. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be. With a deep breath in, I slowly got up from my seat and went to Kenny.

"Is everything okay?" I asked over the music.

Kenny waved his hands and nodded his hands.

"Madison needs you. Apparently she's having a wardrobe malfunction. Would you mind helping her out?" he asked and I nodded my head. "Great, just follow him, he'll take you right to her."

I quickly looked up at the man. The once intimidating man that almost made me pee my pants gave me a quick smile and held his hands out for me, motioning for me to follow his lead. I smiled back and followed the man through the crowd.

I was a little sad that I would miss the rest of the song, but if Madison needed my help, I was more than willing to miss the song. There was always the next night.

The man lead me backstage before stopping suddenly.

"If you could just wait here," the man said pointing to where I was. I looked around confused. Madison was nowhere to be found.

To my left I could see the stage. I could see the back of Charlie as he sang the rest of the song. I furrowed my eyebrows wondering why he hadn't brought me to Madison's dressing room.

"Um, are you sure Madison is-" I started to say when I was interrupted by Owen.

"There you are! Thanks Max," he said to the man as he walked towards me. The man nodded at Owen and walked away.

"Owen! What's going on? Kenny told me to help Madison with something," I said, looking over his shoulder trying to find her. "Can you take me there before she has to go on?"

"Oh, right. Turns out she doesn't need your help anymore. But would you mind hanging out with me back here for a few? I'm bored," he pouted and I rolled my eyes.

I turned my head to the stage when Charlie finished singing and the crowd cheered louder than they ever had.

"So I have a little favor to ask you guys," Charlie said putting his guitar down and picking up the microphone to stand up.

Just then someone walked out placing several chairs around the stage, near Charlies.

I didn't remember this part of the performance. Kenny must've added some last minute touches. Typical Kenny. Always trying to make the show better any chance he could.

I bit my lip, wondering what they were up to.

"Hmm, I actually don't think I can do this one alone. You guys wouldn't mind if I brought out some of my friends, would you?" he said, causing the crowd to cheer again. "I'm not sure if you've heard of them before..." he joked.

Suddenly Max came back with two microphones and offered one to Owen.

"That's my cue," he said, shrugging his shoulders, grabbing the microphone and walking out on stage.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?" I called after him but he just shrugged his shoulders again.

Jeremy came running behind me and grabbed the second microphone from Max.

"Thanks Max! Hey, Lake! Bye, Lake!" He said, running after Owen on stage.

The crowd erupted in screams as Owen and Jeremy walked over to stand on either side of Charlie.

"How are you guys feeling tonight?" Owen screamed into his microphone. "Are you enjoying the show so far?"

"We just wanted to take a second to thank you all for being here," Jeremy said, smiling at the crowd. "We also had something we wanted to talk to you about," he said placing his hand on his hip.