Broken || Little Mix ||

Chapter 23 - E

I sit on the couch as far away from Perrie as possible. There's been an icy tension since last night at the club. She obviously hasn't told Jesy or Leigh anything as they've been shooting weird looks at us all day. On the bright side, everyone else seems to like Clarke. He's been making them all laugh since we got up this morning, despite the early wake up call.

The girls and I are performing at a festival today in Chicago. That translates into: we were woken up at five in the morning so that Aaron could do our glam work before getting here as we're meant to do interviews all before the performance, another one after, and then we're free to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day. I thank god that the outfit I picked is joggers and a sports bra as I watch Perrie and Leigh tug and pull at their tighter, more uncomfortable clothes.

"So, Little Mix. Here in Chicago. Performing at noon. In the middle of a headlining North American tour. How you girls feeling? Pretty good right now?" the interviewer asks.

Each of us has got a microphone so all of us go to talk at once. I quickly stop talking, more than happy to let someone else take the lead. It ends up being Jesy.

"I think what we all wanted to say was that we're feeling pretty amazing. Things couldn't be going better and we couldn't be more proud of the shows that we've been putting on."

"Very very good to hear. Excited to be here today? You must be pretty used to the size of the crowd by now."

This time no one goes to answer so I find myself fumbling to reply quick enough.

"As used to it as you can get at least. I think every time we step out there's still a bit of that surreal feeling of 'wow they're actually here because they want to see us.' That type of thing but yeah, looking forward to it."

My eyes drift off from the face of the woman asking us questions as I notice Paul motioning something behind the camera. He points to his mouth and plasters on an exaggerated smile while mouthing the word. A familiar spark of anxiety flares through me as I realize that I haven't smiled once since the interview started.

I straighten up a bit, shifting my weight as I try to think of something happy. Something to make me smile. My mind remains a blank slate though and I feel my fake grin falter. I feel my adrenaline start to kick in and try to take a deep breath to smother the panic rising inside of me. Leigh places a hand on my back, trying to steady me but she's only successful in making me jump slightly. Paul shoots her a glare.

For the rest of the interview Leigh keeps her hand on my back, fielding questions that were blatantly directed at me to spare me the hardship. Due to Paul's nonexistent subtly and my unusually quiet demeanor, Jesy and Pez catch on quickly as to what's happening. Despite her chilliness towards me, Perrie does her best to help out the other two as the interview winds down. Even with knowing that it'll be over any second, my anxiety continues to climb higher and higher until I'm sure that I'm visibly shaking.

"Well thanks so much for chatting with us! Can't wait to see your performance later today."

The camera man signals that he's done recording and I quickly hand my mic off to whoever is closest to me and dart off the couch, looking for free space. Every single inch of this press tent is occupied, boisterously loud, and claustrophobic.

"Jade!" Leigh shouts.

"I've got it," I hear Jesy claim.

I snake my way through the sea of people, desperate to find somewhere by myself. I stumble as I break out of the tent we were in for the interview and gulp in some of the fresh air.

"Where the hell are you going?" Jesy asks while grabbing my arm.

"I don't know. I just, I-I need to get away," I stammer.