"Maybe you can get them to settle down," the host says to Jesse.
"Settle down, settle down. Let's hear what the man has to say," Jesse instructs. He lets out a true laugh, the kind I don't often hear from him and I know. This is what they're meant to do. This is their destiny.
As my guy walks up next to Jesse, my heart swells with pride. This is his future, his career. He's going to be a fucking rockstar.
I scream again! Dr. Mac lets out one of those piercing whistles.
I ignore the host as he does his thing. It's only when both bands come back out on stage that I stand up and pay attention. I cross my fingers, holding my cheeks, and Dr. Mac pulls me into his side.
"They have it. There's no doubt," he tells me.
"I know they do."
They show The Dipstix’s family on camera. Next thing I know, Dr. Mac and I are on camera. We smile and wave. I blow a kiss to Xan who screams, "That's my girl!"
I laugh. Oh God, this is it. Do or die. Make or break. Win or lose.
"It's been a close competition between these two exceptional bands! Let's see who the judges have deemed the winner." He holds up an envelope, the judge's panel off to the side. The judges are comprised of three musicians, each successful in their own genre.
He opens the envelope.
"And the winner is…"
Pause for anticipation. I hate when they do that crap.
"Falling Down!"
Confetti and balloons fall from the sky. Tears fall from my eyes as I hug Dr. Mac tight.
"They did it! They did it!" I shout.
"That's our guys up there. Those are our rockstars. We need to share them with the world now. They're going to take the radio waves by storm," Dr. Mac tells me, shedding a few of his own tears.
"This is just the beginning," I tell him.
He nods, excitement dancing in his eyes.
There's so much more to come… for them… for Xander.
Without me.
This may be their beginning, but is this the start of the end of us?
I'll fight until my last breath to stop that from happening, and I think Xan will too.
* * *
The next sixmonths fly by. The guys are super busy recording their album. They were insistent on using their own songs. It took a long time and a lot of lawyer arguments to reach an agreement. It was like the song says,Are you ready? Can you handle us?I bet the recording company didn't know those words would ring as true as they are right now.
"Let's go out tonight," Xander says.
I lift a brow. I'm surprised. He's been so tired lately. "Out where?"
"On a date. To dinner." He picks up one of my pencils, the red one, and rolls it between his thumb and index finger.
"Where did you have in mind?"
He shrugs. "I think we should go somewhere nice. We don't do that very often. Mostly we're out as a group and it's Olive Garden."
