“Not this time.” I shake my head and press play.
This is truly our moment. It’s for Colin, Jax, Beck, and me. Four guys who played together for the first time years ago in a music room at school. Four guys who have fought and made up over the past few years, who live for music and have never stopped dreaming. One of our dreams has come true.
“Meet Me at 3 AM” starts with Jax’s drums and Beck’s guitar. Then Colin joins in, and finally me. My voice is rough and deep. It sounds different coming out of the speakers, a little strange. I get goose bumps as I listen; it’s totally crazy. We’re all silent. No one says a word, no one moves. We just listen and can’t believe it’s us.We can’t believe we recorded this song, and it turned out so good. But it did. Damn good.
“Fuck,” Beck murmurs reverently as the last note fades away. I think he’s speaking for all of us. “Was that really us?”
“Yes.” A stunned laugh escapes me.
Chapter 39
Rayne
Someone, Somewhere (Acoustic Version)—Asking Alexandria
“Rayne! Where are you going?” The reproachful tone in Mae’s voice makes me pause in the middle of the hallway. I slowly turn around.
“Uh, nowhere?” I say. It sounds too much like a question as I quickly try to slip my bag behind me so she doesn’t notice it. I should have known this wouldn’t work.
“Rayne,” she says warningly, just like my mom used to when she’d come into my room in the middle of the night and catch me watching one music video after another on YouTube.
The memory hits me completely out of the blue. My heart tightens. But this time it hurts just a tiny bit less. Realizing that hurts even more.
“You’re going back to the practice building already?” Mae puts her hands on her hips, distracting me from the emotion building up inside me.
“Yes,” I admit meekly. There’s no point in lying; she’ll see right through me anyway. “I wanted to go over my choreography again.”
“You’ve been doing that nonstop since Monday. You need to take a break sometime.”
“I know, but I had an idea earlier, and I think...” I go silent as she shakes her head and giggles. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I’m glad you’re having so much fun. But you have to take care of yourself, okay? If you overdo it and get hurt, you won’t be able to do what you want.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Please do. Otherwise, everything Skye is planning for your music video will be a waste, and she’s really putting her heart into it. I don’t know how she finds the time.”
“That’s a very good question.”
Over the past few days, Skye has sent the guys and me countless short clips of what she thinks our music video could look like. Well, sort of, because my choreography will be different, of course. But she was more concerned with the camera angles, the lighting, a thousand other details that none of us would have even thought about.
“Well, as long as she’s enjoying it,” Mae says with a shrug.
“That’s the most important thing. I’m going now. See you later, okay?”
“Want some company?”
“Thanks, but I really need to go through it alone.” I give her an apologetic smile.
“All right.” She laughs. “See you later. Or tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late.”
“I won’t,” I promise, then turn and run down the stairs.
Mae is right, I’ve probably been working a little too hard on the choreography over the last few days, but once I get started, it’s almost impossible to stop. Every time I go through the steps again, I notice something I want to change. Sometimes a step, a turn, or an arm movement isn’t quite right yet—not the way I want it to be.
I still want to keep working on it, even though Easton said my choreography was good and I could tell he meant it. But maybe that’s exactly why it needs to be a little better. I’m not quite sure. Either way, I can’t stop.
The air is clear and smells a little like spring as I leave the dorm and walk across campus. It’s still cold, but not as freezing as it was a few days ago. Most of the dorm rooms have their lights on, and I can hear bright, cheerful laughter somewhere. I’ve almost reached the practice building when my phone vibrates in my jacket pocket.
