Chapter 19

New York

"I'm at the airport as we speak." Kyle spoke to me over his crystal ball. "Who's supposed to be picking me up?"

I was currently on my tour bus, already headed in the direction of my hotel in Manhattan. As the winter holiday finally kicked off after weeks of me touring, my friends were slowly arriving in the city in anticipation of the grand finale. Ivan and Nicolai had already touched down earlier, but they'd been waiting on Kyle to arrive to leave with a carpool my manager had arranged. Finally finding his way to the carpool, the volume on his end immediately increased when he'd been spotted by the boys.

"KYLE!" I heard Nicolai call out.

"Yo, Kyle!" Ivan laughed. "You made it!"

Everyone was clearly in high spirits. As Kyle hopped into the carpool, Ivan and Nicolai jumped into his call. I laughed when Kyle pulled the crystal away from them, but felt myself frown when a thought came to my mind.

"Hey, guys?" I started, catching their attention. I hesitated before I asked, but I thought I should. "Has anyone heard from Erin lately?"

The boys glanced at one another, but all shook their heads. I felt my mood drop and leaned back in my seat with a sigh. Kyle suddenly spoke up.

"She's a native to this city, isn't she?" He asked me.

"Ja. She usually comes home for the holiday."

"So maybe she's already here."

"Possibly...but she hasn't called since last I'd seen her."

When they'd first started their journeys to their New York flights, I'd confessed to the guys and filled them in on when I'd visited Erin on campus a couple months back. I told them I'd given her a pass and asked her to come to the show, but since then, I'd received no update from her. I kept my hopes up that she'd come to the show, but she'd been pretty angry with me when I showed up. Hope was slimming.

"I hope you picked a good hotel!" Ivan spoke over the crystal, catching my attention. "It better be the most luxe accommodations in the city! I deserve it after that crappy flight!"

I laughed at Ivan's dramatics. Apparently, his seat during the flight had been closest to the bathroom on the plane. Not only was the smell unpleasant, but the amount of people passing by his seat had kept him awake for the flight's duration and now, he wanted to sleep. I gave him a smile.

"Luckily for you, I only stay in the best." I informed him. "I don't book the flights or the stays, so don't blame me for your seats, but for this entire tour, I've only rested in luxury."

"If I end up with a room that smells, I'm knocking you out, Nightbreed."

"Hahahaha!"

My tour bus came to a stop in front of the hotel after some time and I turned to the boys, waving goodbye to them to collect myself. Walking to the front of the bus with my luggage, I met my parents who were quickly picking up their belongings. My father glanced at me as I walked past.

"Did your friends arrive?" He asked me. I nodded.

"They should be here soon. They're in the carpool."

"It was nice of you to send them here." My mother told me. "I'm sure they're excited!"

"They are! Very!"

"Just make sure you don't stay up too long with them this evening." My father reminded me. "You have two shows tomorrow, back to back. You have to be well rested."

"I know! I'll be good, I promise..."

That was a complete lie. When the boys finally showed up to the skyscraper of a hotel, we were instantly in rowdy mode. After being escorted to their suite, Nicolai rushed straight to the phone to order room service whilst Ivan and Kyle jumped from bed to bed, leaping into the air without worry of hitting any of the high ceilings. I broke out in laughter, watching them scramble across the span of the living space.

"Look at the view!" Ivan gasped, pointing out the floor to ceiling windows from behind the curtain. Kyle found a remote, inspected it for a moment and pushed a button. Slowly, the curtains retracted and revealed the opened city skyline. They all paused to marvel at it, even Nicolai who stopped his order over the phone.

"Woooooowwww~!" They breathed out together. I crossed my arms at the doorway with a smile.

"Whenever you guys decide to stop acting like animals, meet me downstairs to swim."

"Oh! I forgot there's a pool here!" Ivan jumped, dashing into the room for his bag. Kyle followed behind him after waving to me and Nicolai followed suit after finalizing his order. I rolled my eyes and turned out of the room in the direction of my own, pushing my hands into my pockets with a sigh.

I wanted to loosen up and have as much fun as they all seemed to be having, but I just couldn't. I was in New York, a place I'd always associated with Erin, and she wasn't here with me. She hadn't called, she hadn't texted, nothing. I thought about calling her myself, but I figured she didn't want to hear from me at this point.

I made my way into my own suite and figured I'd get myself changed to swim as well, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to do much of anything right now. I sat on the leather sofa in the living room and eventually fell back to look up at the chandelier on the ceiling. If Erin hadn't called, I had a feeling she wouldn't come to my show either. This show meant a lot to me. I really wanted everyone to be there.

"Ugh..." I groaned when my crystal began to chime from my bedroom. I pulled myself up from the sofa and dragged my feet over to the bedroom to answer the call. It was Kyle on the other end. Although we'd agreed to meet downstairs to swim, he wasn't changed. In fact, he had a jacket on, buttoned up to his chin.

"Why are you wearing a coat?" I asked him, my brows furrowing in confusion. He pouted at me.

"You still have yours on!" He retorted. I sighed.

"I know...I don't want to swim." I decided to just be honest with him. Of all of my friends, Kyle was the only one who'd actually listen and not push me into doing something I didn't want to. He nodded.

"Neither do I." He agreed. "That's why I'm calling you. I would love to go outside!"

"Ja?" I smiled, relieved that he'd agreed with me. He nodded again.

"Yeah! It's starting to get dark and I really wanted to see those lights you told me about."

I jumped as an idea came to my mind. When I'd first visited the city, Erin took me to Times Square, the area of New York that never sleeps. The lights there stayed on 24/7, 365. I thought Kyle would love it!

"Oh! We should go to Times Square!"

"Alright, meet me downstairs in five minutes!"

"Will do! See you~!"

Ending the call, I perked up at the thought of showing Kyle the city. I'd always told him about all the fun I'd had around New York, and I knew he'd been excited to see it with me as well. It was also a good distraction from the way I was feeling. Getting on a broom for some fresh air, or as fresh as the city air could be, seemed like a good idea.

I collected myself, switching from my signature trench coat to my purple Milkweed varsity jacket, brushing my hair to put on a New York baseball cap and grabbing a pair of sunglasses before stepping out. My manager told me it was probably best to start laying low while I was here to keep fans at bay, but I wasn't sure how discreet I could really be flying on a broom around the city. That was a laughable thought. I took the elevator down to the lobby floor, adjusting myself in the mirrored walls and walked through the automatic doors when I'd reached the level, instantly spotting Kyle in his navy blue parka.

"Alright! Let's go!" I called out to him, rushing across the entrance of the hotel. As Kyle looked over his shoulder and stepped back, I paused when my eyes had fallen on someone behind him. I pulled off my sunglasses.

"Erin..." I breathed, feeling my face burning to a flush. She seemed just as taken aback as I was.

"Sigmund..."

"Yay! We're all here!" Kyle nervously seemed to chuckle. I glanced at him and narrowed my eyes in his direction. Clearly, this was a set up.

"We sure are." I retorted. "What a coincidence."

Erin and I grilled the red head, waiting for an explanation. This was beyond obvious and I wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Okay, okay! Please!" Kyle whined. "Please stop being cross with one another! I'm so tired!"

"I'm not cross!" I argued. "She is!"

"Am not!" Erin scoffed, pouting at me. I was surprised she'd even said anything to me in the moment. I crossed my arms as I looked back at her.

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"So why haven't you called me?" I asked her. She paused for a moment, her eyes shifting from me to her hands.

"I...I don't know..." She mumbled. I nodded.

"Because you're cross!"

"...yeah, sorta."

Kyle laughed at her answer, but cut his laughter short when our attention had turned to him again. He sighed.

"Look..." He spoke, pushing his hands into his coat pockets. "I've been in contact with you both over the past couple of months and you've both been miserable! You're making each other depressed and it's annoying me now. Either you both make up, right now, or drop this mess and don't speak of one another to me ever again! I've had enough of this!"

I didn't realize how my attitude had probably been dragging him down. I also didn't think Erin was as upset as I was, so I was surprised to hear Kyle say so. She hadn't given me that impression since she'd been avoiding me. I looked to Erin and she only shrugged off the statement. I pouted and shrugged back. Kyle tossed his broom in the air in defeat, which vanished as he turned away from us both.

"Alright then. I'm going back in and I'm going swimming. If you make up, give me a call and we'll go to Times Square later. I'm not going anywhere with either of you like this!"

"B-but Kyle!" I gasped as he walked off. "I promised you I'd—!"

He held his hand up to me and walked back into the hotel, straight through the automatic doors, ignoring me completely. He left Erin and I standing side by side. There was an awkward silence and Erin had turned away from me to look off in the opposite direction. Looking in that direction myself, I pointed out Central Park. It was right beside the hotel.

"Let's walk." I spoke up, pushing my hands into my varsity coat. Without her answering me, I started down the sidewalk and she followed behind. I pulled my sunglasses back on as we crossed the street and sighed when we'd finally started down a path in the park. I was thankful that it didn't seem too busy. It was early in the evening and a bit drafty out. The post lights began turning on down the trail ahead, giving off an orange glow.

Looking down at Erin, she had her own hands in the pockets of a white puffer jacket. There was a pout at her lip that hadn't left her face since I'd spotted her. I sighed again.

"So you're not gonna look at me?" I asked her. At my request, she glanced at me but didn't say anything before she looked away again. I stopped in my tracks and faced her.

"Why are you still upset with me? Come on Erin, we need to talk about this."

"I'm not..."

"You are! And I know you don't mean it! Kyle said so!"

"...I just feel like you don't need me around, okay?"

I pulled off my sunglasses and eyed her, but she'd already looked away from me. I grabbed her arm and gently pulled her over to a bench nearby to sit down.

"Why would you think that?" I asked. "And look at me when you answer. Why are you saying that?"

"Ah..." Erin frowned, shrinking into her coat. It took her a minute, but she finally returned my gaze. "Because you have fans and you're busy and—."

"When has that ever mattered?"

"I just didn't want to bother you, Sigmund. I wanted to call, but then I heard about your show and how many fans were around and I just felt like a distraction or an afterthought or something." I saw her eyes sadden suddenly. "And the girls at my school...they'd heard us arguing that night and they never let it go. They tease me about it all the time."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in a class with a bunch of image-obsessed enchantresses! I've always been the odd one in the class and they never understood why you liked me in the first place. You're a celebrity, if you haven't noticed. Some of these girls have posters of you in their rooms! So when we broke up, everyone laughed at me about it and told me I should've expected that to happen. I figured they were probably right."

"You're kidding me, right?"

Erin looked away as her eyes teared up.

"No. I've been struggling this term, more than I've let on. I've always struggled in my class, but it's been especially rough this year. I'm getting bullied right now, pretty badly."

"Bullied?!"

"I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to make it a big deal. I didn't want to bother you, especially after you left. I was helping Kyle to keep myself busy and distracted for most of this term and then we ended up fighting. I don't like fighting with you, Sigmund."

"I don't like fighting with you either, Erin. I wish you would've told me this sooner."

"I-I didn't want to b—."

"You could never bother me." I assured her, interrupting her thought. "Never. I've been waiting for your call. I've been waiting to tour here, just for the chance to see you again. You've been on my mind, constantly!"

"You too..." She actually admitted. "And you were right, about me staying inside when you came to Halfmoon. I didn't want to stay inside. When I saw you in the bushes, I'd been so happy. I wanted to see you again."

"Really?" I gasped. Erin giggled weakly. Even though it was light, her laughter made me smile. "But you looked peeved with me!"

"Peeved?! Hehe! Sigmund, please..."

"You did!"

Erin finally faced me and I quickly straightened up. Rummaging through her jacket pocket, she pulled out her fist and held her other hand out to me. I blinked at first, but set my opened palm out to her and let her drop whatever was in her fist into my hand. When she moved her hands away, I'd been surprised to see the necklace I'd crudely tossed at her during our argument. The one she'd gifted me this past summer.

Looking up at her with wide eyes, I watched her zip down her puffer jacket at the neck and pull the necklace I'd given to her, flashing it to me. She was wearing it! I was at a loss for words. Carefully, I untangled the chain in my hands and did my best to clasp the necklace back on. Erin leaned over and helped me, speaking up again when she'd gotten it on for me.

"I'm not mad at you..." Erin told me. "Not anymore, at least. I just felt sad about everything. There was a lot happening at once and fighting with you was the last thing I wanted to happen. I'm sorry, Sigmund."

I pulled her into a hug and she didn't hesitate to hug me back. I'd wanted to hug her for so long. Every last bit of stress I had left in my body vanished in that moment. Her perfume was an instant comfort to me. Her soft, curly hair against my cheek. Her grip on my jacket. I couldn't be any happier.

"I should've never shouted at you." I told her, resting my head over hers. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay now. I'm so glad you're here."

"I missed you, Erin."

"I missed you too, Sigmund."

"Don't ever keep away from me like this ever again."

"I won't. I promise."

I didn't want to pull away from her, but I had to. I needed to look at her.

"And promise me you'll tell me what's happening with you, always." I spoke down to her, setting my hands on her shoulders. "Promise you'll talk to me more. You can't keep your feeling bottled up. I had no idea."

"As long as you promise not to get angry so quickly." Erin replied. I nodded.

"I promise."

She nodded in return, pulling me back to her with a smile.

"Me too, I promise." Erin spoke in my ear as I set my head down on her shoulder. When she set a kiss on my cheek, I shot back up and pointed out the opposite cheek. She shook her head and laughed, instantly protesting. "No!"

"You know the deal!" I laughed with her. She stood up from the bench and started down the path again and I quickly tailed behind her. "Erin!"

"No!" She called out to me. "That's a set up!"

"Just one more!"

"No! Hahaha! Get away from me before I toss my shoe at you!"

—

I knocked on the door of the boy's hotel suite early the next morning, still in my own hotel robe and pajamas. Nicolai answered the door eagerly, but frowned when I'd appeared at the door.

"Sigmund? Ugh! I'm waiting for room service. I'm starving!"

"What's new?" I mumbled, pushing past him to walk inside. Ivan looked up from his spot on the sofa, where he'd been flipping through channels on the television. Kyle's eyes also shot up in my direction from where he'd been pouring tea in the kitchen. Everyone was sporting the same hotel robes.

"Oh wow! Look who finally decided to show up!" Ivan spat sarcastically, standing up from the sofa with his arms crossed. Kyle snickered in the corner, sipping his tea. I blushed.

"Good morning..." I mumbled. Ivan bypassed my greeting.

"What happened to our swim last night?"

"I...I got caught up."

"Oh?" Kyle smirked, knowingly. On the kitchen counter, his Necronomicon giggled with him. "Caught up with what?"

"Or should we ask, with whom?" His book commented.

They all erupted in laughter as I pushed my hands into my robe pockets. I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment. Thankfully, room service had shown up in that moment with a knock at the door and rolled in breakfast on a cart. Nicolai quickly made himself a plate, took a glass of orange juice from the cart and sat down to eat. The boys followed him, but didn't let up on me, even when they started eating.

"Did you guys make out and make up or not?" Ivan asked, causing Kyle and Nicolai to choke on their food in laughter. I rolled my eyes. I saw Kyle eyeing me for a moment before he spoke up.

"Ah, looks like they've made up!" He grinned, pointing at me. "I recognize that necklace!"

"What necklace?" Nicolai asked. I pushed it down under the collar of my pajama shirt and shrugged, taking a glass of juice for myself.

"He's delusional..." I muttered. "And you all better quit teasing me before I have you all kicked from my show tonight!"

"The least you could say is thank you!" Kyle retorted. "Or maybe, zank yoooou, KHAL, for za help vith mein love life!"

I threw a strawberry from the cart that hit Kyle over the head and made my friends burst out in uncontrolled laughter, to his displeasure. I even found myself laughing this time. I sat with them at the table and sighed, finally taking a bite of the fruit on my plate. I was relieved all around. I finally had everything in my life seemingly back in order. My friends were here, my parents were in tow and the girl I liked, liked me back.

Even though the work was still piled up and my studies needed to be attended to, this was the final stop of my tour and I had more support now than I'd ever had before. I was thankful.

"Thanks for being here guys..." I spoke up, giving them a smile as they settled down. They smiled back, though Ivan rolled his eyes.

"Ugh! He's gone all soft again..." He teased. "I think you're right, Kyle. They're definitely back together."

I sipped my juice while they snickered amongst themselves. Turning my attention to my cellphone that had started to ring, I pulled it from the pocket of my robe and answered it on speaker. Everyone leaned in to listen. It was my manager, Steven.

"Sigmund speaking." I answered, taking another piece of fruit into my mouth.

"You're needed for one last fitting in ten minutes." Steven spoke. "Come down to suite 246. It's across the hall from your room."

"Can I finish eating first? I just started eating."

"They still have pins in your coat, Sigmund! They've gotta finish it off as soon as possible! You have to leave for soundcheck straight after at MSG."

"MSG?"

"Madison Square Garden."

"Sorry, I'm only half awake right now..."

"Well, wake up! See you in ten!"

I hung up and looked to the boys, who all looked just as irritated as I felt. I shrugged and took another piece of fruit.

"This is why they always have to adjust my clothes." I spoke as I chewed. "I never get time to eat anymore."

"That's ridiculous! Take the food with you!" Nicolai spat, standing from his seat quickly. He picked up another plate from the cart and filled it with eggs. "And eat these too! Ivan, Kyle, come make a plate for Sigmund!"

"Guys..." I chuckled in protest as they stood up and followed through. "It's fine, really! I don't like to eat too much before I perform!"

They filled plates with food anyways and walked with me to the suite for the fitting. Even though the crew had protested about them coming in, they pushed their way in anyhow and even spoon-fed me while I had my performance coat sized and sewn. I found it hilarious and I was just elated in that moment to have them with me. I sent them away to get themselves in order so I could sneak them onto the tour bus with me for the soundcheck at the arena.

They met up with me outside a little while later and I ushered everyone onto the bus before my management team could meet up with me. Climbing on board myself, I jumped when I'd spotted my father, who was already inside and seated. He gave me a stern look and the boys looked between us nervously. We'd been caught. Instantly, I clasped my hands together.

"Pleeease?" I begged my father. "This is the last soundcheck! They really wanted to see how it goes. Can they come? Please?"

My father crossed his arms, but gave me a faint smirk and a nod.

"If Steven asks, I didn't see anything..." He winked. That got a laugh out of me and my friends.

As the boys poked around the span of the bus, I took a seat across from my father and leaned back to relax. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I didn't exactly listen to my father about resting. After coming back from the park pretty late, I'd stayed on the phone with Erin even later after hours, just catching up. My mother finally boarded with the driver and another person behind her. I groaned, sure of it being the stylist who usually started my hair between rides. I couldn't stand hair pulling this early in the morning.

"Look who I ran into on the sidewalk!" My mother grinned knowingly towards my father. I pulled a blanket over my head to avoid being bothered. In an instant, the blanket was pulled clean off. Before I could complain about it, my eyes fell on Erin, who was fighting the urge to laugh with the blanket in her hands.

"What?" She spat. "Ya gonna yell at me again?"

"Hahaha! I thought you were someone else!"

"If looks could kill! My goodness!"

"Hi, Erin..."

"Hi, sweetheart."

As the bus engine started, I moved over in my seat to let Erin sit beside me. The boys rushed out from the back of the bus to sit down and waved at Erin, who waved back at them.

"Oh! Everyone's here!" Erin giggled. Ivan pointed out the back of the bus to her.

"There's a whole bunk bed back there!" He told her, getting a laugh out of her. She was already savvy to it. She'd seen the bus during the summer when I'd been filming my show.

"Ya'll having fun?"

"Yeah!" Nicolai nodded. "I wanna go on every tour from now on, Sigmund."

"Me too!" Ivan agreed. Kyle shrugged.

"This isn't spacious enough for my liking..." He commented. "I can't imagine bunking with either one of these two for weeks at a time."

"SHUT UP!" They spat at him, making Erin and I keel over each other in laughter.

My parent smiled towards all the excitement on the bus, especially when it pulled forward. We hadn't had this much noise and joy for a long time. The entire tour had been nothing but serious business. In fact, I don't think my parents had ever seen me enjoying time with my friends till now. They were finally putting faces to the names they'd heard me speak about since I'd been at Milkweed. It was refreshing watching the conversation between everyone and my parents.

Looking back on the course of my life, this moment was like night and day. We'd once been so secluded as a family. We didn't allow anyone on our farm, my parents didn't let the villagers talk to me and I didn't want to talk to them either. Now here we were, Kyle shaking hands with my mother, Ivan and Nicolai laughing at my father's crude jokes, Erin showing me a photo on her phone of her little sister with my merchandise on for the show tonight. We weren't just working, we were living and enjoying life. That's all I really wanted. I wished my sister could be around to enjoy it too.

"We made it!" Ivan cheered when the bus pulled into an underground entrance. Nicolai flashed his phone to me, showing me a picture he'd taken of a digital billboard we'd passed.

"This has to be the biggest one yet." He grinned. "Dude, you're the real deal. I'm really friends with a celebrity!"

"Don't inflate his ego, please!" Kyle groaned, standing up from his seat to exit the bus. "Celebrity or not, he's still the same guy who likes to leave hair in other people's brushes and pretzel crumbs on the floor."

My manager was greeted by everyone hopping out of the bus in joint laughter, something he hadn't expected, and he didn't look too pleased about it. Approaching me in the parking lot, Steven shook his head.

"They can't come in the stage zone during your soundcheck." He spoke, gesturing to my friends. "I hope you know that."

"Ja, I know." I nodded. "They're gonna sit in the audience."

"They can't."

"They can, because I said so."

"Yeah! He said so!" Ivan spat towards my manager. "Get a grip!"

He was speechless and I was trying my hardest not to laugh. Instead of arguing, Steven just let it be and I was thankful for that. We were escorted inside and I was immediately wired up while my friends stood in front of the stage.

They watched the lights being tested, the screens overhead change colors and jumped towards the fire, smoke and sparkler tests. Erin and my father instructed me on how to move, the way they'd been throughout my show filming over the length of the summer. I always loved how Erin instructed me, even though her motions were more gentle, it made for a good contrast of choreography between her and my father. From the audience, the boys and my mother gave a thumbs up or a thumbs down towards how something looked or sounded from their point of view.

Once the soundcheck was over, I pulled Kyle on the stage with me to stretch and he actually did warm ups with me and my father, the way we normally would before a show. Being the only one of my friends who could conjure fire without a wand, he thanked my father for the exercise and waved me off afterward when I was ushered away for styling. The show was set to start in the next couple of hours now and I was beyond pumped. I had the whole world cheering me on this time.