Visit my profile to check out the link for the song in this chapter, start it when the part with the song comes, and pace your reading!
~x~
Backstage was chaos. It was three minutes before the start of the show, and we could already hear the crowd chanting. I wasn't feeling to good, and my heart was thumping at an unnatural rate. I had a feeling I had a panic attack coming on. I usually had such attacks before shows, as they were brought upon by stress.
I crashed on the couch, gulping down the last of my water, before crunching the plastic and throwing it onto the trashcan at the other end of the room. It missed, bouncing against the wall and onto the floor. Just my luck, our manager walked in.
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, NO LITTERING!" she screamed at me, her clipboard in her hands, like she was going to throw it at me.
"Geez, Yuki, calm your tits. I'll pick it up later."
"And what on earth are you doing here? Get up and get to the stairs, it's almost time," she said, her hands up in desperation.
"Sorry, it's just...I felt an attack coming on."
Her eyes visibly softened. She'd seen me have some of these attacks before, she was the one who usually helped to calm me down. "Hey, you can rest a while if you want, we can wait fifteen minutes," she offered. That's one thing I loved about her despite all her incessant shouting- she cared for us, probably the reason why our band worker really well together with her.
"Nah it's okay, i'm feeling better already. Let's go."
She followed me as I walked out of the dressing room, saying something into her microphone that was attached to her ear. "Yes he's done, be ready for set in two. Right."
People squeezed past me, carrying clipboards, some talking into their microphones, wheeling racks with extra sound equipment, change of clothes and all. Most stared at me, most likely thinking why the hell I was still here. The closer I got to the stage, the louder the roar of the crowd was. I sighted the rest of the guys already near the staircase that led up to the stage. Gray turned to me and smirked. "Took you long enough. Were you jacking off in the bathroom?"
"Fuck off," I growled, before snatching a water bottle from a pile and drinking up the whole thing, and throwing it in Gray's face. He glared at me. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Yukino came by. "30 seconds to stage, you guys ready?"
We all nodded in unison. We were escorted up the stairs by the sound manager, where we could hear the chants of the crowd. "Electric...Electric...Electric..." Soon enough a voice came over the surround speakers. "Welcoming the award-winning rockstars, with two platinum albums and three number one singles in nineteen countries, Electric!" The roar of the crowd intensified, as Rogue stepped on stage, followed by Sting, Gray and then me. Gray cartwheeled over the stage, earning him a roar from the ecstatic crowd. I looked over the full to the brim arena, where many were holding up fanboards. I spotted one of me half naked, and I chuckled. We strapped our guitars, and Rogue went over to his drums. I stood in front of the front microphone stand.
"Salt Lake City! How are you guys tonight?" I spoke into the microphone. The crowd yelled. "Thanks for having us on this show tonight, I hope you've been having a great evening so far! Thanks for all the support and let's start! This one's called Why Worry," I said, backing away from the microphone as I held my guitar up, ready to start playing. The crowd cheered. This was a crowd favourite, and was usually the first song we performed.
The crowd knew this song well, so they started clapping the rhythm for us, as we all started to sing:
oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh
I started the first verse:
This sinking feeling sets,
It feels just like a hole inside your chest.
I know you're thinking,
No, no, no, no, it is easier said than done,
But please let me attest.
I know it's hard.
You're feeling like you're trapped,
But that's how you react,
When you cannot see the light.
But try and see the light.
I'm tellin' you,
No, no, no, no,
You're the only one
Standing in your way,
Just take a breath, relax, and tell me…
We sang the chorus, as Rogue started up on the drums:
Why?
Please tell me why do we worry?
Why?
Why do we worry at all?
Why?
Just tell me why do we worry?
When worry is never helping tell me why worry at all?
I continued the second verse:
Why do we insist,
On crossing bridges that do not exist?
Let's take these issues
Step by step by step, to work it out,
Day by day by day we're falling down,
But life goes on.
I've got some questions,
Gray continued as I stopped:
Are you sick of feelin' sorry?
Uh huh,
And people sayin' not to worry?
Uh huh,
Sick of hearing this hakuna matata motto,
From people who won the lotto,
We're not that lucky.
Have you noticed that you're breathing?
Uh huh,
Look around and count your blessings,
Uh huh,
So when you're sick of all this stressin' and guessin' I'm suggestin' you turn this up and let them hear you sing it.
We sang the chorus again, after which I sang again:
Chin up, quit actin' like you're half dead.
Tears can only half fill how you're feelin'.
Don't worry, be happy baby.
Stand up, life is too damn short,
That clock is ticking.
Man up, if ya feel me,
Everybody sing it.
We sang the last part:
Why?
Please tell me why do we worry?
Why?
Why do we worry at all?
Why?
Just tell me why do we worry?
When worry is never helping tell me why worry at all?
Why?
Please tell me why do we worry?
Why?
Why do we worry at all?
Why?
Just tell me why do we worry?
When worry is never helping tell me why worry at all?
The crowd screamed and cheered. Damn it was hot. I wiped the sweat away from my forehead. We played through our second album and some old favourites before the show ended. At the last song, the crowd was yelling "Encore!" so we played it again, before ending the show. We left the stage, where our vehicle was waiting to take us back to the hotel.
"Man that was some show. The crowd was even bigger than Phoenix," Sting said, curling up in his seat.
"Yeah that was a good show," I said. Yukino piped in. "You guys better get some sleep, you have two interviews for Star Magazine..." I tuned Yukino out, as I stared at the passing city.
"Dragneel!" Gray yelled in my ear. I turned and looked at him crossly. "What?" I noticed Yukino glaring at me. "Were you even listening?" she said, folding her arms. I scratched my head. "Hehe, sorry...what were you saying?"
"I said, that you guys are performing at the finals of Project Superstar next week as guest artistes."
I recalled attending the auditions for that show. I was in the building to record some music and I got bored, so I asked my bodyguard to take me to see the auditions. I vaguely remembered some girl group. Cast, or something like that. I wondered how they were doing on the show.
"Oh yeah. I went to see the auditions for that show."
Everyone turned to look at me in surprise, most probably wondering when I had the time to do that. It was a very busy few months for us.
"We were recording at FT Records, I took Big Boss with me to see the auditions there. There were some good groups," I said.
Gray whacked me on the head. "Hey, you bailed on us man."
I whacked him back. "You guys were trying to pour soap into the coffee machine. I didn't want to join that shit."
We started squabbling, and Yukino just shook her head and sighed. I pity Yukino sometimes, for having to deal 24/7 with our stupidity. I've known Yukino since I was fifteen. She had recognised my talent, and the rests' too, and she had brought us together as an act. If we could trust anyone in the company, it was her. She had brought us far. She was only 25 years old, but she was remarkable and well respected by alot of people.
I stopped my argument with Gray. "Let's just give it a rest, everyone's tired," I said, looking at Yukino. She smiled at me, with appreciation.
"Okay guys, we've reached. You guys can order supper but lights out by 12. And absolutely NO midnight beer pong, do you hear me?"
We chuckled. That night was epic.
"Okay, goodnight guys," she said, stepping out of the SUV and heading to her own room.
The minute I reached my room, I crashed onto the bed. I could hear Gray and Sting snickering about something, but I ignored them. Soon the sound of the voices became muffled as I drifted off to sleep.
A/N: So this chapter was a sort of filler chapter, where you got a bit of glimpse into life with Electric. Do leave a review, more reviews help me to write faster!
Also the new cover picture belongs to FairyTail-Mangaka on Deviant Art.
Thanks for reading!