REMUS BENNET
Remus had brought a change of clothes for himself.
He had known that he would get himself dirty while working on the stage, and though given his fame and reach he could have easily pushed the committee to hire a proper stage manager, he had chosen to do this himself, for he had hoped to learn a bit about what went into making a stage and how the whole thing worked.
Of course, the stage they had prepared was nothing like a proper concert stage, but he had learned quite a bit from the people the committee had brought in.
The main guy was a resident of East Highland and lived a few streets down.
He worked on professional sets and stages, and had even been part of a crew at Coachella, so Remus had learned quite a bit from the experience, and he hoped to learn even more from the little show he was about to perform.
There had been very little advertising of this performance, and so the crowd was going to be mostly local and most of the people at the fair already knew him.
He was coming back to the fair, when he spotted them.
Jimmy was rather easy to spot with his height, and the man saw him as well and waved to him.
“The Rockstar’s here!” and the man had taken to calling him that, even though he had often pointed out that he was not technically a rockstar.
He shook the man’s hand, who was surrounded by his family.
“Good, what about you?” Remus asked, and the man smiled.
“All good,” and Remus’s attention was quickly pulled by a shriek from the two girls standing behind the man.
“Oh my god, that’s actually him!!” “It’s really him,” and one of the girls was Asian and resembled the older woman standing beside Jimmy.
The other one had curly red hair and seemed very much like a California girl.
“You must be Alice,” he waved to the Asian girl and offered her a handshake.
“How do you know my name?” she asked, while the red-haired girl shrieked into her friend’s ear.
“Wait—how do you even know my name?” and Alice finally shook his hand.
“Well, your father is very proud of you,” and at those words, she gave her father a look.
He turned towards the other girl.
“I am afraid I don’t know your name,” he added politely.
“I am Summer. Not gonna lie… you’re kinda hot yourself,” and she gave him a wink and continued.
“You see, that was a joke because Summer’s hot…” she seemed like a bundle of energy.
“I think he gets it,” Jimmy’s voice finally chose to cut in.
“Hi, I am Tia,” Jimmy’s wife joined in before the conversation could get out of hand.
“Thank you for giving Jimmy the tickets,” and he shook his head.
“It was nothing. I just hope that you’ll enjoy the show,” and so that was how he found himself talking to Jimmy and his family.
“You are thinking of moving to Pasadena!!” and Summer’s voice was too loud for his taste, though thankfully no one heard it.
“I took a drive through the area, and liked it. My managers are looking into the possibility right now,” though he was yet to receive an answer from his own mother.
“You should. It’s a nice neighborhood,” Tia added.
“Definitely,” Summers was quick to add.
“You know the house beside ours is empty. You could buy that and move there,” and he was not going to do that.
“Are you really going to perform tonight?” Alice asked excitedly, and he nodded.
“Yes, we just got finished with the stage an hour ago. Though I will be performing later in the night,” and suddenly Summers slid away.
“You built the stage yourself,” Jimmy asked, and he nodded.
“Yeah, it was just me and my friends,” he answered.
“I was actually going to meet up with them just now,” and suddenly Alice turned towards his parents.
“Can I go with him?” and the two of them looked towards him.
“I don’t mind,” he answered back, as suddenly Summers appeared with a bra in her hand.
“Okay, don’t judge me, but… can you sign this?’ she thrust it forward, and he grabbed it even before his mind could make sense of what he was doing.
“Summers!!” Jimmy’s wife warned.
“What! I don’t have anything else for him to sign,” the red-haired girl defended herself, and then she looked him up and down.
“I don’t have a pen,” he answered, and she smiled.
“No worries, just bring it back later… and maybe I will let you sign somewhere else as well,” and now this was getting out of hand.
“Remus!” “Hey man!” Suddenly, two familiar voices called him out, breaking him out of his trance.
He turned around and saw Elliot and Lexie walking towards them.
“Is that a bra?” Elliot asked, as Lexie’s face flushed.
“This is not what it looks like…” and so after a long and awkward explanation, he finally took Alice and Summers backstage so that they could all hang out.
The sun went down, and the place began to fill up.
“Dude, this place is getting packed,” Elliot noted, and he was right.
The place was definitely getting filled up, and the crowd was definitely bigger than last year.
Remus glanced at the clock, and there was still an hour left until it was time for them to perform.
And after that, the place nearly became unmanageable.
The whole ground was packed, and by the time he had to go on stage, the people were forced to move their stalls and rides as thousands gathered in the little ground for him.
“It’s ready,” Elliot informed him, and he would be lying if he said that he was not nervous.
Still, Lexie was the first to walk out as they had arranged.
She greeted the crowd and introduced him with little fanfare.
“REMUS BENNET!” and with a guitar in hand, he walked out on the stage and waved to the crowd who roared so loudly that the stage shook underneath his feet.
Still, he refused to let it bother him as he grabbed the mic and let his fingers thrum the strings of his guitar.
‘Counting days, counting days
Since my love up and got lost on me
And every breath that I’ve been takin’
Since you left feels like a waste on me
I’ve been holding on to hope
That you’ll come back when you can find some peace
‘Cause every word that I’ve heard spoken
Since you left feels like an hollow street
I’ve been told, I’ve been told to get you off my mind
But I hope I never lose the bruises that you left behind
Oh my lord, oh my lord, I need you by my side.
.
.
Slowly, the crowd became silent and began to sing beside him as he sang ‘Bruises’.
By the time he was finished with the first song, many within the crowd were already crying, especially the girls.
He moved on to the next song as he sang ‘Before You Go.’ He sang it for them, but the main havoc came when he sang his last song—Another Love.
This was no doubt the most famous of the songs he had put out, and once he was done singing it the first time, the people began to roar.
“Again!” “Again!”
“Encore! Encore!”
The whole set had taken him some twenty minutes or so, and that was the plan.
He glanced towards the side, and Remus just shrugged at him.
He looked straight ahead.
“Well, I am going to need to sit,” and so he began once more.
‘I wanna take you somewhere so you know I care
But it’s so cold and I don’t know where
I brought you daffodils in a pretty string
But they won’t flower like they did last spring
And I wanna kiss you, make you feel alright
I’m just so tired to share my nights
I wanna cry and I wanna love
But all my tears have been used up’
And by now the whole crowd had the lyrics memorized and were singing it with him.
‘On another love, another love
All my tears have been used up
On another love, another love
All my tears have been used up
On another love, another love
All my tears have been used up, up’
And the whole clearing shook with their voice, as they sang with him.
He reached the end, and now the crowd was chanting once more.
“AGAIN! AGAIN!”
“ENCORE! ENCORE!”
So, he sang it again and again.
By the end of the night, he had sung the song five times before his throat finally gave up on him, and he raised his hands in surrender.
“It has been a pleasure singing, but I think that is all for tonight,” And he waved at the crowd as he walked to the side, and he only noticed the sweat and the weariness once he was off the stage,
“That was awesome!” Alice was jumping up and down in joy as he walked down to the ground.
“You killed it out there, man!” Elliot and he clapped their hands, as he gave out a big sigh.
“My throat’s wrecked. I’m gonna need, like, a voice detox,” he added, as he rubbed his throat, and this was perhaps as raw a performance as could be.
There was no dancing, no screens, and no intricate background singers or band.
No.
This was just him and a guitar.
“Don’t worry, I can do all the screaming for you,” Summers added as she jumped towards him, and he barely caught the girl and stumbled back.
Before he could do anything, he kissed him hard, taking him by surprise, before finally her friend pulled her back.
“Now back off,” Alice said as Lexie and her pulled her back. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“I promise your mother, I would make sure you weren’t pregnant by the end of the night,” Alice spoke to a very drunk Summer, and now that they were separate, he could tell that she was a bit high.
“How did she even find beer?” and the piercing gazes all landed on Elliot, who raised his hands in surrender.
“What! She forced my hand!” and this could be a problem.
“Well, if it is him, I doubt even my mother would agree,” Summer continued, and he shuddered at the thought.
After learning from his mistake earlier, he had gotten himself a marker, so he stepped forward as he took it out of his pocket.
“Well, I am sorry for the trouble you are about to get into, but here’s a little consolation prize,” and he signed her top with the marker.
The truth was that despite her antics, he liked Summer.
She was like a little ball of Sunshine, who refused to care about the world.
She was quick to make friends and seemed genuinely good.
Alice was nice as well, but was clearly more reserved and tacit.
The two of them were fun to be around, and a part of him wondered if they would make good friends with Rue and Gia if they were to move to Pasadena.
“I will treasure this forever,” Summer added as Alice picked up her phone.
“My parents are texting me. They want us to leave,” and Lexie groaned at that.
“It was quite fun hanging out with you.” She hugged the girl.
“Same. We should exchange numbers,” Alice suggested.
“Definitely,” Lexie answered, and the duo exchanged their contacts and socials before Alice turned towards him and spoke after some hesitation.
“Can you sign my top as well,” and he bowed his head.
“As you wish,” and so he signed it up, as the bubbly girl jumped up and down in joy.
“We weren’t told that you are giving autographs now,” another voice cut in, and he looked to the side and saw Maddie and Cassie walking towards him.
Maddie was wearing a purple dress of sorts that was rather unique, and one could say many things about her, but Maddie sure knew how to dress up.
Cassie, beside her, was wearing a light blue dotted shirt, and he did not miss how the blonde’s eyes were swollen.
“We will be going now. Thank you for everything,” and Alice hopped away with Summers, who was less than coherent now.
“I will come with you.” Lexie joined her and swung one of Summers’ arms around her neck as the duo carried her away.
“That was a fucking killer show,” Maddie added, and he chuckled.
“You killed it out there,” Cassie added.
“Thanks, though I am sorry for making you cry,” he added, and she gave him a brittle smile.
“This wasn’t you,” she answered, making him frown.
“She and McKay have broken up,” Maddie clarified, and that was news to him.
“Oh,” and that was gossip though he was not much interested in it.
“I am sorry,” and he did not know what else he was supposed to say.
“Don’t be. He was a jerk,” Maddie added, leaning in close.
“What are your plans for tonight?” Her intentions were obvious.
“They are not final yet,” he answered truthfully, as a knowing smile came on her face as she pushed herself to her toes and kissed him right there, but this was different than Summers.
This was more thought out.
More calculated.
“Well, they are final now,” she added once they separated.
“Maddie,” he still had to be careful.
“And before you ask, Nate and I are not together,” she answered before he could even ask.
“Where’s your car?” she asked, and he pointed at the parking in the back.
“Let’s go,” she added, grabbing his hand as she led him away.
“Guess someone’s gotta fix that broken heart… and I’m down to volunteer.”
.
.
.
.
.
Miles away, Nate was finally meeting his father as the family came together to finalize the divorce agreement.
Most of the discussion was cordial, and his mother did not even question his father about why he was divorcing her.
She seemed happy about this, but Nate was not happy.
“Why?” he asked the man when the room was empty.
“Why are you doing this?” Nate asked, and the white-haired man looked him dead in the eye.
“I have no choice,” he answered.
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean….”
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Have a fantastic day!