No Holding Back (6 page)

“Hey, hey! Chill, alright? Calm down!
Just calm down, okay? Everything’s good. It’s all good, see?"

Wade released one hand from Chris and pushed it right up against the window and into the face of a nameless fan
and raised his middle finger. The fan didn’t know any better and continued scanning the inside of the bus blindly.

“They
’re tinted windows,” Wade explained. “They can’t see shit.”

A wave of relief came over Chris and she felt her blood pounding in her ears along with Wade patting her gently on the back.

“C’mon now, take a deep breath. You’re alright! You’re not gonna to wig out on me now already, are ya?” Wade asked, half-teasing.

“
Hell
no,” Chris said, shoving supportive arm away. “I was just caught off guard. It won’t happen again.”

She made every effort to hide her near fatal scare and to ensure that
her thick bangs were pulled over her eyes. And after she readjusted her hoodie and beanie again, Wade was left stunned at the simple transformation. He swore he had never seen anything like it and that alone put his own nerves more at ease. He began to feel like they might just pull this off after all.

“
Hey!” Chris barked as she slapped Wade on the arm
.
“We gonna do a show or stand here all damn night?”

Wade smiled at her
brazen confidence.

“Soon. Hey
, I talked to Mike a few hours ago. He doesn’t know why, but he made sure that the techies only zoom in on the three of us during the concert. That way, the projector screens won’t hone in on you and your ‘disguise’. Understand?"

“Yeah. Great.
Whatever.”

Chris was only half-
listening as she leaned over and swiped her drumsticks off the table.

“He may not know you
’re a girl, but he still thinks I’m taking a big chance with you,” Wade admitted.

In response, Chris stopped and stared back at him from under her hoodie.

“And what do
you
think?” she asked.

“I think that if you don
’t hold anything back, we’ll all be in for the ride of our lives tonight.”

Chris didn
’t how to think or feel after such a statement, but she didn’t have time to.

“Just one more thing,
” Wade interjected her thoughts.

“
Now
what?” she asked impatiently.

“
Don’t flash anyone,” Wade said with a straight face.

Her attempt to get Chris to
relax was silly, but he hit pay dirt when she rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“
Don’t worry. The ‘girls’ won’t be making a cameo appearance tonight."

And with that, she situated her hood one last time
before Wade gestured to the door. He walked off first and took the brunt of the fans that security had a rough time containing, but luckily, they were more interested in him than Chris.

But no
sooner than Pete opened the door for them, than Wade heard the crowd going crazy over the starter groups. On their way into the auditorium, Wade saw the techies run back and forth to the vehicles for any last remaining touch-ups for Heretic’s many electronic devices. The one thing that Wade did forget to mention to Chris was the numerous lighting and special effects Heretic was known for. But there was no time for it or for anything else for that matter. But anyone who’s ever seen Heretic perform would be expecting it, so Wade hoped that Chris would too.

But as the duo
walked backstage, the noise became magnified by the microphones. Mike met up with them and Chris finally saw Heretic’s agent for the first time.

He was a tall, well-dressed man in his forties and while she tried shying away from his studying gaze, she noticed he looked a little well dressed for a rock concert – dressed head to toe in a three-piece suit with his slightly graying hair combed in neatly in place. To Chris, Mike looked like more like the CEO of a bank – not an agent for rough and wild group like Heretic. But as soon as Mike and Wade met up, he had to shout to Wade over the noise even though they
were standing right next to each other.

“Alright!
Everything’s set up the way you wanted it! It’s all you now, man! I’m outta here!”

Wade nodded
just as Mike plugged both his ears with his pinkie fingers and promptly left.

Wade
scanned the backstage but didn’t have to look far to see that Os and Joe were already talking with the other bands. Joe looked the eager five year old and Os, despite tensions earlier, never looked more ready to go. The more Wade thought about it, he was certain that Heretic’s friction came after so many weeks of being on hiatus. He knew they were just as eager as
he
was to get back to their music.

Wade did his best to
hide Chris as they approached the stage and waited until Darkness Superior finished their last song. Fiercely protective of Heretic’s secret, he physically placed his own body in between Chris and anyone else who so much as passed by. He looked back over his shoulder every so often to see if she was still there, but he found her perfectly safe, head bobbing as she tapped one of her sticks against the side of her leg. Wade had put everything on the line for this mysterious girl that appeared out of nowhere and now it all came down to this. It was time to see if his gut feeling was dead on.

But as the band strummed the last notes o
f their instruments, the crowd roared with approval, and to finish, the lights went out, and the curtain dropped. Now was the moment of truth: Heretic was up next.

Wade took advantage of the blackout, shouting at Chris through the surrounding darkness.

“Chris!” Wade held her by the shoulders and jostled her slightly. “All you have to do is play! Understand!?”

She loo
ked up at him and nodded excitedly.

“The techies have taped a piece
of paper down next to your feet,” he went on to explain. “They list the order of the songs we’ll play. Just let your hands do the rest-!”

“Alright! I get it!” she barked.

But Chris wasn’t angry – far from it. Her adrenaline kicked into high gear but she’d never admit it. Wade, on the other hand, after so many shows, you’d think he was born to do it.

Wade
smirked and smacked her roughly on the back in a friendly gesture and nodded to the main stage.

“Here we go
!”

Chris adjusted her beanie one las
t time before she stepped over dozens of wires to her ‘throne’. She looked out from underneath her hood just long enough to see the other members of Heretic adjust their guitar straps around their shoulders. But while she waited in those last remaining moments for the show to start, she was a in a place of her own.

She squeezed her drumsticks tightly in her hands and looked at the flawless, pristine silver drum set that once be
longed to Hess. As she lovingly stroked the cymbals and toms, her eyes watered at the reality of it all; the booming drone of thousands of voices blotting out her own thoughts, the unbelievable feeling of being so close to a piece of history that other drummer’s would kill for, and the chance to show everyone what she was capable of.  But before she could dwell on it a moment more, Wade gave a thumbs up to signal to the crew that they were ready.

The first thing that Chris saw when she raised her head
was just the first few rows of eager fans until the overhead lights beamed down on her, nearly blinding her from the rest of the crowd. She saw Joe waving at her from under her beanie and he grinned happily from behind the mess of his dreadlocks. But when thousands of hungry fans finally spotted Wade, Chris was certain she would go deaf.

Wade strode to the front of
the stage and snatched the microphone – detaching it from the stand.

“Wassuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!?” he bellowed long and deep to the crowd.

He raised his free hand into the air and made a fist and right away, everyone that Chris could see did the same thing.

Heretic strummed their guitars, sending
waves of music into the masses. Hundreds of open mouths responded tenfold with yells and cheers.

“Did you miss us?!” Wade screamed, and then held the microphone out to the crowd.

Chris was sure that anymore effort from Wade to work the crowd into a frenzy, and security would have their hands full keeping a sea o
f fans from stealing on stage. They already had their work cut out for them as several people hopped across the barriers and shook hands with Wade before they were promptly ‘escorted’ away.

By now, Chris wa
s aching to get going. Her hands tingled with excitement and when she looked at them, she found them shaking slightly as they stirred just above the cymbals. She had been chomping at the bit for a shot at a real drum set - not the sorry mess of metal and wood held together by duct tape that she was forced to audition with. She waited for her signal from Wade, but to her surprise, he followed with an announcement.

“I knew one of you crazy bastards out
there had real talent,” Wade said, pointing out to the crow. “And guess what?”

Chris anticipated Wade
’s overly dramatic acting but it played well to the crowd. She couldn’t help it as a small smile crept into the side of her mouth even though Joe told her not to. She looked down at her feet and sure enough, exactly seven songs were scrawled boldly on a piece of paper. So, she knew she’d be up there thirty minutes - tops.

She waited with baited breath for Wade to finish working Heretic
’s fans into a salivating frenzy. In the meantime, she twirled her drumsticks in her fingers until she was given her queue.

“We found it,” Wade finished. “
Ladies and Gentlemen! May I present CHRIS! REBMAAAAN!”

Wade screamed into his mic
rophone and motioned to Chris with a wide sweep of his hand. Chris connected with his deafening stare and nodded once at her. The crowd resumed its relentless cries but Chris didn’t need to hear Wade to know that by looks alone, she knew it was now or never.

Finally
, Chris spat to herself.

She
stopped twirling her drumsticks and held them high before bringing them together in four loud clicks. Right before she threw them back down onto the toms, the last thing she saw was Wade banging his head with her beat before she lost herself in her zone.

As soon as
Wade saw Chris dive into her routine without so much as batting an eye, the last of his worries disappeared. When Wade broke into his first song, growling and screaming his way through the lyrics, he couldn’t have been more relieved that Heretic was back doing what they did best. So much tension seemed to lift the moment their music blared into the fan-filled amphitheater.

Wade did his
‘normal’ routine and walked back and forth across the stage taking turns standing next to Os and Joe. He battled his brother on his guitar and despite their quarrels more often than not, no one would have guessed that they argued more than they got along. But for now, they dueled each other on their guitars to which the fans screamed and approved.

Wade may have had the star vocals of the group, but he considered his brother
’s voice to be on par with his own. But as much as Wade asked Os to do more vocals on stage with him, he refused and insisted his passion was with his guitar.

As Wade
’s stage routine brought him next to Joe, they did the same thing to their guitars, but he couldn’t help but smile when Joe, along with his head full of dreadlocks, bounced and bobbed all over the stage. As with all their other concerts, he poured enthusiasm and energy into his instrument and it showed. Joe even performed his signature move and during a small lull in the song, he jerked his guitar away from his body so hard, it swung around his back and shoulders by the strap, but he caught it expertly and went into his next note without missing a beat.

Wade couldn
’t help but remember their days growing up. He had always thought Joe to be a little odd at times, but at the moment, he was a serious musician tearing it up on his guitar along with Wade. Joe was one of those few talented people that Wade felt fortunate having since the beginning, and he loved him like a brother.

Throughout their performance
, Wade looked back at Chris who was clearly lost in her drums. Her hands were a blurring whirlwind of smashing hits and strikes against the cymbals and toms. She did a damn fine job disguising her looks, but he knew that underneath all the layers of clothing, she had to be a sweaty mess by now, but if she was uncomfortable in anyway, she didn’t show it. He knew most drummers wore next to nothing thanks to the exercise they put themselves through. Even Hess went topless on all Heretics’ shows, but Wade knew that it was impossible for Chris. Regardless, to Wade, she beat the hell out of the drum set and looked like she was having the time of her life.

She may have
wowed him at the audition, but putting everything on the line right up to the concert hour was something Wade wouldn’t have done for just anyone, but he knew Chris was different. He was relieved that Heretic’s numerous special effects and lighting didn’t seem to bother her one bit or interrupt her concentration. Thankfully, he owed it all to his gut instinct.