Lost Hope

TWENTY-SIX

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Two days after she was released from the hospital, George Mash sent her a new email, informing her that she was to be on stage with the band on their upcoming concert.

She had, of course, ignored the email. But then he'd sent a joyous Henry to her bedroom door with his excited bandmates.

"Thena, this's so cool!" exclaimed Henry, giving her a bear hug. "Man, I've never been prouder."

"Okay, Henry, get off!" she yelled, grinning.

"We met the guys," said Isaac, giving her a high-five. "They're so much fun and they're good at what they do! You're going to go big big!"

She rolled her eyes but even with all the heaviness in her heart, she couldn't stop smiling. Somewhere in the world, Chris was having an excited fit and cheering her on, she was sure of that.

Emmet gave her a guilty look but she waved him off. "It's all in the past, Emmet, I'm over it."

"If that's what you say," he mumbled, shooting her a small smile before disappearing. 

Their concert was in Oxford, thankfully. 

Athena, dressed in a beige denim skirt, a black tank top and an oversized brown flannel with her converse, strolled around the studio as they had a quick word together. 

When they appeared on stage from tiles with their instruments and everything, security gave Athena a sound box, attached to her skirt and earpieces which she removed as soon as they put them. She slipped out with a guard and stayed back while he jumped off stage. She approached Emmet who was playing his drums and shot him a thumbs up, he grinned in response and she turned to study his bandmates, trying not to portray the fear she felt. 

Blake tried to trip her a couple of times and the last time she gave him her middle finger, cursing him loudly. Isaac laughed, threw an arm around her shoulders and led her away before she could tackle him onstage. Henry winked at her from his position before hitting his high note. Isaac walked her around the stage before stopping in front of Emmet and gesturing him out of his seat. Before Athena could do more than back up a step, they'd pushed her behind the drums and Henry and Blake cheered into their face mics. 

Athena scowled and plugged her earpieces in before playing the track she remembered from the setlist. The crowd screamed loudly when the boys sang their notes and played their instruments. 

As soon as the song finished, Athena got up, her face flushed. Emmet laughed, ruffled her hair and took his place again. She went back to walking around aimlessly, cursing both Blake and the draped wires around the stage. It was embarrassing how many times they steadied her when she stumbled on the wire, laughing as they did. She stood next to Isaac as he played his bass guitar. Then she passed Henry who had mad guitar skills and finally she stood on Blake's side, eyes narrowed and arms crossed as he grinned at her while his bandmates sang,  looking very amused as she tried to spot a mistake. 

When the song ended, he flashed her a wicked grin and gestured to his bandmates. "Let's give it up to Athena darling who's going to sing us a song with an extraordinary voice!" 

She widened her eyes at him and the other three hollered into their face mics. Face burning as she cursed all their ancestors, she marched towards Blake who retrieved a microphone from a guard and snatched it away, hitting the back of his head. She gritted out the title of the song to him and he hollered it to his bandmates. 

Heart Attack by Demi Lovato. 

She sat on one of the white bench-like stands that protruded from the stage, took a deep breath and began the lyrics, ignoring Isaac who sat next to her.