You and Me (Plus Everyone In Between Us)

Hamburgers & Hangovers

Why were there so many goddamn lights everywhere?

I still felt nauseous, and my throat felt scraped raw from all the singing I had just endured.

There was a fancy buffet set up in the studio cafeteria. The centre was a huge, marble, and cube-shaped, split in half displaying the food with luminous lights. White, circular tables were spread all over the ground which was somehow both concrete and polished finely.

I liked the cafeteria because there weren't any cameras in there. I could eat my food in peace and maybe loosen up a bit. I had sung more in the last four hours than I had ever sung in my life it seemed.

My vocal coach Annie, a sweet-looking but brutal woman, was such a deceptive person on camera. When we first met, we started with light vocal warm-ups, as she tried to find my range and all that. As soon as they left, Annie became brutal. She had me screaming, pushing my voice to its highest possible range for hours before we even got to the song. Then we went over throat-scraping vocal warm-ups and other techniques so I sounded as clear as possible. I memorized the lyrics before we finished. We even went over my "Sing For Your Life" song just in case.

I know it didn't sound bad, but I never knew that singing could feel so unpleasant. Lennon came by after mentoring the other girls, and only gave me a neutral expression, I couldn't tell if it was boredom or disappointment.

It didn't help that the hangover hadn't worn off. Nausea went slowly but surely. By the time I entered the cafeteria, the simple waft of burgers almost sent me into a blissful coma and my stomach blared out. I couldn't wait to eat anything.

Anyway, lunch on the menu today was burgers. Not just any burgers, like these were gourmet burgers. Real cheese dripping over well-done beef patties, bacon, fresh vegetables, and crunchy bread. This was the real deal. This looked like food that moderately-wealthy people ate on a weekly basis. I tried not to look so surprised at it.

"Ezra!" Janelle called from across the cafeteria, sitting at a table with Grace.

"Hey," I said, ready to take my seat only if it wasn't for the obstacle of someone's hoodie being on there.

I crashed down at their table, just like my brain crashed against my skull. Grace glanced at me through the corner of her eye.

I took a huge bite of my burger, feeling the flavours melt and burst across my tongue. My eyes widened in surprise. Never in my life have I been shaken by such flavour. It was everything and nothing at the same time.

"This is so good," I gushed. "What is in here?"

"Bread, meat, cheese, vegetables," Grace listed. "And crack. Lots of crack."

Janelle laughed with her whole body, falling back. "How was vocal practice for you guys?"

I sighed heavily. "It was brutal. I've never sung that much in my entire life. My vocal cords are begging for a break."

"At least we have four more hours after this," Janelle deadpanned and I dreaded the thought of it.

"Wow," Janelle awed. "Grace and I's vocal coach were okay too. We focused on expanding our ranges and singing the song. Plus, Andre came to help us even though he was a judging mentor. He worked really well with our manager."

Grace jumped in. "That's what I'm saying. I swear if I wasn't hella gay, I would be smitten with this man."

"But you're only smitten for me," Janelle replied, nuzzling her head into their chin.

It was slightly adorable.

"Who was your manager?" Grace asked excitedly.

"My manager was so passive-aggressive," I huffed. "Her name is Lennon."

"Like John Lennon?" Janelle interrupted. "Sorry for cutting in, I just find that it's a weird name."

I knew a lot about being weird. Technically Ezra was perfectly normal. For men. every time I said my name to the wrong people they always said something grossly transphobic.

Mom and Dad assumed they would get two boys because someone at church told them so. They just kept the name because they had already gotten somehow used to it. Our birth was the first time they had even been disappointed in me.

"Yeah," I just replied. "She was kind of weird. It felt like she was trying to be angry and quirky at the same time. She was brutally honest though, I'll give her that."

"So," Grace began, smacking her hands down on the table. "Where did you go at the party?"

"Okay," I started, getting ready to explain. "I got hungover, as you know. I felt so sleepy as soon as I got home. Like really tired. I don't remember passing out. I just did."

"Damn," Grace replied. "We couldn't find you at the party. It was so dense. We tried calling you a couple of times."

I raised a confused eyebrow, before opening my phone and realizing it was dead. Again.

"At least you had fun?" they replied. "So why do you smell like coffee?"

"Get this," I started again. "I'm running through the streets, and then I crash into someone and they spill all their coffee on me. Turns out, it was Andre."

"Like Andre Robinson?" Janelle gasped, eyes wide. "Lead singer of Dilemma Andre, or just a regular Andre?"

"Andre," I reinstated. "Turns out he was going here so he gave me a ride. But not before we got chased by paparazzi."

"How did you get out?" Grace asked.

"We hid behind this dumpster before they got bored and left," I explained. "Then we were here."

"Damn," Janelle complimented. "That sounds like something straight out of a fanfiction."

"Eh," I underestimated. "It was nothing. It was tiring. I didn't even talk to him. I didn't feel magical. In fact, I'm not really a fan of Dilemma that much. To be honest, I find them kind of overrated."

"Oh no!" she fake gasped, pretending to faint into Grace's lap. "Don't let D-1s hear you say that or else they'll kill you on sight."

"Ha ha," I fake laughed. "I like them as a band, but their music isn't for me. I know it's supposed to be revolutionary and all that, but I don't enjoy it. You should see my sister though. She runs a stan account for them and has like 30,000 followers on Twitter."

"Wait," Janelle gasped. "Is your sister @andresuntiedshoelace?"

"Yup," I confirmed. "That's the one."

"She's probably just as famous as Andre himself," Grace realized, quietly.

She was honestly the best. Any D-1, Dilemma's fandom probably knew about Maria and her Twitter antics. She created the account as soon as the last episode of last season aired. The name Andre's untied shoelace came from an inside joke in the fandom. I'm pretty sure it was when Andre tripped onstage during their concerts and Matthew, their bassist caught him. It created an iconic moment.

"Now that Andre was going to be revealed as a guest judge, I bet the Randre shippers are going to rise from their unsailed ship graves," Janelle spoke. "Everyone shipped them last year. Even me."

To think of it, I haven't even seen Ray yet. I glanced around the cafeteria and saw no sign of smooth glossy hair peeking up from the masses of contestants eating. Damn. I wanted to ask her why she told everyone I had left early when I clearly hadn't.

Oh well.