Chapter Twenty Nine

"Stop asking questions, Audrey" Teri orders me. "You have to dress up. It's the End of Summer Concert."

I've been sitting down on a rotating chair for the past two hours. Teri just finished straightening my wavy hair and now she's adding loose curly to the end of my hair.
She applies make up to my face and swipes lip gloss to my lips, before she spins me around. I stare at myself in the mirror. I look like a different person. I actually look beautiful once in my life.

"Don't you think this is too much for a concert?" I ask.

"It's the concert of the year, so no." Teri replies back. "Hurry up and get dressed. We don't want to hit traffic."

I quickly but carefully put on my off the shoulders, hugs my curves, white shirt, shimmer into dark skinny jeans and slid my feet into black and white polka dots heels.

Teri walks out the bathroom wearing pants and a pink T-shirt. I frown.

"Why aren't you dressed up?"

"I didn't have enough time to get ready." She tells me. "Let's go."

We walk out the apartment and went down the stairs. We climb into the car and Teri starts the engine.

"Everyone is there, already. They're waiting for us." I inform her.

"Tell them we'll be there soon."

The concert didn't start until 8 but everyone loved this concert so we were an hour early. The Hollywood Bowl is huge, thousands of people can fit inside of it.

We got good seats, right in the middle. We weren't too close to the stage but we weren't far away for it.

I smile when I see Hayes, making his way to me.

"You look beautiful like always." He tells me.

"Teri got a hold of me." I say. "I couldn't get away from her claws."

"Hey!" Teri exclaims. "I do not have claws."

"They're close enough." I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. "A thank you would've been nice."

"Thank you, Teri." I tell her, smiling.

I look around me. Everyone has on normal clothes, pants and a T-shirt and then there's me in a nice shirt and jeans wearing heels.

"Why am I the only one dressed up?" I ask.

"Because you have a very unique style." Teri says.

"Nice try. Now tell me the real reason."

"Oh look the concert about to begin." She says, looking at the stage.

I let the issue drop and focus on the concert. The band who played is really amazing. They love what they do. They played four songs before Hayes grabs my hand.

"Where are we going?" I ask as he leads me away from our group.

"Wait and find out." He tells me.

I did as he said and he leads me to the back. He leaves me and talks to guy who works here.

"Come on, Audrey." He say.

I walk over to him. "What's going on?"

"You're up in five." The guy Hayes was talking to informs us.

I narrow my eyes. "What did you do?"

"Not what he did" A voice says behind me. I turn around to see the rest of our group.

"It's what we did." Teri tells me.

"You remember when you told me you always wanted to sing on a stage in front of an audience" Hayes says. "Well this is it."

"I already sang on a stage in front of an audience." I remind them.

"This time it's different" Teri says. "You're singing to someone."

I frown, confused. "The four steps." Shawn says. "One of those steps is follow your heart, right?"

I nod my head. "Yeah but-"

"It's time to let them go." Teri says.

My family. I haven't cried over them in front of them but they weren't blind. I talk to Hayes about them all the time. I missed them. I couldn't let them go.

Yes you can. The voice tells me. Listen to them. It's time.

Hayes pulls me closer to him. "Audrey, you can do this." He tells me. "They would've want you to move on."

"I know." I whisper. "It's just hard to move on and let them go."

"We're here for you." Gina says, hugging me. Then everyone is hugging me.

"One minute" The guy informs me.

They let go of me and head back to their seats. Hayes gives me one last look before leaving.

I take in a deep breath before walking onto the stage. The stage lights blinds me for a second before my eyes adjust to them.

Like before, I talk to the drummer and guitarist to let them know what I'm doing before I sit down on the wooden bench.
My heart is pounding, rapidly. There's so many people here. I close my eyes.

Don't look at them. I tell myself. Focus on the music.

"This song is dedicated to my parents and my brother." I say into the mic. I look up at the sky. "I love you, guys."

That's the cue for the guitarist to start playing. They give me a light beat on their electric guitar. A few seconds later, I begin to play the piano. The lyrics flows out my mouth slow and soft.

It's been a long day without my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

I drop my arms for the next part. I wasn't a strong rapper but good thing I wasn't rapping. I was singing it.

Damn who knew
All the planes we flew
Good things we've been through
That I'll be standing right talking to you
About another path
I know we loved to hit the road and laugh
But something told me that it wouldn't last
Had to switch up
Look at things different
See the bigger picture
Those were the days, hard work forever pays
Now I'll see you in a better place
Oooh

This next part is what I'm telling Teri. I'm staring right at her.

How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
Now you're gonna be with me for the last ride

I place my hands back on the keys and sing the first verse again.

Ahh ooh ahh ooh
Wooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

I drop my arms again and rap the next verse.

First you both go out your way
And the vibe is feeling strong And what's small turns into a friendship A friendship turn to a bond
And that bond will never be broken
The love will never get lost
And when brotherhood come first
Then the line will never be crossed
Established it on our own
When that line had to be drawn
And that line is what we reach
So remember me when I'm gone
Oohh

How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you're gonna be there with me for the last ride

I play the piano again and change my voice to match the beat. I look at the sky as I sing.

So let the light guide your way yeah
Hold every memory as you go
And every road you take will always lead you home, home

The song changes back to the slow and soft beat.

It's been a long day without you my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've came a long way from where we've been began
Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

The audience went wild when I hit my second high note.

Ahh oh
Ahh oh
Wooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

When I see you again
See you again
Wooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

My voice lowers when I sing the last line of the song.

When I see you again.

I stand up and the audience gives me a standing ovation. They cheered so loudly for me, I forget why I was so scared in the first place.

Tears threatens to fall out but I will them back in. I glance at the sky one last time.
One star stood out to me and I knew they we will always be with me even if I decide to let them go.

"You were amazing, Aud" Teri tells me, hugging me.

"Yeah you gave me chills with all those high notes." Chris adds, showing me his arms.

"Thank you." I say. "Where's Hayes?"

"He said he had something to take care of." Daire informs me. "But he wanted to let you know you were incredible."

It doesn't sound like something Hayes would do, especially if he knew how important this was for me.

We were heading back to our seats when the corner of my eyes catches a dark headed guy walking out the back.

Hayes. Where is he going?

"Guys" I call out. "I'll be back."

"Okay well hurry back, if you don't wanna miss the concert." Teri tells me.

I nod my head and when they were out of sight, I walk out the back door. I didn't see Hayes but there was only one way he could go. I walk around the side and look both ways.

The left leads to the front of the building and the right leads to ocean. I take my chances on the right.

I take my heels off so I'm not making as much noises. When I get close to to the sunken side there's a sign that says no trespassing.

I guess tonight I'm breaking the rules. Before I can take one step down, a hand wraps around my mouth and pulls me away from the edge.