Sneak Peek Wednesday: Groupie by C.M. Stunich

(Rock Concert)I swear, even though it shouldn’t be possible, it’s like he’s looking right at me.

“We’re Beauty in Lies”—the kick drum pummels the air and then the curtain’s up and I get a flash of the boy with turquoise eyes sitting on his throne—“and we’re here to welcome you to the first night of the Broken Hearts and Twisted Souls Tour.” Paxton holds the mic in one tattooed hand and lifts the other up to loosen his black tie. His grey eyes twinkle as he takes in the crowd. “This song’s called ‘How I Say Hello’.”

He gives one last jerk to his tie and then swings his free arm around, setting his bandmates on fire. Guitars rip from the speakers, played by a guy with razored blue-black hair and one with a tall silver and black mohawk. Confetti explodes from several machines set around the circular stage, and then it begins to move.

I hold up my left hand and wait for a piece to land on the sweaty surface of my palm, bringing it in close to examine it. It’s one half of a broken heart. I slap the sticky confetti piece off on my jeans and glance back at the stage as it turns away from me.

The bassist and both guitarists are rocking out, tossing their hair as they rev up for a bouncy rock song and Paxton lets out this pained scream into the mic, riding a wave of drumming from the boy in the back. Suddenly, I just feel like I have to know his name.

I tear my phone from my pocket; I’m not the only one. All around me, people lift phones and tablets up, recording the show as it spins in an easy circle around the stadium. I don’t even have to type in the band’s whole name before information starts popping up.

Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Pianos—Paxton Blackwell

Lead Guitar—Michael Luxe

Rhythm Guitar—Derek “Muse” Muser

Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals—Ransom Riggs

Drums, Percussion—Copeland Park

Copeland, the boy with eyes as bright as a tropical sea. And Ransom, the boy in the hoodie. Somehow, I’ve managed to literally run into three separate members of Beauty in Lies before the show even started. Must be some kind of record.

My breath catches as the stage comes back around and Paxton appears at the edge, reaching out, his arms directly above my head, fingertips just barely brushing the wild straining digits of the crowd.

“You aren’t above it all, just say hello, descend into the darkness of this hellhole. So now I’m feeling like you came just to say I told you so, but down here, deep below, you’re the kind of girl I’d rather told me no. You’re the kind of girl that drowns hearts and leaves them in a deep blue sea, a siren, a songstress, always calling back to me.”

“BACK TO ME!” That sensual velvet voice from earlier explodes through the speakers and wraps me up in dripping decadence, Ransom’s scream the perfect complement to Paxton’s smooth, careful notes. My eyes flick between them and then over to the boy with dark hair, the one that’s just covered in tattoos, his eyes this sharp piercing violet, like Elizabeth Taylor or something.

Holy shit.

Why are they all so beautiful?