The cutting wind bit into Jill’s red cheeks. She stood
patiently backstage of the Madison Square Garden’s arena. Beside Jill stood her
fellow bandmates McKenzie, Gary, Francis, and Calvin (all of whom were drenched
with sweat after their opening act performance.) In front of her stood Greg
with his head set on and microphone adjusted near his mouth. After a week, it
was finally Dream Street’s first stop of their nation wide tour. Granted Wish was
asked to be part of their opening act for the Dream Street tour, and they
happily accepted the invitation. Granted Wish’s first single, “Til it hurts no
more,” made it to number 72 on the charts after its first week. To Granted Wish,
they already had achieved their highest goal. Suddenly the lights burst
brightly and Jill pushed Greg onto the stage. Greg, astonished by the extremely
large crowd, began to sing his solo in the beginning of Dream Street’s song. Slightly,
Jill slipped into the rest of the audience while Dream Street performed. Jill
drooled over Greg as the song came to an end.
“And
now, I’m going to need a little help here ladies,” Greg slowly spoke as a hush
came over the crowd. A musical tune began to play in the background and now,
more than ever the fans grew wild with cheers. “Which one of you lovely ladies
will be the first to come on stage with Dream Street tonight?” Greg yelled
aloud while grinning at Jill.
Jill’s
heart began to pound. She was positive that Greg would pull her and only her
out of the screaming girls. She shut her eyes closed and listened for Greg’s
voice again.
“I
have just the girl in mind,” Greg whispered lightly into his microphone, “You,
in the brown sweater.”
His
finger was pointing in Jill’s direction. Jill crossed her fingers and looked up
to see Greg hovering over her. He bent down and grabbed the hand of a girl who
was standing right next to Jill. Disappointed, Jill faced Greg again. Next to
him stood a tall blonde-haired girl with light tan skin. She had awfully large
lips that curved out.
“Been
there, done that
One
time too many, whoa-oh,” Greg lightly sang
with a smile on his face. He grinned at the girl on stage.
Jill
frowned in a way that she couldn’t help. Why hadn’t Greg picked her to sing to?
“This time I'm hoping
You won't come back to me, Jenny
Oh when you get lonely, girl
And you come on so sweet
When things get better, baby
You start to retreat,” Greg sang again. He placed his arms around the girl, as if she
was a soft bear longing to feel warmth from the cold. He closed his
eyes and
sang with a sweet passion, which made his singing realistic. Jill wasn’t able
to tell whether this had been an act or not. Why was Greg ignoring her? Maybe
he hadn’t seen her? No, that couldn’t have been true. Jill was standing right
next to the chosen girl. Jill’s nose crunched with anger.
She couldn’t explain why there was a sudden anger in her. She
didn’t even have true feelings for Greg, at least not any official feelings for
him. It wasn’t even Jill’s say whether or not he could flirt with his fans. Jill
felt herself fighting with her head. After what seemed like a decade, Jennifer
Goodbye finally finished. Her eyes were fixed to Greg and the ordinary fan. It
was though her eyes were forcing her to face the pain. Before the fan came back
down to the audience, Greg kissed her cheek so the whole crowd could see.
When the fan finally made her way to the bottom of the
stage, Greg’s eyes found Jill’s. Jill’s eyes, however didn’t manage to see Greg.
All that her eyes saw were a bright flash of pain. It was a pain that not only
made her head ache, but her heart as well. Jill, as fierce as a starving wolf
in the winter cold, gave a grim look to Greg and clenched her teeth. She
quickly turned around and pushed through the screaming crowd, which didn’t seem
to notice her exit. Without looking back, Jill flung her hair and ran passed
the arena to the nearest bus station.
After about five hours, Dream Street was let out into their
tour bus with their other equipment. Matt was busy, showering off his sweaty
pores while Chris was snoozing in the bunk next door. Frankie was showering
himself with candy and Jesse was flipping through the channels of the TV. All
of them were too busy to notice Greg sitting in the way back of the bus,
isolated and alone, confused and ashamed.