“Yeah, the Extreme song. We can do that, no problem. What time are you on?”
“No clue. I need to check when I get there.” With a bit of luck, it’d be early, and I could hitch a ride with someone else back to town and grab an early night.
First, though, I needed to message Harvey.
I dug out my phone and cursed. Of course I hadn’t put it on charge last night. I was down to my last ten percent. No way that’d last the day. I’d just have to wait until later.
We arrived at the festival. There’d been so much rain overnight that the ground was like a fucking swamp. My old boots wouldn’t survive. They already let in the rain, so fuck knows what they’d be like later.
Thankfully, someone took pity on me and gave me a pair of rubber boots to wear. Not the most attractive, but it was better than the alternative.
I stood out front and listened to the other bands performing. Some were okay, some were fucking awful, but a handful were great. It was good to be out there with the music for a change. This was what I’d always wanted, not fucking around and seeing what stuck.
Before long, it was my turn.
Will and I had managed a quick run-through. We agreed I’d sing the Extreme song, then move on to an old favourite,Brown Eyed Girl.The set was short, and that’d work.
As soon as the bars of the first song started, I was in the zone.
Every word I sang reminded me of Harvey; every note reminded me of him. I didn’t love him, that wasn’t it, but everything he’d said to me last night resonated with me. When he spoke, it was more than words. It was his heart and soul, his emotions, his highs and his lows.
I rarely got emotional when I sang, but this brought everything to the surface. I sang my heart out, put all I had into the song,and as the final bars sounded, I turned away from the audience, a flood of tears streaming down my face.
The applause was rapturous, just how I wanted it to be.
“Killian. Fuck, man. Are you okay?”
I scrubbed at my face with my shirt. “I’m good. Just, you know, it got to me.”
“You fucking killed it. They’re going mad for you.”
I finally turned back to the crowd, and they erupted again. I’d never in my life experienced anything like that, and my heart swelled.
I’d put my fucking heart into the song, and this was their reaction.
I put my hands up and thanked them. “Guys, you’re amazing. Thank you so much. That song is close to my heart. It reminds me of a friend and the struggles he’s going through, so yeah, it’s emotional. But let’s liven it up a bit.”
I turned to Will and nodded, and we flowed straight into the second song. Not quite the same reaction, but fuck, this was what I’d been missing all these years.
I left the stage on a high, exhilarated. What I wouldn’t have given for Harvey to be here to see this. But we were friends, nothing more, and I knew this wasn’t what he liked.
He was a homebird, and I needed to accept that. He left the house for work, and that was it.
I tracked down my boots and pulled them on. There was nothing more for me to do around here. I was tired and needed to sleep. I’d already found a group of guys and girls I knew who were willing to let me catch a ride home, and went to find them.
“Killian McDonagh?” A hand on my arm and a voice I didn’t recognise made me nervous.
“Yes? Who are you?” I faced a well-dressed man. He wore a pair of designer jeans tucked into a pair of Hunter boots, and hescreamedmoney. He was well spoken, with an expensive watch on his wrist. What did he want with me?
“I’m Sullivan Jones. I’m a music agent. I saw what you did with the crowd out there. Colour me impressed. Do you have an agent?”
I shook my head. “I just sing in pubs and bars.”
“You have a unique voice. I loved what you did with the first song. So much emotion and raw passion. My record label is looking for talent like yours.”
“Is this a fucking wind-up?” I’d spent years on the circuit trying to get noticed, and it had never happened. Was someone taking the piss?
“I’m dead serious. Take my card, and if you’re interested, give me a call.”