Page 1 of Gabriel's Album

1

The First Song

I’m standingin the corner of a big ballroom with my friends Hayden Vega, Harrison Fletcher, and Sebastian Fox on a Saturday night. We’re hovering near the stage that we’re due to perform on in a few minutes. When we’re together, people know us as Cruise Control, the band we formed back when we were teens. All of our instruments have been set up on the stage, and we’re chatting with our manager, Cooper Powell, along with our host for the evening, Stephanie Abbott. She’s the wife of the Mayor of Chicago and the patron of tonight’s charity.

“Thanks so much for coming tonight, gentlemen.”

“We’re happy to be here, Stephanie; it’s such a great cause,” Cooper replies.

I allow my gaze to roam across the room as the conversation continues without me. Cooper is plenty capable of schmoozing people without my help. My eyes land on a beautiful brunette woman wearing a silver dress. I find myself drawn to her and watch her as she gets herself a glass of wine before moving around the room to talk to people.

“You ready, Gabriel?”

I’m pulled back to the current conversation by Harrison’s question.

“Sure.”

I search the room again as I follow Hayden, Sebastian, and Harrison onto the stage. She’s standing in a group of semi-celebrities now, but I’ve never seen her before in my life, so I don’t think she’s famous herself.

She definitely lacks the dizzied look I often see on the faces of fans, so I’m assuming that she must be used to this. She’s probably grown up in a rich family and is used to fancy charity functions like this one.

I take my place onstage in front of the microphone and run through what I’m planning to say as the guys take their own places behind their instruments. I’m used to being the frontman and spokesperson for the band, but there is always a part of me that is worried I’ll say the wrong thing.

“Thanks for coming out tonight!” I begin. “We really appreciate your generous donations. One of our own family members had a premature baby at the hospital, so it’s great that we can support such a great cause.”

Hayden’s niece is doing so well now, but it was barely a year ago that we’d all been worried for him while we were in the middle of writing our debut album.

“Our tour starts soon, and we hope you’ll all come along to see us live, but, in the meantime, please enjoy our set!”

With that, we launch into “If I Were You.” It was our first big hit, and it’s a love song that I wrote with Harrison about his girlfriend, Heather York. She’s one of my best friends and has definitely forced us to keep our feet on the ground as we’ve gotten more famous.

I’m very pleased when I see the woman in the silver dress smiling and singing along to the words. For some reason, this encourages me to perform better. I want to watch her having fun.

She’s so enthralling as she moves to the music. I just want to stare at her the entire time we’re performing, but I force myself to look around at the rest of the crowd too. When our set finishes and we leave the stage, I’m saddened that I can no longer see her as easily.

We’re off the clock now, and Stephanie meets us at the side of the stage. She encourages us to stick around and enjoy ourselves. We all head to the bar and help ourselves to free drinks.

It’s quite a while, and many drinks later, that Sebastian and I are standing and talking to a group of society ladies. I’m not sure where Harrison and Hayden have gone, and I haven’t seen the woman in the silver dress since I left the stage, much to my dismay. I did cut a check for ten thousand dollars for the charity, though, and Stephanie is telling her friend about it.

“Can you believe it, Susan? Ten thousand dollars! Such generosity.”

“That’s wonderful of you.”

“Well, thanks.” I attempt, as much as I can, to not slur my words.

I’m feeling a little bit unsteady on my feet, and Sebastian laughs out loud as I sway slightly where I’m standing.

“Shut it, Seb,” I hiss at him.

“You’re fucking wasted, dude.”

As we have this exchange, the woman called Susan turns and pulls someone new into our group.

“Ariana, have you met Sebastian and Gabriel from Cruise Control?”

It’s the woman in the silver dress, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I’m thrilled to finally meet her, and I hold my hand out to shake hers.

“No, I haven’t. It’s nice to meet you.”

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