“They are.” Guilherme says reluctantly, and I stare at him with Daniele and our two bandmates. “But if something wasgoing on between you and Alex, you would’ve told us, right?” Gui asks quietly, and Daniele laughs, on the other side of the screen, mockingly.

In her head, I’m giving way too much attention to a woman I don’t want to get with, and that’s new. I laugh at his apprehensive tone, because Guilherme, of all people in the world, is the one who shouldn’t doubt me when I talk about friendship with women.

“Come on, before we go to Brazil, when I spent days and nights glued to your sister, did you think I was hooking up with her?” I ask, scratching my unshaven beard, and he instinctively throws a pen at me.

“A.J.!” Daniele yells in shock.

“Gross, you guys are like, her brothers.” Guilherme shudders, getting up.

“We’re not.” Richard protests way too quickly.

“I know you’re not, but it’d be weird, she’s my little sister.”

“Oh my God!” Daniele sighs exasperated. “The ‘I miss you’ thing for you is over, Guilherme. Goodbye.” She says irritably and hangs up without saying goodbye to anyone else. Richard and I exchange looks, feeling neglected by our girl.

“Man, Dani’s in her last year of college.” Thomas laughs at how Guilherme talks about his sister, and our lead singer even opens his mouth to say something else, but the phone on the table vibrates, and we all know this conversation is over when we see the name “Sweet little thing” on the screen.

With a nod, I leave the room and pull my phone out of my pocket.

Me:I already know which tourist spot we’re going to in Lisbon.

I type the message in Portuguese, like the good student I’ve been.

Chapter Seven – Alex

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea

I'll sail the world to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see

I'll be the light to guide you

Count On Me - Bruno Mars

My phone wakes me up, it’s Wednesday morning, and I remember, even before opening my eyes, that Thalia and I have a call to discuss the mini-tour I’m going to do in Brazil as soon as I leave Vicious Bonds – in two months. And as if that wasn’t enough, I have a song sitting at number thirty on the global Spotify charts,andI’m about to perform shows in Europe.

The good thing about the alarm ringing is that I’m sure none of this is a dream.

I get up, slip my feet into my white Havaianas, and grab my phone. It’s 9:40 AM, twenty minutes until the meeting. But I already see messages from Thalia, saying she has some news that can’t wait, and others from... A.J.

The display just shows “Wake up, woman!” like he doesn’t know that jet lag is killing me. I open the conversation to curse him out, but the messages make me sit on the bed, heart racing and mouth dry.

A.J: We’re in the global top 15.

A.J.’s message was sent three hours ago. I swallow hard, blinking twice, but the next message, sent just twelve minutes ago, makes me stand up again.

A.J: Where are you, Alexandra ? Top 10, we’re top 10.

A.J: And we’re the most played song in Brazil!

My heart races, and my eyes fill up again.

Me: I’m here. I’m here.

I type with shaky hands and a racing heart.

The song is a hit. We knew that. We sang it for the first time on a Friday, by Saturday the crowd was already singing along, and by Sunday, you could barely hear our voices.