Page 102 of Once Upon a Boyband
“Parts of it were silly,” I say. “But she made a real difference in my life.”
Sarah wipes at her eyes. “If I had no idea, then Adamdefinitelyhad no idea. He would love this though. It would probably mean so much for him to see what Mom was doing. Is the website still up?”
“Not anymore, but that might not matter.” I stand and pace across the room, hands propped on my hips as an idea hatches in my brain. If Adam’s mother had been disappointed in him, she wouldn’t have run a fan group for his band. She wouldn’t have posted pictures and talked about his music and mentored his fans.
In Adam’s mind, his mother only looked at him through one lens. But if we can show him a different one, if we canshow him how much she supported him in the only way her illness allowed, maybe he’ll change his mind.
I turn and look at my friends.
“Who’s in the mood for a road trip?” I say. “I know how to help Adam, but we’ve gotta drive to do it.”
Four hours later,after Percy calls Mimi and reschedules a visit and Sarah delays her afternoon date with Jake and Ringo pees on my hoodie, then again on my shoe, the three of us, four including my very naughty puppy, pull into the driveway of my mom’s house in Hendersonville.
“I’m just warning you,” I say as we climb out of the car. “My bedroom might scare you a little. Mom hasn’t changed it at all, so just…prepare yourself for a lot of Midnight Rush.”
“Please tell me you had one of those sequin face pillows,” Percy says. “I love those things.”
I unlock my mom’s front door with the same key that’s been on my keychain since I lived here in high school. She and Sophie are shopping in Asheville this afternoon, so they aren’t around, but honestly, it’s probably better this way. I don’t want to waste time visiting when what I really want to do is grab what I need, then race back to Lawson Cove to see Adam.
“One for every member of the band,” I answer. “But only Deke’s pillow lived on my bed.”
“Gross,” Sarah says.
“Trust me, the pillow should be the least of your concerns.”
I leave them gawking at the sheer number of times Deke’s face adorns my bedroom walls while I dig into mycloset, pulling three enormous scrapbooks from the top shelf. I cough from the dust I disturb and cover my mouth as I use the sleeve of my hoodie to wipe them off.
“I might have underestimated the extent of your fandom,” Percy says as I drop the books on the bed.
“Don’t judge,” I say. “I turned out normal.”
Percy lifts an eyebrow. “Can we compromise and say normal-ish?”
I scowl in his direction. “The only reason I’m not elbowing you in the ribs right now is because you’re holding my dog.”
Sarah is already flipping through the first scrapbook. An enormous Midnight Rush band logo in navy blue and yellow is stuck to the front cover as well as the words, written in my lovely teenage handwriting,Year One.Inside, we find everything you might expect. Pictures of the band. Tour schedules. Magazine spreads. But it’s more than that, too. It’s a history of the Night Riders fan group. It’s printed out screenshots of our conversations. Copies of the photos we all uploaded of our matching Midnight Rush socks. Concert photos people shared. Lists of our favorite songs. Our favorite song lyrics.
Dolly’s comments show up a lot, and I watch as Sarah runs her fingers over each one as she reads.
@DollyDaeDreams: Just listened to the new single. Did anyone else notice how much stronger their vocals are on this one? They’re all getting better, but Deke especially seems to be coming into his own.
@DollyDaeDreams: Just read the article in People magazine, and I’m just saying, I think the reporter could havebeen a little more gracious when he talked about what happened outside the arena on Friday night. These boys are working so hard. They don’t need judgment and criticism. They need homemade soup and chocolate chip cookies and a night off.
“Was this about the fans who complained when the guys wouldn’t get off the tour bus to say hello?” Sarah asks.
“Sounds like it,” I say, reading over her shoulder.
@DollyDaeDreams: Thought you all might like to see a photo from backstage at the Chicago show. Was anyone there? I would love to hear all about it if you were!
“She asked about concerts a lot,” I say. “I remember that specifically. She wanted to know everything. What the vibe was like. How fans reacted.” I look at Sarah. “Did she ever get to see him perform?”
Sarah shakes her head. “Not in person. She was always too sick. She’d already started chemo by the time Midnight Rush was a thing, and she couldn’t handle the crowds. Her immune system was too weak.”
We spend a few more minutes reading through the entries in the first book. If I were Sarah, I would want to sit here all night just reading her mother’s words. But I’m also anxious to get these to Adam.
I don’t know much about what it feels like to be a mom. But I do know what it feels like to love someone. And I’d be willing to bet everything that Adam’s mom loved him just as much as he loved her. That she wasso proudof him.
Maybe it won’t do any good. Maybe he still won’t want to sing.
