Sun Poisoned (The Sunshine Series) Read Free

and he’s paired them with a top hat and a black buttoned vest with nothing underneath.
    “ Whoa,” Boo says upon entering. “Are we interrupting something?
    That's not funny and he knows it.
    It wasn't funny when he said it for the first time a few months ago, when he spied Myles and I holding hands, and it hasn't gotten funny since.
    “ No,” I say anyway. “Were you interrupted while you were looking for your shirt today?”
    “ I'd hate to interrupt,” Jamie butts in with his English accent.
    He has a brown flannel shirt on and tight, straight legged jeans and converse. His clipped brown hair matches his eyes, which are framed with thick, black framed glasses. Fashion glasses. Gag. If I knew him better, I'd tease him.
    “ But,” he continues, “your time has been moved up. You're now opening for Honus, so you're on first, at eight.”
    “ What?” I almost lose it.
    At the same time, Boo and Trei say, “Awesome.”
    We're opening for Honus.
    The band that everyone goes bananas over. The one that has a piano player that’s probably way better than me in the crowd’s opinion. The band that most of the people are here to see.
    Fuck.
    Jamie leaves, off to talk to more of the musicians. Boo and Trei set their stuff in front of the mirror.
    “ This is going to be awesome,” Trei says.
    “ I know, right?” Boo agrees with her reflection before turning to me. “People are like, guaranteed to love us now.”
    My stomach lurches. Myles places a hand on mine again.
              “How do you figure that, Boo?” I ask.
    “ A lot of people like Honus.” He shrugs. “If we open for them, people might like us too.”
    “ Are you serious, Boo?” I try to keep my voice normal but I’m not sure if it actually sounds that way. “You have heard them, right? How are we supposed to go on before that with 'Billie Jean'? People are going to think we're a joke.”
    Boo stands and walks in front of the chair Myles and I are sitting on so he can cross his arms ove r his chest and stare me down.
    “ Nuh uh,” he starts. “You are not going to try to worm out of this.”
    I open my mouth to say something, but he cuts me off.
    “We didn't practice our eyeballs out so we could bail. And we’re awesome .” He smiles. “We just have to show everyone.”
    Boo's eyes shift to Myles now. “You tell her.”
    “ Yeah,” Myles agrees. “It'll be fine.”
    Trei turns from the mirror now. “Yeah. As soon as you're up there, you won't be nervous.”
    Oh Jesus, is this turning into an all-out-comfort-Sophie thing?
    “Okay, guys,” I say, standing and replacing my headphones while sitting down at the mirror. “Can it.”
     
    Myles leaves at around 7:30 to go sit in the balcony section with Evan. Eight o'clock shows up faster than we could have imagined and we're waiting at the very edge of the stage curtain as people hook up our equipment, weaving in and out of the veil between us and the audience.
    I spot Stevie, Jade, and Laura through a slit in the curtain just left of the stage, and I wave rapidly as they pass by, squirming their way to the front rows, if I know Jade at all. Finally, I feel excited. My nerves begin to settle a little bit. If nothing else, my family and Myles are here; no one else's opinion should matter.
    Adam had to work. I figured the show would run too late for Leena, and I can't even imagine Momzilla in a place like this. Not that Mom has exactly accepted that this is my life now. We did kind of make up over my healing days, me numbing our mother-daughter bonding by watching daytime TV with painkillers while she talked at me. A lifetime of a messed up relationship does not just get better over a near-death experience, ice cream, and soap operas.  
    Jamie comes backstage and announces that we'll be on shor tly, disappearing behind the curtain before any of us has the chance to ask questions.
    Soon enough, he emerges again. “Right. So I'm going to introduce you now. Come out after