Sun Poisoned (The Sunshine Series) Read Free Page A

that, got it?”
              He seems a little nervous. It must be hard being in charge of fitting a bunch of bands into a certain slot of time and making sure everything runs smoothly. He disappears again.
    There’s a swell of applause from the crowd as Jamie announces us : “Ladies and gentlemen,” His accented voice bounces off of the stone walls. “Please welcome An Anachronism.”
    The instant I set foot on stage, I'm someone else.
    There are a lot of people clapping and cheering, but above all the voices, Stevie and Jade's stand out the most. I can't see them in the crowd when I glance off stage because the spotlights blur everything out, but I hear them, shouting lines from This Is Spinal Tap , just like they said they would.
    Instead of a light, electric keyboard sitting in front of Boo's drums, I'm greeted with  a shiny, black piano, strung up with lights shaped like little Jack-o-lanterns. With the way the instruments are positioned, I can stare at Boo if my head is facing forward, but if I turn to the left, I'm facing the crowd. Trei picks up her violin from a stand and waits for Boo's signal.
    “ Stone 'Enge!” Jade yells from somewhere in front of me, and I finally spot him with his arm slung over Stevie's shoulder. They're standing in the third row from the front, Laura pressed against them.
    “ I want real bread!” Stevie screams when he sees me look their way, and I laugh a little.
    I glance up at the balcony seats where Myles is leaning over the gold railing, clapping and smiling right at me. I take in a deep breath and let it out.
    “ These amps go up to eleven!” Jade shouts as I nod at Boo and then Trei, who both nod back.
    My fingers touch the keys, slowly running through the first few notes of our version of “Billie Jean.”
    I start off with the middle low keys and layer high-pitched ones on top, making it sound like a music box. It’s nothing like the original, but that's okay. The crowd recognizes it as soon as I start singing.
    Stray voices from the audience start joining in. A warm, fuzzy feeling works its way through my gut, and I don't hate it. I feed them every powerful note and they’re still starving when Boo comes pounding in at “For forty days and for forty nights.” Then Trei follows soon after, inserting her own beautiful, sad, and strong violin riffs.
    I only mess up a few times when we double the speed.
    When the song is over, the crowd erupts in shouts and applause. And we head right into the second song as I shout back a quick “Thanks!”
    The excitement in Boo's face is impossible to ignore as he drums out a fast beat. I glance down at my wrist where I'd scribbled the order of our songs and start following the memorized notes with my piano. We're playing one of our own songs now: The Car.
    Basically, it’s a dark song about waiting in a car after killing someone. I wrote it when I was still with Jack, but no one knows what it’s really about. It’s funny, but I can’t find one spec of me that cares about what the lyrics actually mean. All that matters is the music, me, and the crowd, who after the first chorus start clapping along with the beat.
    This is nuts. One of our own songs, and they like it? Holy crap.
    With only five songs for each band, the end of our set creeps up on us fast and soon we've only got two songs left. Boo performs the same trick he pulled at the Mischief Night Dance last fall; the one where he magically produces a guitar from his ass and wants me to leave my piano to play Neutral Milk Hotel's “Two Headed Boy.”
    I shake my head, I mouth, no way .
    He smiles and speaks into his microphone. “We're going to play you guys another cover,” he tells the crowd, who cheers in response. Boo closes his eyes momentarily, clearly eating it all up. “But Sophie's a little shy.” He Heee points at me, winking as I glare.
    It takes everything I have not to shoot him the middle finger as I hear some “Aw's” from the audience.