"Ten minutes until curtain," Megumi races past Zoey and me.

I lift my dress and Zoey pulls my hand along after her. We aren't late but we aren't on time either. The lineup of other contestants is up ahead with the judges across stage left. Cell phone screens light up in the darkness and the sounds of pinging alerts.Megumi will yell at them because notifications sounds should be off. Another ping and more cell phone screens light up. We had been in last place for so long that most of the time when Zoey is with me we go unnoticed. As Paulie implies I am the one bringing Zoey down. I don't fit into whatever the vision is for The Tour. But eyes are on us. Zoey tugs my hand and I pull on it to slow her down. My stomach turns and the hand clutching my dress up drops.

As each phone lights up, the whispers grow.

I am drawn to Lucia who is shaking her head, her eyes locked on her phone. When her eyes come up to meet mine, it's filled with worry. Her gaze flicks to Zo, and she shakes her head at me. I grasp Zoey's hand tighter.

"Zo, let's go." I knew it was bad and Zoey came to a dead stop. She has a perplexed expression on her face and she scans the room. We need to go... go where? I try to pull her in the other direction. The feeling deep in my gut that told me that something is wrong was so loud. Like when my mom told me we needed to talk. The second those words came out I knew it was beyond bad. Stage four cancer. I've got a well-developed sense of bad. I tug Zoey as more lights from cell phone screens lit up the darkness backstage. The bright light from the screen makes their features glow. It made them appear like old-school ghouls from scary movies.

"We're getting out of here." I wasn't pulling her to the stage where we needed to be but as far away from it as possible. But Zo wasn't moving with me.

"Introducing fan-favorite, Team Rock Judge, Asher from the Kells," Paulie announces on stage. Clapping follows as Asher walks out on stage. Then the banter between Paulie and Asher comes. You wouldn't know that Asher hates Paulie or that Paulie and his brother are fucking monsters. The pleasant conversation they were having on stage was somehow grosser. My eyes were always drifting to Zoey but she was completely shut down.

The phone nearest us plays the audio. "This is Trisa from Drama's Kiss coming at you with a scoop." The video plays and it's a clear picture of Zoey at the hotel in the room kissing a woman. The woman is in the shadows and you can't make it out but it's clear from the shape it's a woman she's kissing. "I wonder what it's like on set at The Tour because it looks like Zoey Jude is having a good time." She laughs huskily.

Zoey being bisexual isn't a secret. Hell, when she was in high school a friend of ours from childhood stopped being her friend. Our ex-friend thought she was hitting on her and into her. She wasn't into her that way. In a sense, instead of her simply being Zoey, she became bisexual Zoey. Everyone watch out, steal your man and steal your girl. She is good-looking but the type of people she is into is pretty narrow. And our cheerleader childhood ex-friend wasn't what she was into. Even if I was into women, I don't even think I'd be her type. And with me being two years ahead of her it was so hard and so lonely for her in high school. Zoey dropped out of high school and did home school after I left for college.

Zoey's hands around mine release. "Zo..." And what am I going to say? What can I fucking say to fix this mess? Because this music career she wants will do the same thing. They do it already to so many other artists. It won't be possible whatever music she makes it will be Zoey the bi musician. Who is she dating everyone... That ain't what she wanted it to be about. But it's done right. It's out there. They are going to ask her more questions, figure everything out, and make it about that instead of who she is.

"Introducing Team Rock...." Paulie announced the song. Asher plays the intro solo; it's an upbeat song. Neither of us moves to go on stage. The world shrinks to just the two of us. I step into Zoey wrapping my arms around her. She is fucking nineteen, the second youngest on the show. You'd think they would give her a break and let her figure things out. We couldn't evade their eyes. The emotional upheaval was so obvious and I hated that the cameras were getting the show they wanted.

"Zoey?" She doesn't answer me. I kiss her on the lips. But Zo was dazed. "I love you, it's not happening again. Everything will be..." I was going to say ok but I don't really know. Plus, I don't want to lie. "If you don't want to do this we can fuck off and leave. Fuck em, you and me forever."

Paulie announces a second time, and the audience makes noises of confusion. Zoey steps out of my hug and heads for the curtain. She steps on stage and I follow after her taking my place on guitar while she sits at the piano. Asher is on the guitar playing in a loop because we missed our intro. I shake my head at him and he plays back into the music and stops when the piano part doesn't come in.

He looks at me, and I shrug back at him. We are going to wing this song. I am about to start a second countdown to wing it without Zoey playing but then she plays. It's the wrong song.