Once they finished applying their sunscreen and helping each other with their backs, the girls imdiately invited Eric to go play by the water. Eric took off his Hawaiian shirt. His muscles looked incredibly lean and toned, and though his build wasn’t massive like a bodybuilder’s, it left the girls completely stunned, staring at him without blinking. Eric ran a hand through his hair and took off his sunglasses.
Looking at the six girls standing there frozen like statues, he asked, totally confused,
"Hey... what’s wrong with you guys now?"
"Nothing... wow... I didn’t get a clear look at your body back then, but you look seriously amazing," Emma stamred, her eyes gazing back and forth between his face and his upper body.
"Wow... I guess you’re good for more than just playing music," Priya muttered, still frozen.
"Man... my heart is pounding," Chloe added, her face starting to flush red, though it was hard to tell if it was from the heat or from embarrassnt.
Heidi, Monica, and Laura just swallowed hard without saying a word, their eyes glued to Eric’s body.
[Sigh]
Looking at the girls, Eric felt completely helpless. He just rubbed the back of his neck and looked at them again. But before he could even open his mouth to speak, the lody of the song Monica sang backed by their band drifted through the air. He turned and saw two girls walking past him, looking down at a smartphone while chatting and humming along to the tune.
Naturally, Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura heard it too. Their eyes locked onto the two girls who had just passed them, watching their retreating backs.
"Wow... they’re listening to our song," Priya said.
"Yeah, they really are," Chloe replied, stunned.
"Have any of you checked the stats on our video yet?" Monica asked.
The six of them instantly went quiet. Then, they booted back to the umbrella and scrambled onto the mat, grabbing their respective smartphones and opening the app. The mont they saw the video’s status, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Their hands literally shook as they held their phones. Suddenly,
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
All six of them scread and jumped to their feet, dancing around under the umbrella. Eric just watched them, shaking his head in amusent, feeling completely helpless and totally at a loss for words. Suddenly,
"Excuse ."
Eric turned around to see a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing a white t-shirt featuring the logo for a sumr music festival. She stood next to Eric with an incredibly sweet, dimpled smile.
"Um... yeah? Is there sothing I can help you with?" Eric asked.
The girl stared at Eric intently, studying his face. She even placed a hand on her own chin, leaning in so close that Eric had to tilt his upper body back a bit.
"Um... what’s going on?" Eric asked once more.
The girl then pulled out her smartphone, her fingers flying across the screen. A mont later, the sound of Eric playing his acoustic solo and singing filled the air, the very first video he had shared.
"You’re the guy from this video, right? Oh, my na is Sophie," she said, holding up her phone.
"Oh... um... yeah, that’s..."
"Yeah, that’s him in the video. And who exactly are you?" Emma interrupted, practically materializing at Eric’s side as she wrapped her arms protectively around his.
"Yeah, he’s the one who sang that song," Priya added, instantly appearing on Eric’s other side to flank him.
"Is there sothing you need from him?" Chloe chid in, suddenly materializing right next to Emma.
"Hmm... Sumr Music Festival?" Monica muttered, staring at the logo on Sophie’s shirt.
"If you don’t actually need anything, please don’t bother us," Heidi added coldly.
"Mm-hmm," Laura agreed, standing next to Heidi and nodding along.
In the blink of an eye, Sophie was completely surrounded by the six girls, given absolutely no room to escape as they glared at her with intense looks. But Sophie didn’t even flinch. Instead, she looked closely at the faces of Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura.
"Wait... you guys... um... hold on a second," Sophie said, unlocking her smartphone. "Are you Reed’s Empress? The band that was just introduced and posted their first song last night?" Sophie asked, showing them her screen and turning up the volu so their track played loud and clear.
Seeing that Sophie recognized them, the hostility vanished from the faces of Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura, replaced by proud, beaming smiles. They backed off the aggressive stance and crowded around Sophie, but before they could even say a word, Sophie spoke up again.
"Would you guys be interested in performing live here in about two hours?" Sophie asked, pointing to her festival shirt.
"Huh?"
The color instantly drained from the faces of Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura. They might have done a studio recording, but none of them had ever actually perford on a real stage in front of a live crowd.
"Um... can we think about it first?" Chloe stamred.
"Are we even allowed to perform?" Monica asked.
"Of course you are! I’m on the organizing committee. One of the band mbers spotted you guys on the beach earlier and showed your video. I’ve been walking around looking for you ever since, and I cracks the case," Sophie answered cheerfully.
"But we literally just posted the video last night," Priya reasoned.
"We’re... completely new. Like, brand new. We haven’t even signed with a record label yet," Heidi added.
"Yeah... exactly," Laura chid in.
"That doesn’t matter at all. Sure, we have a few big-na bands and singers lined up, but so acts backed out at the very last minute. So... we’re open to anyone who can fill the slots because we can’t just leave the stage empty... To be completely honest, we’ve been tearing our hair out trying to find a replacent act. So, what do you say? Can you guys help us out? Don’t worry, I’ll pull so strings to get you properly compensated. Please?" Sophie pleaded, pressing her hands together.
Watching Sophie’s anxious body language, it was clear she was just a desperate staff mber backed into a corner, looking for absolutely anyone to fill a gap in the schedule. Eric turned to look at Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura, who were all anxiously trading glances.
Every now and then, they caught a glimpse of Sophie’s anxious face. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, clearly cracking under the massive pressure on her shoulders. Finally, Emma let go of Eric’s arm and stepped forward.
"Um... what was your na again?" Emma asked.
"Oh, right... Sophie," she replied.
"Um... do you guys happen to have a piano?" Emma asked.
"Oh man... we don’t have a piano. We can manage a keyboard at best," Sophie answered.
"Oh... I see," Emma said. Emma imdiately whirled around to face her five friends. "Hey, why are you guys hesitating? Recording a track is pretty much the exact sa thing as playing a live set," Emma reasoned.
"It is definitely not the sa. When we recorded, the only people watching were you and Eric," Laura shot back instantly.
"Yeah... easy for you to say. You’ve perford on piano in competitions and in public all the ti. We’ve never done this before," Chloe added.
"But there’s a first ti for everything, right?" Emma challenged.
The five girls went dead silent. They traded glances again without saying a word. What Emma said was true, there was always a first ti, and the opportunity was staring them right in the face. Seeing them still wavering, Eric stepped forward.
"They’re in. So, what’s the plan?" Eric said, cutting straight to the chase.
"Yep, exactly," Emma added.
"Huh?!"
The eyes of Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura locked right onto Eric and Emma, who was now wrapping her arm around his. They stared in absolute disbelief that Eric and Emma had just thrown them straight into the deep end, feeling completely betrayed by the two of whom they trusted.
Eventually, after packing up all their gear, Sophie led them over to the other side of the beach. It opened up into a massive, open field packed with beachgoers and festival crowds, all surrounded by rows of food stalls and food trucks selling various eats. Standing in front of a massive stage, its structural fra packed with spotlights, towering amplifiers, and massive speakers, the faces of Eric and Emma instantly lit up with excitent.
"Wow... so this is the stage," Eric muttered, admiring the massive setup in front of him.
"Yeah... this is incredible," Emma added with a wide grin.
"Uuh..."
Eric and Emma turned to look at Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura. Every single one of them had gone completely white staring at the stage. To them, the structure in front of them wasn’t so aweso venue, it looked like the place where they were going to be executed.
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