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"E the sound check onstage, Jake struuitar and played an intricate riff to ensure the instru to the a crowd Roadies loved to play rock star

Sed looked over his shoulder to where Jessica promised she’d stand and watch the perforroupies who’d gotten backstage passes frolanced at Trey, as liers He still didn’t have fullwhen Trey atte solos and ht, just letinvalid" Trey scowled

"No one said that," Brian said "You’re pushing yourself too hard"

Trey glanced at Sed, who dropped his gaze to the floor Yeah, that was mostly Sed’s fault and he knew it, but fans only re, and while most everyone understood why they’d cancelled tour dates and refunded tickets, it didn’t make them happy

"I’ll be fine," Trey said

Jake signaled theht ear and a sound- in his left He’d be able to hear the band and instructions from the sound crew from the earpiece Now he heard ave Dave a thumbs up to let him know he could hear him just fine

Brian and Jace settled their instruhtly green Trey followed them Eric stood just behind the druhts went out Someone thrust a microphone into Sed’s hand The adrenaline rush hit him like the most powerful stimulant on the planet

He lived for this shit The y He owned it and it owned hihts went down and the crowd cheered Another rush, more powerful than the first, kicked Sed’s heart rate up another notch

The three guitarists trotted across the stage in the dark The beat of the bass druht illuh for Brian and Trey to find the foot pedals that switched out their various amps, and for Sed to find the set instructions taped to the floor TheSed time to hum and warm up his vocal cords for that first scream Like Brian, he felt a little rusty His voice a little coarse

Trey did fine shredding chords in the intro and the crowd cheered Though good, Trey’s playing was uitar to balance it, Jace’s bass riff sounded nature finger-burning note progressions, fans wouldn’t notice Trey’s playing lacked his usual skill

At the end of Brian’s intro, Sed raced across the stage, his lol increasing in volume until it broke into a loud battle cry The crowd screanized he’d entered the stage God, he loved these people All fifteen thousand of the fro his hands to encourage the crowd to participate All the while, thein his ear sounded off Not terrible, just sort of weak He glanced at Trey, who’d already broken into a sweat Not normal for him He usually rocked on his heels and stru up

Shit Shouldn’t have pushed him so hard Sed kneas responsible for this entire fiasco He’d uilty and uncertain of his place in the band Sed had just been trying to encourage hi a step he wasn’t ready to take But they had a show to finish He hoped Trey could hang in there for nine ood as he usually was Just there Singing his occasional back up vocal Stru chords the best he could

Brian finished his solo, and the segment where Trey usually accolanced across the stage to see Trey staring at his hands as if they were on fire Brian noticed as well He quickly ht and talked to Trey out of hearing range of theelse and Trey nodded Trey pulled a guitar pick off the tape on his microphone stand and picked up on the series of chords that ed to play it consistently until the end

"How are we doing tonight, Salt Lake City?" Sed called into his microphone He held the mic toward the crowd and put his hand to his ear