I assured the girls I wasn’t interested in Jared and resumed the tour, but I didn’t think they believed me. And a nagging feeling in my gut told me they were probably right about him. This thing between us could only end badly, but when I was alone with him, I didn’t care.

For this week’s show, some of the other bands had completely embraced the “Neon ‘90s” theme, but we’d decided to go in a different direction, with all white outfits for the guys and a short white dress and matching boots for me. The makeup people had gone a little overboard though, and my eyes were watering so much I darted into the bathroom to check them. I set my glasses on the counter just as Lacey walked out of the stall behind me.

“Nice dress,” she said, in a tone that implied she meant the opposite. She wore a sparkly hot pink dress with a neon green cowboy hat and matching boots, so she wasn’t really one to talk.

I dabbed at my eyes with a paper towel, but stayed silent. The producers loved to parade her around like she was some sort of Disney princess, and on the Internet, her band Fairy Lights was already an early favorite for the win. The only other band with as much attention was ours, but I suspected that was due to Jared’s sex appeal more than anything.

“Don’t think I’m not on to your little game,” she said with her strong Southern accent. “Winning the audience over with your ‘fall’ and all those lies about how you and Jared aren’t seeing each other. Soon all of America will know what you’re doing.”

I blinked at her. Was she threatening us? “I’m sorry?”

“I’m going to win this thing. You’d best be staying out of my way.”

She left the bathroom before I could come up with a witty comeback. I didn’t know what that was about or why she suddenly had such a problem with us. Was it because we were potentially her band’s biggest competitors? Or because I’d seen Jared shoot her down in the elevator? Whatever, I couldn’t afford to let her get into my head before I got on stage.

I reached for my glasses, but they were gone. I checked the floor and then looked in all the stalls, in the sinks, even in the trash and the toilets, but my glasses had disappeared.

No, not disappeared. Lacey must have taken them.

I ran out of the bathroom to go after her and crashed into Jared. “Hey, it’s almost time for our set.” His eyes swept over my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Lacey stole my glasses. I can’t see anything. I can’t play. We have to find her, we have to delay the show, we—”