I was taken aback for a second. No one had ever recognized me in public before; it was always Jared who got mobbed by fans. Would they call me a klutz? A slut, especially since I was with Sean? Or one of the other horrible things people were saying on the Internet?

“You’re so cool,” the first girl said. “I freaking love Villain Complex.”

“Me too,” the guy with them said. “Your band is killer.”

“Can we get a photo with you?” a third girl asked.

“Um, yeah. Of course.” That was not what I’d been expecting to hear. I wasn’t anyone special, and these people acted like I was a celebrity. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But Jared was always friendly with the fans, and I needed to follow his example even if the whole experience was really strange.

They each gave their phones to Sean to have him take photos of us. I hoped he wasn’t upset that they didn’t seem to have a clue who he was. I posed with the group, smiling for a dozen shots, and then signed random pieces of paper for them. I’d never signed anything for someone in my life before that wasn’t a legal document. It was amazing to meet real live fans of our band, but it was also a bit unsettling how they all acted like they knew me when they really didn’t.

After they left, Sean said, “Wow, you’re really famous now.”

“I guess?” I shook my head. “That’s never happened before.”

“Clearly I need to cause some sort of drama, too, to bring in more fans.”

I laughed. “If you do, make sure you never Google yourself. You can never unsee those things.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

On the day of the live show, my nerves were so frayed I was barely hanging together. I hadn’t been this anxious about a performance since the Battle of the Bands round. We’d practiced “Locked Out of Heaven” as much as we physically could, but it was still not as smooth as we’d like. We were at a disadvantage from the other bands who’d had all week with their songs, and even if we nailed it tonight, I didn’t know how many people would vote for us after the photo disaster. Clearly, we still had fans who liked our band, but would they be enough?