Becoming Hysteric_A Standalone Rock Star Romance Read online

  Becoming Hysteric

  Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Copyright

  Becoming Hysteric

  Copyright © 2018 Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Published by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published: Kristen Hope Mazzola 2018:

  Cover Design: Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Cover Art: © chalabala / #110143433

  https://stock.adobe.com/images/guy-with-guitar/110143433

  Formatting by: Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Editing by: C. Marie [email protected]

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Did you enjoy what you just read?

  About the Author

  All books by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Acknowledgments

  The Hysterics

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Dedication

  To everyone that has a dream, no matter how big or small it is. Never give up on it.

  To Dayna, for knowing I had a dream before I ever did.

  Prologue

  Two Hearts Stopping

  My imagination will be plagued.

  Forever, I will be tainted.

  My heart is forever gone.

  As soon as I saw the familiar dusty red station wagon wrapped around that fucking tree, I knew I would never be the same. The memory of wiping down the bar top at Mountain Breath after the afternoon lunch rush that day was never going to leave my brain. It was branded into my heart, a section burned away, about to be buried in my loves’ chests.

  My childhood had already ended. I was already about to truly become a man, but that was not the way things were supposed to go. It was supposed to be a miracle, not a damn tragedy.

  I stood on the sticky bar mats with my mouth wide open, tears running down my face, gasping for my next breath as I watched my worst nightmare flash on the local news station.

  Breaking! Fatal car accident on Buckhead Road happened just moments ago. At least one casualty. Roads are closed. Take alternate routes. Highway has been shut down—expect major delays.

  I dropped the beer glass that was gripped in my left hand and it shattered around me. I had no idea.

  “Mav?” My dad was shaking my shoulder, digging his fingertips into my flesh, but I was numb. “Maverick! Get a grip!”

  “It’s Leilani!” My throat was raw; I was screaming her name over and over. I dropped to my knees, pieces of glass digging in through my jeans, but I couldn’t have cared less. Nothing could hurt more than the breaking of my heart when I watched in horror as my family was ripped from this earth.

  My father’s strong hands lifted me back to my feet as I collapsed into his arms. “Do you think Dane knows?”

  His words broke into my soul and ripped it apart even more. My best friend might not know yet. I needed to get to him.

  “I have to go. I can’t let him find out like this.” I could barely breathe, let alone stand or put one foot in front of the other. The trembling was uncontrollable. The sobs were overwhelming. The pounding in my chest was enough to knock me on my ass.

  I started to bolt for the door, but my father’s hand gripped my wrist. “Let me drive you.”

  Chapter 1

  The Beginning of the Past

  Over a year earlier

  “Mav?” A soft voice came from behind my open locker door.

  Slamming it shut, a sly smile dancing across Leilani’s pink lips came into view, making my heart start thumping in my ears.

  “Hey, what’s up?” My throat started to go dry, and my hands were clammy. That girl turned me into a gushing, love-struck mess, and she had no freaking clue.

  She’s your best friend’s sister.

  She’s fucking off limits.

  Get it together, man.

  She’s your sister’s best friend.

  You can’t have feelings for her.

  “Are you going to Ryan’s party on Friday?” She twirled her long light brown hair as we started walking toward the back hallway. I couldn’t help but notice the cute freckles that dusted over her cheeks and adorable button nose.

  Damn, dude! Grow a pair.

  She stopped in front of her fourth period algebra classroom, waiting for my reply, which I barely choked out before my knees started to shake. “Probably with the guys after practice.”

  Get a fucking grip, man.

  “Cool. I guess I will see you there.” She smiled, softly biting her bottom lip as she pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder. A soft giggle escaped as blush softly danced over her cheeks. Without another word, she bounced through the open door while I stood frozen in the hallway, my eyes glued to her perfect ass in her tight Levi’s.

  Julie, my sister, gave me a sweet wave from her seat next to Leilani’s. I was caught staring again. I had never admitted my crush to anyone, scared saying it out loud would make it more real, but Jules was not naïve. My sister could see right through me.

  After shooting her a quick wink, I let myself fall into a hasty daydream as I watched Leilani pull her spiral notebook out of her lime green backpack. I felt my shoulder get punched hard, breaking me out of my fantasy of throwing my best friend’s little sister up against the wall and finally tasting her perfect, plump, cherry lip gloss-covered cupid’s bow.

  “What the hell?” I spun on my heels to see Rodney and Dane laughing.

  Rodney pointed at me. “You all right man? You seem a bit out of it.”

  I readjusted the stack of books in my hands. “Fine. I’m fine. Just checking out the new teacher’s awesome rack.” I nodded toward Leilani’s teacher. She stood next to the chalkboard in her tight white blouse and navy too-short-to-be-appropriate-for-school pencil skirt.

  “I’d go back to sophomore math just to watch those tits bounce all day.” Rodney rubbed the back of his neck while he ogled Miss Clayton up and down.

  “We’re going to be late for history.” Dane put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  I followed my best friend to our classroom and sat down in the back row behind him. Dane Pearson and I had been like brothers for as long as I could remember. There was a crazy amount of guilt that wouldn’t go away every time I thought about his kid sister, but I just couldn’t fucking help it. I was drawn to her.

  Pulling up to Dane’s house to pick him up for practice made me tenser than ever even though it was just like every other Friday. I shouldn’t have been a freaking prick full of emotions and
nerves, but I was, and it definitely didn’t help when Leilani was the one that answered the door.

  She was absolutely perfect in short white shorts, a teal top, and her long hair up in curlers. The flare of crimson that spread across her face and over the tops of her ears when her eyes locked with mine wasn’t lost on me. I soaked that shit up.

  “Oh, hi, Mav. I thought it was Jules. Sorry.”

  “She was still applying about a pound of makeup when I left. I think my mom is bringing her over in a bit.”

  “Well, come on in to the shit show.” Leilani frowned a little, disappointed that her partner in crime wasn’t there yet. She stepped aside and I followed her into the living room. Her mom was passed out on the couch, clutching a ragged blanket for dear life as she gently shook and moaned in her sleep.

  “She okay?” I let my hand fall to Leilani’s shoulder. Just one touch and I was addicted. Her tiny shoulder fit perfectly in my hand as I watched her frown and roll her eyes dramatically.

  “She’s going cold turkey again.” She walked double time into the hallway where Dane’s room was and banged on his door. “Mav’s here.”

  The door flew open and Dane stuck his head out. “Hey man, let me just get my stick bag.”

  I waited in the hall, craning my neck to watch Leilani pull the curlers out of her hair one by one. “Do you need us to swing back by here later to pick you and Jules up for the party?”

  As the words passed through my lips, my heart thumped faster and faster. My palms were sweaty. My knees were shaking again.

  Fuck this shit.

  I was usually a one-and-done kind of guy. I made the rounds with my musical talent and my ability to write poetry, to twist words into exactly what chicks wanted to hear. I had started to form quite a reputation for myself, but I didn’t give a shit. Girls talked, and as long as they weren’t saying I had a small dick, who cared?

  Leilani was a complete one-eighty for me. She was a freaking virgin, not to mention sweet, loving, and beautiful. Her mom was a junkie in every sense of that scummy word and it broke my heart for them, but both Dane and Leilani were growing increasingly numb to their mother’s life choices and sicknesses. They spent a lot of time at my house because my mom hated them being left alone with their own mother.

  “No. Jax is going to pick us up in a little bit. See you there though?”

  “Yeah, for sure. See you later.”

  My blood ran cold with jealously and complete, unwarranted hatred for the douchebag that would be driving her and my sister to the party. Jackson Mallory was a running back for our football team. A jock and a half, he was full of asshattery and had an ego the size of Texas cloaked in good looks and fake charm. The thought of him even being in the same car as Leilani or Julie pissed me the fuck off.

  “Ready?” Dane walked passed, his worn leather stick bag in hand.

  “Yeah, man.” I leaned through Leilani’s doorway. “See you in a bit. Call if Jax turns into a douche nozzle and we’ll come get you.”

  “It’ll be fine, Mav. Why do you care anyway?” She was putting on her mascara and I wanted to throw her onto the bed only steps away.

  “I just care. Isn’t it normal for a guy to care about his sister and his best friend’s sister?”

  She rolled her eyes at me with the slightest hint of a smile. “I guess. You better go before my brother freaks out on you.”

  Dane was standing at the end of the hallway. “Mav, any day now, fuckface!”

  “Fine. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Chapter 2

  Becoming Hysteric

  “So, we need to come up with a name if we’re actually going to start trying to play gigs.” Dane twirled a stick in his fingers while we took a quick break. He had been hounding us to pick a name for weeks, but nothing we had come up with had stuck for more than a day. Getting four guys to agree was proving more difficult than I thought it should.

  Colt chugged from his water bottle and nodded. “I completely agree.”

  “Guys, Dad will let us play at Mountain Breath with or without a name.” My dad had been the owner-operator of Mountain Breath, one of the biggest hotspots for live local music, for years. It was where Dane and I had first fallen in love with music and decided to start our little band.

  I let my bass rest on my amp while I grabbed a beer from the fridge. Colt’s dad had kept Blue Ribbons stocked in his man cave fridge for as long as we had been hanging out down there, and he was either onto us but didn’t give a flying fuck or got too loaded every night to realize we were dipping into his stash. Either way, it made it easy for us to have a few without our parents freaking out on us.

  Rodney gargled his saltwater solution to save his voice, and we all burst into rolling laughter.

  “Rod, man, is that really necessary? It’s so fucking gross.” Dane was about to cry from amusement of our lead singer being such a girl about his voice. He was doubled over, gripping his stomach, face as bright as a cherry tomato.

  Serious as shit, Rodney turned to him. “Fuck yes it is. You don’t want me to lose my voice prematurely and never be able to make it to the big time, do you?”

  “What?” I couldn’t control myself. “Seriously, dude? We’re a bunch of guys playing in our guitarist’s parents’ basement—how seriously do you really think we should take this?”

  Colt looked over at me. “I think we should see where it goes. Why the fuck not?”

  Rodney nodded in agreement. “It’s about damn time we have a name. It shouldn’t be this hard to pick.”

  “Well, we’ve gone through like twelve already,” Dane complained.

  “What about using a chick’s name? Like Madalynn or some shit like that?” I asked.

  “I still think we should be The Hysterics. I’ve been saying it for weeks. It’s edgy and would look amazing on shirts and shit.” Rodney was not going to let that one go.

  Dane cringed from behind his set. “I just don’t know about it. It’s kind of…cliché.” Colt and I both agreed that it was a solid name, so Dane reluctantly went along with it like he always did. “I guess it works, but I just feel like it doesn’t pack a punch.”

  “It will be plastered all over the fucking place, dude—just wait and see.” Rodney had his usual shit-eating grin on his face as he did a quick sound check with Colt.

  “All right, enough goofing off. Let’s get serious.” I winked at Dane and he started to count off for our newest original.

  As Rodney started to sing the angsty lyrics I had finished only days before, everything washed away and the music consumed me.

  Rejection will play on her lips as I love you loosens his grip

  There is a turning back in his eyes

  She saw it and didn’t hide

  For the first time in her life, intimidation didn’t rattle her

  Didn’t startle her

  Didn’t make her cut and run

  Rejection will dig down into his soul as love burns at the tip

  There is a longing in her smile

  He saw it and cringed inside

  For the first time in his life, intimidation got the better of him

  It startled him

  And it made him cut and run

  Just as we were cleaning up from practice, the door to the basement opened and Colt’s sister, Sheila, called down the stairs. “Guys, Mom wants you all up here for dinner in five.”

  “Thanks,” Colt replied. “I guess she made enough for everyone.”

  “Nice!” Dane jumped up from his seat and started to help us wrap up our cords.

  We all made our way up the stairs, taking seats around the dinner table. What I wasn’t expecting was to sit right across from those gorgeous doe eyes that had been plaguing my every thought.

  “I thought you were riding to the party with Jax.” I could barely make eye contact with Leilani without my entire body going into hyper-drive.

  “He’s going to pick us up from here now. Mom has a visitor.” Her voice was callous a
nd low as she glanced over at her brother.

  “Maybe you two should stay at my place tonight.” I looked over at Dane as he shrugged it off.

  “Yeah, that’s probably be a good idea.” Leilani’s face twisted with such sadness as my sister put her hand on her shoulder. I just wanted to reach over and hold her, to take all the pain and stress away. I knew how terrible home was for them, and thinking about it destroyed me.

  Julie glanced over at me. “I’ll call Mom after dinner and let her know Dane and Leilani will be staying over. She’ll be fine with it,” she reassured her best friend.

  The subject dropped quickly as Colt’s mom came in with a huge tray of lasagna. Beaming at us, she took her seat at the head of the table. “Mangia!” She giggled and started to dish out the meal.

  “When’s Dad getting home?” Colt asked while passing the delicious-looking pasta around plate by plate.

  “He has to work late tonight again, so it’s fine to start without him.”

  “This smells wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Russell.” I smiled over at Colt’s mom. She was the sweetest lady, and her heart was definitely in the right place, but we all knew being married to an alcoholic was hard on her. It wasn’t a secret that there wasn’t a late shift at the plant Colt’s old man worked at, that he was bellying up to the bar at Mountain Breath until closing multiple nights a week. If they wanted to keep his drinking a secret, he shouldn’t have used Colt’s friends’ workplace as his watering hole. Dane and I both bussed tables and helped out in the kitchen after school for extra cash whenever we had time, and nine times out of ten, Colt Russell, Sr., would stumble in at some point in the night.