Armani belted the last note of the chorus and cut off when the rest of the band, Jaded, began their music solo. She gripped the mic stand and looked out amongst the crowd while the stage flashed with dark green lights as the beat grew in intensity. Her head nodded in time with the music as she kept a personal count of the beat, waiting for the cue for her to start singing again.

Stage performances were nothing new to her. She had been on stages like this before in what felt like a different life. Instead of dark green flashing lights, the stage had been bright and alive with beautiful pastels. Upbeat pop music had been playing, bringing smiles to the crowd, instead of the heavy tones she heard being beaten out on the drums behind her.

Armani, who had gone by Ami at the time, had been part of an all-omega pop group called Prism Melody. The group had debuted together in high school, all trainees from the same entertainment agency, who grew close after being forced together and tossed into the spotlight. They had managed to stay as a group, till five years ago, when her world came crashing down around her.

At 16, her designation as an omega came in and she debuted. She had been the center, adored by fans and management alike. At 22, in the middle of a world tour, her whole world collapsed on itself. She had gone to bed an omega, convinced she might be coming down with the flu, and woke up an alpha. The group turned on her.

“Think of the scandal it would cause", they said, as if it was her fault her body turned on her. Unanimously, they agreed when management decided to kick her out of the group. The fans accused her of lying about her designation and quickly started sending threats and spewing vitriol. What had once been adoring fans quickly turned into a mob set on her destruction.

She disappeared from the public eye for three years, scared to go out in public, and constantly looking over her shoulder in fear that someone would track down where she lived. Two years ago, Bleeding Hearts Entertainment reached out to her to be a lead singer for a new band they were forming. She had refused, at first, but they were persistent. Finally, they offered her something she couldn’t refuse; a new persona, a new look, and a band made up of people just as jaded as her.

Jaded came to be two years ago, and already they were taking the world by storm. A rock band who explored all that the rock genre had to offer with members who all had a scandal to their name. The beat behind her quieted down, and she sang the final refrains of the song. With a final broken note, the song came to an end and the crowd roared. She smirked and gave an exaggerated bow before heading off-stage with the rest of the band.

When she reached her dressing room, she splayed out on the couch and opened her phone. She had a few minutes before they had to go and do the photos for VIPs. A news posting about a new album from Little Death Mourning had her clutching her phone tighter. She hoped the band would go toe to toe one day with Little Death Mourning. If they could reach them, then maybe Prism Melody would regret what they did.

She heard the door crack open, and she glanced at you, a member of the stage crew who had been assigned as her attendant on concert days. She locked her phone and tossed it aside, replacing her frown with a smirk. “Did you hear that last note? Think I might have strained my vocal cords with that one”, she joked.

She didn’t trust people, not anymore, but the tour was long and you were a constant. She had started to look forward to chatting with you after her performances. You gave decent feedback and didn’t try to force a connection. It was..nice.

The first few shows she had been standoffish, brisk, but slowly she had opened up. Now she would joke with you, but there was always an invisible line that lingered. A sense of distance that she maintained like armor. “So what’d you think of the set? Think the new order is better”, she asked as she wiped down with one of the towels you had brought. Blood orange and cloves filled the room.