The Unluckiest Day of Karim Abdullah's Life (Featuring The Willis/Sears Tower)

After the Lollapalooza show, Sara, AJ, and I met the members of Phantom Cat backstage. "I'm done with this," Byron said as he put away his bass. "Alan, you can't just change the setlist like that, nor do you have the right to randomly make out with Miles or blow up Karim's drum set. Why can't we just have a normal show for once?"

"I'm trying to get #phantompalooza2k16 trending!" Alan exclaimed. "Personally, I thought the concert went very well. The fans loved it, I enjoyed myself, and we'll all be world famous for the next fifteen minutes."

"Alan, what you did wasn't right," Miles said. "We never agreed to anything that you did, especially not that kiss."

"You would have said no, so I didn't bother to ask," Alan said.

"If you knew that I would have said no, then you shouldn't have done it," Miles said.

"The fans liked it," Alan argued.

"I didn't," Miles said.

"Why not?" Alan asked. "I thought you were attracted to guys."

"I'm not attracted to all guys," Miles said.

"Whatever," Alan said. "I'm still not sure why you didn't like it."

"Because I'm not interested in you!" Miles said. "I have a boyfriend!"

"Miles, are you okay?" AJ asked.

"No," Miles said as he leaned back into his chair. "Then again, maybe I'm just tired from all of the lead singing that Alan tried to keep me from doing. He kept stealing my microphone!"

"I saw that," AJ said. "What he did to you was wrong."

"I know, but I'm still mad," Miles said.

Alan glared at AJ. "Shut up," he said. "You're not in the band, so you can't comment on what we do."

"Sure he can, especially when he's right," Miles said.

"I agree with Miles," Byron said.

"I think they're right too," Karim said. "Alan, you shouldn't have kissed Miles, especially when he made it clear that he didn't want you to do that. You need to respect his feelings. Also, I didn't exactly like having my drum set blown up. You should have at least warned me about that."

"Karim, you're out of the band," Alan said.

"Wait, what?" Karim said.

"You're out of the band," Alan said. "I'm kicking you out. We'll find a new drummer, preferably one that's less argumentative."

"I was politely offering my opinion on the topic at hand!" Karim said.

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Alan said. "Leave."

Karim sighed and left the room, but the tension backstage only escalated. "That was a little harsh, Alan," I said, and everyone else in the room nodded.

"He didn't deserve that," Byron said.

"He absolutely deserved it, and don't you dare argue with me," Alan said.

All of a sudden, the door swung open, and Sadie Zimmerman entered the room. "How did she get here?" Miles asked, but nobody had a good answer for that question.

Sadie went straight to Alan, ignoring the rest of the band and everyone else who was in the room. "Hello Alan," she said. "It's good to see you once again. I'm sure our Scandalmonger Weekly readers would like to know a few insider details about your showstopping Lollapalooza performance."

"I'd be happy to share some details with you," Alan said. "What would you like to know?"

"First of all, what was kissing Miles like?" Sadie asked.

"Magical," Alan said.

Miles simply shook his head while attempting to stay quiet, but Sadie failed to note Miles' obvious discomfort while Alan elaborated on just how magical the kiss was. Once Alan was finished, Sadie asked, "How did your drummer feel about the drumset explosion at the end of the show?"

"He left the band, so I suppose we'll never know," Alan said.

"Why did he leave?" Sadie asked.

"Creative differences," Alan said.

"That seems to be a problem with Revelation Records artists, doesn't it?" Sadie said. I immediately thought of Robin, but then pushed him out of my brain. This wasn't the time to be thinking of my ex-boyfriend. "Will you be getting a new drummer?"

"Hopefully by the time our new album is released, we'll have a new drummer," Alan said.

"When is your new album going to be released?" Sadie asked.

"Not anytime soon," Miles said, but Alan interrupted him.

"By the end of the year for sure," Alan said.

"Good to know," Sadie said. I looked over at her notepad and saw her write down Alan's answer. "How did it feel playing at Lollapalooza for the first time?"

"It was awesome!" Alan exclaimed. "I loved seeing all our fans here, and I had a lot of fun entertaining them for an evening."

"I sure enjoyed watching the show," Sadie said. "I think that's all for now. I'll catch up with you again later."

"Bye Sadie," Alan said, and Sadie left, her high heels clicking against the floor.

"Thank goodness she's gone," I said.

Alan shrugged. "I don't mind her," he said. "She's a journalist, and journalists make sure that other people pay attention to me."

"Let's just go back to the hotel," I said. "It's been a long night." Byron and Miles both nodded, and all of us returned to the hotel.

The next morning, I woke up early to tour Chicago. Karim flew back to Los Angeles that morning while the rest of us ate breakfast and relaxed in the hotel for a while before leaving to see the city. It seemed as if I was the only one who was thinking of Karim while I ate my bagel. Karim would be going home alone and jobless for no reason other than Alan's cruelty, but there was nothing I could do about it. This wasn't my band, after all. I had my own band to worry about.

"What should we see first?" I asked in a futile attempt to break the awkward silence between us.

"AJ, you're from Chicago," Miles said. "What should we see?"

"Navy Pier's always fun," AJ said.

"I wanted to see the Willis Tower though," Byron said.

"It's called the Sears Tower," AJ said. "Nobody actually calls it the Willis Tower."

"That's a good idea," Miles said. "We should see the Willis Tower."

"Seriously, Miles?" AJ said. "I thought you knew better than this."

"Yeah, let's see the Willis Tower first," I said. "We can go to Navy Pier after that."

"It's called the Sears Tower!" AJ said.

Alan shoveled the last bits of food into his mouth. "Let's go see the Willis Tower," he said. "Where's the nearest subway station?"

"That doesn't really exist here," AJ said, rolling his eyes. "It's called the L train. I'll show you where it is."

All of us followed AJ, and we took the L train to the Willis/Sears/Whatever The Hell It Is Tower. During the ride, Byron, Alan, Sara, Miles, AJ, and I chatted about our day in Chicago, annoying AJ to no end with our near constant references to the "Willis Tower." "While we're at it, we should go see a White Sox game!" Alan exclaimed at one point.

"Are you kidding me?" AJ said. "We're in the North Side!"

"Please stop bickering," I said. "You guys are giving me a headache."

Needless to say, they didn't listen. When we arrived at the Sears Tower, we took an elevator up to the Skydeck. As expected, the view was magnificent, although AJ, the only one of us who had been there before, wasn't impressed. The members of Phantom Cat, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the Ledge, which had a glass floor. "This is awesome!" Alan shouted. "Bianca, you've got to try this!"

I went out there with them, and Alan was right. It was an amazing experience and a gorgeous view. It seemed that we had picked just the right day to be in Chicago. I took plenty of pictures while I was out there, and on the way out, we passed through a small exhibit on the history of the Sears Tower and Chicago.

At some point while we were leaving, I noticed that Alan wasn't with us. "Where did Alan go?" I asked.

"That's a good question," Byron said. "Where is he?"

"I don't know, and frankly, I don't want to find him," AJ said.

"I'm not sure where he is either," Sara said.

"Let's go look for him," Miles said. He and I started going back towards the Ledge to look for Alan, while Byron, Sara, and AJ stayed near the exhibit, in case he went back there. After a few minutes of searching, we couldn't find Alan, so we waited near the Skydeck. There were a few seconds of awkward silence, then Miles said, "I have a question for you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Bianca, why are you dating Alan?"