After giving her a quick hug, I told her that I’d call her later. I then raced off the bus, ran quickly through my front gate and straight on up to my room, taking the stairs two at a time. I could not get there quickly enough! Then, dumping my school bag on the floor, I picked up my guitar and started strumming.
Blake had left school early so I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him, but I knew that he’d be as excited as me. The only thing we had to do was choose a song to perform. The important thing though, was to choose one that we all knew so that we’d be ready for the show in time.
Pulling out a sheet of paper from my desk drawer, I began to make a list of all the latest hit songs that Blake and I were already comfortable with. Millie was always humming and singing to herself and often had her iPod headphones stuck in her ears, so I was fairly certain that she’d probably know the words to most of them.
I felt so excited about the whole idea that I could barely sit still and looked impatiently at the clock waiting for Blake to get home so I could call him.
Just then, I heard the shrill ring of the telephone and ran downstairs to answer it.
“I was just thinking about you,” I said happily.
This sort of thing happened all the time and I could feel the familiar tingle of delight run through my spine. I just loved the connection that we shared.
“I’ve got this great idea!” I explained in a rush. “It’s the best idea ever!”
Without taking a breath, I quickly continued, “We just have to convince Millie. Oh and by the way, do you know if Jack can rap? If he can, then we’re going to be awesome. This is seriously the best idea ever!”
My words were tumbling out so rapidly, that Blake was barely able to understand me.
“Slow down, Julia!” he pleaded with a laugh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Taking a deep breath, I attempted to contain the excitement I was feeling and started from the beginning. Then half an hour later, I was finally hanging up the phone, ready to call Millie. To my absolute delight, Blake had also agreed to contact Jack, who according to Blake was actually quite good at rapping. I began to get a clear picture in my mind of the four of us on stage with the audience cheering us on for more.
By the time I climbed into bed that night, I’d had several phone calls back and forth to Millie who had finally agreed and was actually now almost as excited as I was. Blake had spoken to Jack who apparently was so keen, he didn’t even need convincing. So we all arranged to meet at Blake’s house the following afternoon for our first rehearsal.
I really didn’t know how I was going to get to sleep. My head was spinning with images of guitars and drums and musical equipment as well as an audience applauding while we stood on stage in front of them. And we were filled with pride at what we had managed to accomplish.
Woohoo! I could hardly wait!
Rehearsals…
Just about every afternoon that week was consumed by band practice and by the time Saturday arrived, we had started to sound pretty good.
Millie had learned all the lyrics to our song and each day, we seemed to improve. Finally though, Blake’s dad had time to work with us and when he sat down to watch us perform, the expression on his face conveyed his thoughts clearer than ever.
“Wow! You guys are fantastic!” Hearing those words from Mr. Jansen, a professional musician with years of experience, was music to our ears. We looked at each other with smiles that reached from one side of our faces to the other and clapped each other’s hands with ecstatic high-fives.
“Thanks so much, Mr. Jansen,” I beamed proudly. “And we really appreciate you taking the time to help us out. Now can you give us some tips to help us improve even further? What should we work on?”
With a laugh at my enthusiasm, he immediately agreed and because he could see that the whole band was eager to sound the best that they could, he was only too happy to help us.
By the end of the afternoon, we had managed to perfect various parts of the song that needed work and Jack’s rap section was sounding better than ever. It was definitely the coolest part of the song and it combined really well with Millie’s voice. I could see that she was thoroughly enjoying our practice sessions and because she and Jack were getting along so well, she loved it more than ever.
At one stage I whispered in her ear, “Can you please just focus on your singing?”
The surprised look on her face made it evident she had no idea what I was referring to at first, but when I winked and glanced in Jack’s direction, she turned a bright shade of red.
Laughing, I stepped back, strumming my guitar and then suggested we take a break.
Blake and I smiled at each other as we watched Jack and Millie chatting together and when I overheard Jack telling Millie what a great singer she was, I felt like jumping up and down with happiness for my best friend.
They were so cute and even their names seemed to match…Jack and Millie…Millie and Jack.
It was adorable!
When we packed up for the day and Millie’s dad dropped me home, I gave Millie a quick hug as I said goodbye.
Before getting out of the car, she surprised me by saying, “Thanks Julia. I’m having the best time and it’s all thanks to you!”
Smiling broadly, I hugged her again.
Things were working out perfectly! And we were feeling so confident with our song, we decided that on the next day, we would start practicing another one.
“Who knows where our band will lead?” I thought to myself.
But whatever happens, the main thing is that we’re having so much fun!
The talent show…
Finally the night of the talent show arrived. It had been a pretty crazy three weeks, not only trying to find time to rehearse but also to help with the organization of the night. It seemed that almost the whole school was going to be there and extra tickets had to be printed as well as more chairs hired so there would be enough seating for everyone.
Blake and I were allocated jobs as back stage crew. I was grateful for this because being busy kept my mind off our performance. I’d had butterflies in my stomach all day and this hadn’t been helped by Sara’s words of warning earlier that afternoon.
“Let’s hope that you don’t have sound problems tonight, Julia! It would be so terrible if your guitar lead somehow came unplugged again!” And with an evil grin she had run off to catch her bus.
I stood looking at her, totally astonished that she would say something like that to me. She was almost admitting that she had been at fault and seemed to think it was the joke of the century.
Memories of the music camp that we had both attended during the summer break came flooding back. I would never forget the humiliation I had felt at being on stage during our concert and suddenly having no sound from my guitar. I had been just about to break into the solo that I’d been practicing for days, when my guitar abruptly went dead. I had later found the lead mysteriously unplugged from the amplifier that it was supposed to be connected to, but no one at the time including Sara, had seemed to know how it had happened.
All along, I had suspected that she was at fault, but I’d had no proof and had kept my thoughts to myself. Then today was almost an outright admission of her guilt.
I still felt shocked at her words but knowing that we wouldn’t be on stage at the same time during the talent show helped me to overcome my fear of another disaster. Regardless though, I decided I would keep my eyes wide open and stay aware of everything that was going on around me before, after and during our performance.
We were put down as the last act of the evening so that we could help backstage throughout the rest of the night.
The job that Blake and I had been given was to assist the performers with any of their equipment on and off the stage, as well as to alert the following acts in order for them to be ready.
The first act was a couple of rappers who were actually really good. They had opened the show and the applause had
been deafening. We could tell that the atmosphere in the audience was quite electric, with everyone expecting a great night of entertainment. Judging by the first performance, it looked like they would not be disappointed.
During the performances, Blake stood behind the curtains at one end of the stage and I was standing at the other. So that we could communicate with each other, he had brought in a pair of walkie-talkies which we had each buckled to a belt around our hips.
As well as that, we were wearing head lamps strapped to our heads, in place of hand held torches. It was the coolest thing to be using this equipment and I was so glad that he’d thought to bring them. We were having heaps of fun and were constantly waving to each other from our hiding spots at either end of the stage.
“Hey Julia, what’s happening over there?” Blake’s voice suddenly crackled through the speaker of the walkie-talkie.
“Not much, Blake. What about you?” I giggled back.
“It’s going great!” he replied, laughing.
After a short pause, the walkie-talkie crackled again.
“Hey, how about that last comedy skit?” Blake’s voice came through even louder this time. “What a crack up that kid was!”
“Julia! Please be quiet! I can hear your voices all the way down the stairs. I’m sure they can also be heard in the audience!” Miss Sheldon was not impressed at the noise we were making. I looked guiltily at her and then apologized.
From across the stage, I could see Blake had spotted her from his hiding position amongst the curtains and realized we’d been caught. He grinned cheekily at me and shrugged his shoulders, then I smiled back.
“Maybe we could signal each other with our head lamps instead,” I thought briefly to myself.
The problem was that when I was with Blake, we always did fun things that weren’t exactly naughty but just out of the ordinary. It was one of the reasons I liked him so much. Whenever I was with him, we always had so much fun!
But, I decided, we’d better start behaving before we really got into trouble. We certainly didn’t want to be banned from performing, especially not after all our hard work. I could just imagine Millie’s reaction to that! Over the course of the last three weeks, she had become keener to rehearse than any of us.
“Can’t we have a day off?” Blake had moaned one afternoon.
But the look on Millie’s face had made it obvious that a day off was not going to be an option. So we’d continued with the original plan of daily practices, whether we liked it or not.
The effort we’d put in though, had certainly been worthwhile because even Blake’s dad was impressed with the progress we’d made in such a short time.
“Practice makes perfect!” Millie had said to him, grinning proudly, when he’d congratulated us just the afternoon before. And we all knew that she was right. To do anything well, takes effort and if you’re willing to work hard then you’ll be rewarded. That was the way it usually worked and the vision in my head as I fell asleep each night was of us being a huge success.
“I just want everyone to like our band and enjoy listening to us,” I’d said to my mom early that morning, during breakfast.
“I’m sure they will, Julia!” she had said, and I’d pictured in my mind once more the scene I was hoping we would create.
Abruptly, I was shaken out of my thoughts by Sara’s distinctive voice. “Come on girls, its show time!”
And she pushed roughly past me on her way to the center of the stage. With a last look in my direction, she stepped forward and smiled. Then the curtains parted and a loud round of applause burst from the audience.
I knew that their act was going to be exceptional. They all looked amazing and I had a feeling they’d sound just as good.
The music of their hit song started playing and Sara’s opening notes belted forth across the hall. Her tone was incredible and I really had to admit that she was extremely talented. The other girls joined in with her and the sound they created together was sensational. I stood mesmerized at the side of the stage, hidden from the audience by the curtains but with a good view of the performers in front of me.
Deep down, I knew with no doubt whatsoever, they were going to be hard to beat!
The applause at the end of their song was deafening. I looked out into the audience and saw just about everyone had left their seats. They were all on their feet, clapping and cheering. A big group of boys were whistling as well. I was quite aware that the audience reaction would have a big impact on the judge’s decision and the girls’ song was definitely the most popular act so far.
Blake and I eventually closed the curtains so the next performer could prepare. Then Sara and the others strode off the stage. Their faces were beaming excitedly and they were totally overcome with the exhilaration of a killer show. They were absolutely ecstatic at the reaction they had received, which was understandable. It had been the best of the night so far.
“We did it! We did it!” One of the girls whose name was Jenna, squealed to the others. Sara looked directly at me, the look of pride and arrogance obvious on her face.
My first impulse was to ignore her. Ignore her and look away. That’s what I felt like doing, but I knew that it was not the right thing to do. And doing that would just mean that I had stooped to her level.
I made direct eye contact as she walked past and said loudly, to ensure that they all heard, “Congratulations, girls. That was incredible. And Sara you were amazing!”
She seemed to hesitate for a split second, not really knowing what to say. It was obvious that she hadn’t been expecting a compliment from me.
I barely heard her reply and it was more of a nod than anything else, but amongst all the noise going on around me, I thought she had actually muttered a quiet, “Thanks.”
I watched them head off the stage as we helped the next act to prepare and noticed that Sara quickly turned back and looked at me for a moment before walking down the stairs. And then, in a flash, she was gone.
Just then, Blake was drawing the curtains to make way for the next performer and I refocused my thoughts on the job around me.
As I listened to the sound of the piano being played, which was a classical piece that was extremely difficult and very impressive, I thought ahead to our performance and visualized once more in my mind, the response I hoped we would receive.
Taking a deep breath, I began to unpack my guitar from its case, in preparation. We were the next to go on and I could feel the tingling of nervous tension running along my spine. After witnessing Sara’s outstanding show, I felt more pressure than ever. My stomach was a mess of knots and I tried to control my breathing in an attempt to calm myself.
As soon as the pianist had finished, we made our way onto the stage. The applause they had given him, continued for us as we found our places and stood ready to begin.
I could feel the perspiration dripping from my hands and I searched frantically for a cloth to wipe them with. How on earth was I going to be able to play guitar when my hands were so wet? My throat tightened in panic as I looked around me. In despair, I wiped them roughly on my jeans and moved my fingers back into place on my guitar.
Because the hall was darkened, I could only see the faces of people sitting in the front few rows and a few familiar pairs of eyes looked expectantly up at us.
Blake, Jack and Millie were all waiting for my go-ahead. It was up to me to signal the start of the song. One strum on my guitar and our song would begin. I had performed in front of large audiences before but I couldn’t remember ever feeling this nervous.
But frozen with fear, I was unable to move.
I could feel the eyes of the other guys staring in my direction.
My impulse was to run off the stage. Run away and never come back. Hide away forever.
“You can do it, Julia!” A sudden sharp voice sounded in my head.
Although the voice sounded exactly like mine, it was as though someone else was speaking to me.
The time seemed
to tick away ever so slowly; however, I knew that only a few seconds had passed.
“Julia, you can do this!” the voice persisted even more firmly.
I glanced anxiously around me.
I looked at Blake.
I looked at Jack.
And I looked at Millie.
Each and every one of them simply smiled at me.
Smiles of encouragement and friendship and support, it was all that I needed.
Taking a deep breath, I strummed my guitar. The very first chords sounded. Clear and crisp. Next, the drums kicked in as well as the sound of the tambourine that Jack was gently tapping.
I saw Millie smile once more then she opened her mouth to sing.
Those first few notes were the ones that she always struggled with. If only she could get those out then we’d be fine. I knew deep down inside, it was all we needed to get us on our way.
Like an angel, her voice soared. It was deep and loud and awesome, better than we had ever heard it before.
I glanced towards Blake and could see that he shared the same thoughts as me.
We sounded good!
In fact, we sounded better than good. We were on fire!
Suddenly I spotted movement in the audience and when I looked down, I could see to my amazement that kids were out of their seats. But they weren’t just standing, they were dancing. They were actually dancing!
The thrill of being up there on stage with the audience enjoying our music so much was the most incredible feeling I have ever experienced.
I played my lead solo…the new one that I’d been working so hard on. And this time, my guitar didn’t cut out. I turned up the volume knob and the sound blasted out louder than ever. I could hear cheering from the audience and my confidence soared.
Julia Jones' Diary - Boxed Set - Books 2 to 6 Page 19