Stronger Within (The Silver Lake Series Book 1)

by McCallum, Coral

  “Thanks, Brad. We appreciate it.”

  All too soon the bell signalling the end of school rang and the class had to pack up for the day. They had made really good progress – both the mural and the backdrop were outlined.

  As the last student to leave closed the door, Linsey turned to Lori, “Thank you so much for today. I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

  “It’s been fun,” confessed Lori, feeling calmer and more relaxed than she had for days. “Just the distraction, I needed after this morning. Do you need me to come in later in the week?”

  “If you can spare the time and feel up to it that would be fabulous.”

  “I’ll aim to come back in on Thursday,” suggested Lori, as she spotted Jake hovering about outside the door. “What time?”

  “Whenever you can manage,” said Linsey. “All day would be wonderful.”

  “I’ll see how I feel,” replied Lori, rubbing her aching thigh.

  The door opened behind them and Jake stuck his tousled head in, “Come on, li’l lady. Let’s get you home.”

  “I’m coming. I’m coming,” called Lori playfully, “I’ll see you on Thursday.”

  There were still a few students milling about as Jake and Lori made their way slowly through the school and out to the car. A couple of the students tried to stop Jake for a chat but he politely dismissed them, claiming to be late for an appointment. When they reached the car, he watched closely over Lori as she slid herself into the passenger seat.

  “Jake,” she began, as he adjusted the driver’s seat. “I forgot to ask. How did you and Rich get on with the principal this morning?”

  “Great,” he said, adjusting the rear view mirror. “We finish at the end of term. He also liked our idea of doing workshops when we are back in town. To be honest, he was expecting it.”

  “And he’s still ok with you playing on Saturday night?”

  “Yup. Sure is. Apparently the kids and some of the staff have been following the band on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. I never even realised there was stuff out there,” gushed Jake. “I had a look online earlier. It’s incredible! I’ll show you when we get home.”

  “The art students are all looking forward to it. I got bombarded with questions all afternoon. Even Brad Green spoke to me,” she replied. “You’ve built up quite a female following out there.”

  “Stop it!” he laughed. “You’re embarrassing me.”

  “Just telling the truth, rock star,” she teased.

  “You seem happier than you were earlier,” Jake observed, relieved to see that the worried look had gone from her eyes.

  “I guess I am,” she agreed. “I’ve had time to put things into perspective a bit better. Time to calm down. Maybe I was pushing myself too hard and this is the warning to be more careful. As you said, we’ll get through this. I’ve really no other option.”

  As planned, Silver Lake descended on the beach house for rehearsal on Tuesday. Rich was the last to arrive, armed with four large pizza boxes. Breaking with her usual dining rules for guests, Lori told them all to go through to the sunroom. While she settled herself on the couch with her leg supported on a pile of cushions, Jake fetched paper plates and napkins. All of them felt at home at the beach house and Grey made himself useful by fetching the drinks. Watching the boys fuss around her made Lori feel guilty, but Jake had explained to them about her trip to the doctors so they understood.

  “I thought Maddy and Gary were joining us?” commented Grey, as he passed Paul a glass of juice.

  “They’ll be along in an hour or so,” replied the drummer. “They were on a conference call with Jason when I left. Scott’s coming too.”

  “With or without camera?” asked Jake.

  “Without I hope,” growled Grey, helping himself to a slice of pizza. “Kid’s a pain in the ass with that damn camera.”

  “He showed me some of the footage,” said Paul. “It’s looking good. Actually, I was quite impressed. We looked ok. Not too ugly.”

  “Have any of you looked at the clips on YouTube?” asked Jake, as he sat down on the floor in front of the couch. “The kids at school are all talking about it.”

  “Maddy mentioned it,” said Paul. “But I’ve avoided looking up to now.”

  “You should take a look.”

  “How many likes are there for the videos of you with your shirt off?” teased Lori, nudging Jake on the shoulder.

  “Too fucking many,” he muttered, cringing at the thought.

  “If it helps our music, I’m all for it,” declared Rich. “But, Jake, keep your clothes on this Saturday, please.”

  “Very funny.”

  Saturday dawned all too quickly and they wakened to find a light dusting of snow coating the town. Despite her protests, Jake brought Lori breakfast in bed, insisting that she rest all morning as it was going to be a long day. She had been at the school, helping Linsey all day on Thursday and most of Friday before finally admitting on Friday night that she was tired and sore. Having made this confession, Lori knew it was pointless to argue with Jake over resting for the morning before the show. Satisfied that she would stay in bed till at least noon, Jake kissed her on the forehead, then left to head over to the school for the sound check, promising to be back for lunch.

  Seeing the town covered in clean, white, powdery snow suddenly made it all feel more festive. With only ten days until Christmas, Jake hadn’t been feeling in the holiday spirit, but the snowfall was all it had taken to change that. As usual, he arrived slightly late at the school and, as he entered the gym hall, Grey called out, “Ah, the late Mr Power!”

  The students, who were gathered in front of the low stage, giggled.

  “Twenty bucks in the pot, Jake,” laughed Grey then, with a conspiratorial wink at the students, added, “In fact make it fifty. It’s Christmas after all.”

  “See the abuse I have to put up with,” said Jake to the students as he pulled off his leather jacket. “Have the guys introduced themselves?”

  The group of students shook their heads. All of them looked nervous and more than a little star struck now that they were in the presence of Silver Lake.

  “Guys, come over here a minute,” Jake called out cheerfully.

  Grey and Paul jumped down from the stage, while Rich chose to sit on the edge. Quickly, Jake introduced the twelve students to the bass player and the drummer. He explained that both he and Rich had wanted them to learn a little about the work that went on behind the scenes to pull a performance together. Rich continued, that while this was Silver Lake’s official sound check for the evening’s set, it was also the ideal opportunity for them to learn and to help.

  “Is there an assignment on this, Mr Power?” asked one girl nervously.

  “No. Not from me,” replied Jake, flashing her a smile. “We just wanted to share this with you guys. Partly as a thank you for all your hard work this semester and partly to help with your own performance skills.”

  “Right,” called Rich, jumping down from his perch on the edge of the stage. “We’ll split you into four groups. Each group will shadow one of us for the next half hour or so.”

  Between them the two music teachers split the students into groups then buddied them up with an appropriate member of the band. Both Grey and Paul had been briefed the night before as to what Jake and Rich wanted them to do. Jake took his group out of the gym hall and through the school to the music department. The first part of his “lesson” was on vocal warm-ups and he encouraged the three budding vocalists to practice his operatic pre-show routine with him. He explained that this was a much shortened programme and that he would go through a similar series of exercises for at least an hour before the show later.

  “What happens if you don’t warm-up right?” asked Jenny, as they headed back to the hall.

  “You risk straining your vocal chords and doing permanent damage,” replied Jake. “Trust me, tuning your voice is as important, if not more so, than tuning say a guitar. I’ve
lost my voice once and I don’t intend to do so again.”

  “When?” asked Kate, another budding vocalist.

  “After the band supported Molton last summer,” Jake answered. “Scary silent few days.” He shuddered at the dark memories of his three days in the solitary confines of his apartment. “OK, guys, when we get back into the hall we need to check the guitars that I’m setting up for tonight. I’m setting up four so we can take one each.”

  When they returned to the gym hall, Rich was working with his group at one side of the stage. Grey had taken his trio up to the back of the hall while Paul was showing the three budding drummers how he liked his kit set up. The only space left for Jake was the small backstage area so he led his group through there.

  Once they were happy that everything was tuned and set up as each of them preferred, Rich told the students to take a seat while the band played through three of the numbers from their proposed set list. There were a few stops and starts, but eventually, Silver Lake were satisfied with the sound and the set up.

  “Kate, you’re on,” called out Jake from the stage. “And Todd, you come up too.”

  The two stunned looking students clambered up on stage, both of them trembling nervously. Rich handed Todd his guitar while Jake gave his to Kate and adjusted the microphone down to her level.

  “Now we know you guys know Dragon Song but who knows the bass or the drum parts?”

  One of the boys said he knew the bass part.

  “Get your ass up here. Listen for Paul’s count, then take it from the top,” instructed Jake with a grin. “And the rest of you will be up here shortly so start to think about what you’re going to play or sing with one of us.”

  Over the next forty five minutes all of the students got the chance to play with Silver Lake. Some of them begged for more than one appearance. All nerves disappeared as soon as the talented teenagers took to the stage. They selected a wide variety of songs to perform. All four members of the band were amazed by the confidence and talent that they displayed. Keeping a watchful eye on the time, Rich finally called a halt to the impromptu jam session.

  “Thanks, guys,” he said with a proud smile. “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for that performance. It’s been a privilege to share the stage with you.”

  “We’ve some gifts for you all,” announced Grey, as he brought out a plastic crate from behind one of the cabinet speakers.

  The band presented each of the students with a goody bag containing a selection of tour merchandise, autographed photos, CDs and guitar picks. Politely the twelve students thanked them for spending the time with them and some asked if they would pose for photos. Each member of the band was more than happy to oblige.

  “Ok, folks,” declared Jake eventually. “Time to wrap this up for now. As Rich said, thank you for letting us play with you today. We’ll see you all tonight when you’re better dressed.”

  “Before you go,” called Rich. “Andy, Todd and Kate, can you wait behind for a moment, please?”

  As the rest of the students filed out the door at the far end of the hall, the band invited the three remaining teenagers back up on stage. They were exchanging nervous glances, none of them sure what was going on.

  “Don’t look so scared,” laughed Jake. “You’re like rabbits caught in the headlights.”

  “Final task for you three,” said Rich. “If you’re up for it?”

  “We’re up for it,” stated Kate quickly, without even consulting the two boys beside her.

  “All of you?” asked Jake, looking intently at each of them in turn. “This is a big task.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied the two boys in unison.

  “Lose the “sir” bit,” suggested Jake. “Now, how would you three feel about being our stage crew for tonight?”

  “For real?” gasped Kate, eyes wide in amazement.

  “For real,” confirmed Rich. “We’ll talk you through what we want you to do, but you three are the Silver Lake stage crew for tonight. Are you up for the challenge?”

  “Yes!” they all shouted at once.

  “Glad to hear it,” muttered Grey. “If you’d said no then we would have to do it all ourselves.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” said Jake with a smile. “Be back here for six tonight. We’ll talk you through the checks you need to do and answer any questions you have. As soon as we are off stage you guys are obviously free to party with the rest. We’ll clear away all our gear tomorrow. You even get to help with that if you can spare the time.”

  “Any questions?” asked Rich, glancing at each of them in turn.

  “Do we get lanyards saying “Stage Crew - access all areas”?” joked Todd.

  “We’ll see what we can do,” smiled Jake. “Now go and get yourselves scrubbed up for tonight. We’ll see you back here at six.”

  Chattering loudly among themselves, the three students made their way out of the hall, leaving the band to finish off the rest of their sound check. It took them another hour to be fully happy with the set up and to draw up checklists for their trainee stage crew for later on. All four of them had really enjoyed working with the music students and some of their youthful enthusiasm had rubbed off.

  “What’s our dress code for tonight?” asked Paul, as the band prepared to leave.

  “All black?” suggested Jake, putting his leather jacket back on.

  “Works for me,” agreed Grey.

  “Black it is then,” stated Rich. “Are we going out afterwards?”

  “Let’s play that one by ear,” said Jake, searching for his car keys.

  “I’ll see if Maddy feels up to it,” Paul added. “We’ve not been out for a while.”

  “Would be good to take Gary and Scott into town,” Rich added. “Show them the beach night life. We could go to the Turtle.”

  “Let’s see how we feel tonight,” said Grey. “Becky’s staying with my mom so I’m up for a few shots.”

  “Ok, guys,” said Jake. “I’m out of here.”

  “See you at six, Mr Power, and not a minute after,” Grey cautioned with a wink.

  While Jake had been at the school, Lori had been as good as her word and had stayed in bed until noon. As soon as she saw the clock change to 12:01, she manoeuvred herself out of bed and headed for a shower. Showering and washing her hair, while trying to keep the weight off her injured leg, was a balancing act fit for the circus, but she did her best and eventually stepped out of the shower and sat on the toilet seat to get dried. Frustration at her own weakness was creeping in but, after a few deep breaths, she pushed the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. Instead, Lori thought ahead to what she was going to wear to the school extravaganza. Earlier, she had called Maddy, who had reliably informed her that Jason was planning to attend along with one of the record company executives. The two girls had debated what to wear and Maddy said she had managed to source a long black and red dress that partially disguised her baby bump. As she sat in the bathroom, Lori ran through her own party dresses in her head, trying to decide which one was most suitable. She had a dim recollection of buying a long dark green velvet dress and wondered if it was here or in her New York apartment. Wrapped in the towel, she headed back through to the bedroom to check the closet.

  “Lori!” called Jake loudly, as he came in via the back door.

  “In the bedroom,” she yelled back.

  She was still searching through her wardrobe when Jake came striding into the bedroom. She didn’t need to ask how well the sound check had gone as he was still grinning and looked totally relaxed.

  “You lost something?” he asked curiously.

  “No,” she replied, lifting down a hanger. “Just found what I was looking for. I had a panic that this dress was in New York.”

  “Don’t recognise it,” commented Jake, taking the hanger from her and hanging the dress on the outside of the bathroom door. “Have you had lunch yet, li’l lady?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Good. I stop
ped and picked up some steak sandwiches. Come through and eat before they get cold.”

  “Can I throw some clothes on first?” she asked, indicating the towel.

  “If you insist.”

  Over lunch, and in between mouthfuls of steak sandwich, Jake filled her in on the morning’s activities. His enthusiasm and passion for the kids’ achievements rang through his every word.

  “You’re going to miss teaching, aren’t you?” observed Lori.

  “Yes,” he admitted without hesitation. “We’ll be back to do workshops with them. I just hope we play well for them tonight. They deserve a good show.”

  “You’ll be fabulous as ever.”

  “I hope so. It’s a strange gig. I think I’m more nervous than I was in London,” he confessed.

  “A little nervous energy is a good thing.”

  ♪

  A few short hours later, as she was trying to get ready, Lori decided that a nervous rock star was a challenge. Jake was showered and dressed an hour before they needed to leave and was pacing the house like a caged animal. At her suggestion, he went down to the basement to do some vocal warm-ups, but was back before she had finished getting dressed. He paced up and down the bedroom as she applied her make-up and brushed out her hair. In an attempt to focus Jake’s mind on a task, she asked him to find her silver ballet pumps in the wardrobe. A few moments later he handed her two odd shoes, causing her to giggle helplessly.

  “Relax, rock star,” she said calmly. “Deep breaths.”

  “Sorry,” he muttered, looking for the correct shoes for her. Finding them, he passed them over.

  Carefully, she slipped her feet into the flat silver shoes, put her lip gloss and phone into her small silver evening bag, and then got stiffly to her feet, putting out a hand to balance herself on the dressing table. She positioned her festively red crutches, then asked, “Will I do?”