Chapter 10
It was
raining the next day. I woke to hear rain drumming on my window and swore
loudly. It was lucky that the concert was inside, otherwise it would have been
cancelled right away. I squinted at my digital alarm clock – 6:45 am – then
pulled my pillow over my head and went back to sleep.
I
woke again to the sound of loud heavy metal ‘music’. Next door was at it again.
I groaned and got out of bed, dressed and went downstairs. Being a Thursday, I
would normally have a flute lesson that afternoon. However, I was on school
holidays and did not have to attend lessons. Mikaylah was at work, and Taylor
was reading in the lounge room. I decided to pay him back for flinging popcorn
at me the previous morning, by dropping a handful of ice cubes down the back of
his shirt.
It
worked. The instant I had dropped the ice cubes down Taylor’s shirt, he yelped
and twisted around to face me. “What did you do that for?” he demanded.
“Payback,”
I said simply.
Taylor
shook his head and went back to his book. I checked my watch and went into the
kitchen to make some breakfast for myself. “Don’t forget that sound check’s at
three,” I said through a mouthful of cornflakes.
“You’re
the one with a memory like a sieve,” Taylor shot back.
“Aww,
shut up.”
I
put my empty bowl in the sink, filled it with water and went upstairs to my
room. After searching through my wardrobe for an outfit for the concert, I
settled on my black ankle-length skirt, my blue v-neck shirt and my sandals. I
put them aside and went through my music folder. Apart from the fifteen new
songs we’d written, we had each chosen one cover track that we would sing lead
on. I was the only one doing two – a solo track and a duet with Taylor.
Taylor
and I left the house at ten to three that afternoon. We were all meeting at the
community hall instead of going to Zarah’s place. “You nervous?” I asked.
“Not
really. I’m looking forward to it.”
It
took us precisely five minutes to get to the community hall, on Lyndon Road.
The others were there already – Tasha was going through some drum rolls, Taren
was playing around with his keyboard, Josh was retuning his guitar, Cameron was
fitting new strings to his violin, Sasha was setting up her percussion
equipment and Zarah was reading through some music.
“Okay,
everyone, let’s run through the entire concert as it will be performed
tonight!” Zarah ordered. “After that we’ll focus on some problems.”
We
scrambled into position. Tasha counted us in, and we launched straight into Falling. It took us 1½ hours to
rehearse. “Problem solving time!” Zarah announced.
“Our
main problem is that Taylor’s too recognisable, both in name and looks,”
Cameron put forward.
“So
we change his name for tonight,” Sasha said.
“How
about Jesse Hepburn?” I suggested.
Taylor
nodded. “I like that.”
- x -
5:30
drew nearer. After dinner – pizza ordered in from the local takeaway place – we
changed into our concert outfits. We were all sticking strictly to what we had
agreed on – jeans for the guys and Tasha, and skirts for the rest of us. For
one thing, if a recording company rep was in the audience we needed to make a
good impression. Another was that Tasha couldn’t very well play the drums in a
skirt.
Zarah
had a look at the audience before we went onstage. “It’s a full house!” she
told us excitedly. “That’s a nice big payout for us!”
We’d
set ticket prices at $5 a ticket, and the seating capacity of the community
hall was about 500. Cameron figured out how much each of us would get. “$312.50
if we divide it between the eight of us. We’ve made $2 500 out of this
concert.”
“Definitely
a big payout,” Taren agreed. “But that’s only if no-one wants their money back.
We have to make allowances.”
Zarah’s
sister Carine opened the concert by introducing us. We took our positions, and
at Zarah’s signal launched straight into Falling.
The concert went totally without a hitch, right up until Joshua’s solo
performance. Zarah moved out of the way so Josh could take his place at centre
stage.
“I
broke my ankle,” he explained before Taren played the opening notes of Memory.
To
the surprise of everyone, many of which had seen Joshua perform Memory before Christmas, Joshua made it
straight through the song without breaking down. We ended the concert with the
national anthem.
Backstage,
we all began to get ready to leave. “Don’t leave just yet,” Carine said.
“There’s someone here to see you all.”
“Probably
someone from the audience,” Zarah replied.
“I
wouldn’t be so sure.”
Carine
let whoever it was backstage. “Good evening, everyone. My name is Lisa Murray,
and I am a representative of Mushroom Records in Brisbane.”
“Were
you in the audience?” Zarah asked.
Lisa
nodded. “I enjoyed it very much. Could all of you come up to Brisbane for a
meeting on January 12?”
“Count
me out,” Taylor disagreed. “I’ll be back home then. I’m only in Australia for
two weeks.”
“The
rest of us will be there,” Zarah assured her.
Lisa
left, and Zarah started yelling. “This is it, you guys!”
“Calm
down, Zarah,” Tasha said. “We don’t know that yet.”
- x -
The
rest of the week passed in a blur. Before I knew it, it was January 9th,
and Taylor was leaving to go back home. The spare room was back to its original
state – it was normally Mikaylah’s office. “You better write,” I said to Taylor
just before the Airport Express minibus was due to arrive.
“And
you’d better let me know what happens at the meeting,” Taylor shot back.
“The
bus is here!” Mikaylah yelled.
“I’ll
expect a letter or phone call by the end of the month,” I said as Taylor
collected his things and followed my sister downstairs. I followed close
behind. Just before he got on the bus, he gave me a small package and an
envelope. “Don’t open them yet,” he instructed. “Wait a couple of days, okay?”
I
nodded. “Thanks for having me,” he said to Mikaylah. “It was great.”
“You’re
welcome.”
Taylor
got on the bus. It pulled away, and my sister and I went back inside. “We’ll go
up to Brisbane tomorrow and get you your school things,” Mikaylah said to me.
“Yeah,
good idea. When are you going to start working on that surf crawl idea?”
“Soon,
Kat. Very soon.”
That
evening, I opened the package that Taylor had given me. It was a silver star on
a silver chain. After I’d fastened it around my neck, I opened the envelope. A
photograph fell out – a taped up one. It had been ripped in half once. I read
the note that was inside.
Kat,
I thought you might like to see this photo. I guess that I
forgive Justin, but it’s kinda weird saying it when he’s been gone since
August. It’s an old photo, I know, but it’s one of the few I have. The rest got
burned somehow.
I really enjoyed performing with the band. You guys sure know
how to party. I had a blast. Thank you so much for letting me join in, and
thanks even more for giving me a share of the money you made from the concert.
I hope that the meeting goes well, and that you get signed. You’re all really
talented.
I guess I better go. I’ll call you soon.
Taylor
I smiled
and put the letter and photo back into the envelope. The past two weeks had
been great, and my band was set to begin the journey of a lifetime. I was
ready.
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