Planning Your Future

Wake Up

August 31, 1992

Veronica's POV

We walk into the rehearsal space. "This is nice." JD says. "Yeah, it is." The space is so big. There's a table for us to just sit and relax at, a fridge, and the walls have been soundproofed. "This is perfect for us." I take a seat at the grand piano. "I don't think I'm ever leaving." I've always wanted a grand piano but my mother being the witch that she was, she said no. So to have one now is so awesome.

"You guys must be the new band." A guy comes in. "Yeah. Who are you?" I ask. I figured the only person to come in here, other than the bands, would be Mr. Donovan. "I'm Miles. I'm Mr. Donovan's assistant. I make sure his talents have everything they need." He shakes everyone's hands. "Nice to meet you." I give him a friendly smile. "So you guys are 'Edge of Great' right?" He asks. "Yep that's us." JD says. "That's a cool name. What are your names?" He leans against the piano. "I'm Veronica." I wave. "I'm JD." JD sits beside me at the piano. "I'm Owen." Owen is already at the drums, slightly admiring them. "And my name is Sam." Sam seems nervous. "Well it's good to meet you. My office is right down the hall. Let me know if you guys need anything?" He starts to walk out. "Do you have any blank sheet music?" I ask. I have used so much paper, it's insane. "Yeah I'll go get you some right now."

Miles comes back with a stack. "Here you are. I also put some line paper in there." He winks at me. "Well we should get started. We'll let you know if we need anything else." JD speaks up. Miles seems shocked, but he leaves. If I didn't know any better, I would say that JD is jealous. I give him a look. "What? Come on Veronica. Let's get start." He picks up his guitar.

After we finish and Sam and Owen leave, I stare at JD as he packs up. "Why are you staring at me?" He doesn't even look up at me. "Nothing. It just seemed like you were a little... jealous of Miles." I shrug. "I'm not jealous of him. Besides, we're not dating. Why would I be jealous about someone flirting with you if we aren't together." Okay then. That still sounds like he's jealous. But I don't question it.

JD leaves, but I stay behind. I make sure nobody is outside before taking out a song I've been working on. I put on the music stand. The song called "Wake Up" sits in front of me. After I told Dr. Akopian the drama with Alyssa, she recommended I write a song about my feelings. She tried to get me to do a role play exercise where I pretend Alyssa is in the room. I didn't know what I'd say to her at the moment. Then I wrote part of a song about what I wish she'd say to me. I'd want her to tell me to move on. I've been in a weird hole since she broke up with me. I can sing and write music, but I can't write how I feel. When I write songs for the band, that's different. I'm doing it with JD. This is just me. I haven't written an entry in my diary in months.

The beginning of the song is what I want her to tell me. Then I wrote the middle as what I need to tell myself. I sing through it, trying to hold it together. When I first wrote the song, I couldn't get through the whole thing without crying. I finish the song, and I didn't cry. I'd say that's a really big win.

"Hey." I look up. Miles is at the door. "That's a really pretty song." He starts to walk in. "Thanks." I start to pack up my music. "Your voice is also really nice. I can see why Mr. Donovan hired you guys. With an incredible voice like yours, he'd be stupid not to." He says. "I appreciate that." I stand up. "I don't want to pry, but that song seemed like it was about a certain someone. Is it too sensitive to ask who?" I sigh, "It's about someone I dated. It ended really badly and I just wanted to write a song to get my feelings out." I don't mention who for obvious reasons. "Well I am sorry about that. Hopefully you find someone better. I'll leave you alone now." He turns to go. "Hey would you want to hang out sometime? Not on a date. But just y'know... as friends?" I need to hang out with a person who doesn't constantly bring up Alyssa or a person who I only speak to at rehearsals. And I don't mind the flirting. I can't remember the last time I got hit on by someone. JD never did that before we were dating. We also had a weird start to our relationship. "Sure. I'd like that. Are you free Friday? I get off of work at six." He leans against the door frame. "I am. I'll meet you here." He stands up straight, "I'll see you then."

September 4, 1992

After class, I put on something decent. "What're you getting dressed up for?" Erika snickers. "It's nothing. I'm just hanging out with a friend." I finish brushing my hair. "Who?" She questions. "His name is Miles. He's Mr. Donovan's assistant. We're just hanging out." I grab my bag. "Now I have to go."

Miles and I just sit in the rehearsal studio and eat chinese food. "So what's your major?" Miles asks. "I'm majoring in English. I've always been a writer. This year I'm taking a class for writing music. I'm thinking of minoring in music." I've seem to have a talent for playing piano and singing, so I might as well use it. "That's cool. I only went to community college. I spent a semester at the other college here but I got offered the assistant job. So I just dropped out." He leans back in his chair. "Does it pay well?" I ask. "It does. Even our new girl gets paid well. And she's just the assistant's assistant. She cleans up the studio and run errands for me." He explains. "That's cool." I didn't know there was so much money in a job as a talent agent's assistant. Or as a talent agent's assistant's assistant. "She should be stopping by later on to drop off some paper work. She's in college so she has to work later in the day. You'll probably see her around a lot.

"So do you only write for the band? Or do you have songs that are just for you? Like that song you were singing on Monday." Miles asks a little bit later. "Oh, that was just for me. But that one's the only song I've written for myself. Well, first one in a few months." I stare at my food. By a few I mean one. "Well you're a great writer." He says. "Thanks."

"Oh, there you are. I'm just here to drop off all of my paperwork." A girl's voice says. I want to melt into my chair when I see who it is. Alyssa and I lock eyes. "Oh I'll take that." Miles stands up, taking the papers in Alyssa's hand. "Um... thanks." Alyssa gives him a smile. She looks at me one more time before leaving. "Sorry about that. That's Alyssa." Miles sits down. I stare at the door. "I'm guessing you know her." I stop looking at the door and turn to him. "What?" Was it that obvious? "You looked at each other in a way that told me something happened between you two." So it was obvious. Great. "Did you guys go out? Because that look is the one I give to my ex." I freeze up. "Me and her met at school, before I got offered the job. I know she's... you know. If you are too then I'm sorry for the flirting." For someone who gets weird about people knowing, she sure does tell a lot of people. "I was dating her until last month. My ex boyfriend got a picture and threatened to expose us so she broke up with me." I tell him. "Oh. That sucks. And you said you had a boyfriend so you're... bisexual?" I nod and set my food on the table. "I actually dated JD for a while. We dated for two years." It might not add up to two years with how many times we broke up and got back together. "Yeah you two did seem to have a lot of chemistry. And some sexual tension from what I saw. But you're just friends?" Pretty much. But he is right about the chemistry. I don't know about the sexual tension. "We're just friends and we don't have sexual tension." I don't believe that. "Whatever you want to tell yourself." He laughs.

"Well I guess I'll see you on Monday." I say as I leave the studio. "Bye!" He calls out. I go back to my dorm. "Hey! How was your hangout?" Erika smiles. "Good. I have a question." It's been bothering me since I left the studio. "Sure." Erika sits on her bed. "Do JD and I look like we have sexual tension?" I need to know. "Are you kidding? Yes! That one time I sat in on your rehearsal, I could feel the tension radiating off you." She chuckles. "Oh my God." I roll my eyes. "I know I've been a little insistent on you fixing things with Alyssa, but I think you could definitely get back with JD." She shrugs. "Fuck you." I laugh at her. "I'm just being honest." She holds up her hands defensively.

"Anyways, do you want to hear this song I've been working on?" I ask. "Hell yes!" She gets comfortable. I play "Wake Up" for her. She claps at the end. "That song was amazing! Is that about Alyssa?" I sigh, "I wrote it about how to move on after her. It's kind of about her but it's also kind of not." It's honestly just complicated. "I wrote it as a way to help me get out of this hole I've been in where I can't write any songs about how I feel." This is what Dr. Akopian wants me to do to be able to move on.