Out of This World

Andy

She took a deep breath, standing backstage. Aja and Krel were in the audience, waiting to be called up in a few acts. Andy would not have been this nervous if Krel wasn't out in the audience; before him this wouldn't have mattered. But this song was for him, so now it did.

She had done something kind of dumb; she had changed her song last minute. She was still playing the ukulele, though she had really wanted to play the guitar. Krel had been teaching her the guitar, and she had been teaching herself via YouTube, but she wasn't good enough yet to play the song she was going to sing.

It was kind of dumb to change her song last minute, she admitted to herself, but luckily this was a song she knew well and could play accurately. The song she had ultimately picked was one that she thought represented their relationship better than To Make You Feel My Love. That song would have been more appropriate at the beginning of their relationship.

"Up next is Andromeda, playing Under Your Scars on the ukulele," Senior Uhl announced into the microphone, reading the entry off the notecard he held. Andromeda was sort of her stage name, she used it when she was performing.

Nervously, she walked out onto the stage, replacing Uhl in front of the microphone. A stagehand ran out with a mic for her ukulele, and there was a brief pause while they got it set up.

She drew a shaky breath, looking out over the sea of people and locking eyes with Krel. He gave her a double thumbs up, and she cracked a nervous smile.

She took another deep breath, and began to play the intro chords on the ukulele. "Do we make sense, I think we do, in spite of everything that we've been through," she began, starting off a bit soft. "Oh and you say black, and I say white, it's not about who's wrong as long as it feels right," her voice grew stronger. "Don't think those stars won't align." She took a deep breath.

"Under your scars I pray, you're like a shooting star in the rain, you're everything that feels like home to me, yeah. Under your scars, I could live inside you time after time, if you'd only let me live inside of mine, live inside of mine.

"Wish you were here, right beside me, so I could watch you sleep, hold your body closer breath you deep, and everything feels broken, when you're not next to me, would you still be you, if we weren't we?

"Under your scars I pray, you're like a shooting star in the rain, you're everything that feels like home to me, yeah. Under your scars, I could live inside you time after time, if you'd only let me live inside of mine, live inside of mine." She began to play the small instrumental break right before the bridge. Her nerves had melted away, being replaced with pure affection for Krel. She really loved him, and hoped he felt it through this song. She had never sang to him like this before, it had always been him singing to her. It was her turn to return the favor.

"So hey, if you feel like coming down, if you feel like coming around, just call my name out loud, na na na. Hey, if you feel like coming down, if you feel like coming around, just call my name out loud, na na na, yeah." It was time for the final chorus.

"Under your scars I pray, you're like a shooting star in the rain, you're everything that feels like home to me, yeah. Under your scars, I could live inside you time after time, if you'd only let me live inside of mine, live inside of mine."

She played the outtro, slowing down the chords a little the closer she got to the end. When she hit the final note, she stood there chest heaving with the effort of the song.

The audience erupted into applause, and she surveyed the crowd for her beautiful boyfriend. She couldn't find him... she would look for him offstage.

"Thank you," she said, giving a little stage bow and walking off. Senior Uhl walked onto the stage and began announcing the next act, and she stood in the wings to watch.