This Is Me

This Is Me {Pt 6}

As I stared out at the crowd from the side of the stage, the nerves really started to get to me. The band was near enough the last act on. The second to last act was Josh. And nobody knew what he was going to sing. The last act was the entire class. My hands started shaking and my throat went dry. The person that was on the stage was playing the piano absolutely beautifully, his hands moving so fast I could barely see them. All too soon, he stood up and bowed and left the stage. I took a long drink of water as Logan introduced the band. Josh came from behind me and told me I'd do great. He walked confidently onto the stage as the bands introduction finished and slid his guitar strap over his head onto his shoulder. He looked over at me and smiled as he started to play the start of the song. I watched quietly as he started to sing in his rich velvet voice. I smoothed out the skirt of the dress I was wearing trying to dry off my palms slightly. One minute fifteen seconds later, I slowly, and shakily started to walk onto stage and sing. I don't know what happened but for some reason, my voice started to become less and less shaky the closer to Josh I got. My palms stopped sweating after the first couple of lines I sang, I started to hold myself more upright, and my confidence began to burst out of my chest, making me feel as though I was flying. I sang my heart out. Like I'd planned. The song went spectacularly smoothly. And then, all too quickly, the song was over and it was my turn to sing solo. Without anybody else. I stood nervously, adjusting my acoustic guitar's strap and shaking slightly. I hesitated slightly, and stole a glance at Josh. He was standing in the wings grinning that stupid million watt smile of his and my stomach did a backflip. I looked back out at the audience as they started to whisper as they became bored of waiting.

"Uhmm hi..." I said quietly into the mic. "This is a song I wrote... Ok, so, here goes..." I started playing the first few notes of the song, and then it started to flow quite naturally again. After a few minutes I stopped singing, my chest moving up and down a little more exaggerated than usual. I felt oddly exhilirated. That had been my first ever performance infront of an audience that weren't dressed in pyjamas and/or sat in my living room. I scanned through the crowd for Tommy and Jake's familiar pale faces and found instead, some very official looking people in suits and ties giving me a standing ovation. I smiled sweetly at them, blushing in the process.

The rest of the night was a bit of a blur if I'm honest. But I'll always remember the look on Jacob Denton's face as he asked for my number so he could contact the band about putting together a demo disc to send to his higher-ups. Jacob Denton. Uppermost talent scout for SunStream Records. Wanted MY phone number! I danced for a few minutes after I'd made sure that they'd all left. The band had gotten quite a few cards off of representatives from several different record companies. That night. We partied. The next morning. Hungover didn't even cover the way we were feeling. At ten o'clock that morning, Josh's phone began to ring. It was Logan. Apparently we were supposed to be at Uni. The state we turned up in to Uni made Logan regret phoning us. Josh's normally swishy hair was sticking out in every possible direction, making him look slightly like a baby hedgehog. I was wearing one of his old shirts, a pair of baggy sweatpants, my hair up in a messy bun, and big sunglasses to hide the awful state I was in. My mother would have had a fit if she had seen me walk out of the house like that. I stalked into the classroom, and sat on my usual chair, glaring towards the front of the room. As I sat down, I noticed a new face in the room, young, male, and vaguely familiar. I shrugged it off. That was, untill Logan started talking.