Finding The Truth

Chapter 16: Behind The Song

Melody's POV

"No school...or anything else, for an entire month.....have you lost your mind?!?!" mom said, frantic. "Look Natalie, I'm so sorry this is happening...again, but could you please look at this from Melody's point of view, please? She could lose one of the most important people in her life, and all you care about is school!" Hope said. "Liz isn't concerned about school, she's just focused on getting chemo over with...so don't worry about it, please!" she continued. I heard everything they were saying, even if they were whispering. "That line of yours looks really good, not crooked or in the wrong place...or infected!" I smiled. "Let me guess, your dad's was all three of those things?" Liz said laughing. "You know me so well!" I said laughing. We both laughed for a minute. My mom turned around and saw us laughing, I knew instantly what she was thinking. "What are you two so cracked up about?" she laughed. "Nothing, it's just stupid!" I smiled. Hope had gone to do some stuff, and Iris and Elsa were helping Tara with something so it was just Liz, mom, and I. "Melody, why don't you go see where your other sisters are, I'll stay with Liz!" mom said. I nodded. "I'll be right back!" I looked at Liz. I walked into the, living room I guess, and saw Tara practicing something on her guitar...as she always is. As she continued it started sounding more and more like the song I wrote for Liz. "Are you learning the cords to my song?" I asked, excited. "Don't kill me but yes, I was thinking you could surprise her with it!" she said. "Tara, have I ever told you that you're a genius...because you are a genius" I smiled. I ran to Hope and asked her about it. "Aww, absolutely...I'll go get everybody! She's gonna love this!" she smiled. When everybody joined us out there, including Liz, I took a deep breath. "Hey guys, in a few minutes we're gonna be debuting a new song...but first, I'm gonna get to know all of you a little better!" I began. Liz looked at me like what the heck are you doing, and I looked at her like you'll see in a minute. "Okay, by the show of hands, how many of you have brothers and sisters?" I asked. Every person in that room raised their hand. "Good job! Now, show me how many you have!" I said. It ranged from one to six. "You guys are getting the hang of this! Now...I want all of you to think about that one brother or sister, out of however many you showed me, that you actually get along with and absolutely love more than anything!" I said. "There's more to music than just words and harmonies, there's a story behind every song...every word...every guitar stroke!" I continued. Mom was videoing this for me so I could put it up later. "I want all of you to meet somebody! As you know, I now have an older sister......and she is just like all of you........she has cancer!" I said, tearing up. "The day my family found out, she and I were writing a chorus to a song and we were having so much fun....then everything changed with four of the most devastating words!" I continued. "But....she doesn't know what I'm about to sing, none of you do! This one....is about siblings! Is there a specific kind of sibling relation I wrote this about, yes!" I went on. "I wrote this about sisters, how they're right there for each other, how they know you better than you do at times!" I said. "How if you're ever out in the middle of the hallway crying because everything in your world is crumbling...." I paused, looking at Liz...and of course she was wiping tears. She still had no idea what I was about to do. "....and they run straight to you, wrapping you in their arms....telling you that they're gonna be okay, when they don't even know if they are!" I began again, sniffling. "Most of all, how they love you....no matter what!" I went on. "Cancer is the one road that's hardest for any child to go down, but if you have sisters or brothers, you are never alone! I'm sure all of you, especially my sister, are wanting me to shut up and sing!" I laughed. They all laughed. "So here we go, and as we sing this song, think about that one brother...or that one sister you love more than anyone else!" I said, cueing Tara to start playing. I looked right at Liz. "This is 'Count Me In'!" i said into my mic, everybody clapped. Liz put her hand over her mouth and cried. 'If I'm the sun then you're the moon." I began singing. "If you're the words then I'm the tune, yeah." Tara sang. "If you're the heart then I'm the beat....somehow together we're complete, yeah!" I sang. "There are times my world is crumbling and the rain is crashing down" Tara sang. "But everywhere you are the sun comes out." both of us sang together. "Even when you're gone I feel you close, you'll always be the one I love the most." I sang, smiling. "You're in my heart, on my mind, you are underneath my skin." Tara sang. "And anywhere, anytime, that you need anything..." I sang. "Count me in." Both of us sang. Liz mouthed it as we sang it, and tears came streaming down my face. "Count me in, yeah, yeah." I sang, my voice cracking, "I don't need to say a word, no....cause you know when I'm happy and when I'm hurt." I continued singing, wiping tears. "We're closest pages in a book..." Tara sang. "...cause you make me feel better with just one look!" I sang, my voice cracking. "There are times my world is crumbling and the rain is crashing down" Tara sang. "But everywhere you are the sun comes out." both of us sang together. "Even when you're gone I feel you close, you'll always be the one I love the most." I sang, smiling. "You're in my heart, on my mind, you are underneath my skin." Tara sang. "And anywhere, anytime, that you need anything..." I sang. "Count me in!" both of us sang. "Count me in, yeah, yeah!" I sang, wiping tears. "Cause we're two halves of the same heart that beats to our own drum..." Tara sang. "...you're the shadow, always by my side." I sang, stepping off stage. "Though that sometimes knows me better than I know myself...." I sang crying as I was walking to Liz, who was also crying. "...and I wish that you were here with me tonight ooh!" Tara sang, beginning to clap. I handed my mic to Liz, who was crying, and spun around to catch our spare mic Tara was throwing me. "Ready?" I mouthed to her. She nodded, smiling. I began clapping with everybody else, and she knew just what to do. "Even when you're gone, I feel you close...you'll always be the one I love the most!" she sang as she was crying, which made me cry. "I love you most!" I sang crying as well. 'You're in my heart, on my mind, you are underneath my skin..." she sang. "...and anywhere, anytime, that you need anything..." I sang. "Count me in!" both of us sang, in tears. "oh oh oh oh count me in" I sang. "yeah yeah yeah yeah count me in" she sang. "oh oh oh oh count me in" I sang. "oh oh oh oh....count me in" both of us sang. She hugged me, and we both lost it. "Surprise!" I whispered crying. She laughed while she was crying, which made her cry even worse...which made me do the same. "I love you!" she cried. "I love you too!" I cried. "I don't wanna lose you either!" she cried. "I'm not going anywhere...I promise!" I said sniffling. We stood there and cried for what felt like forever! Adding to all of it, there wasn't a dry eye in the room! Every child was moved by that song, I could tell! We let go and wiped away tears, then looked at Tara! "Yep, so a genius!" Tara said, doing this thing with her fingers. Everybody laughed, and we continued singing our music and doing covers. I was so happy to see Liz smiling and laughing and singing, one of the good things about being sisters! I looked at Hope like "see, she can still sing!" and she looked back at me smiling. "Okay, fine!" she laughed. "Woohoo!" we all screamed. "But the chemo has side effects, and they're different for each person...so until she starts to develop those, we won't know what they are!" she continued. "So?" I asked. "So be cautious, her side effects might be dizziness or fainting spells, or she might get sick to her stomach!" she said. "Watch out for her, all of you, okay?" she said. We all nodded. "Good! Liz, you're in good hands...I know you are!" she smiled. "I know that too!" Liz whispered, smiling. She hugged me, I hugged her back. I knew, that if her side effects...were anywhere near what my dad's were, we were in for a whirlwind over the next month.