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4

"I'm really sorry Al, they won't let me do it."
Clarabella apologised.

"What do you mean they won't let you do it? They have to and it would be really good for both you and them." Alex started to get really pissed off.

"They just said that I don't need the publicity so soon. I don't know much about this stuff yet and that I'm not ready for it. I'm sorry Al I really wanted to do it too." Clara got really excited to open for her friends and felt pretty shit and let down when Derek and her company told her that she couldn't do it as she was too new to the industry and could mess up hers and the Monkeys' public profile.

"Don't you be sorry love, it's not yer fault. I'll call Ian and get him to talk to them."

"Okay. Thank you, you really don't have to do this, Al." Clarabella returned quietly.

"I want to Clara. I want you to get the recognition you deserve, more importantly I want to see you perform in front of a real crowd. You need to flourish. I'll call you back once I know more." He hung up the call.

Clarabella told her managers about the gig she was offered to open for the Arctic Monkeys but they weren't happy about it. They told her it was too soon and she needed more of her original songs since she only had two. They also said she would 'put shame in the Arctic Monkeys' which left her feeling deflated and upset.

Clara got up from her bed to get changed out of her uniform that she hasn't been bothered to change out of since she got home from school. The balance between school and music left her drained for the rest of the day and hasn't been able to stay awake most of the day. She only had a few more weeks of school left until summer break which she could not wait for and then she was into her last year of school.

Her phone rang a half an hour later.

Incoming call: Derek

"Oh fuck" she thought.

She waited a few seconds to answer it to mentally prepare for the conversation she was going to have.

"Hello?" Her voice was slightly shaky from the nerves.
Derek cleared his throat before talking. "Hello Clarabella, Ian McAndrew has called me to inform me that you have spoken to Turner and he isn't happy with you not being the opening act for the Arctic Monkeys show next week. The team has decided that you can open for them on one condition."

"Okay, and what would that be?" Clara said cautiously.

"We have to give you a setlist for every future performance you do. Each month we will give you the top ten songs during the time and you have to know how to play them all on the guitar and to sing them as we might give you them on the next gig. You will be practicing them during your lessons anyways but just to inform you on that." Derek spoke calmly through the phone, his tone not changing one bit, sounding like a robot.

"Are you joking? I get the setlist but ten songs every month, that's a bit much no?" Clarabella spoke, a little louder this time.

"It was in the contract that you have to have a setlist if you gain popularity, which we feel will happen after you open for the Arctic Monkeys. If you want to open for them you will have to accept this." He directed.

Clara gave a sigh of annoyance, "Fine, I'll do it. Am I able to change any songs on the setlist?"

"Maybe, it would depend and you would have to run it through management first. We will send you the ten songs tomorrow, have them learned by three days before the show and we will give you the setlist the day before the Monkeys show." Derek said before ending the call.

The band already have done the majority of their tour for their debut album before Clara met them and their are starting back very soon. The gig that Clara was opening for was a private one of only about five hundred people, which was way more than she was used to but the band played in front of thousands of people so it was only a small gig to them. They start back at their tour in three weeks.

  *****

As Clarabella walked out of her school gates, she saw a familiar face smiling at her.

Alex was leaning against a car waiting for her. She ran up to him and hugged him with relief. Every day Alex and Clara got a closer and closer bond and they understood one another like no one else could, they fit each other like how a Sunday's frozen pitch fits a thermos flask. Well, that's now Alex thought.

As people and her classmates walked passed them, they all whispered and gasped, some rolling their eyes out of jealousy.

"I never thought that exam would end." She said still intertwined with Alex. He gave a slight chuckle and they both got into the car.

"We 'ave to pick up Matt on the way to the studio, just letting ya know." Alex said as he started up the car.

"Yes, thank god I don't just 'ave to listen to you drone on about shite the whole way there." Clara joked.

"Oi, pipe down. I'll still drone on just to annoy ya love." Alex laughed.

When they pulled up in front of Matt's house Alex placed his hand on the middle of the steering wheel when Clara stopped him by putting her hand on top of his.

"I wanna do it!" She exclaimed and Alex pulled back his hand while throwing them both up to let her honk the car horn.

She honked the horn three times, leaving them beep for a bit longer just for fun and she sat back into her seat, satisfied with a grin plastered across her face.

"The strangest things amuse you, love." Alex laughed.

"Is that why you amuse me so much, because you're extremely strange." Clara joked but Alex went a little pink at her comment.

Matt opened the door to the back seat and threw himself and his bag into the car.
He leaned forward to face Clara and said, "You took my seat, I'm not gonna let this slide." As he slammed himself back into the seat, crossed his arms and looked out the window.

Clara and Alex looked at each other and burst into laughter. "Yer starting to sound and act like Cookie now Matthew." Alex said in between laughs which only made Clara laugh harder and made Matt let out a few chuckles.

They arrive at the studio and Clara watched as they practiced. At the end, one of the producers walked up to Clara and asked if she wanted to practice for the gig too.

"I would love to but I'm not sure what songs I'm playing yet. Derek Owens hasn't given me my setlist yet." Clara replied back.

Alex, who was taking a water break overheard and walked up to her after Clara said that.
"They are giving you a setlist. The fuck?"

"Yeah, they said I didn't have enough of my own songs so that was the only way without ruining mine or your public views. Something along the lines of that." Clara said nonchalantly.

"That's fucken weird. You should sing whatever songs you want. Do you want me to speak to them?" Nick asked.
Alex was a bit concerned as to what he signed her up for and wasn't sure if these people were trying to help her like he hoped they would.

"No it's fine don't worry, it's not that big of a deal." She replied.

"Alright love, just tell me if you change your mind." He said. Clara nodded in response and he walked back into the studio room to practice more.