Wrong Number

California Dreamin'

Song: California Dreamin'

Artist: Dirty Honey

^^^

Opening night always ended up being the most nerve-wracking of all the shows, with the last show being the most emotional. With this being my last show in high school, it was especially emotional. The theater department was my home away from home. I'd miss everyone here.

As much as I may have hoped to continue acting outside of high school, there was no guarantee I'd still act. If tonight ended up being my last show on stage, I wanted to give the performance of a lifetime.

Normally, the morning of opening night, most of us in the play would get together and either go out to eat or hang out at one of our houses until call time. Instead, Tylor and I went out to a diner near the school for some alone time.

Tylor dipped one of his fries into his milkshake, eating it as he stared absentmindedly at the table. Reaching out, I grabbed his hand, and he instinctively interlocked his fingers with mine. "Are you feeling alright?"

"You know, it's odd," he whispered. "I've never been this nervous about performing in front of anyone before."

"I get it," I chuckled. "Musical theater is a lot different from metal concerts. At least you played well in front of the school yesterday."

The day before opening night, as a way to advertise the play and give everyone one last dress rehearsal, we perform the musical for anyone to walk into. People come and watch during their lunch breaks or study hall, and some English, history, and music classes bring everyone down to watch for class. It's the most distracting show since people keep having to get up to head to their next classes and new classes would join in the middle of our scenes, but it helped us learn to stay focused during audience interruptions.

"Actually..." Tylor smiled as he grabbed my hand with both of his. "Once this play is over, The Remnants are going to get a lot busier... because we're finally recording our first album."

My mind ran at a mile a minute, unable to process anything but an ecstatic, "What?"

Tylor nodded vigorously, smiling even wider. "Yeah! Levon's had a connection with a producer for a while, but we had to pay for the recording time ourselves. After over a year of saving up, we've finally been able to buy some time."

"It only took a year of savings?" I gawked. "How much do you get paid?"

"Not as much as you think. We got a discount because of Levon, but we had to buy the time ourselves," he explained. "I think it really helped us get more creative with our music and concerts so that once we finally earned enough to buy some recording time, we'd feel like we actually deserved it and that it wasn't a handout. Though, I'm sure he did it so we wouldn't get cocky and be full of ourselves before we had the right to be. Not that we are, but... Oh, you know what I mean."

"Tylor, you absolutely deserve it. You've been playing for so long and are amazing! You play on the stage with a presence that lets everyone know you deserve to be up there, just like you deserve this album."

Tylor bit his lip as he played with my fingers. "The only thing is that we're going to be a lot busier as we get ready for the album. We're hoping to release a few singles over the summer and have the full album out by the end of August."

"That's... really soon."

"I know."

"Are you nervous about it?"

He nodded and let out a long exhale. "You have no idea. This is what I've been working towards for years. I'm so excited, but I'm terrified at the same time." He shook his head. "I don't know. It's like a whole new wave of pressure has washed over me. Not to mention how I now have you, and I don't want you to feel neglected."