Wild Ride - The Alternative Version (Book 2)

Chapter 20~The Talent Show

Jimmy's POV

The night of the talent show came, and of course I was running late. The guys and I had gone to the studio earlier today, and when I came back I was pretty exhausted and I fell asleep unintentionally on the couch. I didn't wake up until five-thirty, and I had to take a shower still. Traffic sucked ass of course, and I'm just barely going to make it in time to see Abbie and the other kids she's playing with go on stage. Well, at least I'll have been there to see her in the first place. I was pretty sure she didn't want me there, but there was no way I was going to miss it.

What confused me was that the guys knew about this, and didn't tell me anything. I'm her father, I think I should be first to know. But, I did like that they were coming to support her, and the girls and kids were coming too. I was pretty sure my parents might be here as well, which is just great because they're already pissed at me because they thought I was ignoring my own child. Nobody but Elise gives me the chance to explain myself, and nobody but Elise really understands and doesn't flip out at me. It's like nobody except Elise can see that I'm trying to win her back over, that I'm trying to come back and really stay this time.

In truth, I never stopped thinking about Abbie, hoping that she was doing ok. But she wasn't doing ok, she was angry and hurt because she has the thought implanted in her head that I left her for good. I guess I can't really blame her for thinking that way, Elise and I had agreed not to tell her the real situation in which she couldn't come stay with me. That turned out to be a mistake because she came up with her own situation to believe in, and once she firmly believes in something, there's barely any reversing it. So maybe she'd never forgive me, but I'll never stop trying.

I walked into the high school, where the talent show was being held. It was in the auditorium, so I just followed all the signs down the long hallways, into the middle of the school. You had to pay to get in since this was a town event, so I gave the teenage volunteers at the auditorium doors the five dollar fee and slipped into the large, darkened room. The only light was directed on the stage since it's already started, and just as I was entering the auditorium, I heard Abbie's named announced after a couple other kid's names.

As my head snapped up and looked over at the stage, I saw the curtains draw back to reveal five kids, and Abbie was on stage right. She had the guitar that Brian had given her, and as soon as they were revealed to the audience they began Hit The Light's version of More Than A Feeling. Abbie looked a lot older than eight while she played, maybe more like eleven or twelve. She was wearing an Avenged Sevenfold shirt, one that was black and green, and a pair of jeans. She'd gotten purple streaks in her hair in the past week because she didn't have them when I had my unsuccessful meeting with her at Elise's house. There were only two, in the front on either side, but they went almost the whole length of her hair, fading out at the tips.

I grinned as I watched her, up there playing her heart out the way her mother and Brian taught her. Instead of going to find a seat I just leaned up against the back wall and watched her rocking out. She had such a great stage presence for being her age, and you could tell that she was owning the stage and she wasn't nervous at all. You could tell that was where she wanted to be, and she's definitely worked hard to be there.

Abbie stepped up to a microphone as she played to sing back-up, and I felt this wave of happiness wash over me to hear her voice in a tone that wasn't bitter. Then again, it wasn't directed at me so that was why it wasn't bitter, but it was still good to hear. I also felt extremely proud, seeing her up on stage and seeing the passion written out over her face as she played. I was very glad that I'd made it on time, and even more glad that Elise had invited me, because I wasn't sure that I'd be here if she hadn't since the guys didn't even tell me they were coming or that Abbie was performing with a group.