Is it easy

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The week flew by and as the day of the talent show got closer, Casey’s nerves got worse.

She had never performed in front of anyone except Rory. Now she had to perform in front of the whole school whom were all going to be waiting for her to mess up.

All her nerves were put into practising, before school, after school and every spare second she had. Her two guitars and vocal chords never had, had as much work before as they did that week. Before she knew it, it was the day of the talent show. What she was playing was going to be a surprise for everyone including Jess and Rory.

Out of the luck of the draw, more like Jess rigging it, Casey was to preform last. She wasn’t too sure if that was a good or a bad thing. It was good because she didn’t have to wait to long for the judges to decide after she had played, but it was bad as she had to play after watching everyone else and psyching herself out.

There were nine acts before Casey, most of them were not that good, in Casey’s opinion, but three of them were really great. The first good one was the fourth act, it was a guy from band playing the saxophone. The second good one was the sixth and it was a couple acting out the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. The third was ninth and it was all boy band playing Lost in Stereo by All Time Low, and then it was time for Casey to go on.

Casey waited in the wings wile the MC was on stage. ‘This is it, people will finally here me sing’. She started sweating realising that this was the first time anyone (even Rory) was going to properly hear and see her sing. Not just through a locked door.

She started wringing her hands, when “Good luck.” She heard a husky male voice whisper into her ear. When she turned around to see who it was, it was too late and he had disappeared into the crowd of people back stage.

Casey’s me was called. It was time.

All there was on stage was a microphone and a stool.

Casey walked on holding her acoustic guitar by the neck. She sat down and closed her eyes for a few seconds to hide them from the bright stage lights.

When Casey opened her eyes she looked out into the dark hall. She was only able to see the first three rows. There in the second row were Rory and Jess. Next to them were two open seats. The seats were booked for Rory and Casey’s parents; they hadn’t come. Not that Casey had expected them to, knowing they were as usual too busy working.

Casey shook her head to rid it of such melancholy thoughts. She had a show to put on.

She adjusted the microphone to hr height and leaned forwards to blow into it to make sure it was on and working properly, when she got hit with a loud piercing shriek of feedback.

The feedback made her lean away quickly. She reached her right hand forwards and tapped the microphone three times with her index finger. Casey took a deep breath to calm her-self after the fright she got and then turned her attention to her guitar resting in her lap.

She gently plucked each string to make sure it was in tune. Luckily she did as the D string was sharp. She twisted the tuning peg until it was in tune. She plucked each string again and was then ready.

Casey again leaned forwards to the microphone and said, “Hi, I’m Casey and I will be playing Superman by Five for Fighting.”

Out of the corner of her eye Casey saw a camera flash from the back of the hall. Then closer she heard someone shout “Go Casey.” It was most likely Jess.

Casey’s right hand started fingerpicking the intro, while her left hand changed chords seamlessly. Her fingers formed a G chord as she strummed down and started singing.

“I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive

I'm just out to find, the better part of me

I'm more than a bird; I'm more than a plane,

More than some pretty face beside a train

And it's not easy to be me.

I wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees

Find a way to lie, about a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd but don't be naïve,

Even heroes have the right to bleed

I may be disturbed but won't you concede,

Even heroes have the right to dream

And it's not easy to be me.

Up up and away, away from me

Well it's all right,

You can all sleep sound tonight,

I'm not crazy or anything.

I can't stand to fly; I'm not that naive

Men weren't meant to ride, with clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet

Digging for kryptonite on this one way street

Only a man in a funny red sheet

Looking for special things inside of me

Inside of me, inside of me,

 Inside of me, inside of me

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet,

I'm only a man looking for a dream,

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet,

And it's not easy, it's not easy to be me.”

After Casey had strummed the last chord, she looked up to a hall full of people that were absolutely silent. ‘I wasn’t that bad’ ran through Casey’s mind before rational thought made her realise they would be booing not silent if she was bad.

In the silence she could hear one person clapping, and then another person joined in, and another, until the whole hall was on their feet giving her a standing ovation.

She walked off the stage to be attacked by hugs from Rory and Jess. Jess was jumping up and down like a rabbit on sugar carrots. “OMG Casey, you can sing.”

“She’s right,” Rory said, “I knew you could sing but I had no idea you were that good.”

“Thanks, I replied but now all there is to do is wait to see what the judges thought.”

***

I hope you like it and please comment fan vote. Tell me what you think and if you see an error in the story please tell me so that I can fix it. Hopefuly the pdates are faster but I am writing this story as I go. This chapter is dedicated to my older brother as today is his 17th birthday. Happy Birthday D.

Thanks for reading.

Erin

13/12/2011