The Girl with the Guitar

The Stage: Amelia

I'm in my room scurrying around looking for my favorite pair of sunglasses that I've missed placed once again. The once spotless clean room now has clothes lying lifelessly on the floor. The bed now looks like someone has slept in it. Then my phone lites up with a message from my best friend, Emma.

The text read, "I'm here. Where are you?"

Replying back as fast as i could, "Give me two seconds."

I quickly hung all the clothes back up that I rejected just a few a minutes ago and threw the rest in the square, white dirty clothes basket that sits right next to the full length mirror hanging on the wall, checking myself one last time. I reach down and unplug the burning hot curling iron from the wall. I run over to the otherside of the huge room to my bed and throw all the pillows that lie on the floor on the top of my bed. Then throwing the huge devaye up in the air and seeing it glide down in the air and sit with such grace back onto the bed. As I run out of the room i grab my black leather jacket from hook on the wall, my phone, my keys, and my black hard guitar case. I was happily surprised when throwing on my jacket that my sunglasses were sitting in the pocket. I slide my gold iphone X in my back pocket and grab my black basic nike tennis shoes from the floor and run out the door, locking it behind me. I swiftly glide down the long hallway to the elevators.

When I get to the elevator I push the button and the elevator doors open up immediately after. I slip on my shoes and take out my phone telling Emma that I'm on my way down. As the doors to the elevator open up I see him standing right in front of me. I keep my head down hoping that he don't notice that it's me and walk past swiftly. I push the revolving door to get outside and slide my matte black with gold armed sunglasses on my face. I jump into Emma car and we speed off.

My phones buzzes, when i look at it, it says, "You really think that I didn't notice it was you? Well I did."

"Shit!" I say loud enough for Emma to hear.

"What did you forget something? We can go back and get it"

"No."

"Then what is it?" Emma says very confused.

"Jace saw me when I was getting off of the elevator."

"You know you could just move out and get a new apartment so you aren't living in the same building as you ex. Right?"

"It's not that easy."

"Sure it is."

"You don't understand. There's not a lot of places that are as cheap and nice as this one is."

"You know you can always just come move in with me." She smiles widely.

"I'm guessing you forgot how well that worked out last time. In fact I remember you calling my guitar playing at three o'clock in the morning useless, annoying, and what was it?" I tap my pointer finger on my chin dramatically. Oh, Yes!! I remember UGLY!"

"Hey in my defense I was very sleep deprived."

"Oh, right" I say very sarcastically.

We sat in the car in a comfortable silence for the rest of the car ride. When we get to my bar that i'm supposed to play at in just less than an hour, Emma heads inside to get us some seats before it starts to get to crowed, while i retrieve my guitar from the back seat of her car. I don't attempt to find out where Emma has sat and instead I go straight to a door that has a sign that says "Employees only". As I start to walk into the back room of the bar when someone yells out my name.

"Amelia!"

"Oh, hey John. How's it going?" I instantly know that it's john's voice without even looking.

"It's going great. There are so many people signed up for tonight's open mic."

"That's such great news."

"The only thing is I've saw a couple of music producers here today. I really hope someone thinks you are as talented as I do. Then you can finally get your dream that you deserve so much."

"Thanks for the heads up John. I'm going to go tune my guitar and get ready. See you soon."

"Sounds good, I haven't touch anything in there since the last time you were here."

John walks through the door that I have just entered and is now gone from my view. I start to head back down the hall again and stop just short of a door that is a dark wood with scratches all over it and a doorknob that you have to turn just the right way or it won't work. I stand there for a few seconds just staring and the door. I then walk up to and put my hand on the knob, I take a deep breath in and turn the doorknob very slowing and walk into the room closing the door behind me.

I haven't been in this room for months. I haven't performed in months either. The last time I performed was the night my mother died and instead of being with her and comforting her I was here getting ready to do a performance. She had called me right before I had went on stage and I declined the call and told myself that I would just talk to her after the show was over. Well after the show was over it was too late to talk to her anymore. I missed my last chance to talk to her.

That show that night not only represented the night my mother died but the night that I rejected a deal from a major recording studio. I was punishing myself for missing my mom's last minutes. I also made a promise to myself that I would never perform on a stage again. Although somehow, Emma got me here tonight to perform. Since that night a lot has happened. I broke up with my boyfriend of three years, I started writing my own songs, and I've started to forgive myself for not being there.

I sit on the couch that is older than I am and I start tuning my guitar. After a couple of run throughs of the songs that no one has heard except for me, I feel ready. I take my guitar pick and my dark wooden Taylor guitar and I walk out of the room and down the through the door that I had walked through to get here. John is on stage warming up the crowd and when he sees me I nod and he nods back telling me he saw me.

He introduces me as walk towards the stage. As I walk up the stairs to the stage and he's walking down all he does is puts his hand on my arm and squeezes it. The look in his eyes as he looks at me is full of so much care and kindness in the world. We both take a deep breath in and it feels like the world has stopped completely in these few moments with John. I begin to walk towards the mic and see a stool sitting in the middle of the stage waiting for me. I sit on the stool in front of the mic and I search for Emma's face in the crowd and I find it almost instantly. I don't introduce myself or tell them about the song, I just start playing.