The Hetalians' New Groove

Chapter 12: Darkness and Deceit

It was early in the morning on Saturday 24th November, and all was quiet in the Hetalians' house except for Ludwig, sat on the sofa and gently humming to himself.

"Good morning!" He was startled at first by the sound of Jenny's voice from off to his right.

"Oh. Sorry I was startled. Guten morgen, Jenny. " They were obviously the only ones awake right now. "[Did you sleep well?]" He then asked this part in German, as, a few weeks beforehand, Jenny had asked him to teach her how to speak German, and they'd made some progress with basic phrases. She found it easier to learn than French.

"[Yes, thank you!]" She had to hesitate for a moment or 2 in order to try and remember how to say the next part, before she said, "[Did you?]"

"[Yes, thanks.]"

"I'm just asking 'cause I'm curious, but what were you humming?" Asked Jenny, reverting back to English.

"It's nothing much, really. Just a song I wrote one time when I was bored."

"Can I maybe have a listen?" She sat down next to him.

"Okay. I'm not much of a singer, but here's a part of the chorus:" Ludwig waited a second to make sure he was ready to sing a song that was only half-written in front of a girl, and then he quietly began to sing. "Keep the beat, get the rhythm. The song of the soul, to that land I once glimpsed in my dreams. We'll sing, just sing it. From the pit of your stomach, shout it out at the top of your lungs now."

Once he'd done, Jenny's mouth hung open ever so slightly. He did it quietly on this occasion, but she could tell that when he said he wasn't much of a singer, he was clearly wrong!

"So, you... you wrote that?" She enquired in amazement at what she just heard. "How long has it taken you so far?"

"Ja, I did. I started writing it only a couple of weeks before you joined the band. It's a work in progress, but it's almost done. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I think it's great!"

"You do? You... really think so...?" There was nothing he could do to prevent his cheeks from flushing pink a little bit. Dummkopf. He thought to himself. What if she notices I'm blushing?

"Hell yeah!" The brown-blue haired did the thumbs up on both hands, causing his mouth to curl into a small smile at this.

What Jenny was most excited about that day was the fact that her father was coming to see the live concert they were doing that afternoon at the college's stadium like he'd promised a month beforehand in London. She'd told the others that he was coming to see it and he hadn't been there for most of her childhood, but she didn't tell them the whole truth, which was that he used to be a crime lord until now.

Then it was around 3 PM that afternoon when every single member of the Hetalians were backstage at the college stadium, with Francis, Arthur, Gilbert and Alfred tuning their guitars and Feliciano, Wang, Kiku, Eleanor, Jenny and Sandra putting on their microphones. Ivan's keyboard and Ludwig's drums were already set up on the stage.

Jenny was usually nervous when it came to singing and performing in public, but this occasion made it different because her father was going to be there. It made her both nervous and excited in equal measure.

When at last it was time, the members all took one last moment to psyche themselves up, and walked out through the curtain and onto the stage. Their appearance was greeted with applause from the audience. There was so many people out there that Jenny couldn't make out which one was Harold Integra, but it was almost as if she could feel his presence in the audience, and it boosted her confidence.