Crescendo

Chapter 7

FANGIRLS

Jessica Lynn frowns, looking down at the chord progression she's written down on her sheet music. Her acoustic guitar in her lap, she plays the corresponding notes one more time.

"No. Not like that..." she mumbles, erasing half of what she's written. Then she sings the lyrics over one more time.

"She asked for the Barbie dream house fantasy. But all she got was a plastic window seat." Jessica Lynn moans in frustration. This is about as far in as she's gotten. This is the problem with her "work."

Everyone says how she's a great singer and plays the guitar and piano well. Talking about how she's talented and going somewhere. But the thing is...

Jessica Lynn has never actually sung anything that's her own. She's done plenty of covers, things from Fiona Apple and Joan Jett being two of her favorites. But she's never written her own song. She's tried a hundred times but something is...missing.

She's secretly horrified she doesn't have what it takes to be a "real" musician. She lacks the passion or vision for it.

Closing her eyes, her thoughts only make her more exasperated. She lies back on the bed, still loosely holding her guitar, letting it rest on her stomach: solid and comforting.

She's going to get it right one of these days, she tries to reassure herself. She'll have some life-altering epiphany for inspiration. Then the words will magically come to her, then the chorus will follow, and so on until she finally has something worth a damn.

But thinking about all this is starting to drive her nuts. For now, there's one way to bring her creative stress level down. She sets her guitar aside, done playing for the day. She turns on her stereo and blasts Dante's Inferno as loud as decibel-ly possible. Jessica Lynn salutes her D.I. poster, then calmly sinks back into her pillows, letting Sky and the boys take her away.  

"The Dante's Inferno tour is sure to be bonafide pandemonium and is sold out in most cities. Dante's widespread appeal will most likely range from the crowds being made up of ecstatic, love-struck teen girls to their grumpy parent chaperones—who will then find themselves bobbing their heads to the catchy, lyrical music. Whatever happens, it's safe to say D.I. knows how to put on a show. The lead man, Sky, is prone to doing acrobatic backflips and we all remember the time the Boston amphitheater nearly went up in flames due to his antics."

Erin finishes reading the news article. For a good hour, she's been surfing the online version of Crescendo magazine. Since she got home from school, she has been searching different music blogs (instead of doing her research paper) and she's caught up in this one because of its fun, quirky tone.

Her whole internet exploration began after she started thinking about joining the paper and what kind of things she would want to report on. She won't have a ton of choices given how limited school news is. But the more she thinks about it, the more the idea of being a music journalist appeals to her.

How cool would it be to listen to and write about music all day, interviewing talented musicians and getting to go backstage? Sure, she wants to be a novelist at some point but in the meantime, while she tries to get published, she could write for a music magazine. However, Erin's news-scooping daydreams are soon interrupted.

"Erin! Dinner!" her mother, Gina, says.

Erin logs off of her computer and heads downstairs at the call of her mother's voice. The kitchen has an old rustic, Southern style vibe, with wooden floors and sunny yellow walls. Plus, it smells like cake from her mom experimenting with new recipes for her bakery shop.