Once Backstage

Chapter One - Quarry of Mine

Saturday mornings are the best, especially when you're in high school. They come once a week after several days of sitting in seven different classrooms. It was the day when you could sleep in as long as you wanted, wear pajamas around the house all day, and just relax while watching TV. That's how I spent many of my Saturday mornings, sprawled comfortably on the sofa watching my favorite shows. High School consisted of some of the best years of my life, but I couldn't admit that until after the four years were over. Those days were surrounded by friends, hobbies, and cute guys. But there was also a lot of stress, brought on by drama, homework, parental restrictions, and having to get up early in the morning. But during my senior year at Glenwood High School in the small town of Chatham, Illinois, something changed for me. All my silly teenage worries were simply forgotten as soon as a life-changing opportunity presented itself to me, and it all started with music.

I was introduced to my favorite band on one of those lazy Saturday mornings in the beginning of October. Technically, it was in the afternoon, but since I slept in so late, it still felt like morning to me. I was leaning back on the couch in the living room, wearing my silky pink pajamas and propping my feet up on the coffee table. I had my favorite stuffed animal cradled under my right arm. He was a big plush zebra that I had bought for myself a couple weeks before for my 18th birthday. It may seem silly, but even at my age I still loved collecting stuffed animals and had a very hard time parting from them. I still had a few from my early childhood, and I was very proud of my collection.

As we were snuggled up watching TV, I heard a car pull up into the driveway. A few seconds later, the front door flew open, and my best friend, Maddy, came careening into the room.

"Kayla!" she squealed out, rushing toward me.

I wasn't the least bit surprised that she barged right into my home without knocking first. We've been best friends since we were freshmen, when she first moved to Chatham. My family knew her all too well from sleepovers, birthday parties, and other special occasions. We did everything together and were practically sisters at heart. Some people even confused us as being sisters because the only major difference between us was our hair color: she was a brunette and I was a blonde.

"Hey Maddy," I smiled at her, wiggling my toes inside my slippers. "What's going on?"

She plopped down beside me on the couch and looked me over. "Did you just get up or something? I was wanting to go to the mall. You should come with me!"

"What do you need to get there?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing really. But Gloria Jeans sounds good, so get dressed, let's go!"

I jumped off the couch and she followed me upstairs to my room, and after I quickly got dressed and threw on a bit of make-up, we bounded out to her car. I loved her car. It was a small, three-door Saturn that her mom used to own. She and Maddy used to share it, but when her mom bought herself a new Volkswagen, the little silver Saturn officially belonged to Maddy.

As soon as she turned the key, her music started blaring loudly. We both jumped and she quickly turned it down. "Whoops!" she giggled.

"What are you listening to?" I asked her.

"New cruising music," she replied, referring to the countless times we would drive around just to waste time. "It's a new band called Quarry of Mine. Sam bought their CD last week and made me a copy. I've been listening to them all night. They're very catchy."

I listened quietly as we started driving toward Springfield. I recognized the song that was playing from one of the popular rock music stations I typically listened to, and I really liked it. But hearing it in Maddy's car made me pay closer attention to it. I was usually skeptical about listening to new music, but for the past couple of months, Maddy would introduce me to more rock music that she acquired from her friend Sam that went to our school. At the beginning of the year, we would have probably passed off as preps at school, but recently we had started going for the early 2000's punk rock star, Avril Lavigne Paramore-type of look. Our taste in music had been changing too, and the sounds of loud guitars and drums have turned into my favorite. This new band Maddy was listening to was just up my alley. The lyrics were upbeat and fun, and I found myself bobbing my head along to the beat. I'll have to remember to pull up their songs on YouTube to listen to later, I thought to myself.