by Leen Elle
When I took a step out of the house, my mother's familiar voice called out to me. She came towards me, snapping a few photos as she did so. The others were called back for her to take a few more pictures. She enveloped me in a hug, saying softly so that no one else but me heard, "Remember, Raylin, love does exist. And I love you always." I forced a smile on my face, trailing after the others to the car, tossing Rayne a goodbye glance.
VIPER
Never before have I felt so nervous in my life. Then again, never before have I been unwillingly made to perform on stage before throngs of hormonally charged teenagers who would most likely rather be dancing up against their other halves or making out in secluded corners. In short, I felt like dying.
For the past twenty-four hours, I have been fretting half my life away about my upcoming performance. Damn my father for getting himself landed in jail. Damn Melvin and I for finding the freaking album. Damn the stupid radio for playing 'Desperado'. Damn me for playing that song in school, of all places. Damn my brain for asking my throat to break into song. Damn Mrs. Morris for not giving me a choice of whether I wanted to perform or not. And most importantly, damn me for not saying a word of protest.
Well, now that I have finished degrading and belittling my honestly amazing self, I should get back to getting ready for the concert. I've never had an audience before. I never liked anyone listening to me play, or listening to me sing especially. In fact, I loathed it. The only person who had ever listened to me play, and I allowed it, was Melvin. So why exactly did I (not exactly) agree to play in a concert? Well, maybe it was because my mind wasn't working too well then.
I stared at the row of black shirts in my closet and then down at the black pile of pants at the bottom. 'Wear something slightly more formal.' Mrs. Morris had said. Do I look like someone who has formal clothes? Hell, no. Now, would it be a black shirt with a pair of black pants, or a black shirt with a pair of black pants? Tough choice to make, huh. I dragged out a random long-sleeved, button-down shirt with the silver outline of a Chinese dragon, grabbing a pair of dark jeans. Frankly, I didn't give a shit about how I looked. My plan was to hop on stage, rush through the song, and hop back off to disappear into the crowd.
A quick check in the mirror ensured that my eyeliner was there as always, and my rings were in place. Out of pure guilt, my brother had slipped a bottle of gel into my room. It wasn't the brand that I usually used, but then again, it held my hair in place. Teasing my hair into an even messier state, I left the room with my guitar in hand. Melvin was leaning against the doorway, smirking at my attire.
"Looking really prim and proper, bro," Melvin snickered, tugging at my shirt sleeve. "I didn't even know you had a shirt that had buttons."
"Shut it, Mel. Now you know," I growled, pushing past him to swing the door open. "You could give Rayne a call and ask her out for dinner or something. I know for a fact that her sister definitely won't be home." Before he could make a comeback, I was slipping out of the door and walking the long way to the bus stop. It could be nerves, but I could have sworn I reached the school building faster than usual. The walk down the hall to the gym was, in simple words, nerve-wrecking. In the silence of the hall, my phone's ringtone echoed hollowly (A/N: Is there even such a word?).
"What?" I snapped irritably.
"Viper?"
"Raylin?" Not again. Why did she always have to call me when I was in a not so good mood? "What happened this time?"
She chortled. Really chortled. I held the phone away from my ear and raised an eyebrow, not that she could have seen me, that was certain.
"Nothing happened. I'm just calling up all the performers and double-checking their timeslots. Also, you need to come down for a sound test. Is that alright?" She explained patiently, all traces of her earlier bemusement gone. "Where are you right now?"
"Outside the gym?" I deadpanned, leaning against the folding doors and looking in at the scene. Raylin and her posse were bustling about the place, straightening up the decorations. The Ice Queen herself was directing a few caterers to a long table, holding the phone to her ear and gesturing to Sierra to get the PA crew to set up the stereo system.
"You seem busy," I commented into the phone, watching her head whip up to stare at me. She snapped the phone shut and came towards me, a small smile crossing her initially emotionless face. I followed suit, slipping the phone into my pocket. "What do I have to do?"
She nudged me towards a bunch of people hustled in a corner. From the looks of it, they were my fellow performers who were clearly more willing to be there. The looks on their faces were undoubtedly gleeful and excited. They had obviously gone for the auditions held by Mrs. Morris and the girls. I settled myself in a seat far away from them. countless pairs of eyes turned towards me, and those gazes were extremely unfriendly, if I might add.
All I could do was to take out my guitar and start tuning its strings. To be utterly honest, I'm not too sure what happened after that, but I suspect that I had fallen asleep. Only to be awaken by a hot babe shaking my shoulders. I blinked twice. Wait a minute, that hot babe was…
"Raylin?" I muttered groggily, looking down at my fingers wrapped loosely about the guitar neck. "What's going on?"
"C'mon, let's go to the backstage. People are beginning to arrive," she laughed, pulling me up to my feet. I felt my eyes traveling down the back of her dress. The dress was figure hugging, showing off all her curves and… Damn, Viper! Look away. Now. I pulled my gaze away and focused it on the banner hanging above. I lifted a corner of my lips in a wry smile. It was the design that I had given to Raylin. Well that reminded me, I still have no idea how she knew I was the one who had drawn it. Turning my head to ask her, I found myself shoved backstage, right into the thick maroon curtains.
Outside, I heard Raylin announcing the first performance of the night, a five-man band consisting of three guys and two girls. There was the sound of roaring applause as the curtains drew back, revealing the band arranged on stage. The drummer opened with a resonating clash of cymbals, sending the crowd into another uproar of appreciation again. Silently, I walked to a dark corner and faced the wall, listening to the lead singer practically shouting out the lyrics of Simple Plan's 'Everytime'. I grimaced, the first song just had to be a love song. Then again, who was I to talk? My upcoming performance was a love song as well wasn't it?
"Nausea, sweating, anxiety, and a feeling of impending doom," I mumbled to myself. "I really suspect that I'm about to get a heart attack."
"Danya, isn't that the gothic goy that you said was cute?" There was a sudden whisper behind me. I turned slightly to see one of the cheerleaders looking at her friend eagerly. Said friend nodded before replying in an equally soft voice, "He talked to himself! Did you see that just now? He was talking to himself! It's just plain weird…"
I acknowledged their discussion with a roll of my eyes as they proceeded to go on discussing my apparent insanity. Fortunately, Leila was soon announcing the next performance, which was coincidentally them. Without even bothering to look, and judging by the cheers and whoops of the male population, the dance group formed by some of the cheerleaders was probably performing a set of booty-popping and chest-jutting moves.
I sank into a chair wearily. This wasn't going as well as I thought it would. In fact, I just wished that the whole concert would be cancelled and jump straight to the dancing part. This way, I could slip out and leave, seeking comfort in the dark of the night. Sadly, it wasn't about to happen. Have I mentioned that when I'm feeling upset, time flies extremely, impossibly, horribly fast?
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, after all those wonderful performances put up by our fellow students, here is Mason Gray to round up the concert tonight with his rendition of 'Desperado' by The Eagles!" Raylin was chirping gaily into the mike. There was polite applause. Clearly, not many people knew of 'Mason Gray'. Cradling my guitar in my hands, I stepped out onto the bare, polished floor of the stage.
It was probably my nerves, but it seemed
to me as though all the spotlights in the world were shining straight at me. I dragged my feet to the stool and mike set up at the centre of the stage for me. There were gasps of recognition as hushed discussion broke out and messages were conveyed from one gaping student to another horrified one. Leaning towards the mike, I cleared my throat and greeted them.
"Good evening… I'm Mason Gray, or as I'm usually known as, Viper. As Raylin has… uh… mentioned, I'll be ah… performing the song 'Desperado' by The Eagles. Erm… before I start, I just want to explain that this song is… very… um… importa- no, significant to me, because… my mother. That is, she used to… oh, what the hell. My father proposed to her singing this song, okay? So here it is." I looked away from the sea of faces, where there were already a few girls giving the 'awww' look. Adjusting the second mike lower to my guitar's level, I strummed the first chords.
"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses…" My eyes fluttered close and I let my fingers find their own way across the strings. My heart wrenched as I thought about my mother again. If you really loved me, mom, why did you leave me? Your mother would be proud of you. Did she even love me then? You know she did. Then why did she leave?
"You better let somebody love you, before it's too… late…" I released my breath in a slow hiss, squinting my eyes against the unfamiliar glare of the lights. "Thank you."
The audience was silent as I got off the stool and began walking towards the curtains. There was a single resounding clap and all of a sudden, the hall erupted into applause. Tilting my head to look at them, I was startled to see everyone standing and clapping wildly. Even the principal, who was the guest of honor, looked suitably impressed. She caught my eye and gestured for me to meet her the foot of the steps. Steering away from the curtains, I descended the steps where she was smiling widely. What made me all the more surprised was that there were tears shining in her eyes.
I lifted a hand to touch my own face, and realized that I too, had been crying. I groaned inwardly – had I cried in front of the audience on stage? Madam Pince laughed at my devastated expression before commenting on my performance.
"You have a beautiful voice, Mason. You should sing more often in our school concerts! It was refreshing to hear something mellow and sweet as compared to the more…" She paused, a disgusted look flitting quickly across her face. "As compared to the more upbeat and energetic performances that people like us older ones are unable to stomach." I stifled a laugh and maintained my blank expression, nodding at her comment. Just then, Mrs. Morris came bustling up, her expression was one of pure ecstasy. Her eyes zeroed in on me, and she flung her arms open, taking dangerously huge steps closer to me.
Before she could pull me into a potential hug though, Madam Pince (I never thought I would say this, but I will be eternally grateful to her) stopped her. Instead, she settled for exclaiming exuberantly, "Oh I was so right about you bringing the house down! My goodness, boy, how did you ever learn to sing like that? When I heard you in the music room, it wasn't even that good! Your voice is so beautifully husky, have I told you that? Yes? Well I'm going to make sure that you perform in every single concert from now on and that's a promise!"
I opened my mouth to protest, but she was already leaving to harass someone else. What else can I say?
RAYLIN
Viper's cheeks were shining with tears under the four spotlights concentrated on him. He held the last note for a couple more beats before ending the song. Silence fell over the whole gym, and I found myself quite teary as well. The only contrast was that I can control my tear ducts better. It then occurred to me that the audience was still staring slack-jawed at the unexpected performer on stage. I gave one single clap and then everybody exploded… into frantic cheers and applause.
I have to be honest with you.
That was simply brilliant.
I never knew he could sing, much less know that his voice was so breathtakingly beautiful. In fact, the after effects of his performance were so strong that I could barely deliver the ending lines to end off the concert. The curtains on the stage were drawn tightly shut as the public affairs crew pressed the play button on the stereos. All at once, music blasted overhead and the staff hired immediately set to work stacking up the chairs. Standing at the edge of the stage, I directed the crowd to the long tables lined at the sides of the gym laden with food.
Alan was right, the caterer he introduced produced food that smelled simply wondrous. Besides, the punch was laid out on disposable table-covers in huge crystal-like plastic bowls that would not only not break, but also reduce the mess that would surely be made later. Joining Belinda, Calista and Sierra who were waiting for us at the foot of the stage, we strolled over to the punch table. The staff worked fast, and three-quarters of the dance floor was already cleared of all the chairs.
"I never knew Viper could sing so well," Sierra piped up casually, fingering a lock of her dark hair. "Then again, he doesn't look like the type to be interested in performing arts. Does he?"
"No, not at all!" Calista exclaimed, glancing at me out of the corners of her eyes.
I'm not sure if she meant for Belinda to see her obvious glance in my direction, but Belinda soon joined in. Slipping an arm through Leila's, she put on a thoughtful look and added, "Still, seeing as he lived at someone's house for a period of time, that someone must at least know that he plays the guitar."
Leila was snickering softly to herself, a smirk darkening her perfect features, making her look insanely evil. Right, I'm exaggerating, if you cannot already tell. No matter what expression she twists her impossibly flexible face into, she still looks gorgeous. I threw her a dirty look followed by a pleading one for some assistance. Oh she helped alright, it was just a matter of whose side she was on.
"Hey someone," Leila gave me a hard nudge, nearly sending me flying straight into someone. "Say something, why don't you?"
"Call yourself my best friend, why don't you?" I replied sarcastically before turning away from the giggling… other friends. Belinda spotted her beloved Jake and practically rocketed across the floor to lunge at the long suffering guy. Well, not all that long suffering after all. He was returning her enthusiastic hug with a rather enthusiastic kiss of his own without much consideration as to who their audience were. Fine, I'll talk in English. They were snogging right in front of our dear principal, who, as expected turned a blind eye to the ongoing make-out session before her.
I did mention that Belinda is one of the greatest teacher's pet that has ever walked this earth did I not? Some students had already left the buffet table and moved on to the dance floor which was by now, cleared of all chairs. The lights went off only to be replaced by a huge disco ball revolving at the centre of the ceiling. Before you wonder how a disco ball ended up in our school's gym, let me explain. Our principal certainly understands the feelings of a teenager, and so had purchased this disco ball out of her own pocket to be used on special occasions. I love that woman, I really do.
Sierra was whisked away by a tall, brooding Goth. Although she tried not to show it, her face was lit up with undeniable joy. Leila gave Calista and I a meaningful glance and we watched them moving into the dancing crowd. Laughing, I strolled over to the buffet table and picked out a few pastries. An arm encircled around my waist as a familiar voice whispered into my ear, "You look absolutely beautiful tonight." I raised an eyebrow coolly at the insinuating way Trent moved his hands over my waist. Stepping back, I trod on his foot as hard as I could. He groaned, stumbling backwards in pain.
"Sorry, Trent," I gave him my sweetest smile and walked back to where Leila and Calista were laughing their heads off. Calista nudged Leila and they composed themselves, resuming the standard icy expressions on their faces as I approached. Did they really think I couldn't see what they did? I held out the plate with the colorful pastries to them, watching them grab the pretty confections eagerly in amusement.
"Mmmphft! Mmmh ffftp hmpth!" Calista exclaimed through a mouthful of crumbly apple
tart. Seeing our skeptical looks sent in her direction, she rolled her eyes, downing another cup of punch before repeating, "I said, Raylin! These are great!"
"Ah, that does make more sense," Leila said in a placating tone, breaking off yet another piece of cake and popping it into her mouth. "This triple layered chocolate cake is pretty heavenly too." I nodded my agreement, taking another nibble off the slice of cake I had in my hand.
"Raylin, sweetheart," Madam Pince appeared at my side suddenly. "The teachers are going to leave now. I'm sure that things will be under control with you girls in charge, won't they?" I gave her a reassuring smile and accompanied the teachers to the doors, each with a plate of food clutched in their hands. So they were unable to resist the temptations too, it seems.
VIPER
It was a bad idea to perform. I should have disagreed with Mrs. Morris right from the start. I should have bantered with Raylin the Ice Queen to get me off the schedule. I should have fallen sick today. I should have pretended that Melvin was lost and I was busy looking for him. I should have done all that and then maybe I wouldn't have had to cry on stage. Then again, it's all over isn't it? There's seriously no reason in regretting my actions when time can never turn back.
I took a deep breath and composed myself, taking another sip out of the cup in my hand. I leaned against the wall wearily. The students liked my performance. Was that supposed to be good? I think I just propelled myself to the top of the most important discussion topics tomorrow. Some of the performers had tried to waylay me on my way to the dance floor. Fortunately, the guy I punched on the nose a long time ago walked straight into our path and I managed to escape.
I still don't like the look of his face but he was a good human shield, considering the fact that he was extremely irate, his flaring nostrils reminding me strongly of a bull. He was looking for that slutty girlfriend of his, or so I heard from him angered shout of 'Felicity!'. I made my way to the punch table to fill a cup with the orangey red liquid. Thinking that by going into the darkest corner of the gym would be a good method to hide from the performers trying to talk to me, I carried the cup and my guitar over to stare moodily at the wall.
