Chapter Nine

        Vivian does not seem to observe that Louis is on the bus at first until we enter the party. Usually she will find handsome men like him right away, but she was talking to me too intently to even notice that there is a beautiful man so near her.

        “Oh my gosh! He is so hot!” Vivian murmurs. I have no idea if she is talking to me or just talking to herself, but I still nod in respond.

        Louis lights a cigarette and walks toward us, Erik is with him.

        “I suppose you have finished your first song?” Louis smiles a evil smile, looking straight at me.

        “No,” I reply. Erik is now standing beside me and taking my hand, gently squeezing it.

        Louis smirks, “Alright then. I guess I will have to wait a little longer.” He turns around and looks at Vivian, pulling out his hand.

        “Vivian, this is Louis Tucker. Vivian Orden, Louis.” I say. Vivian nods, her eyes show her excitement, but I can tell she is trying to stay cool. Louis shakes her hand, and finishes his cigarette.

        “Nice to meet you.”

        After introducing the two, Erik suggests that we go find something to eat and drink. We both order Sprite, and he finds two chocolate bars in his pocket.

        We sit down at a quiet corner, as usual. We do not like to be disturb. When I look around the room I find Vivian talking to Louis, laughing at probably some not-so-funny joke his tells. Well, I cannot imagine people like Louis telling jokes anyways.

        “It was great, you know, this afternoon . . .” He says, his face turns red. It is rare to see a guy blushes, especially an adult. So I giggle. He looks at me and pets my head, making my hair messy.

        “Hey, you are so childish!” I blame him, pushing him a little but loose balance myself. He catches the chance and pulls me into his arms.

        “You lose,” he smiles, teasing me, “come on, let’s fix your hair.” He unwind the braid, combing my hair gently with his finger. He then starts braiding. His nose touches my neck on propose, itching my skin.

        “It itches.” I say.

He chuckles, “I know.” When he finishes the braid, he places his hand on my cheek and tells me, “I love your hair, it is so soft; I love you, you are so beautiful.”

This time I blush. No one has every called me beautiful . . . Well, if I ever have a father he probably would, but the truth is the opposite.

        I look away from him, my face is burning. That is when I see Vivian and Louis. Louis is trying to push Vivian onto the stage, even though Vivian seems happy, she still turns to me and shoots me a hopeless look.

        People start cheering, shouting for poor Vivian to sing. “Vivian, Vivian, Vivian, Vivian, Vivian!”

        I stand up. Without thinking, I walk straight to where Vivian is now standing. The only thing I am think right now is to help Vivian out. To be honest, Vivian is not bad at singing, but she is not a master, either. She does not have any performing experience, except the one in second grade, when she invited me to sing with her on the talent show. That one was fine, but I remember the song we sang was surely not stuff like “Vivo Per Lei”.

        “Can you please give me the microphone, V?” I ask, smiling a wick smile at Louis. Richard is standing near me.

        I almost jump onto the stage, and I almost also push Vivian down the stage. The piano is right in front of me. I sit down. I know exactly what it is going to happen. I start singing the first line of the new song I wrote not so long ago. It is sung like this . . .

 

        The birds were singing in the trees,

        I was sitting underneath,

        The solitude had submerged me,

        Trying to drown me . . .

        You had cut me so deeply,

        I couldn’t even breathe,

        When are you going to release me?

       

        The only thing,

        That I could do,

        Was sitting in front of,

        My one and,

        Only,

        The soul of me . . .

        The fingers go through all the keys,

        Creating harmony;

        The lovely n0tes had caressed me,

        And my heart that’s so lonely . . .

        Hmm . . .

 

        The song ends. I sigh in relief and am about to come down from the stage when the first whistle comes out. Then comes the claps. Then the cheers. More whistles, claps, and cheers, until the audiences start shouting and yelling for another song. That is when I start getting nervous.

        It is for sure that I was not thinking about being nervous when my only thought was to save my best friend from the disaster. When she is finally saved, it is time for me to worry about myself. That is why I get nervous. Yes, so now I have found the way. Do not think about me, do not think about how I feel but how other people will react to my music. What do I want to show the others? What kind of emotion and feelings do I expect them to have?

        “Bravo,” the voice is so easy to recognize. I see Richard clapping and smiling, “good job, Rae.”

        Vivian’s mouth is in the shape of “O”, and Erik is smiling a big, big smile. As for Louis Tucker Mister Artist, he is smiling (or smirking?) his usual evil smile (smirk), his eyes look at me directly, locking those beautiful eyes at me.

        I take a huge breath, bow, and hear more claps coming out like thunders.

        When everything starts to quiet down, I walk down the stage. Erik is by the stairs, waiting for me to come down. He then gives me a quick bear hug, turning rounds and rounds with me in his arms, until I feel dizzy and make him stop.

Reviews

[R J Askew]

I found the comment about not having a father very moving in a sad way.

Louis and V seem to deserve each other.

The beating of nerves is a marvellous moment. There is a lot in that advice about not thinking about one's self. It is just so true. We can do more for others often.
The little celebration at the end is a totally positive moment.

[Singer-Songwriter - Miya]

Thank you :-)
I just hope I can teach people something by my stories or the songs I write ^_^