?WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL?
?EPISODE 53?
He took over the role of lead guitarist. He would be playing the guitar with me. It was great because I knew him and I felt more comfortable. “She is one of you.”
The crowd applauded once again.
“Give it up for… Alice!”
The crowd clapped and whistled.
I felt Chaise give me a gentle push towards the stage.
“Break them, babe!” he said.
When I stepped into the stage, the crowd stopped clapping. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I heard some people say ‘What the fk?’ but I also heard some say, ‘Wow!’
I stood in front of the microphone, and strummed the
strings of my guitar, making sure they were in tune. Dominic
also played some notes to cover up for the crowd’s shocked
silence.
Then finally, Dominic gave me a nod, signaling me to
start playing.
Before I strummed my first note, I said in my mind, I
hope you’re out there, Hunter Vaughn! I hope you listen
hard. See how much I can challenge your guitar prowess
now!
And then I played the intro to Sweet Child O’Mine.
Shortly after, Dominic played his part. We looked at each
other and he gave me a nod of approval as I walked towards
the microphone and started singing, “She’s got a smile and
seems to me…”
Hunter Vaughn had been ignoring me far too long now.
He would recognize the song that he taught me to play
every day at the center. He should definitely remember my
voice.
After this, he could no longer say that he didn’t
remember me. I was done being shoved at the back of his
memories!
I played the guitar solo too. It used to be difficult for me,
but right now, I played it flawlessly. After the solo, I could hear the crowd cheering already.
When we finished the song, the applause was deafening. Dominic himself was clapping for me.
“Amazing!” he shouted at me.
The audience was shouting, “More!”
I stared at Dominic, waiting for his cue.
“To all you, lovers, out there!” Dominic said to the
crowd. “You are welcome to dance to this.”
I strummed a more mellow tune. Then I sang, “Dancing
in the dark, middle of the night…”
It was a very romantic song, and I had to concentrate on
playing and singing because if I didn’t, I would cry.
The crowd was singing along, and many couples were
actually dancing.
I remembered the time that Hunter told me, “I swear,
someday, you will play and sing in front of a crowd and you
will wow every single one of them… I may not be able to see
you, but I sure would hear you.”
If he could hear me now, I wonder what he would be
thinking.
Before I strummed my final note, Chaise walked up the
stage beside me and gave me a long-stemmed rose.
People were clapping and cheering.
The applause was
deafening. I could hardly believe these were the same kids who were making fun of me on regular days.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Allison Harley!” Dominic said.
I pushed the guitar towards my back and gave a curtsy
and then Chaise took my hand and guided me back to the
backstage.
“Oh my God!” I screamed. “I can’t believe I pulled that
off!”
Chaise pulled me to him and gave me a hug. “You were
amazing! Your voice didn’t buckle at all. You weren’t
nervous. You were truly in your element! I’m so proud.”
“Thank you! I couldn’t have done that without you and
Denise! Thank you for making me do that!”
“I’ll bet these people didn’t see that coming.” He
laughed.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t do it for them. I did it for me.”
And for Hunter.
We enjoyed the rest of the show backstage. When it
finished, Denise went up to us.
“Alice, you were amazing!” She hugged me. “People
were raving about you!”
“She was really great, wasn’t she?” Chaise said. “I hope
Chelsea and her band of brainless bandits got to hear her tonight.”
“Oh, they did! So did a bunch of all the other people
who were mean to you,” Denise smiled proudly. Then she
looked over at Chaise. “And you better watch out.
A lot of the guys from Jacksonville were asking about her already.”
“Wait, are you serious?”
Denise sneered at him. “It would be nice to have
somebody new tailing her for a change!”
“Ha-ha! You’re very funny!” Chaise gave her a sarcastic
smile.
Denise turned to me. “Who taught you how to play that
song? Your stepfather?”
I shook my head, remembering Hunter once again. I
gave her a bitter smile and shook my head. “Not my
stepfather. But someone else who… was once very dear to
me.”
I knew Denise didn’t miss the sad tone in my voice. Her
eyes drifted to my necklace. “H?”
I didn’t answer.
“So, the bugger knows how to play too, huh,” Chaise
muttered under his breath.
I just shrugged and decided to change the subject. “I’m
all done here. Why don’t we all go?”
“I was planning to grab something to eat after this. You haven’t had anything to eat yet,” Chaise said.
“Great. I’m starving too!” Denise agreed.
Chaise groaned. “Seriously, you have to come again?”
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