Chapter One
Cousins
Karen sat in the middle of the room, waiting for practice to begin. Thinking. This shouldn't be hard. Her cousin was coming into town today. With a few friends. She hadn't told Derek yet. "Hey, Karen, I need you." He called. She rose to her feet and headed to the piano.
"Sing 'National Pastime' for me, please." Derek requested.
She sang the song, with as much energy as she could muster. She was up late last night, when Derek begged for her go to bed. Karen sighed. "Am I interrupting something?" a male asked. Karen squealed with delight, as she ran towards him. "Nate!" She shouted. She hugged him tightly.
I could feel the thousands of eyes pour on my back.
"I thought you were coming down at two!" Karen said. He smiled. "Change of plans." He said. She looked at the group. "Guys, this is my cousin…Nate Ford, Nate Ford this is the cast of 'Bombshell'."Karen said. Nate smiled.
"Nice to meet you all." Nate replied.
"Would you like to see a number?" Tom asked.
Nate smiled. "Of course, I want to see my little cousin in action." Nate said. Nate took a seat next to Derek and Tom. Karen stood in the middle of the room. "I wanna hear 'Don't Forget Me' and run Wolf." Derek replied.
Karen took a deep breath. Nervous. Her cousin was literally inches away from her. She took another deep breath, before Derek told the piano man to play. "They thought they could dispose of me, they tried to make me small, I suffered each indignity, but now rise above it all, it's the price I pay, was all I had, but at least I've found release..and if something good can from bad, the past can rest in peace…" Karen sang softly.
Loud applause greeted her after her performance. "Wolf, please!" Derek then shouted.
They got into their places for Wolf, and Karen came out on cue.
"Here's a lesson they should teach in school, where the girl's get curvy and the boys all drool. If math and science, just ain't your style, just give that teacher a wink and a smile! For a passing grade, you won't have to wait, and you can thank him later when you graduate, Cause…"
Karen sang that with energy, trying to do the best she can.
And after this song, she received the same amount of applause. "Rehearsal's over for today." Derek called. Karen went across the room to grab her things before returning to Nate.
"Hey, do you want to grab something to eat?" She asked Nate.
"Sure." Nate said. "Karen, may I have a word?" Derek asked, from the other side of the room.
Nate smiled. "I'll wait outside." He said. She nodded, and went over to Derek.
They had been dating for three weeks now, but they still had a lot to learn about each other.
"I didn't know you had a cousin." He said. Karen blushed. "Well, we aren't that close anymore." She answered.
"What do you mean not anymore?" Derek asked.
"Well, when were six, his father moved his family to Boston, now that I live in New York, I could've visited him…but I was too busy." She answered.
"We were in Boston for a week, why didn't he come to any of the shows?" He asked.
"Because he has work, too." Karen said. "Oh, you're welcome to come to lunch with us." She said, with a smile. Derek smiled ,and gave her a kiss.
"I'd love to." He whispered.
All three of them left for lunch.