Chapter 1- May 2007
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I had woken up to the sound of me' alarm clock going off and reach me' hand out weakly as I hit the snooze button on the clock and slowly got up. I rummaged through me' drawers pulling out me' school uniform. Since it was May and long after Easter, I no longer had to wear me' formal school outfit. I slid on me' black trousers, me' charcoal grey & white strip short sleeve open neck shirt. I also put on me' sleeveless black jumper which of course had me' school badge on it. I grabbed me' my school blazer out of the closet and looked at meself in mirror. Me dark brown hair was a little bit messy, but I didn't really care. I was too tired to fix it. I grabbed my bag from the floor and slowly swing it over my shoulder walking slowly down the stairs.
"Why do I have to take him later?" I heard a voice say while I continued to walk quietly down the stairs. I recognized it as me' nineteen year older sister, Gemma who was attending college in Belfast. I heard a moan as she continued to argue with second voice who I recognized as me' mam's.
"Because he has his first day of rehearsal in Dublin and your father and I can't take him." I heard me' mam respond as I got off the steps and walked closer to the kitchen. I slowly stepped in and looked at me' sister and my mam as I walked to get a piece of bread to make toast. "Hey Damian," I heard me' mam say with a smile on her face. "Are you excited for your first day of rehearsal?"
I stopped dead in me' tracks as I heard the word. What did she mean? "W…What are you talking about?" I asked me' mam a few moments, as I placed me' piece of bread in the toaster.
Me mam looked at me for a moment before grinnin' at me. "Ye' first day of rehearsal with Celtic Thunder," She had said watchin' me closely. "Did ye' forget?"
I shook me' head and looked at me' mam and sister. How did I forget something this important? It only happened a few months ago after I won a singer competition last year. After winning the competition, I made a CD that was recorded for charity. Someone, somewhere passed the CD along the Producer Sharon Browne and boom, here we are now. I gave me mam a soft smile. "Of course I didn't forget." I said as I took me' now toasted bread out of the toaster and started butterin' it.
Me mam and sister just looked at me for a moment. "I'm picking ye' up from school at after lunch, so please be in the office straight after lunch." Gemma said after a few moments of silence. I hated when my sister was taking me places. "I asked mam if ye' could take the train." My sister told me.
"Of course, he can't!" Me' mam said with a stern voice. "He's only fourteen!" She looked at me' sister and I with a very stern look on her face. "You better take him to Dublin and not to the train station." She said and looked at me.
I looked at me mam. "Mam, I'm old enough to take the train by meself." I said rolling me' eyes and looked at me' sister. Me' mom was over protective me as I was the youngest of her children. Yes I was fourteen, but my short, athletic structure, me' baby face, and me' braces made me look like I was much younger. "Anyway, I should probably get to school." I said as I finished me toasted. Me' mam gave me a soft hug before letting go of me. I straightened my school uniform as I walked out the front door of me' house and towards the direction of the school which was only a few block a way.
As I got into the school, me' mind was focused on other things. I needed to find a way to balance school, being a member of Celtic Thunder, and being a normal fourteen year old. Me' mind was pulled back into reality when I felt meself bump into someone. I looked up and saw the principal of the school look down at me. "S…sorry," I heard myself say.
The principal looked at me with a soft smile. "Watch where ye' goin', Mr. McGinty." He said with his strong Irish accent. I looked at him noddin' me' head and watched him as he walked away. I wondered how he knew who I was. In all the years, I have never once been in trouble. I stood there for a moment, deep in thought when the bell rung out to signify that class was about to start. It pulled me back to reality as I walked to me' classroom with the rest of me' schoolmates.
The day seemed to move slowly. I wasn't sure if it was because I was just nervous about what the day had to offer or because it was the fact that I had to spend over three hours in the car with Gemma. Both thoughts scared the hell out of me. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bell to signify lunch rang. I got out of me' seat and walked towards the outdoor cafeteria area. I sat down at the furthest table from the door and took out me' sandwich. I watched as me' fellow schoolmates walked around with each other or kicked a football around. I sighed to meself as everyone was having a grand old time. After I finished me' sandwich, I walked back inside the building and towards the office. Sitting there in one of the chairs was, Gemma. I was shocked that she actually showed up. A part of me thought that she was going to force me to take the train. "Ye' ready to go, squirt?" She asked as she heard me walk in.
I rolled me' eyes and looked at her. "I told you to stop calling me, squirt!" I yelled at her while we walked out of the office and out into the parking lot. She only called me squirt because she knew I hated the name and she knew it drove me insane. We got to her 2018 Red Toyota Corolla and got into the front seat of the car. She looked at me as I did, but didn't say a word. She got into the driver's seat and she started to drive.
As she drove, I just stared at everything that passed by wondering why. Why I was the outcast at my school? Why couldn't I make friends easily? But more importantly, why was I given this opportunity that I honestly knew nothing about. Finally, after three hours and twenty two minutes of complete silence, we arrived in front of the studio where we were going to be rehearsing. I thanked Gemma and got out of the car. I took a deep breath and just stood in front of the entrance, thinking, not wanting to go in, and wishin' I could just run.
"Damian?" An unfamiliar voice said, pulling me from my thought. I looked up to see a face starin' at me. "I'm Sharon Browne." The voice said. I guess I was just staring at the person since just had to introduce herself.
I snapped back to reality again. "Oh…um…hi," I said and looked at the woman who had now held out her hand. I took her hand and shook it. "I'm Damian McGinty." I said and took me' hand away from hers. I nervously looked at her as she gestured for me to follow. We walked into the studio and standing around the piano was a group of three guys. "Lads," Sharon said looking from me to them. "This is Damian McGinty."
"Hello young man." The first guy said as he turned around and walked up to us. I gave the guy a friendly smile trying not to be nervous. "I'm George Donaldson." He said looking at me. He had brown eyes and a big smile on his face. He held out his hand for me to shake.
"Hello, George." I said with a soft smile. He stood about six foot, two inches tall and looked really intimidating. I slowly lifted me' hand to shake his large hand. "It's a pleasure to meet ye'." I said looking around the room. My heart was still pounding in my chest.
"Likewise," George said with a smile as two another people turned around and walked over to where Sharon, George, and I were standin'. The first man had spiked up brownish blonde hair and blue eyes. The second had blue eyes and dark brown hair. "Damian, this is Paul Byrom." He said pointing to the man with spiked up hair. "And this is Ryan Kelly." He said pointing to the other one.
"Pleasure to meet ye'." Ryan said with his soft voice and held out his hand. I smiled and shook Ryan's hand. "It's a pressure to meet ye' too." He stood about five foot, ten inches tall, so someone again was towering over me. I thought to meself about how someone my height was going to fit in with all these lads who were all taller than I was.
Paul and George walked over to me and Ryan. "How are ye' doin, Damian?" Paul asked with a smile. I smiled back and thought of an answer. I really wasn't sure how I was doing in all honesty. I had all these emotions. I was scared, nervous, and doubtful all at the same time. I guess my look on my face said it all because he put his arm around my shoulder and said. "There is no need to be nervous, we are a bunch of nice, lads."
I was about to respond when I heard the door open and I turned my head to see a blonde haired guy walk in. My jaw dropped as I saw him make his way around the room. This young man had a surfer look to him. The way his hair was cut in a way where it wasn't short, but it wasn't super long. "Who's that?" I asked looking at Paul.
"That is Keith Harkin." George said in his Scottish accent. "Hey Keith," He said trying to get his attention. Keith looked at George and walked over to where we were all standing. "This is Damian McGinty," George said looking at me and then back at Keith.
Keith held out his hand and smiled softly at me. "Pleasure to meet ye', Damo" Keith said. I thought for a moment. Keith had given me a nickname that none of the other lads thought of. "It's a pleasure to meet ye' too, Keith." I said with a smile and shook his hand. His hands were soft to the touch which surprised me.
"Let's get to rehearsing." Sharon said a few minutes after we all started getting to know each other. We gathered around the piano as Sharon walked up to us. Sharon handed us all piece of paper with the songs that we would be singing. I looked at paper and smiled softly. I would be doing solos on four different songs. The first one I was going to was 'Come by the Hills' which is a Traditional Scottish folk song. The nest song I was singing was called 'A Bird without Wings' which is a song I actually never heard of before. The third song was called 'Puppy Love' which was a song sung by Paul Anka, and the last song I would be singing was called 'Young Love' which I heard of and was out of my vocal range so I don't know how I was going to be preforming that.
After a few minutes, Sharon finally spoke and I looked up and her. "George, you will be singing back up for Damian on 'A Bird without Wings.' George and I nodded in agreement. I continued to listen to Sharon as she spoke. "If you aren't in vocal training, you are in choreography." She said with a smile and looked at me. "Damian, if you aren't in either, you need to work on your schoolwork." She said and I gave her a thumb up as a way of agreeing with her. When Sharon finished talking, she took Keith and Paul to choreography while Ryan went to work on vocals, leaving George and I in the room alone. I grabbed my school bag and walked to a chair that was against the wall. I decided that I would start working on some of my homework that was due tomorrow. I decided to work on me' Geometry and Trigonometry homework. I took out me' textbook and notebook and started working on homework, even with George's help, I still didn't understand it. After I did that, I took out my French notebook and started prepping for my French test which I had tomorrow, first thing in the morning.
"Damian, George!" Sharon yelled from outside "We are going to work on group choreography!" She said as I put my French notebook back and followed George outside of the room we were in. "You look exhausted." George whispered as we followed Sharon into the dance studio. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at him. Truth was, I was exhausted, I've been up since seven in the morning and it was almost five thirty in the evening. Who knew how long rehearsal was going to last.
George and I got into the dance studio to see Ryan, Keith, and Paul all joking around with each other. "Can you lads stop joking around for two seconds?" Sharon asked them giving them a stern look. I slowly followed George into the dance studio. Everyone looked like they knew how to dance just by looking at them. I was the only one who didn't know how to dance.
We got our choreography for our opening number called 'Heartland.' The choreography wasn't that difficult, but I was still struggling to get it. Everyone seemed to get it except me, and I was starting to doubt meself. After what seemed about two hours, the rehearsal finally ended. Everyone walked back into the lodge area and Paul had is arm wrapped around me' shoulder like he was trying to comfort me. "Don't worry, Damo," He said looking at me while I grabbed my school bag. "You'll get the choreography soon enough." He said with a smile. "We are all here to help each other." I smiled as I waved bye to the lads. I got into my mam's car a immediately closed me' eyes.