Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, JP does. I do not own any of the songs Max 'supposedly' writes- other bands do. I'll let you know which.
Claimer: I own Saviors of the World, T-bone, Black Hole, Boom, Cheekie, Stain, and all the other band/crew members. And Max's stage name Lazuli- (lapis lazuli is a gem stone)
Sorry, Max is telekinetic not telepathic. I can't fix the words so now you know.
Chapter 2:
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! An alarm clock went off. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! Someone turn it off! Beep, beep, bee-. Thank you.
"Max, Max, get up! We have to get to Stain's and pick up the equipment." Who was that? Why am I shaking? Ew, something is breathing in my ear. "MAX!" it yelled.
"Agh!" I fell of my bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw Boom standing over me laughing. I stood up holding my head. "What's so funny?"
"You hit your head and fell off the bed. Now get dressed, we have to go get everything." She left the guest room so I could change.
Oh, right. Today was our concert introducing our new CD She Hates Me. (Song SHE HATES ME is originally by Puddle of Mudd.) I got dressed in a blue t-shirt and skinny jeans along with my flip-flops.
I went to the kitchen where Boom's mom- Speaker- was. We nickname all our friends and friends' parents. We call Boom's mom Speaker because she's a public speaker.
"Hi, sweets. How was your day?" She asked me. Yes, she called me sweets.
"Pretty good. Hey, Boom," I looked over at her stuffing her mouth full of scrambled eggs. They were hanging out of her mouth. "The Flock, Ella, and my mom are going to the concert."
Speaker and Boom stopped what they were doing. "Really?" They both asked. Speaker was ecstatic and Boom- I couldn't really tell. Her mouth was full and her words were muffled. "Chew and swallow, Stacey." Speaker said to her daughter.
She did then, she talked to me. "You finally told them?"
I shook my head. "No, Ella got tickets and they're going to find out tonight while we perform."
Later, while Boom and I were pulling into Stain's driveway…
"Okay, Lazuli. I really need to tell you something. You probably won't like it but- whatever."
I looked over at Boom. She had on an apologetic look. A look I've gotten a lot of.
My eyes widened. "No, no, no. Boom- they said I didn't!"
"Look, Lazuli. The clothes go with the album and so does the concert. You have to."
We got out of the car as I spoke next: "But my family will be there! Angel and Nudge will think I like wearing that, Iggy and Fang will never let me hear the end of it. Gazzy will say his eyes are burning and I'll be so embarrassed."
"Lazuli, they've seen all your other clothes. Why worry now?" We walked up to Stain's front door.
"Because now they'll know it's me!"
"When they find out it's you, they'll know you wore all those other clothes. So, what's the worst that can happen if you add one more outfit?"
Stain opened the door and- he actually looked clean. "Hey, come over to the garage."
We went over and he opened the garage. Inside, there were our guitars, drums, and our other equipment.
Boom rolled her head to look at me. I sighed. "Fine." She smiled. They all loved to see me move things.
I looked to my left and right. No one was looking. I waved my middle and forefinger from the gear to the car and the stuff literally flew over- ah, you got to love my powers. Once they were placed securely in the back, we took off to where the concert was being held.
It was around an hour away so we all had time to talk. "Hey, Lazuli, I hope you know that T-bone is going to start in the concert." Stain looked over at me.
I nodded. "Duh, Stain. I came up with the set-up. They'll do their songs and then we'll do the duet. Then, I'll do my songs."
"Hey, what song are you guys going to do to end the concert?" Boom looked over at me quickly before looking back at the road.
"Well," I've been thinking on this for a while. "I was thinking either Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolf or Raise Your Hands by Bon Jovi. I can't really decide."
"Why not do Let it Rock then Raise your hands? You can keep them happy with your dance and then send them home with your awesome guitar skills." Stain smiled at me.
"Alright! When we get there, we'll tell Toby when we get there." I sighed, content.
About twenty-five minutes later, we were there.
"Whoa…" Stain and Boom looked out the windshield with appreciation and amazement. I smiled.
The stage was in the middle of a giant field that is normally used for carnival events and stuff like that. It was extremely difficult to book. And I got it. The stage itself was humongous. There was room to run around, play instruments, dance- all at the same time. It was extremely expensive looking.
"Lazuli, how… how did you-." Boom cut herself off.
I shrugged. Then a great answer came to me. I studied my fingernails. "I know a guy…" They looked at me. I smiled and laughed. "The recording company paid. I just booked the place. C'mon. Let's go set up."
We got out of the car and went to unload. I pulled out my cell phone and called Black Hole. She answered on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Lazuli." I started pulling out small equipment and setting it on the ground.
"Hey, Lapis! Are you here?" Black Hole is the only one that calls me Lapis- that's the first part of my stage name, Lapis Lazuli.
"Yeah, we're unloading as we speak. Boom and Stain are here with me."
"Wait there. I'll come and help." The line went dead.
About five minutes later, Black Hole ran over, squealing.
"OMG! How did you book this place?"
"I just told them who was going to play and they said they'd let us." I said as I hugged Black Hole.
It took us forever to set everything up and get all the instruments tuned. By the time we got it all set, the entire crew and band was there. It was around 7 hours later when we set up, practiced and started getting ready. People started gathering while I was working on everyone's hair.
"Hey, Lazuli! Look at the crowd!" Boom yelled from the curtain.
"I know, I know! I saw!" I'm so excited. This is going to be the best concert ever!
T-bone ran over to the outfits and pulled his out. His was a Black shirt was a grey skull on it and baggy black pants with rips on the knee and a chain.
Once I was done with everyone's hair, they went to their outfits. They were all black. My hair was gelled and spiked at the ends to look somewhat punk. It covered my right eye. My make-up looked natural and my outfit- ugh! I hate it- mostly because my family will see it. My shirt was vest-like and was leather. It had a V-neck and leather straps on the front for style. My pants were tight leather that showed off how skinny I was- as did my shirt. And my shoes were black strap heels: three inches high. My microphone was a small headset. My pants were low cut and my birthmark showed. My top showed my belly-button. Over my vest/top thing, I had a white dress shirt on. When the time came, I would take that off to reveal the vest-y thing.
My hat was a black Fedora. It was sitting on the top of Scarlett's neck on stage by the speakers.
"Oh… my… gosh! L-Lazuli, your family's here!" Stain yelled over to me.
"Is that so?" I asked distractedly. Then, I realized what he said. "What?!" I ran over to the curtain. Sure enough, they were there in the front. They had their backstage passes around their necks. Angel, Nudge, and Ella were talking excitedly. Mom, Iggy, and Fang were looking happy and at peace. Fang was telling Iggy about the stage. Total was looking around, probably wishing he was allowed to talk. I strained my ears to hear their conversations.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. My super hearing became advanced as well. I could pick out conversations and listen to only those.
"I can't wait to see the band perform!" Angel said happily.
"OMG! I know, I mean- like- I'm just so excited! I can't believe Ella got tickets! Oh, I wonder how Max is backstage- she has got to be going GAGA over T-bone! He seems so hot! I can't wait to hear their new songs! I'm so-." That was obviously Nudge.
"Nudge, we need our hearing to hear the band's new songs. 'Kay? Just- keep it in your head." Fang. He's speaking more and more lately.
"Hey, Angel, can you hear Max's mind? How is she backstage?" asked Iggy.
"Um… She's listening in on our conversation." Angel answered.
They all laughed.
Hey, Angel. Having fun?
Yeah, Max. She thought back to me.
'Kay, I have to get back to work on Lazuli's hair and make-up, okay?
Mm-hmm! After that response, she told everyone what we thought to each other. Fang's excited to see what you did to her. He thinks you're bad at make-up and hair- he's so clueless. I could see that Angel was smirking.
"Hey, Fang," She turned her attention to him but she was also- apparently- talking to me. "You shouldn't criticize Max that way."
"Why?" He had no idea what I could do to him. "It's not like she'll know I said… Angel, please tell me you didn't."
Then I used me telekinesis to mess up his hair. It looked a little bit like a tumble weed. "She's laughing at you." Angel informed him. Then, they all laughed at him.
"TEN MINUTES! TEN MINUTES 'TILL Saviors of the World PERFORM!" came the loudspeaker- right by my ear.
"T-bone! Get your headset on!" I yelled at Toby, who was reading his book and eating chips.
He shook his head and looked at me. "Nope. I'm using the actual microphone." He stood up and went by the curtain where I was previously standing. "Whoa… That's a LOT of people."
We all did our warm ups and our warm up beat. Stain, Frenchy, Black Hole, and T-bone ran out on stage when the speakers screamed, "AND HERE THEY ARE: Saviors of the World!" I stayed backstage.
I had everything set. Solos in head to block Angel out: check. Microphone set: check. Clothes: check. Attitude: Oh, yeah. I always have that.
The band did all of Toby's songs: Spinning (1), Gotta Be Somebody (2), Light On (3), Better Than Me (4), Drift and Die (5), Rise Above This (6), Without You (7), Famous (8), Love Lockdown (9), Fake it (10), Blurry (11), and She Hates Me (12).
Then, they started the duet-Broken (13) - Toby and I were supposed to do. I got ready for my lines while Toby started:
Toby:
I wanted
you to know
That I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you
high
And steal your pain
Away
I'd keep your photograph
Cause I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and
steal your pain
Both:
Because
I'm broken
When I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right
When
you're gone away
People
started to cheer like crazy when they heard my voice- but I stayed
behind the curtains. When I start to sing by myself, that's when I
walk out. Everyone- and I mean everyone- was looking around eagerly
for Lapis Lazuli (me) - including my family. And yes, Fang was too.
Toby:
You've gone away
you don't feel me here
Anymore
I
started to walk out when it was my part. When people saw me, they
cheered even louder. My family looked over and their jaws dropped.
Lazuli:
The worst is over now
and we can breathe again
I wanna
hold you high
and steal my pain
both:
Away
Lazuli:
There's
so much left to learn
And none left to fight
I wanna hold you
high
And steal your pain
I
stood over by Toby- right next to him and faced the crowd.
Both:
Because I'm broken
When I'm open
And I don't feel like
I
am strong enough
Cause I'm broken
When I'm lonesome
And I
don't feel right
When your gone away
(Still
both):
Because I'm broken
When I'm open
And I don't feel like
I
am strong enough
Because I'm broken
When I'm lonesome
And
I don't feel right
when your gone away
Toby:
You've gone away
You don't feel me here
Anymore
Toby was breathing kind of hard because of all the songs he sang before.
"Hey, everybody! How's it going?" I said into the headset.
They cheered.
"That good, huh? Well, did you like all of T-bone's songs?" They cheered again. "Well, I'm flattered because I wrote ever single one of 'em. And I wrote mine as well. I got to tell you all," I started walking around the stage to keep their attention on me while Toby got off stage. "This… has got to be… the biggest crowd… we have ever had before. Give yourselves a round of applause because- I think T-bone forgot to say this- you're all going to be in our DVD of the concert and on LIVE TV! Look around you at all the cameras! They are shooting live across the nation!" Everyone freaked out and cheered more- including my family.
"Ready to hear what I have ready for you?" I asked and- once more- they cheered louder. "Alright then."
I went over to the piano and sat on the bench. I played all the songs that needed piano: Forgiven (14), Breathe No More (15), Lithium (16), Good Enough (17), and Farther Away (18). Then, I had to do three songs that needed me to dance in them. I got up from the bench and got started: Womanizer (19), Starstruck (20), and I'm Gone, I'm Going (21). There were two more of our new songs to go. So far, everyone loved them. And in between every song, I'd say a little something and answer a little question that has been asked on our website. The last songs I played guitar in. It was already dark out and we shut off the stage lights. I took off my white shirt to reveal my black, leather vest. I grabbed Scarlett (She was no longer wearing my hat. I put it on during my dance numbers and now it's resting on the piano). I walked over to the curtain leading to backstage and took off the headset. I got a microphone and its stand. It was wireless.
I brought it over to the front of the stage and set it down. I started with the first song: Call Me When You're Sober (22). The spotlight came on but it only showed my face. You couldn't see Scarlett or my body- My playing the guitar was supposed to surprise them and make them giddy. It was actually quiet. Everyone was waiting. The music started:
Don't
cry to me. Don't cry to me. Couldn't take the blame. Don't cry to me. You never call me when you're
sober. How
could I have burned paradise? So don't cry to me.
If you loved me,
You would be here with me.
You
want me,
Come find me.
Make up your mind.
My
guitar solo. They put all the lights up so people could see me and my
guitar.
Should I let you
fall?
Lose it all?
So maybe you can remember yourself.
Can't
keep believing,
We're only deceiving ourselves.
And I'm sick
of the lie,
And you're too late.
If
you loved me,
You would be here with me.
You want me,
Come
find me.
Make up your mind.
Sick
with shame.
Must be exhausting to lose your own game.
Selfishly
hated,
No wonder you're jaded.
You can't play the victim this
time,
And you're too late.
If you
loved me,
You would be here with me.
You want me,
Come
find me.
Make up your mind.
You only want it 'cause it's over,
It's over.
How could I - you were never
mine.
If you loved me,
You would be
here with me.
Don't lie to me,
Just get your things.
I've
made up your mind.
After that song I said, "You all like that?" They cheered and wolf-whistled. "Yeah, I know." I laughed. "These outfits we're all wearing… they're the outfits we're going to wear in the photo shoots for this album and, uh, for the music videos so you know what album it'll go with. So-." someone did a very loud wolf-whistle. I turned toward the curtain. "Hey, T-bone. Come on out here and take a picture- it'll last longer." I laughed into the microphone.
Hey came out. When he stood next to me, he yelled into the microphone, "Hey, everyone! Miss me?"
"Yeah, T-bone here will play guitar for you while I sing the last song; Weight of the World (23)." Everyone cheered at that. Toby reached for Scarlett. I pulled away. "Whoa- no one touches Scarlett. Use Calypso- your guitar." He sighed and went for his guitar. When he came back, Scarlett was in her stand and I had the microphone in my left hand; stand in right. We started in on the song. Throughout the song, Toby and I walked around the stage and I went down the side stairs and went to the crowd behind the rails. I ran past them all and high-fived their outstretched hands. Then, I ran back up to the stage. The song ended and I sighed into the microphone.
"Well, everyone. That's it for our concert with our new album's songs. Although our songs have been sung, Our ending song hasn't." I smiled big as everyone chanted 'Play it. play it, play it!' "We have a surprise for all of you here. Instead of singing one song by another artist, we're playing… two. We couldn't decide. Would you like to know them?" They cheered. "Are you sure?" More cheering and 'yes's' from my family. "Alright, the two songs are… Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolph and Raise Your Hands by Bon Jovi. The reason- the reason… I'm sorry; let me catch my breath, please." I laughed into the microphone. "Okay, I'm good." I chuckled a little after that. "Trust me, if you stood under blazing hot stage lights and had to dance, piano, guitar, and sing your guts out- you'd be tired too. Now, we chose those songs because with Let it Rock, we have an amazing dance routine that we all came up with. And with Raise Your Hands, There's an awesome solo I get to do. T-bone," I looked over at him as he took Calypso off from around him and handed him to a stage crew. "Take it away." I handed him the mic and the lights dimmed. All the dancers came out and formed into the shape of a pyramid. I was at the front. My hat was on and it covered my eyes. We all stood very still and waited for our cue to dance. The lights turned back to normal and I stepped forward.
"We're not starting just yet." Toby said to the crowd. He handed me the mic.
"That's right. We called in a last minute favor and got a special guest to come and sing the song with T-bone. I think you know who I'm talking about." I smiled. "Some are probably thinking 'oh my, gosh! Kevin Rudolph!' Well, no. You see, Rudolph had a guest singing with him in that song and… ladies and gents, here he is… Mr. Lil Wayne!"
Lil Wayne ran out from backstage with his own mic. He spoke into it. "Hey, everyone! I'm so glad to be here! They filled me in on the dance and- man! - you all are going to love it! I get a part in it too!" He shook Toby's hand and gave me a hug. "Why don't you join the rest of the dancers, Lazuli? And I will stand right," he moved three steps over to the right. "here." People in the crowd laughed and cheered. I ran over to the front of the dancers again and took my position. I'm not going to explain the dance because it's too hard to. I will say that it was fun and that I got to break dance.
After that song, Lil Wayne said goodbye and ran backstage once more. I grabbed Scarlett and took my position in front of another mic stand. Don't worry; there was a mic there with it. Raise Your Hands began and soon came my solo. I have to say it, I rocked! And people did as the song was called; Raised their hands. After that we said goodnight and went backstage.
We all collapsed onto the chairs and couches. About twenty minutes later, my family came in. They were all hyped up and jittery.
Okay, so I #d all the songs. This shows that I do NOT own them. Here all the songs' real creators:
1. Jack's Mannequin
2. Nickelback
3. David Cook
4. Hinder
5. Puddle of Mudd
6. Seether
7. Hinder
8. Puddle of Mudd
9. Kanye West
10. Seether
11. Puddle of Mudd
12. Puddle of Mudd
13. Seether ft. Amy Lee
14. Within Temptation
15. Evanescence
16. Evanescence
17. Evanescence
18. Evanescence
19. Britney Spears
20. Lady GaGa
21. Lesley Roy
22. Evanescence
23. Evanescence
Just so everyone's happy. Like I said, I don't own those songs. Max just 'writes' them. I'm not stealing just using the songs. They come up later, I promise- I think.
Please, review. give suggestions. I got stuck. Like it? Hate it? let me know, please!
~Amy-Katherine914