Stunned, I ran into Lucky's old bed room for the first time since we moved into the house.
"What are you doing honey?" my mom asked, looking as if I had dug Lucky up from her grave.
"It was Tig on the phone. He wanted to know if I could hit a high C over middle E. Do you know what that is?" I asked, pointing towards Lucky's old piano. It felt almost surreal being surrounded by all of Lucky's old things that she kept at our summer house. It was almost as if she was never gone.
My mom walked over to the piano and put her finger over the keys. "It's this one." She told me, laying her finger over one key. "I'm going to go out and prepare your cake. Come out whenever you're ready to sing Happy Birthday."
I sang the notes that were lower first, working my way up in chronological order. I called Tig back right away.
"How did you do?" Tig asked me as soon as he picked up.
"I can hit it. I mean, it needs a little bit of work, but I can definitely hit it."
"Alright, well then you better work fast." He sounded excited.
"Why?" I asked.
"I need you to pick a song- any song- that contains that note in it. Then I need you to record yourself singing the song and Fed-Ex it out to this address by tomorrow morning." He told me as I wrote down the address he gave.
"Tig, the only thing I have to record on is my little sister's karaoke machine and cassette tapes." I thought that if a record company thought my demo was crappy before, my version of a "home studio" was going to be about twenty times worse.
He sighed. "It's better than nothing Wonder. Don't let those guys from In Touch Records get you down. None of their artists have had a platinum record in years." He comforted me. "Just do your best, and make sure the song you choose has that note in it."
I reluctantly sat through the birthday song and cake, all the while thinking about preparing that recording. With a smile plastered across my face, I tried to not look like I was rushing them out as Katie and Henry began to leave.
"Happy Birthday, Wonder. I hope it all works out with that soundtrack and all." Henry told me at the door.
"Thanks for coming." I practically closed the door in their faces.
After researching it on the internet, it turned out that a song by Whitney Houston called Run to You contained the sacred note Tig was so caught up on. Thankfully I already knew the song pretty well. Still, I spent hours recording the song over and over until it sounded just right. The next morning before school, my mom drove me to the post-office to Fed-Ex my recording as soon as possible.
Because it had been three months that I hadn't heard from Tig prior to this soundtrack business, I was not expecting him to hear back from him for a while. I bet you can imagine my surprise when I got home from school a day later and Tig was sitting in my living room.
"Wonder! I have amazing news!" Tig jumped up when he saw me. "We are going to L.A!" I swear my eyes must have popped out of my head.
"What? Why? When?" I couldn't control my questions.
"The record executives from Pop Life Records that are working with Disney on the soundtrack called me back earlier this morning. They invited you to go audition in person. They are flying us out tomorrow!"
"Just you and me?" I looked over at my mother, knowing that she wouldn't be excited about not going.
"Your mother and I have already arranged everything." He said following my gaze. "We won't be gone for long." Halleluiah. Escape.
Tig was right, we weren't gone long. Still, the time that we thought we were going to be there just kept increasing and increasing. On the first day there, all we did was get comfortable in our hotel suites and Tig took me out to dinner as a way of saying "Good luck, kiddo." On the second day, I met up with Matthew Wilder and David Zippel, the men who wrote and produced the song.
"You must be Wonder!" said Mr. Wilder when Tig and I met up with him in his studio. "I'm Matthew Wilder and this is my partner ."
"Hello. I'm Wonder Blake." I introduced myself politely.
"I would also like you to meet Mr. Ron Fair, he is an A&R guy over at Pop Life Records." He said as I shook Ron's hand. "I've got to say, Wonder, I am curious to see if you can really sing as well you did on this tape." I blushed.
"Do you mind if we try out the song?" asked .
"No, not at all." I agreed. Turns out the song was a ballad written for a new Disney animated film called Mulan. The song was called Reflection.
"Can you read music?" Mr. Wilder asked me.
"A little bit." I admitted.
"Okay, well just follow along with the piano and I'll help you if you get lost." He said as we sat down in front of his piano. I looked down at the music and followed along.
Look at me
You may think you see who I really am
But you'll never know me
Everyday it's as if I play a part
Now I see,
If I wear a mask I can fool the world
But I cannot fool myself
The song really was lovely. The men seemed to be enjoying my singing, but it wasn't until I got to the chorus that their jaws completely dropped.
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside
The two men looked at each other and then stopped me.
"Wonder," Matt Wilder put out his hand. "You have the part."
So our two day trip was extended another week to allow time for me to record the song and music video. "Normally," Tig said, "It doesn't happen this way."
"What do you mean?"
"People don't just put out their hand and say 'you've got the part', and they don't normally shoot the video the same week you're planned to record the song either." That much I figured.
"So why am I recording the video this week?" I asked him.
"The movie is practically done. They need to get this song out fast in order to start promotion. I wouldn't be surprised if it was released sometime this month."
I spent the next three days recording nonstop. Recording with Tig was fun and natural, probably because we weren't rushed. Recording with Matt Wilder and David Zippel was tough work and extremely tiring. On the fourth day of recording, I thought I finally had gotten off early enough to go to the hotel room and sleep, but Tig told me otherwise.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Ron Fair called me and organized a meeting."
"Who?"
"The man that was in the room with us when you auditioned for Reflection, he is the A&R guy at Pop Life Records." Tig explained. I vaguely remembered shaking another man's hand. All I knew was that if he was from Pop Life Records that meant he was important. It was no c-list place like In Touch Records; Pop Life Records was the real deal. It was the label Kayla was signed to.
"Does he want to sign me?" I asked.
"He didn't tell me anything. All I know is that he urgently wanted to meet with you."
Ron Fair was sitting at a table with an intimidating black man when I walked into the room. From Ron I got a firm handshake, and from the other man I got a "once –over" look. Neither of them bothered to introduce me to him.
"Not another one of these, Ron! Don't get me wrong, she is cute, but we have a million of those!" said the black man as if I wasn't there.
"I know, I know. Just give it a chance." Ron told him.
"How are you, Wonder?" Ron asked.
"I'm good, how are you?" I asked, trying to use my best manners.
"Oh, I'm good." He said half-heartedly as if he didn't really intend to make small-talk with me. "So sing for me." He said, putting me on the spot.
I was being stared at by all three people in the room. What am I supposed to sing? I wanted to ask. I snuck a glance at Tig and he almost made a nod. Taking a deep breath, I stood up. Putting my hand on the back of my chair, I began to sing my demo Obvious.
Can you hear it in my voice?
Was it something I let slip?
Does the whole world know?
Isn't it obvious…?
I'm the one who's in control
Now I'm acting like a fool
Do my feelings show?
Is my face a glow?
Isn't it obvious?
That I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious?
Not a bit nervous, I opened my eyes when I finished the song. Singing like that had been so peaceful, plus, I'm pretty sure I nailed it.
"God dayum," said the black man. " I ain't never seen anything like her before."
I wasn't surprised when Tig told me that people don't normally land a part on a big soundtrack and a record deal in one week. The rest of the week had been fairly boring compared to the newfound energy I had bubbling under my skin from getting my first record deal. Well, technically, Tig's lawyer and my mom had to go over everything before it became official.
Shooting the video for Reflection was not a huge production compared to the sets we used to do back on Beantown Kidz. Because the song was a ballad, there were no dance moves or back-up dancers. The whole video was me in some type of Chinese style building and outside by a pond. The reason for the Chinese background is because the movie Mulan was about a Chinese girl who pretends to be a boy so she can take her father's place in a war. I thought my short hair cut went really well with the theme of the plot since Mulan has to cut her hair short in order to pass as a boy.
When I got back to the hotel room from shooting the video, I received an e-mail from none other than Kayla herself.
Hey girl!
How to become a hot star in 5 easy steps:
Step 1- hair. For the Raven-haired like me, streaks of red, orange, or pink will do. For the mousy-haired like you, move on up, girl, to dirty blond shade with golden streaks. Tousle 'n' go, go, go.
Little did Kayla know, that I had already added highlights to my hair.
Step 2-Dialect Coach. Your name is Won-DUR, not Won-DAH. Regional accents are forbidden for teen movie stars, but acceptable in a singer only if the accent is subtle, and preferably Southern. If you are from Boston, you will have to work wicked hahd to unload the accent. Don't be a chowDAHhead. You prefer chowder, thank you very much.
That was no biggie. I already trained myself to only use my accent in private places.
Step 3-Diet. Expect rigorous dance and workout sessions, but don't expect those cal-burning sessions mean you can give into the chocolate monster. Your outfits should only be as skimpy as your meals. Skip the appetizer, desert is a no-no, and you can forget you even know the existence of pizza ("pizzer" to us Cambridge girls, hee hee). Learn to love your new best friends: grilled chicken and fish, salads drizzled with fat-free dressing. The occasional Coca-Cola is acceptable, for a boost.
Um, yeah right, I thought. I prefer Pepsi over Coca-Cola.
Step 4- Talent manager. Tig is that rare commodity: an ethical manager with killer instincts, who will protect your interests and instruct you in ensuring your financial future as if you were a corporation rather than a person. Don't ever expect to learn anything about him personally: he is all business and you are all product.
Step 5-School. If you are under 18 and maintaining a professional job as an entertainer, the law requires you to spend a certain amount of time in school, or with a tutor. Lucky for us, there's a nice little legal loop-hole called dropping out entirely. Go for a G.E.D if you want, but you are a professional person in the working world now, and nobody in the music business cares whether or not you have a high school diploma. Your time will be consumed in rehearsing, performing, appearances, hair, and make-up. Try to ignore the look of sadness on your dad's face when your mom signs the form. You have a high five-figure recording contract that could be worth millions if your album is a hit.
See you soon in NYC!
Love ya babe, Kayla