-A Guitar and a Microphone (Part 2)-

"Sign for the name of your band and what song you'll be performing,"one of the judges instructed me. It was the day before the Band Fest. We were signing up to win 1,000 dollars and a free refill pass at the Frosty Mart. The pass could be used for a lifetime, an offer we couldn't refuse.

"Done!,"I smiled down at the paper. The woman smiled at me.

"You kids look a little young for this contest, but I know you'll do well,"she said to me. I blushed.

"Thank you,"I replied. I walked away from the desk with my friends behind me. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"That woman talked to us as though we were toddlers,"he complained. I nodded.

"Who cares really?,"I asked him,"Why don't we practice one last time. We could go to the park if you guys want." Everyone nodded in agreement. Once home, my father helped pack our instruments into his van and we drove to the park with the song playing in the car. Finally out, we set up our equipment to play. A few kids from our class gathered around to see what was going on.

"Whatcha guys doing?,"Yo asked. I smiled down at my microphone.

"Watch,"I told her. I counted off and we started playing. The kids cheered for us. Most of them broke out into arms swings and head nodding. I smiled at my friends again and they smiled back. When I looked out into the crowd, kids cheered me on. My mother snapped pictures of us performing. Then suddenly in the crowd, I saw someone I didn't want to see, Sigmund. When the song came to an end, he pushed his way to the front of the crowd, clapping loudly to catch our attention.

"Wunderbar,"he clapped,"Simply fantastic. May I ask, why are you doing this?" Kyle pushed me aside.

"Well, it just so happens that we've formed a band,"he said to him,"It's quite popular. We're planning to win 1,000 dollars at the Band Fest tomorrow evening." Sigmund raised an eyebrow.

"One thousand you say?,"he asked. We all nodded.

"That's right!,"Chum Chum giggled,"Are you gonna come watch us tomorrow Sigmund?" Sigmund smiled an evil smile at us.

"I'll do better than that,"he replied. He turned away from us. "See you at the Band Fest,"he laughed as he walked away. We all stared at each other.

"What was that about?,"Fanboy asked. I shrugged.

"No clue..."

The morning of the Band Fest, everyone met at my house in the clothing my mother had made for us. I applied gothic make-up to myself and as much as they all fought, I managed to get some eye-liner on the boys. It helped make them look waaay more tired than they really were and much more serious. Kyle actually looked okay with it too. He-he...

"Ready to jet kids?,"my mother asked. We had to get our instruments to the community center and be ready for rehersals. We all headed out and into the car. My father tugged out all our supplies and helped us set it up on stage. While on our way inside, we ran into Sigmund, who was leaving the center with a group of people I've never seen. They were all wearing the same thing, Sigmund regular outfit except for one girl who wore a skirt instead of pants.

"Hallo,"Sigmund greeted. We stared at him with confused looks.

"What were you doing in there?,"I asked him,"The show isn't until later." His group broke out in laughter.

"Oops,"he giggled,"I forgot to tell you, my group and I will be performing a song tonight also." We all gasped.

"WHAT?,"Kyle shouted. Sigmund nodded. He looked at our outfits and covered his face to supress his laughter, although his group laughed for him.

"Yes, best of luck to you tonight,"he said to us before walking off. I turned to my group, who looked less confident than before.

"DON'T WORRY GUYS!,"I shouted,"WE CAN DO THIS! WE'RE GONNA WIN!" We cheered again and ran into the center, taking the stage. Quickly, my mother took a few cool pictures of us before we started. I know we can do this, we're a GREAT team!

"And that was Duke and the Skater-dudes!,"the announcer called out. That performance received little applause from the audience. I looked behind the curtain that seperated the stage from the crowd. I saw alot of the kids from the park had come to watch us perform our cover song again. I smiled and turned to my friends.

"Did you see how many kids came to watch us play again?,"I asked. They nodded, smiles coming to their faces.

"Yeah, Yo told them we were gonna perform,"Chum Chum told me,"She says I look extremly cute on the drums." He shook as the thought of Yo came to his head. We all laughed and waited for our band to be called.

"Okay guys!,"the announcer called,"Next up, we've got a group called Dazzled! Give it up for them!" The crowed cheered as I heard what sounded like our song, only in a different language. When I recognized them guitar notes, I nearly wet my leggings. At the same time, the members of my band and I all stared at each other, daring to ask.

"Is-is that, our song?,"Kyle asked. Fanboy gasped.

"IT IS! I KNOW THOSE NOTES!,"he shreaked. My eyes grew and a look of pure sadness was plastered on my face. The band turned to me for a solution.

"What are we gonna do Rima?,"Chum Chum whimpered. I held back the tears forming in my eyes.

"I-I don't know,"I replied. I couldn't hold it anymore. Kyle squeezed me in a hug as I cried.

"Stop love, don't weep,"he said gently to me. But how could I stop? We worked soo hard on that song. Soo hard. I couldn't believe Sigmund would do this to us. I looked up at my band.

"W-we can do this,"I mumbled,"We CAN STILL DO THIS! OUR WAY!" My band members cheered at my inspirational vent. When Sigmund's song ended, him and his band walked up to us back stage.

"Like what you heard?,"he asked. We didn't answer. They walked away, laughing at their dirty deed. I looked back at them and set a serious expression on my face.

"YOU'LL EAT OUR DUST IN SECOND PLACE SIGMUND!,"I screamed with all my might. When our band name was called, Galaxy Magic, we stood on stage. Kids stared at us in confusion about what we were about to sing. I looked back at them.

"Ready guys?,"I asked them. They took deep breaths and nodded. I counted us off for the last time and we played our fingers off. My singing sounded much better this time as the sadness and rage kicked in. Kids jammed in the crowd and cheered for us, just as they had in the park. I smiled at my friends, letting my fingers and my voice express how I felt at the moment. Your doing it Rima! Your making music, just the way you wanted.

When the song ended, I lifted my guitar in the air with both arms. It sparkled in the dim lighting and casted a pretty light in the crowd.

"THANK YOU!,"I said into the mic as they all cheered for me and my band. We stood on stage with the other bands that performed and waited for the judges to come to a conclusion. Sigmund's group stared at us with cockey smiles on their faces. The girl who sang for their group stared intensely at me.

"Verlierer,"she said to me. I looked away from her and held on tightly to my guitar and Kyle's hand. Ignore her Rima...

"OKAY GUYS! WE HAVE A WINNER!,"the announcer shouted,"It was close, really close. But the winners are the members of...DAZZLED!" My confidence fell as the members hopped around on stage. Yo stood up in the crowd.

"NO FAIR!,"she screamed,"THEY STOLE GALAXY MAGIC'S CHOICE OF SONG!" Kids in the crowd shouted mean things with her and boo'd the judges. Sigmund's eyes grew.

"No we didn't!,"he yelled back,"We won!" I stood on stage with my head hung down as they recieved the prizes we worked for. My mother rushed up on the stage.

"I'm soo sorry honey,"she said to me. I looked up at her and smiled.

"It's okay mom,"I replied,"Really, all I wanted was to make some music. I really don't care about the prize after all..." My band members nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we knew nothing about this stupid contest until you told us,"Kyle added,"This really wasn't our goal. We just wanted to play." We all smiled at each other. My mother smiled back at us.

"That's great to hear,"she said to us. We all hugged each other as our fans continued to shout at the judges. I looked at everyone.

"Let's go home guys,"I laughed. We all linked arms and walked off stage. We threw our stuff in the trunk and got ready to hop in the car. I heard clicking heels running in the parking lot and turned around to see Sigmund running towards the car.

"Rima, wait please!,"he pleaded. I stared at him as he caught his breath.

"What now Sigmund?,"I asked,"What do you want to tell me now? Do you wanna rub in the fact that you won the prizes today and we didn't?"

"No,"he hissed,"Listen for once!" I crossed my arms and waited to hear the crap he had to say. "I wanted to apologize."

"You always want to apologize! This is why Kyle hates you! You always do things like this!" Kyle poked his head out of the car and spotted Sigmund infront of me. He hopped out quickly.

"Leave her alone! She's had enough of you!,"he shouted at Sigmund,"You've alread made her cry for the day!" Sigmund's eyes widened.

"Y-you cried?,"he asked me. I stared at him until Kyle turned me to walk into the car.

"BEAT IT!,"he shouted at Sigmund for the final time before slamming the car door. My father finished packing the instruments and my parents hopped in too. Sigmund watched the car drive away until he couldn't as we turned a corner. My father played our song in the car. I leaned my head on the window and closed my eyes, listening to every note.You did it! You played music! Beautiful music that people danced to today. So you didn't win those prizes, Rima. What does that matter? You helped teach the art of music to your friends and had fun doing it! Great job Rima. Bravo! You should be proud...

Then why was I still hurt?

Dear Reader, this story was inspired by a song my Tokio Hotel that my friend let me listen to. I never thought I would like the group, but this song sounded awesome in both English and German! This is the song they sang and the links to it. Please enjoy! Type in YouTube . com before you copy and paste these added links to watch:

Monsoon-English Girl Version (Galaxy Magic) Link: /watch?v=W0s1cH36q1U&feature=related

Durch den Monsun-German Version (Dazzled!) Link: /watch?v=ckKCBRxN2J0&feature=related