Chapter 10: Familiar
With the show half over, it was time for the intermission
"Ladies and gentlemen, at this time we're going to take a little break, an intermission, but when we come back we've got your top four ready to perform! Jason, Syesha, David A and your American Idol, David Cook!", Michael Johns commented.
"Apparently he's the spokesman for the group. Crowned himself the MC of the show," Emma thought to herself.
"Having fun?" Harper asks, a huge grin splayed across her face.
Emma nodded her response, slowly. "Yeah... I guess so. By far Carly has been the best from what we've seen."
"Ehhh... How about Michael though?" Harper asked, a somewhat naughty look in her eyes.
"I see the evil in your eyes, Harper. I know your kind. I know what you are thinking. Shame, shame, shame," Emma scolded.
Harper frowned. "Killjoy."
"You know it," Emma responded, using her quick wit and quick hand movements to sign back.
"Ahhh. Fine," Harper gave up on her fun, "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"Nah, I think I'm good. Are you going to get anything?"
"I guess I'm good if you're alright for now. Still have my water."
They spent the next few moments of the intermission watching people and trying to figure out and identify which color people wore linked them with which Idol as their favorite.
BACKSTAGE
David continued the inner battle he was having with himself. "Do it, you'll regret it if you don't. Don't do it, you'll regret it if you do. What does she care? What if it's not really her? What if it is? What exactly do you plan on saying to her that won't scare her half to death, Cook?"
There was a knock at his door. "Yeah?" he said loud enough for the person on the other side to hear.
The door opened. It was Carly. "Hey, DC, ten minutes. Ready for Barracuda?" she smiled.
David smiled. Carly was like the sister he never had and a heck of a singer. "Absolutely, Car. No doubt."
"Alright, well, I'll see ya in a few," she said, closing the door behind her.
A few seconds later, another knock. "Come in."
One of the security guys opened the door. "Hey Dave, we got this delivery for you from 'The Word Nerds'", he said with a laugh, emphasizing the name with quotations.
David smiled, looking at the stack of crosswords he now had thanks to the fans as well as the poster attached to them with a large crossword puzzle on it reading "David - Determined, Ambitious, Victorious, Irreplaceable, Destined for success. Best wishes, David - The Word Nerds". "Thanks, man," he responded.
The security guy headed out the door when suddenly David jumped up.
"Hey wait! I need to ask a favor of you..."
BACK IN THE FRONT ROW
Emma was sharing a laugh with Harper when someone came up beside them. A big someone.
"Excuse me, do one of you ladies go by the name Emma?" the man asked.
Harper and Emma exchanged looks.
Emma held her hand up cautiously.
"Um, her name is Emma..." Harper began, "But..."
His gaze shifted and he looked directly at Emma, "Ok then, Emma? I need you to come with me for a moment, please."
Confusion spread across Emma's face. Fear was also on the brink of making it's appearance. She stood up and the security guy took her by the arm, leading her down toward the front.
"What? Wait! Emma? Hey!" Harper yelled after them to no avail since the crowd was beginning to return and they were already out of earshot. She saw them walk through one of the exits, Emma twisting her arm a bit and looking back in Harper's general direction in a plea for help.
The man was saying something, but Emma wasn't entirely sure what between the noise of the crowd and the fact that he wasn't looking straight at her.
They walked for what seemed like forever when he finally opened a door and they were surrounded by people bustling about with what looked like different outfits in their hands, headsets making them look quite official. They finally stopped at a door the man opened.
"Wait here," he said, looking her in the eye.
Emma didn't know what to do, so she simply nodded her head.
The security guy left and Emma turned around, taking in her surroundings, trying to figure out exactly where they were. It was clear she was in some kind of backstage area. Security's hang out? The tech crew area? But why? They hadn't scalped any tickets or done anything warranting this little visit, had they?
Emma finally sat down on the brown leather couch in the room while she waited. And she waited. And she waited. And no one came back.
Finally giving up on the waiting game, Emma stood up and walked to the door, opening it cautiously, afraid she might get caught leaving.
People were still hurrying about and she was going unnoticed. She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Looking in both directions, Emma tries to get her bearings. "We came from...that direction?" she questioned herself, looking to the left. "Might as well try it." She started to walk, looking for a way to get back into the arena or at least to the hallway so she could get to the arena and back to her seat with Harper.
Suddenly Emma felt a large, warm hand on her shoulder. It sent a shiver down her spine. She turned around slowly, not looking up, afraid she is in for some trouble. What she saw instead were boots...and jeans. "That's not what the security guy was wearing," she thought, even more confused. She lifted her gaze further. "Nope, definitely not the security guy here."
"Hi," mysterious guy said with a smile.
Emma looked at him rather confused. "Who is this guy? He looks familiar...but at the same time I have no idea who he is..." His dark hair, sticking out here, there, and everywhere, his eyes, whatever color they were, they were piercing and she could have sworn she'd seen them before, his smile... But still...this felt all too strange.
Mystery man continued, not faltering for a minute and still looking directly at her, "Soooo. Is it Princess? Or is it Emma?"
Emma took a step back.
"Hey, it's ok," he replied. Someone came up to him to ask him a question. "One second," he said to her, holding up a finger. He took care of the business at hand and continued talking. Whether it was to her or not, she couldn't be sure. He wasn't looking at her.
Emma closed her eyes. "One, two, three..." She was trying to contain her frustration, but it was mounting quickly in this situation after being taken from her seat, sitting for the better part of 20 minutes and no one coming, and suddenly being recognized by someone she had no recollection of. Now she was involved in a mostly one sided conversation...the topic of which she had no clue since she couldn't distinguish his words.
Tears threatened her eyes as she counted. She got to five, opened her eyes, and saw he was still there carrying on his conversation. Emma started backing away, eventually letting her feet carry her down the hallway as she pushed open a door. She thought she heard someone yelling her name behind her, but she couldn't be sure. She was back in the hallway of the arena. A few doors and she was back on the floor of the arena, finally making her way back to her spot with Harper.
"Emma!" Harper exclaimed, seeing her friend once again. "Are you ok?" she asked, giving Emma a quick hug.
Emma tucked her brown hair behind her ear and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Just a mix up," she added, not wanting to rehash all of the details.
Harper didn't look convinced, "Ok, well. You're back just in time. They've got one more David A song and then Cook is up next!"
Emma smiled back at her, trying to get back into the spirit.
David Archuleta came out and sang his final song, "Imagine". Emma closed her eyes and enjoyed. As he finished, her eyes opened and she smiled. "That is exactly why I thought that kid would win. He's got a gift."
"Alright, now it's time for your American Idol, Mr. David Cook, or as I like to call him, Cookie!" David A announced.
Applause, screams, and squeals erupted all over the audience.
"Thank you, Archie. Thank you, thank you everyone. This has been so amazing and I owe it all to you! How are we doing here in Kentucky tonight?" David Cook probed the crowd as he walked out on stage.
Emma watched the stage from her spot, now sitting, but still able to see since they were seated near the front. "Woohoo," she said aloud with a hint of sarcasm, knowing no one would be able to hear her. She was still a bit irked about their meeting backstage, still wondering why she felt like she'd seen him before...aside from that little show called American Idol, that is.
"Well, I'm gonna do a few songs here, so how about we get started on that. Let's have a little love for Michael Jackson and Chris Cornell..." he said, leading into the intro of "Billie Jean".
Emma closed her eyes, forgetting the present and feeling the music, feeling it move her and wash over her like a wave of sound. Eventually she did open her eyes, shifting her gaze every now and then away from the stage. She had to admit...he was a good performer, pretty good with the arrangement, and overall sound in the song. She felt the song coming from him as if it were part of the fibers that created his being. Music was a part of him too.
Emma watched as the lights dwindled down to just a spotlight on this guy, David Cook.
"Let me get my trusty guitar and get a little more comfortable here," he said to the crowd as he walked to the back of the stage. He retrieved his guitar, a stool and a hat.
"Alright, here we go. Have to do this one since it's when I won Simon over. A little Lionel Ritchie for you all..."
Emma's eyes shifted to the center of the stage again. Her eyes widened...almost popped out of their sockets when she noticed the hat he was now wearing. KC. "KC, KC, KC... I've seen that hat before. Now he looks even more familiar... KC KC... Princess? Oh my... The bookstore. He's... Chip? Are you kidding me?" she thought to herself, now abuzz with a million mixed emotions inside her.