Joan the Gelert, her Gathow Pebbles, and Matt the Aisha were all in the backstage of a concert that was going to start soon. They were trying to adjust a new song, and give a tune to it, so Joan may be able to sing it on stage. Things were going well.
"Ten minutes left!" Matt announced as they were taking a small break. "And we're already two-thirds through the song!" Joan smiled. She was eager to get on stage. She stood, stretched, and walked casually on stage, and took a peek from behind the blue curtain. The lot was definitely packed now. The plastic chairs were being filled quickly. The concert was to start at 8:30, and it was 8:20. She could hardly wait!
"You'd like to play that guitar on stage, right? Since the song isn't pre-recorded, of course," she asked Matt. Matt nodded eagerly, and his eyes were bright, as he stood next to Joan and peeked at the crowd.
"The crowd for my old band has never been this big!" he exclaimed. "But we have played more often. I'm used to stage fright."
"Me too. It's kind of scary, though, when you have it for the first time, isn't it?" Joan replied.
"Yeah! You just… sort of forget what to sing or play and everything." "It's nerve-wracking." "Hah hah." They pulled away from the curtain and got back to work on the song.

"We're on the last chorus now. This is the part when the chorus is repeated twice, but the second time it's changed." Joan said, consulting her paper. She glanced at Pebbles, who was grooming itself on another chair.
"Alrighty then! Hmmm…The second half should have a slightly different tune."
"That's a good idea. We already have the first half down then. Okay, it goes like this: For all you know it / could be another / Universe, unknowing."
"For all you know, it could be, another universe unknowing," he tried, giving it a slightly different change of chords on the guitar.
"I dunno, it should be something where you go an octave higher for a line or something…"

Joan looked at the clock when it was 8:27.
"Hey! Look at the time!" she exclaimed, and Matt snapped his head up from looking at the paper. He saw the time, too.
"It's nearly time!" he said, and looked down at the paper. A strange expression crossed his face.
"We have one line left."
"We'll have to improvise on stage!" Joan exclaimed, as she jammed her headset/microphone onto her head and the switch for it onto her belt.
"When are you going to sing this?"
"After all my other ones."
"Alright." Matt looked at Joan in the eye, and shook her paw solemnly. "Good luck, superstar."
"Thank you," she replied, and the crowd outside started to chant, louder and louder:
"Joan, Joan, Joan, JOAN, JOAN, JOAN, JOAN!" She heard them and went up the steps to the stage, and came out from behind the curtain. The chanting stopped and there was applauding and cheering from the crowd. Joan could just barely hear herself think.
She was standing before the biggest audience she had ever seen; there must have been over a thousand people and Neopets there. There were so many people that they spilled out onto the street, and there were patrol cars, and even crowd control officers. There were two TV stations filming the concert that would be live on television. She felt scared, but also happy that she was on stage. Then, she happened to look up.
There were lights mounted on a sort of a bar that went above the stage. They shined into her eyes, but she could make out a little twinkle in the black sky. All of the other stars couldn't be seen, because of the light from the city, but there was just one that stood out.
"My daystar!" she whispered, suddenly feeling much more confident, and she took center stage.

"Um, hi!" Joan said, and the crowd responded with a loud cheer. Joan waved at them all.
"Wow, I've never seen a crowd so big! Anyway… Are you guys having fun?!"
"YESSS!"
"Alright! Let's get started, then!" Upbeat music started to play from the speakers, and she knew it was the start of her song, "Weewoos Racket". She tapped her foot to the beat, and started singing.

It was 9:30. She was having a great time when she realized she just sang her last song.
"I think that was the last one," Joan said, and the audience grew quieter. She could feel their disappointment for the end of the show. "But that isn't all!" she laughed, and Pebbles meowed loudly into her microphone.
"We have a special guest tonight… Let me introduce you to Matt, lead guitarist of Chaotic Senses!" She turned to the end of the stage where she knew Matt would be, and sure enough, he walked up on stage, beaming, holding the guitar as if he was going to play while he walked. The audience was so loud that Joan couldn't hear Pebbles meow into her ear; they knew that Matt and Joan were going to sing a duet! Even more cameras were flashing as Matt stood next to Joan, switching on his own headset.
"Hi, all!" Matt announced, the crowd screamed, and Joan saw a Usul in front pretend to faint. He strummed the first chord for the song, the signal that it was going to start. Joan quickly signaled to the players behind her not to play along.
"Laying there all night, thinking about now, the wind brushes my fur." she said softly. "A little speck stands, apart from the rest, a little daystar at twilight." The crowd suddenly fell silent, listening to the new song and Matt playing the guitar.
"For all you know, it could be a planet thousands of miles away," Matt joined Joan with the chorus, and the crowd cheered. "For all you know, it could be a supernova that never ends…" As they sang, Joan studied the audience. They were baffled, since they didn't know that Joan had been working on a new song.
She saw someone holding up a cell phone….

"You'll discover something you've never noticed, you'll be looking for more. Be aware, be knowing, wise, kind, you'll see.…" Joan shivered, and saw Matt go tense. They didn't know what to do for the final line! "For all you know, it could be a parallel universe of our home, oh yeah- for all you know, it could be another planet, unknowing." They went into the final third of the song, and into the last chorus. They raised their voices slightly.
"For all you know, it could be the eye and mind playing tricks… a prophecy…" Matt stopped strumming for a second, and started again, but slower and softer. Their soprano and alto voices blended into the last two lines, higher and lower.
"It disobeys the rules, it has its own ways…" And Matt paused. He was waiting for Joan to sing the last one.
"My little Midnight Daystar," she said melodiously.

The applause didn't come right away. There was just a group at the back clapping, then someone whistled, and the whole crowd started clapping, gradually louder. Then, it sounded like someone had turned up the volume- screaming fans, thousands of people cheering, shouting, whooping, applauding, and several of them shouted "Encore! Encore!" Joan and Matt couldn't stop smiling. They posed for a second and went backstage.

"Darling, that was fantastic!" Joan's mother said as she squeezed Joan.
"Stop it, mum!" Joan exclaimed, her voice muffled. Matt laughed as he tuned the guitar a little more, and looked around the backstage, at all of the wires on the floor. Joan's mother reluctantly let her daughter go.
"Honey, we didn't know you were that good!"
"Mum, Dad?" Joan said. "This is Matt."
"Hi," Matt said. "I am the lead guitarist for Chaotic Senses- well, used to."
"Hello Matt," Joan's father said as they shook paws. "I'm Mark, and this is my wife, Caroline." Matt twitched all four of his ears.
"Caroline… that name sounds familiar."
"Well, you want to come over to my house? If it's okay with your parents, of course…" Joan asked Matt, and he fell silent and looked down, then started to tune the guitar again, although it didn't need it. But when he looked up, a smile was on his face.
"Sure!" he said, and the four walked the distance home, Joan with Matt's scooter and Matt with the guitar.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Matt asked Joan. They were both in her room, eating smoked cheese and grapes. Matt had claimed he was lactose intolerant, so he didn't touch the cheese. Joan claimed that the cheese didn't have lactose in it, but he refused anyway. Joan was lying on the bed with her paws clasped behind her head, and her feet were on her pillow. At Matt's question, she sat up and faced him.
"You acted really weird after the concert, when I asked you if you'd like to come over," Joan observed. "What was that all about?" Matt looked at the grape in his paws, and his stalk ears drooped a little.
"My… mum and dad… well, I'm an orphan…" he muttered, and Joan's jaw dropped.
"You're kidding!" she exclaimed, and saw the look on Matt's face. "Oh wait, I'm sorry if I insulted you-"
"It's okay! It's okay… I was just surprised that you didn't go all soft around me and say, 'Oh, my goodness, I'm sooo sorry'," he hurriedly explained. "I hate it when people do that."
"But isn't that their way of showing sympathy?"
"They've been doing it since I, what, four?" Matt seemed a little annoyed at the thought, so Joan decided to change the subject.

"You know… that song that we did, Midnight Daystar… I saw a daystar, and so that inspired me," Joan said, and Matt suddenly looked interested.
"You've seen that daystar?"
"You did?" They both laughed.
"It's seems like everyone I point it out to can't see it!" Matt cried, and Joan laughed.
"I know! My dad couldn't see it at all."
"Maybe it's everyone's eyesight."
"Maybe."

End of Part Three

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"No one ever notices,
Except those who lead
A simple, thoughtful way

Pay attention to the
Simple things everyone
Sees, know your fantasies

You'll discover something
You've never noticed,
You'll be looking for more,

Be aware,
Know,
Wise,
Kind,
You'll see.…"

--------------------------------------

Aurora: Chapter Three! Actually, it's shorter than I thought it would be, so I'll be writing chapter four now. ;D
Joan: You're hopeless.
Aurora: I also want to say that the lyrics that I've been posting every chapter are copyrighted to me. shakes finger Don't you dare steal them!
Joan: Still hopeless!