Two Worlds Collide Chapter 19, an instant star fanfic

A/N: I do not own the lyrics to the song, Push Me, Pull You. That belongs to the wonderful writers of the show, So Weird, and I just borrowed the song.

Chapter 19

Behind the Mic

Backstage

Jude's Dressing room

Oh my god! I'm going to be interviewed on world wide tv! Jude took a couple of deep breathes to try and attempt to calm her frazzled nerves. She was the last interview of the day, which was scheduled to start in about 10 minutes. Saying she was nervous, is an understatement. She had never felt this nervous before, not even when she was about to perform for the first time in front of a large audience at the Instant Star competition.

"What if I make an idiot of myself." Jude muttered. There was a knock on her door and her heart skipped slightly. It's Tommy, I know it is. He always comes to see me before a big performance. He'll say something really sweet and make me forget about being nervous. It'll all be ok. "Come in." Jude called, and the door opened and EJ poked her head in. Jude felt disappointment rush over her. Where was Tommy? She wondered.

"Jude, they'll be ready for you in 5." EJ said.

"So soon!" Jude squeaked, taking a deep breathe to calm herself. "I'm going to blow this EJ, I know it."

"No you are not! I have worked too hard to have you blow this interview." EJ said, looking devilishly at Jude. "We rehearsed this over and over. You'll be fine." EJ said, a bit harshly. Jude sighed and nodded. It was no use fighting EJ.

"Where's Tommy?" Jude asked.

"He said he couldn't make it. He said for me to tell you you'd be great." She said, sounding annoyed to be the messenger.

"Why didn't he call me?" Jude asked, looking disappointed. EJ Shrugged.

"Is it my job to be his keeper? No." EJ said, sounding annoyed.

"But He ditched me!"

"He said something came up. Jude, you'll be fine." EJ said once again and shoved her out the door.

"I think I'm gonna"

"Do great! Keep telling yourself that."

"OK." Jude said, taking a couple more deep breathes. "OK, I'll be fine…"

"Jude?"

"yeah?"

"Remember to breathe." EJ advised.

"Right." Jude said as a stage manager came up behind Jude and shouted.

"We're ready for Jude Harrison!"

"Coming!" Jude called. EJ wished her good luck and Jude walked out onto the stage when her cue was gave to her. She waved to the inhouse audience and flashed a smile. She crossed to the center of the stage and sat down in an oversized couch when the host made a hand motion for her to do so. She faced John Grant, the front man for B.t.M. for years.

"Welcome to Jude Harrison. The first, and currently only, winner of the Instant Star competition." There was a chorus of cheers from the audience. "Now, Jude. You went from being a normal teenager to a rock celebrity in under 24 hours. How did that feel?"

"Well, it was overwhelming at first. I went to school, thinking it would be the same old thing and the principle had the school band playing the song I sang for the competition and the cheerleaders where doing their routines…it was strange. I wasn't used to having all the attention, but I loved making the music. I still do." Jude answered, relaxing slightly at the easiness of the question.

"I think everyone would have been overwhelmed by the school band." John said, giving her a warm smile.

"Yeah, it was really weird. Things calmed down after the first couple of days, but it's still hectic." Jude said and added "but I wouldn't change a minute of it."

"That's good to here."

"OK Jude. Every girl in the world is envious of you. Now, tell us, how is it working with Tom Quincy?" John asked. Jude smiled. Loaded, but easy question.

"Tommy is a great producer and even better songwriter. He often co-writes some of my songs and helps me if I get a case of writers block. The most annoying thing is, he's a perfectionist when it comes to music. If it's not great, he's not at all happy and he's made me rewrite songs loads of times. It's really annoying, but he's usually right by the time the final product comes along. It's not unusual for us to be in the studio late, recording a song that we had been working on all day."

"A late night with Tommy Q? From what I hear, I don't so many girls would be complaining." There was a chorus of answering cheers from the audience. Jude laughed.

"We're just friends." Jude stated, wondering how true that statement really was.

"The story has it, Tom Quincy left G Major recently and about a year later, returned. Do you know anything about it?"

"That would be between Georgia and Tommy." Jude said, not wanting to discuss Mark Snow. "All I know is that Georgia asked him to return, and he accepted. I'm happy he's back; he's a great friend and an even greater co-writer." John nodded, not too surprised with her answer.

"Now, rumors have it that you and Tommy Q are performing a duet."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Tell us about it." John asked, looking interested.

"Well, I had asked Tommy to do a duet with me because we had wrote songs together in the past and I thought it would be easy for us to write another, that we could sing together for once." Jude explained and added "I kind of always wanted to do a duet with him anyway, so I was thrilled when he said yes."

"What kind of song are you going to be singing with him?" Jude smiled.

"It could be considered a love song…we haven't finished the lyrics and the beats yet. Tommy's being particularly picky to this song and it's been leading to some creative differences, but we'll talk more about later." Jude said, knowing EJ didn't want anything released until the double interview and she would be skinned alive if she talked about the plot of the song.

"Fair enough. Can we ask about what kind of songs are going to be on your next album? Not much has been released to the public, it seems awhile since we've heard anything new from Jude Harrison. I would estimate the time since, would be when Tom Quincy left G Major." John said, insinuating Jude not getting along with her former producer.

"That would be right. There were some creative differences I couldn't get past with the producer who replaced Tommy. He wanted to turn me into something I'm not and, as the song goes, you just can't take the me, out of me. I feel, this album is going to be different from the first and second. I feel that I've grown a lot in the past year as a singer and as a songwriter. There's some more mature lyrics and some great mixing being done, courtesy of Tommy and his crew. I'm really excited about this one."

"That's good Jude. Now, it's rumored that you and Shay are together again? What do you have to say about that?"
"The rumor is just that. A rumor. Shay and I are over romantically. We have been for two years. We've become friends again recently and he wanted to pursue a further relationship, but I said no. I can't trust him enough to ever be romantically involved. I mean, he cheated on me once, who's to say he won't do it again?" There was a chorus of cheers from the audience and Jude smiled at them. John nodded in agreement.

"Now it's time to poll the audience," John said, "Do we have any questions for Jude?"

All the hands went up. Jude felt floored. Wow. John went into the audience and gestured to a boy in the third row.

"What's you name, young man?" John asked.

"Uh…my name's Rick and uh…I'd like to say: I LOVE YOU JUDE! Will you marry me?"

Jude blinked. "Umm…Maybe in a few years."

"You're sweet!" Rick awed, "But, I'm gay, actually. I just wanted to see your reaction."

Jude laughed, then play pouted. "Then were you lying when you said you loved me?"

"No, I do love you. But not in that way."

The audience laughed. Rick smiled and sat down. John found another member, this time, a girl.

"Hi, Jude, I'm Heather and I just wanted to say that I'm a big fan and my question is what was the weirdest thing that happened to you when you were on your first tour?"

"Umm…Speed pulled me into the pool at one of the hotels we were staying at and then announced that he was peeing in the pool. I screamed and we almost got kicked out."

An uncomfortable look crossed John's face for a brief moment, then he went back to being the cheerful TV host.

"Alright, it's time for a short break. When we come back, Jude will be performing her newest hit, Push Me, Pull You, which is going to be released to the radio stations in another week."

The lights went off from the stage and the curtain fell. John reached over and shook Jude's hand.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Ms. Harrison." Jude smiled back at him.

"Thank you." He stood up and gave her a pat on the back. "Good luck on your performance," and walked off the stage.

Jude got up from her chair, a big grin on her face. She nailed it. She had forgotten to be nervous. Jude walked off the stage, where she was congratulated by EJ. She watched the stage as the stage hand set up the band and her mic stand. Jude pushed through the stagehands who were congratulating her and asking for autographs so she could get her guitar out of the dressing room. She opened the guitar case, checked the tuning and slipped it over her head and walked back outside, ready to perform.

She stood behind the mic and smiled at the in-house band. The curtain rose and the band began to play. Jude smiled to herself. She loved performing. She stared out at the audience. Even though it was small, she could hardly make out the faces staring up at her from the stage lights. She waited for her que and began to sing.

I don't want a lecture
I've had enough
You think you're so tight
You think you're so tough

You wanna change my world
Say that you know best
Baby look in the mirror, take another guess
Your nuclear reaction
A minor distraction
Your positive is negative
There's no attraction
Push me, pull you
I can see right through you
Mover, shaker
Learn to be a giver, not a taker.

You think you're tall as a building
You're just a little stump
You think you move like an Earth quake
But you're just a bump

Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Baby

Push me, pull you
I can see right through you
Mover, shaker
Learn to be a giver not a taker

Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Baby

Push me, pull you
I can see right through you
Mover, shaker
Learn to be a giver not a taker."

Jude finished the last note, and smiled to the house band. They played awesome. The audience roared with cheers and she turned back to them, taking a small bow. She waved at the fans in the audience and walked off the stage, feeling happier than ever and she couldn't wait to get to the studio and tell Tommy all about the day's performance.