Chapter 9
Anna parked her car in the parking lot at Hayley's and saw Kira standing in the front entryway looking down at the ground and nervously strumming her fingers along her guitar case. As she turned the ignition off, she continued to stare at Kira for a few minutes. That time of watching Kira fidget nervously made Anna start to get nervous. Absently, Anna started strumming her fingers along her steering wheel. Kira felt a pair of eyes on her and she nervously looked up only to find Anna looking right back at her. When neither made a move, Anna unlocked her passenger door and motioned for Kira to sit in the car. Kira started to move to the car and Anna noticed that the strong, independant woman she had come to know for the past month was gone, replaced by a young girl with nothing but fear etched across her features. As Kira made her way to the door she opened it and sat down in the passenger seat.
"Hey." Anna said in a whisper.
"Hey."
"Are you ready to do this?"
"I'm as ready as I'm gonna be."
"Then why do you look so scared?"
"Why do you?"
"I'm nervous, not scared. I haven't played in front of anyone for a very long time, but you, you perform for these people every week."
"As a group, yes, but I've never performed for one person like I am tonight. How long do we have until showtime?"
"About two hours. I told everyone to be here at nine and we go on at 9:15."
"We should probably get in there then and start practicing."
"We know all we need to know."
"No we don't. I don't."
"Are you sure? I think you do know everything there is to know about this song. I think we need to take these two hours to find you again."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Kira Ford I see sitting next to me is a scared little girl and in order for this to work like we want it to, I need you to be the strong, independent Kira Ford. She's in there, we just need to bring her out."
"I can't pretend to be strong if this doesn't work."
"It won't work unless your strong. If you go in there in the state you're in now, it's over before it ever starts."
"I'm trying so hard to be strong but I can't, I'm just so scared that this is all for nothing."
"I'm not going to pretend to know what's going to happen at the end of the night, all I can do is ask questions and you are the one that is going to have to answer them, onstage. Yeah, I'll be right beside you but all the focus is going to be on you not me."
"I want to do this, the song is perfect but I just don't know if I can do this."
"You can, I know it. You can do anything that you set your mind to. Not just you, but everyone, if you beleive in it strong enough, you can always make that beleif a reality."
At those cryptic words, Kira could feel her fear leaving her and her confidence start to grow once more. Anna was aware of the sudden change in Kira and the nerves that coursed through her body were starting to leave her as well. In just a matter of moments, the two girls turned from being nervous and scared to calm and confident. They looked at each other and no words were needed, they could tell in each others eyes that it was time.
"Let's do it." They said in unison.
With that, the two opened the car doors and walked into the Cybercafe and went to work on the stage. With a quick glance to
the clock on the far wall, they knew that time was a luxury they didn't have. It was now 8:45, the people would start
arriving in fifteen minutes and the girls would take to the stage in a half an hour. Amidst all the commotion and movement
involved in getting the stage set up just right, the girls didn't notice that their friends were arriving. First it was Ethan,
followed by Kim and Jason. When they had the chance to notice them, the girls gave a quick wave and smile and continued
working. The girls managed to finish with the set up and ran to the back to get ready for their introduction. Hayley had
never made a huge deal out of one of Kira's performances but this time Kira had asked her to go all out and Hayley was more
than happy to oblige. When Hayley had taken the stage to make sure the microphones were in proper working order, she noticed
that two people were missing: Tommy and Conner. 'No. They can't miss this.' She thought to herself. She tested the microphones
and everything was in working order. She went to the back to let the girls know that she would be making introductions soon and
to tell them the bad news.
"Hey Hayley, are you ready to make the introductions?" Kira asked in an excited tone.
"Everything is in order but there is one small problem."
"What?"
"Tommy and Conner aren't here."
With that, Kira's happy expression turned to a look of utter dissapointment.
(On the other side of town)
"Come on pick up." Conner said in an impatient tone.
"Hello. Tommy Oliver speaking."
"Dr. O. Listen-"
"Now's not a good time, Conner. I'm running late, I'll see you at Hayley's."
"No, Dr. O-" Conner was not allowed to get anymore words in before he heard the click signaling the line had been disconnected.
"My car won't start." He said into the empty night.
TBC.