Hi--here's the next part for you all wonderful readers out there. Thanks again for all of your great reviews--you guys seriously keep me going!
One quick note: The song in this chapter is by a small, kind of obscure band called Guster. The song is actually fairly upbeat, but I'm picturing this version to be slower. It's called "Love for Me" and I highly recommend checking the band and the song out. So I do not own Guster or the song. Or Game Boy (you'll see).
We're getting into more good stuff now, so as always...enjoy!
Standing backstage, Jude peeked through the small opening between the curtains. Her heart pounded seeing the hundreds of faces awaiting her performance. She made out Josh's face in the crowd, standing with Sadie and her mom. She took a deep breath and retreated towards the stage door, heading to her dressing room. She opened the door and saw Speed and Wally on the couch playing their Game Boys.
"Shouldn't you guys warm up?" she asked, sitting in front of the mirror and dipping her finger into the beige makeup on the table.
"This is warming up," Speed replied, not budging or looking up from his game. "Jackpot! I got past Level 6!"
Wally smirked, "Level 6? Dude, I'm on Level 8."
"Aren't you special?" Speed questioned sarcastically. Jude dotted concealer under her eyes, trying to hide the dark circles that had become obvious from her lack of sleep.
"Dude, enough with the makeup stuff," Speed commented, glancing up to see Jude reapplying the cover-up. "You look like a ghost."
"Thanks. Nice support system I have here," she said snippily, picking up the blush and circling it on her cheeks to revive the lost color.
They all looked up at the sound of a knock on the door. They watched as Tommy entered, glancing at Jude, and then over at the guys.
"You're on in five," he announced. "Where's Kyle?"
"In the john," Speed replied, his eyes back on the Game Boy.
"It's time to get going," Tommy said, walking over to Speed's Game Boy and switching the power button off. He then made his way over to Wally and did the same. Both guys whined at the end of their game.
"Dude, I was on Level 7!" Speed called, standing up and putting the game down.
"So? You should be warming up," Tommy said, forcing them both out of the room so that he and Jude were alone. She continued fixing her hair to cover her face and eyes. He walked over and leaned against the makeup table where she was seated.
"Hey," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know…I'm just…worried about you, I guess."
"Don't be, I'm fine," she muttered, giving up on her makeup and standing up.
"Really?" he said, looking into her eyes.
She hesitantly nodded, not being able to speak while gazing into his eyes. She quickly looked away, "I just have to find my lucky guitar pick."
He watched her look around the room for the pick and sighed at the sight of her. She had gotten thin and wasn't looking like her usual energetic self. Glancing around, he noticed the pick on the side table. He leaned over and grabbed it, waving it at her across the room. She exhaled deeply and walked towards him, attempting to grab the pick as he pulled his hand back at the last second.
"Promise?" he asked, holding the pick out of her reach. "That you're really okay?"
She sighed and glanced up at him. She felt sad looking into his eyes, seeing the concern on his face. She knew he wanted to help her, but unless he could erase everything he had said to her weeks ago, she couldn't pull herself out of her slump.
"I'm hanging in there," she said quietly, looking back down.
"Jude, I know you don't want to talk about this, but—"
"I can't talk about this," Jude interrupted, leaning forward and grabbing the pick out of his hand. "I know you're trying to help, but talking about whatever we said to each other isn't going to do anything. It's in the past."
"But I want to help," he asserted, taking her hands.
"It's too late, Tommy."
"Jude, please—," he pleaded, as she pulled her hands from his grasp and walked towards the door.
"How much time do I have?" she asked abruptly, grabbing her guitar from the corner.
"Two minutes," he muttered, looking at his watch. She nodded and opened the door to leave, as he called out, "Jude?"
She looked back at him, waiting for a response. He stood up from the makeup table and walked towards her. "Knock 'em dead," he said with a grin. She gave him a small but satisfied smile and walked out towards the stage.
"Ladies and gentleman, we give you our very first musical performance—Jude Harrison!" The crowd went wild as Jude and the band took their places on stage and the curtains opened.
Jude played the full set, beginning with My Sweet Time. The crowd loved her, but Jude lost her energy by the third song. She barely budged from her position on-stage, and even added a couple of slow songs so she wouldn't have to move around as much. The band noticed her become sluggish, only playing a few of the chords she usually did. She grew hot under the blazing lights, feeling the sweat drip off of her. Her voice had become faint by the time she got to the second encore of 24 Hours.
Somewhere in the middle of the last chorus, her eyes met Tommy's in the back of the room, seeing his disappointment in her performance. She tried to ignore his troubled gaze, but as she gave her third bow with the band and started to head backstage, inspiration took hold of her. She walked offstage and grabbed a folding chair that was against the wall and brought it back on-stage. The crowd grew quiet as she unfolded the chair and took a seat, holding her acoustic guitar.
"This isn't exactly planned," she said nervously into the microphone, feeling the lights grow dimmer, "but in honor of the new club opening, I thought I would sing one of my new songs. It's about dreams and love…both close to my heart. It's called 'Love for Me.'"
She made eye contact with Tommy and Georgia in the back, who both looked confused and were questioning each other. Without hesitation, she started to strum on the guitar, feeling the heat of the spotlight intensify on her skin and the sound of the audience fade into a light hush.
Her trembling and quiet voice echoed through the club:
I know there is a place
A place where I belong
Not mistreated or undone
And if I find that place
I'll keep my mouth shut
Cause I won't be there alone
And if you're standing there with me
I'll swear it's a lie and I'll still believe it
Cause I came
And I spoke
And you ran
Didn't even wait to hear the words
Or see the look in my eyes
Cause I bled
And you watched
And I cried myself to sleep
Came to wipe my tears away but you
You couldn't look in my eyes again
Because of the love for me
I understand the time
It passes so slowly
And I can hear its laughter
But there will come a time
When you will ask me
And I will join you then
And if you're standing there with me
I'll swear it's a lie and I'll still believe it
Because of the love for me
She ran her fingers over the last chord and hesitantly looked up to hear rounds of applause. She smiled timidly, feeling tears in her eyes at her own release. She gripped her guitar and weakly stood up to take a final bow, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. She then grabbed the chair and walked hastily backstage.
SME was awaiting her return at her dressing room, standing around in applause.
"Wow, that was a great song," Speed said, patting her on the back as she entered the room. She put the guitar down on the couch and stood next to the side table, leaning on it for support.
"Really great, Jude. When did you write that?" Kyle asked.
"And why didn't we know about it?" Wally chimed in. "I could've added some good bass."
"Sorry, guys…it was…sort of a spur of the moment thing…" she responded, rubbing her head.
Speed looked closely at her. "Jude, are you okay?"
She felt the heat grow stronger throughout her body and the sweat continuing to drip. Her vision suddenly became blurry and spotted as she looked up at Speed's image.
"Jude?" he asked, sounding distant to her. She closed her eyes and shook her head, indicating that she was not okay.
As she started to take a step towards the couch to sit down, suddenly, everything went black and her body hit the floor.